. The Australian Museum magazine. Natural history. 260 THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM A coral pool, reconstructed from material collected at Lord Howe Island. [Photo.—G. (' Glutton. ct) which (.lestroy the most powerful works man may devise. Others prefer less turbulent waters, and thrive in the shelter of their more hardy fellows. In their living state all are more or less coloured, but they are better known to most people by their limy skeletons, bleached snowy white upon a mantel shelf. The regions where coral-reefs occur support a much greater w^ealth of life than is to be found
. The Australian Museum magazine. Natural history. 260 THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM A coral pool, reconstructed from material collected at Lord Howe Island. [Photo.—G. (' Glutton. ct) which (.lestroy the most powerful works man may devise. Others prefer less turbulent waters, and thrive in the shelter of their more hardy fellows. In their living state all are more or less coloured, but they are better known to most people by their limy skeletons, bleached snowy white upon a mantel shelf. The regions where coral-reefs occur support a much greater w^ealth of life than is to be found anywhere else. Myriads of minute organisms abound in their vicinity and form the main food supply of a host of larger animals such as crabs, shell-fish, worms and echino- derms. These in their turn are l)reyed upon by an endless variety of fishes, which teem in the holes and channels of the reef edge and patrol the neighbourhood in search of food. Such sand as occurs consists solely of the triturated remains of reef animals, and not infrequently almost every grain is a more or less eroded shell of a tiny creature called Tinoporus. This, a mere speck of jelly, lives upon seaweeds, often in such numbers as to cover them entirely. They also extract lime from the sea, and secrete it around themselves as hard star-shaped tests ; when the animals die these fall to the bottom, filling up holes and cracks between the corals and adding largely to the final solidity of the reef. Their jelly sub- stance, and that of allied and even more minute animalculae, is eagerly sought by star-fish, sea urchins, and beche-de- mer which creep among the crevices in the coral ever engulfing sand, which passes through their long intestines while the animal matter is sorted out and assimilated, A recently constructed exhibit in the Museum attempts to show some- thing of the beauty and abundance of life ujjon a coral reef. The visitor is supposed to be beneath the water, looking through the glass into a
Size: 1821px × 1372px
Photo credit: © Library Book Collection / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, booksubjectnaturalhistory, booky
