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Type: 
Journal
Description: 
This is the first study exploring skeletal mechanical properties in temperate corals. The variation of skeletal mechanical properties with distance from the aboral pole, coral age, and population was investigated in the corals Balanophyllia europaea (zooxanthellate) and Leptopsammia pruvoti (non-zooxanthellate), collected at three sites along a wide latitudinal gradient. Mechanical properties were measured by nanoindentation, a technique applied here in detail for the first time to a scleractinian. In both species, a reduction of Young’s modulus was observed toward the oral pole, which is the youngest part of the skeleton. Skeletons of B. europaea increased their Young’s modulus with age, unlike L. pruvoti. Only the zooxanthellate species showed reduced Young’s modulus in southern populations, coherently with the observed reduced skeletal bulk density and porosity with SST (decreasing latitude) in B …
Publisher: 
Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Publication date: 
1 Mar 2015
Authors: 

S Goffredo, A Mancuso, E Caroselli, F Prada, Z Dubinsky, G Falini, O Levy, P Fantazzini, L Pasquini

Biblio References: 
Volume: 34 Issue: 1 Pages: 121-132
Origin: 
Coral Reefs