The hidden diversity of Saudi Arabian Red Sea octocorals revealed through a morpho-molecular assessment across bathymetric and latitudinal gradients.

ABSTRACT: Octocorals, a globally distributed class of Cnidaria, inhabit a wide range of environments, from cold to tropical waters and from shallow to deep-sea ecosystems. In the Red Sea, studies on octocoral diversity have mostly been focused on the Gulf of Aqaba and selected families or genera. While these studies have revealed a remarkable richness and diversity of shallow-water species, mesophotic and deep-sea octocoral research remains limited in the region, in particular along the Saudi Arabian coast. Here, we provide a first comprehensive assessment of this group's genetic diversity across the basin's bathymetric and latitudinal gradients. Following six Red Sea oceanographic expeditions and various biodiversity surveys conducted between 2020 to 2023, we analysed a collection of 728 octocoral

SUBMITTER: Macrina L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12480879 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature