Two research teams have discovered independently that soft corals make a class of molecules called terpenes. Scientists had previously believed that these natural products were made by symbiotic ...

On occasion, it is of vital importance to consider how little we know about the spinning rock we all live on. Take coral reefs, for example. Given how much they've been studied, you'd think we've ...

Scleractinian corals, or hard corals, have been disappearing globally over the past four decades, a result of climate change, pollution, unsustainable coastal development and overfishing. However, ...

A joint study by Tel Aviv University and the University of Haifa set out to solve a scientific mystery: how a soft coral is able to perform the rhythmic, pulsating movements of its tentacles without a ...

The chemical investigation of bioactive metabolites from soft corals has revealed a remarkable diversity of secondary metabolites, notably terpenoids such as cembrane diterpenes, sesquiterpenes and ...

For 25 years, researchers have been searching for the source of a natural chemical that had shown promise in initial studies for treating cancer. Now, researchers at the University of Utah (U of U) ...

Picture in your mind snorkeling along the base of a tall cliff that drops straight down into the sea and on into the deep blue. You look down and on that cliff below you are growing what look like ...

When we think of Australia’s threatened corals, the Great Barrier Reef probably springs to mind. But elsewhere, coral species are also struggling – including a rare type known as “cauliflower soft ...

SYDNEY, June 16 (Reuters) - Australian scientists have come up with a model that will help researchers quickly identify soft corals most vulnerable to bleaching from marine heatwaves, helping ...

During a two-year survey of soft corals in the Florida Keys, scientists identified three species of octocorals that have survived heat waves. While the coral animal itself may be heat tolerant, ...

An international team of scientists have completed the world’s second and largest survey of soft corals, using more than 4,400 museum specimens collected over the past two decades. Their results ...