Abstract
I HAVE read Capt. A. K. Totton's letter and also Dr. J. Verwey's recently published paper1 with the greatest interest. There can be little doubt that where reef corals grow in still water the oxygen produced by their zooxanthellæ may be of vital importance to them. Though here it must always be borne in mind that were not the zooxanthellæ present their place would be taken by a much more abundant phytoplankton continually producing oxygen in the water round about. But still water is seldom found (except during short periods of summer calms, and even then currents and up welling continue) on the outer slopes of fringing and barrier reefs or of atolls, which are the essential areas of coral growth. In the case of the last two, indeed, which rise abruptly from deep water, there is frequently an upwelling of oxygenated water from deep waters as well as the continual agitation by the surf near the surface.
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References
"The Depth of Coral Reefs in Relation to their Oxygen Consumption and the Penetration of Light in the Water", Treubia, 13, pp. 169–198.
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YONGE, C. Symbiotic Algæ of Corals. Nature 128, 760 (1931). https://doi.org/10.1038/128760b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/128760b0
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