Growth in Colonial Scleractinians
Barnes DJ. 1973. Growth in Colonial Scleractinians. Bulletin of Marine Science. 23(2):280-297
The growth of colonial scleractinian corals involves asexual division of the tissues, and this in turn involves growth and modification of the skeleton. In certain types of colonies, the amount of skeletal growth required by asexual division of the ti~sues will vary with the size and shape of the colony. Functional aspects of colony type are discussed in relation to this requirement. Tissue growth and skeletal growth in hermatypic scleractinians are likely to be affected respectively by the availability of food and the ambient light intensity. Asexual division may thus be influenced by the relative amounts of food and light a colony receives. The manner in which these independent environmental factors may affect growth and morphology in colonial scleractinians is discussed.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Barnes, David
- Units
- SFCN
- Keywords
- Asexual Division, Coral, Light intensity, Morphology, Tissue Growth