The anthozoan sub-class Octocorallia, comprising approximately 3000 species of soft
corals, gorgonians, and sea pens, remains one of the most poorly understood groups of the …

Morphological modularity arises in complex living beings due to a semi‐independent
inheritance, development, and function of body parts. Modularity helps us to understand the …

Background Decapods are the most recognizable of all crustaceans and comprise a
dominant group of benthic invertebrates of the continental shelf and slope, including many …

Background Our ability to investigate processes shaping the evolutionary diversification of
corals (Cnidaria: Anthozoa) is limited by a lack of understanding of species boundaries …

Background Clonal marine organisms exhibit high levels of morphological variation.
Morphological differences may be a response to environmental factors but also they can be …

Organisms can often respond adaptively to a change in their environment through
phenotypic plasticity in multiple traits, a phenomenon termed as multivariate plasticity. These …

The diversity, ubiquity and prevalence in deep waters of the octocoral family
Chrysogorgiidae Verrill, 1883 make it noteworthy as a model system to study radiation and …

The depth-differentiation hypothesis proposes that the bathyal region is a source of genetic
diversity and an area where there is a high rate of species formation. Genetic differentiation …

Pocillopora corals, the dominant reef-builders in the Eastern Tropical Pacific, exhibit a high
level of phenotypic plasticity, making the interpretation of morphological variation and the …

Mesophotic gorgonian corals comprise a polyphyletic group of octocorals mostly with a
proteinaceous branching axial skeleton. Dense assemblages of gorgonian corals usually …