The Cnidaria, Past, Present and Future The World of Medusa and Her Sisters

About this book

The Cnidaria, Past, Present and Future presents a broad panorama of the current status of research of invertebrate animals considered belonging to the phylum Cnidaria, such as hydra, jellyfish, sea anemone, and coral. In this book the Cnidarians are traced from the Earth's primordial oceans, to their response to the warming and acidifying oceans. Due to the role of corals in the carbon and calcium cycles, various aspects of cnidarian calcification are discussed. The relation of the Cnidaria with Mankind is approached, in accordance with the Editors' philosophy of bridging the artificial schism between science, arts and Humanities. Cnidarians' encounters with humans result in a broad spectrum of medical emergencies that are reviewed. The final section of The Cnidaria, Past, Present and Future is devoted to the role of Hydra and Medusa in mythology and art.

Contents

Part 1 Genesis, Evolution, and Systematics
1. Emergence and evolution of early life in the geological environment
2. Integrated evolution of cnidarians and oceanic geochemistry before and during the Cambrian explosion
3. Origin and early diversification of phylum Cnidaria: key macrofossils from the Ediacaran system of North and South America
4 The new systematics of Scleractinia: integrating molecular and morphological evidence
5 Ceriantharia in current systematics: life cycles, morphology and genetics
6 Origin and evolution of the nervous system considered from the diffuse nervous system of cnidarians

Part 2 Zoogeography
7 Zoogeography of Hydrozoa: past, present and a look to the future
8 Diversity and distribution of Octocorallia
9 Diversity and distribution of Actiniaria
10 Cnidarian alien species in expansion

Part 3 Calcification
11 Calcification in the Cnidaria through time: an overview of their skeletal patterns from individual to evolutionary viewpoints
12 A non-traditional stable isotope perspective on coral calcification
13 Influences of coral intra-skeletal organic matrix on calcium carbonate precipitation
14 From molecules to morphologies, a multiscale modeling approach to unravel the complex system of coral calcification

Part 4 Reproduction and Population Ecology
15 Reproduction of sea anemones and other hexacorals
16 Sexual reproduction in stony corals and insight into the evolution of oogenesis in Cnidaria
17 Sexual reproduction of Mediterranean scleractinian corals
18 Brooding corals: planulation patterns, larval behavior, and recruitment dynamics in the face of environmental change
19 Larval dispersal and population connectivity in anthozoans
20 Population dynamics of temperate corals in a changing climate

Part 5 Symbiosis
21 Microbial interactions on coral surfaces and within the coral holobiont
22 Association of coral-microbes, and the ecological roles of microbial symbionts in corals
23 From one to many: the population genetics of cnidarian-Symbiodinium symbioses
24 General ecological aspects of the Anthozoa -Symbiodinium interactions in the Mediterranean Sea
25 Cnidarians and their polychaete symbionts
26 Cassiopea and its zooxanthellae
27 Sea anemones and anemonefish: a match made in heaven

Part 6 Immune system
28 Cnidarian immunity: from genomes to phenomes

Part 7 Photobiology and Circadian Clock
29 Corals and light: from energy source to deadly threat
30 The photobiology of Symbiodinium spp.: linking physiological diversity to the implications of stress and resilience
31 Current understanding of the circadian clock within Cnidaria

Part 8 Global Climate Change
32 Survey of cnidarian gene expression profiles in response to environmental stressors; summarizing 20 years of research, where are we heading for?
33 Thermal-stress response of coral communities to climate change
34 Ecological and evolutionary considerations regarding corals in a rapidly changing environment
35 The impact of climate change and the environment on coral growth
36 Cold-water corals in an era of rapid global change: are these the deep ocean's most vulnerable ecosystems?

Part 9 Medical Aspects and Applications
37 Unusual cnidarian envenomations
38 Envenomation by cnidarians and renal injuries
39 Cubozoan envenomations: clinical features, pathophysiology and management
40 The role of Cnidaria in drug discovery
41 How venom from the magnificent sea anemone, Heteractis magnifica, kills breast and lung cancer cells
42 Leveraging nematocysts toward human care
43 Coral scaffolds in bone tissue engineering and bone regeneration

Part 10 Management and Conservation
44 Population genetic structure of Corallium rubrum in the Mediterranean Sea: diversity, phylogeography, and bathymetric patterns
45 Molecular forensics into the sea: how molecular markers can help to struggle against poaching and illegal trade in precious corals?
46 Advances in management of precious corals to address unsustainable and destructive harvest techniques
47 Conservation and restoration of coral reefs under climate change: strategies and practice

Part 11 In Myth and Art
48 The myth of the Lernaean Hydra
49 The myth of Medusa: Benvenuto Cellini and the Loggia de Lanzi in Florence
50 Medusa and Perseus, and the relationship between myth and science
51 Beheading the Gorgon: myth, symbolism and appropriation

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Biography

Dr. Stefano Goffredo is consolidating his career. His scientific initiative promises to lead marine biology towards integrative interdisciplinary syntheses. By extensive collaborations with leaders in different fields, such as physics, chemistry, computational science and photobiology SG developed multidisciplinary methodologies attacking the questions identified by his field studies with novel laboratory tools. In his research, SG has developed original aspects in the interpretation of growth and population data, population dynamics, reproductive biology and conservation monitoring. Recently, he has expanded his interests to the biomineralization in relation to environmental parameters.

Prof. Emeritus Zvy Dubinsky of the Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences studies the response of the photosynthetic apparatus of microalgae to the intensity and spectral composition of underwater irradiance and nutrient concentration. Dubinsky and his team focus on three systems – Phytoplankton in the Red Sea, the Mediterranean and Lake Kinneret; Zooxanthellae living as endosymbionts in reef building corals; and algal mass cultures for the production of biodiesel and fine chemicals.