[Coral-List] The scleractinian corals: a perspective
vassil zlatarski
vzlatarski at yahoo.com
Sat Sep 15 07:07:36 EDT 2012
Dear Coral-Listers,
For collegial attention recent paper entitled "The scleractinian corals: a perspective" published in Geologica Belgica (2012), 15/4: 370-375. Kindly following the abstract.
ABSTRACT. Though scientific
interest in scleractinian corals originated in the 16th century, the
knowledge base continues to grow
and is far from complete. The
progress of the research on these organisms is represented here as an
exponential process and its history
may be divided into three
periods. In the beginning, Plant period (1576-1727), these organisms
were interpreted as plants. The Animal
period (1727-2007) brought in
their consideration as animals and includes three phases that introduce
new research approaches (phase
1: variability, microstructure,
transplantation; phase 2: multiple skeletal characters, global spatial
and temporal attention; phase 3: life
history, molecular biology). Recently, the number of sources of scleractinian knowledge has
increased to five: morphology, paleobiology, ecology, life history and molecular biology. Scleractinian corals are
no longer considered alone but as holobionts, along with their symbiotic zooxanthallae and other associated microbiota. The accumulated
multidisciplinary data and new integrative concepts urge a holistic
interpretation and have been indicating (since 2007) the commencement of the present, Holistic period. This analysis of the current status of
scleractinian knowledge provides a list of proposed directions for
future research.
Glad to assist for access.
Cheers,
Vassil
Vassil Zlatarski
D.Sc. (Biology), Ph.D. (Geology)
131 Fales Rd., Bristol, RI 02809, USA; tel.: +1-401-254-5121
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