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Article
Open AccessDifferences in carbonate chemistry up-regulation of long-lived reef-building corals
With climate projections questioning the future survival of stony corals and their dominance as tropical reef builders, it is critical to understand the adaptive capacity of corals to ongoing climate change. B...
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Life and Death of Cold-Water Corals Across the Mediterranean Sea
Deep-sea explorations performed over the last two decades have shown evidence of abundant living cold-water coral communities in the Mediterranean Sea. Many submarine canyons, escarpments, seamounts, and outer...
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Article
Asexual reproduction in bad times? The case of Cladocora caespitosa in the eastern Mediterranean Sea
We analysed the patterns of genetic variability of eastern Mediterranean populations of the scleractinian coral Cladocora caespitosa, from the Aegean and Levantine seas, using 19 polymorphic microsatellite loci, ...
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Article
Open AccessChaotic genetic structure and past demographic expansion of the invasive gastropod Tritia neritea in its native range, the Mediterranean Sea
To better predict population evolution of invasive species in introduced areas it is critical to identify and understand the mechanisms driving genetic diversity and structure in their native range. Here, we c...
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Article
Open AccessA unique and threatened deep water coral-bivalve biotope new to the Mediterranean Sea offshore the Naples megalopolis
The Gulf of Naples is an example of the most beautiful and biodiverse marine regions of the Mediterranean Sea and of the most impacted areas in terms of industrial activities, large contaminated areas, resourc...
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Malta’s Submerged Landscapes and Landforms
The application of acoustic techniques, such as , has permitted the identification of Maltese submarine landscapes and landforms that were progressively inundated during the postglacial . Remarkably, geomorp...
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13 Changing Views About Mediterranean Cold-Water Corals
Sedimentary deposits in southern Italy are renowned since the nineteenth century for their important legacy of deep-water benthic invertebrates, comprehensive of cold-water corals, which includes a number of e...
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9 Spatio-Temporal Distribution of Mediterranean Cold-Water Corals
Cold-water corals have inhabited the Mediterranean basin since at least the Miocene, undergoing important modifications through time. Most information regarding pre-Pleistocene occurrences of extant cold-water...
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38 Cold-Water Coral in Aquaria: Advances and Challenges. A Focus on the Mediterranean
Knowledge on basic biological functions of organisms is essential to understand not only the role they play in the ecosystems but also to manage and protect their populations. The study of biological processes...
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11 Mediterranean Cold-Water Corals as Paleoclimate Archives
Scleractinian cold-water corals preserve in their aragonite skeleton information on the past changes of the physico-chemical properties of the seawater in which they grew. Such information is stored as geochem...
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Mollusc Fauna Associated with Late Pleistocene Coral Reef Systems of the Saudi Arabian Side of the Gulf of Aqaba
The Saudi Arabian eastern side of the Gulf of Aqaba has been recently explored all along its length, and the main Pleistocene coral reef outcrops identified and sampled for macrofossils. Terraces ascribable to...
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2 Paleoecology of Mediterranean Cold-Water Corals
Atlantic-type scleractinian cold-water corals occur in the Quaternary of the Mediterranean basin. Most fossil evidence on-land is Early Pleistocene in age, and occurs in peninsular Italy, Sicily and on some Gr...
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19 Occurrence and Biogeography of Mediterranean Cold-Water Corals
The term cold-water coral sensu lato groups taxa with a more or less pronounced frame-building ability (e.g. Lophelia pertusa and Madrepora oculata) with forest-forming organisms both on hard (e.g. Leiopathes gla...
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Chapter
Neotectonics of the Red Sea, Gulf of Suez and Gulf of Aqaba
The Red Sea, Gulf of Suez, and Gulf of Aqaba comprise the active plate boundaries that separate Africa-Nubia, Arabia and Sinai. This tripartite configuration has been in existence since the Middle Miocene, or ...
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4 A Turbulent Story: Mediterranean Contourites and Cold-Water Corals
Dynamic bottom current regimes govern cold-water corals as well as contourites. We provide an overview of the general aspects of both research fields, with specific attention to the Mediterranean Sea region, w...
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29 Cold-Water Coral Associated Fauna in the Mediterranean Sea and Adjacent Areas
Cold-water corals are recognised as a key component of Mediterranean deep-sea ecosystems but the knowledge of their associated biodiversity is still limited. To date, the fauna associated to the Central Medite...
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Pleistocene Coral Reef Terraces on the Saudi Arabian Side of the Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea
A major geomorphic feature of the coastal Red Sea region is represented by Pleistocene raised marine terraces that occur on both sides of the Gulf of Aqaba. Those bordering the Saudi Arabian sector have receiv...
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16 Cold-Water Coral Habitat Map** in the Mediterranean Sea: Methodologies and Perspectives
The marine scientific community developed new habitat map** procedures that proved to be effective to map seafloor habitats in a holistic manner, thus refining our knowledge of benthic sea life. Several work...
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Article
Open AccessPaleochannel and beach-bar palimpsest topography as initial substrate for coralligenous buildups offshore Venice, Italy
We provide a model for the genesis of Holocene coralligenous buildups occurring in the northwestern Adriatic Sea offshore Venice at 17–24 m depth. High-resolution geophysical surveys and underwater SCUBA divin...
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Article
Open AccessMerging scleractinian genera: the overwhelming genetic similarity between solitary Desmophyllum and colonial Lophelia
In recent years, several types of molecular markers and new microscale skeletal characters have shown potential as powerful tools for phylogenetic reconstructions and higher-level taxonomy of scleractinian cor...
