Meeting Abstract
There is still much to be learned about seafloor ecosystems. They are delicate systems that are constantly being threatened by human activity. In order to better understand these vulnerable ecosystems we must focus on the organisms that play a key role in their health. Some such organisms are members of the subclass Octocorallia, commonly known as octocorals. Octocorals are some of the least well-understood organisms in the phylum Cnidaria. In order to achieve a better understanding of these organisms, and the role they play in seafloor ecosystems, I will examine a specific part of their structure, the solid internal axis. The actual elemental composition of the axes in various octocorals is till unknown. Examining the elemental composition of the axis in certain octocorals of the group Calcaxonia and order Pennatulacea could provide insight into the weakly supported phylogenetics of these octocorals. The elemental composition of the axes will be obtained using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS). EDS will provide an analysis of the weight percent of each element that contributes to the axis (ex. carbon 17.13%). After all the elemental composition data is collected the weight percent data can be used to compare organisms on a family level. Studying these octocorals can provide insight into the health of the seafloor ecosystem, and then by understanding the current ecosystem health we can knowledgably implicate conservation efforts for seafloor ecosystems.
