[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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