Echinoderms of coral reefs. Sea lily - description, features and interesting facts Let us briefly consider the main classes of echinoderms
Coral reefs are the traditional habitat of many species of echinoderms. All young individuals of the five-pointed star are males, which, growing up, turn into females! But the multi-rayed star is a purely dioecious creature, like most echinoderms. The oldest fossil echinoderms, crinoids, which lived in the Cambrian period, were sedentary creatures with mouth openings that opened upward. Feeding on small organisms and food particles floating in the water column, they led approximately the same lifestyle as modern sea lilies.
Echinoderms reached their greatest diversity in the Ordovician and Silurian: number known to science their fossil species exceed 20 thousand. During the Cretaceous period, 300 million years ago, crinoids dominated marine life. Sedentary, fragile and delicate, at first glance, echinoderm crinoids may seem like easy prey for potential predators, but they prefer to stay away from them.
Echinoderm crinoids of coral reefs
Most sea lilies accumulate toxic substances or repellents that repel enemies in their tissues. It is no wonder that in the midst of their fan-shaped petals many small creatures find shelter - from crabs and shrimp to small fish that feed on the leftovers of the owner’s meal. One sea lily serves as a refuge for a couple of dozen “tenants”.
Reaching a diameter of 60 cm, the multi-rayed starfish, nicknamed the “crown of thorns”, feeds on the polyps of madrepore corals, causing terrible devastation in coral reefs. During the period of mass reproduction of these sea stars, Australians bred and released predatory snails on the reefs - one of the few natural enemies"crown of thorns" The widened side of the calyx with the mouth opening is facing upward, and pinnately branched rays up to 30 cm long extend from it.
The supporting skeleton of each ray consists of individual vertebrae - brachial plates, connected to each other by movable muscles. The number of rays ranges from 5 to 200, but in most species it does not exceed 10 - 20. Sea lilies are typical filter feeders. Along the ray with all its branches runs a special groove, seated with two rows of ambulacral legs.
The mucus secreted by the glandular cells of the grooves envelops small organisms and organic particles floating by, on which the animal feeds. The ambulacral legs perform only grasping, respiratory and tactile functions.
Many echinoderm crinoids, primarily deep-sea species, live sedentary lives, attached to the substrate with a stem up to 2 meters long (in some fossil species the stem length reached 20 meters). Free-living crinoids do not have a stem - they swim or crawl along the bottom with the help of their rays or are temporarily attached to the substrate by articulated roots (cirrhi), located in the lower part of the calyx.
Almost all sea lilies feed at night and hide under rocks and in niches among reefs during the day. Today, over 500 species of sea lilies are known. Most of them look the same as their distant ancestors 300 million years ago, and the largest living crinoids reach 90 cm in diameter.
The body of a starfish consists of a central disk and 5 - 20 more or less pronounced radially diverging rays. The mouth opening is on the underside of the body. The internal skeleton is formed by movably connected calcareous plates, bearing on their surface skin gills, spines, tubercles, needles, and special grasping organs - pedicellaria, which are modified needles. The main function of the pedicellaria is to cleanse the skin of dirt.
Let's watch the video - fish, echinoderm sea lilies and stars:
Echinodermata (Echinodermata), a type of marine invertebrate animal. They appeared in the Early Cambrian and reached great diversity by the end of the Paleozoic. Dimensions from a few millimeters to 1 m (rarely more - in modern species) and up to 20 m in some fossil crinoids. The body shape is varied: star-shaped, disc-shaped, spherical, heart-shaped, cup-shaped, worm-shaped or flower-shaped. About 10,000 fossil species and about 6,300 modern ones are known. Of the 20 known classes, 5 have survived to this day, belonging to subphyla: crinozoans (sessile forms, oriented with the mouth upward, with the only class crinoids), echinozoans (combines sea urchins and holothurians) and asterozoans (includes starfish and brittle stars). According to another classification, representatives of the last 2 subtypes are combined into the subtype Eleutherose.
All modern echinoderms are characterized by the presence of an ambulacral system and pentaradial symmetry; the latter extends in many cases to the outline of the body, the location of individual organs (nervous and circulatory system) and skeletal details. Deviations from pentaradial symmetry in modern echinoderms (for example, in holothurians) are a secondary phenomenon; at the same time, the homalazoans of the early Paleozoic were initially devoid of radial symmetry.
