Skip to main content
Fig. 1 | BMC Evolutionary Biology

Fig. 1

From: Merging scleractinian genera: the overwhelming genetic similarity between solitary Desmophyllum and colonial Lophelia

Fig. 1

Colony and corallites of Lophelia pertusa and coralla of Desmophyllum dianthus. a. Branches of a live colony (multiple connected polyps) of L. pertusa (Moira Mounds, Porcupine Seabight, NE Atlantic; UniMiB-MM15). White arrows indicate examples of interconnected single polyps/corallites. b. Detail of the inner wall of a corallite of L. pertusa; note the holes that internally connect the soft tissues of two corallites of the same colony; these holes are missing in the wall of aggregated coralla of D. dianthus. c. Live aggregation of several solitary coralla of D. dianthus (Bari Canyon, Adriatic Sea, Mediterranean, dive 108, METEOR 70–1 cruise; sample held at Senckenberg am Meer, Germany). The skeletons of the coralla are secondarily fused, there is no connection between polyps (orange); each polyp/corallum (white arrows) results from a distinct larva settled on the parental skeleton. d-e. Calicular views of two corallites of Lophelia; at comparable sizes septa show different distribution pattern and size. f-g. Calicular views of two coralla of Desmophyllum dianthus showing high intraspecific morphological variability; d. UniMiB-SGC4, South Gulf of Cadiz; e. UniMiB-SML5, Ionian Sea, Mediterranean; f. UniMiB-SML8, Ionian Sea, Mediterranean; g. USNM 92612, Sagami Bay, Japan. Scale bars: a,c,g. 2 cm, b. 2 mm, d-f. 1 cm

Back to article page