Review Lecture - Living corals

1968; Royal Society; Volume: 169; Issue: 1017 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1098/rspb.1968.0014

ISSN

2053-9193

Autores

C. M. Yonge,

Tópico(s)

Coral and Marine Ecosystems Studies

Resumo

Coral reefs have a dramatic impact owing to their frequent vast extent; above sea level they may form the basis of inhabited islands while below the surface they constitute major hazards to navigation. Perhaps for this reason the precise nature of the animals primarily responsible for their creation tends to be overlooked. Literature on the ‘coral reef problem a matter of primarily geological and geographical concern, is far greater than that on corals themselves. It is as though these animals have become buried under the vast mass of the skeletons they secrete, of the calcium carbonate they extract from the sea to convert into aragonite. Perhaps even the beauty of living coral colonies distracts from consideration of the animal itself. In the hope of in some measure correcting the balance, this lecture is concerned solely with the animal, in particular with the functional aspects of structure together with development and ecology, all viewed from a broadly evolutionary standpoint.

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