. Ecological animal geography; an authorized, rewritten edition based on Tiergeographie auf ockologischer grundlage. Zoogeography -- Geographical distribution; Animal ecology. 216 MARINE ANIMALS scatter in all directions. As if there were not enough natural hollows, a whole series of forms bore into the coral. The examination of a soli- tary madrepore, located at a distance from the reef on sand bottom, shows how attractive it is to other animals. The whole animal popula- tion of the surrounding area will be concentrated on and in it, and life abounds there in the midst of an otherwise impover
. Ecological animal geography; an authorized, rewritten edition based on Tiergeographie auf ockologischer grundlage. Zoogeography -- Geographical distribution; Animal ecology. 216 MARINE ANIMALS scatter in all directions. As if there were not enough natural hollows, a whole series of forms bore into the coral. The examination of a soli- tary madrepore, located at a distance from the reef on sand bottom, shows how attractive it is to other animals. The whole animal popula- tion of the surrounding area will be concentrated on and in it, and life abounds there in the midst of an otherwise impoverished There is scarcely a benthic group of animals not represented in the coral communities. It must suffice to emphasize the most important common characteristics. As in general on solid bottom, numerous sessile animals are present. In addition to the reef-build- ing corals, corals which merely inhabit the reef without contributing to its struc- ture are present, such as the solitary proteoid Fungia. Sea anemones are nu- merous, among them the gigantic dis- cosomatids with an oral surface , even m. {Stoichactis), in diameter. Gorgonids may be abundant, especially in the West Indian reefs; they form a special gorgonid zone, below 10 m., in the Tortugas. Sponges of all sizes occur, up to the great Neptune's cup, Poterion. The lamellibranchs are here character- ized by special thickness of shell, among them oysters, pearl oysters, and the spiny-shelled Spondylus; the gigantic Tridacna, which reaches a weight of 250 kg., is an index species of the Indo- Pacific reefs. A number of coral-boring forms are represented, such as Lithodo- mus, and others, like Coralliophaga, are grown over by coral. Nu- merous gasteropods are sessile, such as Leptoconchus, living in holes open only by a crack, obviously capable of increasing the holes as they grow. Magilus is remarkably transformed by its life in the coral; beginning as a snail with ordinary spiral shell, in cracks in the
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookcollectionbiodive, booksubjectanimalecology
