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Summary: REPORT
Modal analysis of the deep-water solitary scleractinian,
Desmophyllum dianthus, on SW Pacific seamounts: inferred
recruitment periodicity, growth, and mortality rates
R. E. Thresher · J. Adkins · N. Thiagarajan
Received: 6 January 2011 / Accepted: 19 July 2011
Ó Springer-Verlag 2011
Abstract Little is known about the demography of corals
inhabiting deep-sea features due to the logistical difficulties
of working at the extreme depths they inhabit. To obtain
basic information about growth, mortality, and recruitment
dynamics for such a coral, we applied modal analysis to the
size frequency distributions of live-caught and sub-fossil
specimens of the widely distributed solitary cup coral,
Desmophyllum dianthus, collected on SW Pacific sea-
mounts. Comparison of live-caught material collected in
1997 and 20072009 indicated modal progression over
time and an implied maximum age of approximately
190 years, which is similar to ages determined previously
for D. dianthus using radiometric techniques. A log-linear
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