Corals
Coral references
Within each of the sections on corals we have highlighted some of the scientific literature available; click on the icons to link you to the literature online. We’ve tried to collate this information into an easy to navigate format with references sorted into broad categories. For example, ecology contains the widest series of publications including feeding, occurrence and reproduction among other areas. Taxonomy deals with the discovery and description of new species. Conservation contains information on the impact of human activities and management and conservation initiatives.
For an overview of this fast-moving field see the 2009 Cambridge University Press book ‘Cold-water Corals’ and follow the links below.
Discoveries about the biology and geology of cold-water coral ecosystems are happening at an ever increasing rate. In 2006 J. Murray Roberts, Andrew Wheeler and André Freiwald summarised these exciting developments. You can download this paper for free by following the links below.
Roberts JM, Wheeler AJ & Freiwald A (2006) “Reefs of the Deep: The Biology and Geology of Cold-Water Coral Ecosystems.” Science, 213: 543-547 Abstract Full Text PDF
- The biology, distribution and conservation status of cold-water corals are discussed in detail in the 2004 United Nations Environment Programme report “Cold-water Coral Reefs: Out of Sight – No Longer Out of Mind”.
Website
PDF Report (High quality 17mb, Low Quality 2mb) - ‘Cold-water Corals and Ecosystems’ is a compilation of research papers edited by André Freiwald and Murray Roberts. It was published by Springer in 2005.
For a more recent summary see the 2009 Cambridge University Press book by Roberts et al. ‘Cold Water Corals: The biology and Geology of Deep-Sea Coral habitats’ - The biology of Lophelia pertusa and other cold-water corals was also reviewed by A.D. Rogers in 1999 and forms an excellent place to start for in-depth data on many aspects of cold-water coral biology.
Rogers AD (1999) “The biology of Lophelia pertusa (Linnaeus 1758) and other deep- water reef-forming corals and impacts from human activities.” International Review Of Hydrobiology 84: 315-406. - In 2008 Springer-Praxis published ‘Deep-water coral reefs: Unique biodiversity hotspots’ by Martin Hovland
- In 2007 NOAA in the United States published ‘The state of deep coral ecosystems of the United States’
Lumsden SE, Hourigan TF, Bruckner AW, Dorr G (Eds.) (2007) The State of Deep Coral Ecosystems of the United States. NOA ATechnical Memorandum CRCP-3. Silver Spring MD
- Buhl-Mortensen L, Mortensen PB (2004) Gorgonophilus canadensis n. gen., sp. (Copepoda: Lamippidae), a gall forming endoparasite in the octocoral Paragorgia arborea (L., 1758) from the northwest Atlantic. Symbiosis 37: 155-168
- Buhl-Mortensen L , Mortensen PB (2004) Symbiosis in deep-water corals. Symbiosis 37: 33-61
- Frederiksen R, Jensen A, Westerberg H (1992) The Distribution of the scleractinian coral Lophelia pertusa around the Faroe Islands and the relation to internal tidal mixing. Sarsia 77: 157-171
- Freiwald A,Wilson JB, Henrich R (1999) Grounding Pleistocene icebergs shape recent deep-water coral reefs. Sedimentary Geology 125: 1-8
- Hovland M, Thomsen E (1997) Cold-water corals – are they hydrocarbon seep related? Marine Geology 137: 159-164
- Mortensen PB, Hovland M, Brattegard T, Farestveit R (1995) Deep water bioherms of the scleractinian coral Lophelia pertusa (L.) at 64° N on the Norwegian shelf: Structure and associated megafauna. Sarsia 80: 145-158
- Roberts JM (2005) Reef-aggregating behaviour by symbiotic eunicid polychaetes from cold-water corals: do worms assemble reefs? Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the UK 85: 813-819
- Wilson JB (1979) The distribution of the coral Lophelia pertusa (L.) [L. prolifera (Pallas)] in the north-east Atlantic. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 59: 149-162
- Wilson JB (1979) Patch development of the deep-water coral Lophelia pertusa (L.) on Rockall Bank. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 59: 165-177
- Cairns SD (1995) The marine fauna of New Zealand: Scleractinia (Cnidaria: Anthozoa). New Zealand Oceanographic Institute Memoir 103: 1-210
- Cairns SD (1979) The deep-water Scleractinia of the Caribbean Sea and adjacent waters. Studies on the Fauna of Curaçao 57: 1-341
- Le Goff MC, Rogers AD (2002) Characterization of 10 microsatellite loci for the deep-sea coral Lophelia pertusa (Linnaeus 1758). Molecular Ecology Notes 2: 164-166
- Le Goff-Vitry MC, Rogers AD, Baglow D (2004) A deep-sea slant on the molecular phylogeny of the Scleractinia. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 30: 167-177
- Le Goff-Vitry MC, Pybus OG, Rogers AD (2004). Genetic structure of the deep-sea coral Lophelia pertusa in the northeast Atlantic revealed by microsatellites and internal transcribed spacer sequences. Molecular Ecology 13: 537-549
- Cairns SD (1995) The marine fauna of New Zealand: Scleractinia (Cnidaria: Anthozoa). New Zealand Oceanographic Institute Memoir 103: 1-210
- Cairns SD (1979) The deep-water Scleractinia of the Caribbean Sea and adjacent waters. Studies on the Fauna of Curaçao 57: 1-341
- Le Goff MC, Rogers AD (2002) Characterization of 10 microsatellite loci for the deep-sea coral Lophelia pertusa (Linnaeus 1758). Molecular Ecology Notes 2: 164-166
- Le Goff-Vitry MC, Rogers AD, Baglow D (2004) A deep-sea slant on the molecular phylogeny of the Scleractinia. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 30: 167-177
- Le Goff-Vitry MC, Pybus OG, Rogers AD (2004). Genetic structure of the deep-sea coral Lophelia pertusa in the northeast Atlantic revealed by microsatellites and internal transcribed spacer sequences. Molecular Ecology 13: 537-549