This volume presents a broad panorama of the current status of research of invertebrate animals considered belonging to the phylum Cnidaria, such as hydra, jellyfish, sea anemone, and coral. In this book the Cnidarians are traced from the Earth’s primordial oceans, to their response to the warming and acidifying oceans. Due to the role of corals in the carbon and calcium cycles, various aspects of cnidarian calcification are discussed. The relation of the Cnidaria with Mankind is approached, in accordance with the Editors’ philosophy of bridging the artificial schism between science, arts and Humanities. Cnidarians' encounters with humans result in a broad spectrum of medical emergencies that are reviewed. The final section of the volume is devoted to the role of Hydra and Medusa in mythology and art..

Emergence and Evolution of Early Life in the Geological Environment....Pages 3-13 Integrated Evolution of Cnidarians and Oceanic Geochemistry Before and During the Cambrian Explosion....Pages 15-29 Origin and Early Diversification of Phylum Cnidaria: Key Macrofossils from the Ediacaran System of North and South America....Pages 31-40 The New Systematics of Scleractinia: Integrating Molecular and Morphological Evidence....Pages 41-59 Ceriantharia in Current Systematics: Life Cycles, Morphology and Genetics....Pages 61-72 Origin and Evolution of the Nervous System Considered from the Diffuse Nervous System of Cnidarians....Pages 73-91 Front Matter....Pages 93-93 Zoogeography of Hydrozoa: Past, Present and a Look to the Future....Pages 95-107 Diversity and Distribution of Octocorallia....Pages 109-123 Diversity and Distribution of Actiniaria....Pages 125-138 Cnidarian Alien Species in Expansion....Pages 139-160 Front Matter....Pages 161-161 Calcification in the Cnidaria Through Time: An Overview of Their Skeletal Patterns from Individual to Evolutionary Viewpoints....Pages 163-179 A Non-traditional Stable Isotope Perspective on Coral Calcification....Pages 181-205 Influences of Coral Intra-skeletal Organic Matrix on Calcium Carbonate Precipitation....Pages 207-222 From Molecules to Morphologies, a Multiscale Modeling Approach to Unravel the Complex System of Coral Calcification....Pages 223-236 Front Matter....Pages 237-237 Reproduction of Sea Anemones and Other Hexacorals....Pages 239-248 Sexual Reproduction in Stony Corals and Insight into the Evolution of Oogenesis in Cnidaria....Pages 249-268 Sexual Reproduction of Mediterranean Scleractinian Corals....Pages 269-278 Brooding Corals: Planulation Patterns, Larval Behavior, and Recruitment Dynamics in the Face of Environmental Change....Pages 279-289 Larval Dispersal and Population Connectivity in Anthozoans....Pages 291-315 Population Dynamics of Temperate Corals in a Changing Climate....Pages 317-328 Front Matter....Pages 329-329 Microbial Interactions on Coral Surfaces and Within the Coral Holobiont....Pages 331-346 Association of Coral-Microbes, and the Ecological Roles of Microbial Symbionts in Corals....Pages 347-357 From One to Many: The Population Genetics of Cnidarian-Symbiodinium Symbioses....Pages 359-373 General Ecological Aspects of Anthozoan-Symbiodinium Interactions in the Mediterranean Sea....Pages 375-386 Cnidarians and Their Polychaete Symbionts....Pages 387-413 Sea Anemones and Anemonefish: A Match Made in Heaven....Pages 415-423 Front Matter....Pages 425-438 Cnidarian Immunity: From Genomes to Phenomes....Pages 439-439 Front Matter....Pages 441-466 Corals and Light: From Energy Source to Deadly Threat....Pages 467-467 The Photobiology of Symbiodinium spp.: Linking Physiological Diversity to the Implications of Stress and Resilience....Pages 469-487 Current Understanding of the Circadian Clock Within Cnidaria....Pages 489-509 Front Matter....Pages 511-520 Survey of Cnidarian Gene Expression Profiles in Response to Environmental Stressors: Summarizing 20 Years of Research, What Are We Heading for?....Pages 521-521 Thermal-Stress Response of Coral Communities to Climate Change....Pages 523-543 Ecological and Evolutionary Considerations Regarding Corals in a Rapidly Changing Environment....Pages 545-552 The Impact of Climate Change and the Environment on Coral Growth....Pages 553-576 Cold-Water Corals in an Era of Rapid Global Change: Are These the Deep Ocean’s Most Vulnerable Ecosystems?....Pages 577-591 Front Matter....Pages 593-606 Unusual Cnidarian Envenomations....Pages 607-607 Envenomation by Cnidarians and Renal Injuries....Pages 609-622 Cubozoan Envenomations: Clinical Features, Pathophysiology and Management....Pages 623-635 The Role of Cnidaria in Drug Discovery....Pages 637-652 Front Matter....Pages 653-668 How Venom from the Magnificent Sea Anemone, Heteractis magnifica, Kills Breast and Lung Cancer Cells....Pages 607-607 Leveraging Nematocysts Toward Human Care....Pages 669-681 Coral Scaffolds in Bone Tissue Engineering and Bone Regeneration....Pages 683-690 Front Matter....Pages 691-714 Population Genetic Structure of Corallium rubrum in the Mediterranean Sea: Diversity, Phylogeography, and Bathymetric Patterns....Pages 715-715 Molecular Forensics into the Sea: How Molecular Markers Can Help to Struggle Against Poaching and Illegal Trade in Precious Corals?....Pages 717-728 Advances in Management of Precious Corals to Address Unsustainable and Destructive Harvest Techniques....Pages 729-745 Conservation and Restoration of Coral Reefs Under Climate Change: Strategies and Practice....Pages 747-786 Front Matter....Pages 787-792 The Myth of the Lernaean Hydra....Pages 793-793 The Myth of Medusa: Benvenuto Cellini and the “Loggia de’ Lanzi” in Florence....Pages 795-803 Medusa and Perseus, and the Relationship Between Myth and Science....Pages 805-814 Beheading the Gorgon: Myth, Symbolism and Appropriation....Pages 815-821 Back Matter....Pages 823-834 ....Pages 835-855