Figure 7.

(a) thin sections of the basal part of the trunk of a specimen of Savalia savaglia without an evident gorgonian core; (b) longitudinal section of the skeleton showing its homogeneous aspect; (c) enlargement of the longitudinal section showing dense nodules spread in the skeleton; (d,e) the lamellar aspect of the organic skeleton after maceration in NaOH 2M at 45 °C for 5 days; (f) section of the trunk of a large specimen showing the presence of several stems enveloped by an external sheet of skeletal material. Scale bars: (a) 5 mm; (b) 0.5 mm; (c) 0.2 mm; (d) 0.1 mm; (e) 0.3 mm; (f) 1 cm.