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The Octocoral Fauna of the Gulf

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Coral Reefs of the Gulf

Part of the book series: Coral Reefs of the World ((CORW,volume 3))

Abstract

Approximately 3,000 species of Octocorallia are distributed worldwide (Williams and Cairns 2005; Daly et al. 2007). New species, even genera and families, continue to be described especially from the deep-sea environment and the Indo-Pacific. A total number of 46 octocoral families (van Ofwegen and McFadden 2010) are described of which 29 (excluding sea pens) are in the order Alcyonacea; 23 are found in the warm, shallow waters of the Red Sea, Indian, and Pacific Ocean. The subclass octocorallia (Alcyonaria) has three major orders: Helioporacea (blue coral), Alcyonacea (soft corals and gorgonians) and Pennatulacea (sea pens), only the two latter have been recorded in the Persian Gulf (Samimi-Namin and van Ofwegen 2009a, b).

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Figure Credits and Acknowledgements

This chapter is part of an ongoing research about octocorals in NW Indian Ocean; all specimens figured in this chapter were collected and photographed by the authors unless indicated so in the figure legends. J van Egmond and TJGM van Oyen (NCB Naturalis) are thanked for curatorial assistance. BW Hoeksema (NCB Naturalis), P Alderslade (CSIRO, Hobart); H Rezai, H Alizadeh, V Chegini (Iranian National Institute for Oceanography) appreciated for their support to the first author. H Mostafavie (Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran) provided support for field trip in Kharku Island. SA Mohtarami generously donated the material collected from Farur to the first author. For fieldwork in Musandam, we are grateful to T Alpermann (Senckenberg, Frankfurt); SC Wilson, O Taylor, F Al-Abdali, J Hillman (Five Oceans Environmental Services LLC, Muscat); and M Claereboudt (Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat). The research at NCB Naturalis and partial field work supported by Schure-Beijerinck-Poppingfonds (KNAW); Alida Buitendijkfonds, Jan Joost ter Pelkwijkfonds, and Martin-Fellowship (NCB Naturalis). The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and Census of Marine Life are highly acknowledged for supporting this research, and in this regard N D’Adamo (UNESCO, IOC, Perth), JH Ausubel (Rockefeller University), P Miloslavich (Universidad Simón Bolívar) are greatly appreciated for their continues support and encouragement to the first author.

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  1. Netherlands Centre for Biodiversity Naturalis, 9517, 2300 RA, Leiden, The Netherlands

    Kaveh Samimi-Namin & Leen van Ofwegen

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  1. Kaveh Samimi-Namin
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  2. Leen van Ofwegen
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Correspondence to Kaveh Samimi-Namin .

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  1. , National Coral Reef Institute, Nova Southeastern University, Dania Beach, 33004, Florida, USA

    Bernhard M. Riegl

  2. , National Coral Reef Institute, Nova Southeastern University, Dania Beach, 33004, Florida, USA

    Sam J. Purkis

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Samimi-Namin, K., van Ofwegen, L. (2012). The Octocoral Fauna of the Gulf. In: Riegl, B., Purkis, S. (eds) Coral Reefs of the Gulf. Coral Reefs of the World, vol 3. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-3008-3_12

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