Fast growth rate in a young colony of the Mediterranean gorgonian Eunicella singularis

Abstract

Gorgonian corals are generally slow-growing and long-lived organisms, which can act as structural species in benthic ecosystems ranging from tropical to polar regions. Slow gorgonian growth (up to 2.3 cm year−1) is particularly evident in deep and polar species (Risk et al. 2002; Martinez-Dios et al. 2016 and references therein), but it has also been reported (up to 2.7 cm year−1) in temperate species (Coma et al. 1998 and references therein). Conversely, growth rates are generally higher (up to 9.3 cm year−1) in tropical shallow-water species (Yoshioka and Yoshioka 1991). [...]