In most modern species, the mouth is located in the center of the body (on the oral side), and the anus is at the opposite pole (on the aboral side). The intestine is poorly differentiated, has the shape of a long narrow tube, spirally twisting clockwise, or sac-like; in some groups it is secondarily blindly closed. There are no digestive glands. The circulatory system consists of a perioral annular vessel and radial canals extending from it without their own walls - a system of lacunae. There is no gas exchange in this system; it serves to transport nutrients from the intestines to all parts of the body. Weak blood movement occurs due to the pulsation of the heart - a plexus of blood vessels surrounded by epithelial-muscular tissue. The function of the respiratory organs is performed by the ambulacral legs, the posterior part of the intestine and other formations. Excretion products are removed by coelomocytes, ambulacral legs and through thin-walled areas of the body.
The nervous system is primitive, without pronounced think tank. It consists of 3 rings, from each of which there are 5 radial nerves that do not have direct contact with each other. Thus, we can talk about the presence of three nervous systems in echinoderms. In accordance with this, they distinguish ectoneural (dominant, predominantly sensory, located on the oral side in the integumentary epithelium), hyponeural (controls the motility of skeletal muscles, connective tissue cells and is located in the middle layer) and aboral (controls motor function, predominates in crinoids, weakly developed in other echinoderms) systems. Echinoderms are dioecious (rarely hermaphrodites). The ducts of the reproductive glands open outward. Fertilization is mainly external. During metamorphosis, the swimming larva is transformed from a bilaterally symmetrical one into a radially symmetrical adult animal.
Lit.: Beklemishev V.N. Fundamentals of comparative anatomy of invertebrates. M., 1964. T. 1-2; Invertebrates: a new generalized approach. M., 1992.
S. V. Rozhnov, A. V. Chesunov.
Invertebrates include animals lacking an axial skeleton. A bunch of the most beautiful inhabitants seas - corals, sea anemones, crustaceans - these are invertebrates, and a considerable part of fans of this species buy an aquarium because of them. Invertebrates are much more sensitive to water quality than fish, which means they will require more sophisticated equipment to maintain. It is important to remember that copper-based fish treatments are harmful to most invertebrates.
Corals
The most famous inhabitants of tropical seas and oceans among invertebrates, striking with their bright colors and bizarre shapes. The body of most corals contains symbiotic organisms - zooxanthellae, which often determine the color of the coral. Zooxanthellae are unicellular algae that synthesize organic compounds and oxygen for the coral, therefore for keeping corals in aquariums great value has the right type of lighting. The skeleton of corals may consist of either calcium or other horn-like structures. To build it, different types of corals need many trace elements, such as strontium, magnesium, iodine, etc. The key to successful maintenance is knowledge and constant monitoring of the presence of microelements. Corals are colonial organisms, each individual element of which is called a polyp and is connected to others.
Madrepore corals
They have a calcium skeleton and are reef-building corals. Over millions of years of existence, madrepore corals have worked hard on the appearance of the old Earth. The most sensitive aquarium organisms requiring ideal quality and chemical composition water. Therefore, by the time madrepore corals are placed in an aquarium, the environment in the latter must be absolutely stable. In addition, this type of coral does not accept proximity to a large number of fish. Individual polyps in different species can vary in size from 1-2 mm to 20 cm in diameter. Madrepore corals have chemicals protection (“burn”) and can wage real “wars” with each other, therefore, when moving into an aquarium, it is worth calculating in advance the availability of free space between the corals, taking into account their future growth.
Tube corals
They come in different colors, the polyps are small - up to 1.5 cm, and in the colony they are interconnected, forming large swaying surfaces. Some - such as tubipora - have a tubular skeleton like a honeycomb, into which they can retract when danger arises. Other species have no skeleton at all.
Soft corals
The skeleton is represented by separate internal needles, due to which these corals can significantly change their volume depending on conditions. As a rule, they are highly branched and look like small underwater trees. Different species have different dependence on light, but it is easier to keep light-loving species in aquariums, since they do not need additional live food.
The most suitable for “beginner lovers” of corals. They have a dense structure and consist of small polyps that can “retract” or “extend”. At good conditions content and sufficient quantity essential microelements can grow in size very quickly.
Horn corals
Just like soft corals, they are popular because of their relative unpretentiousness, fast growth and spectacular appearance.
Anemones (anemones)
Unlike corals, they consist of only one polyp, do not have a rigid skeleton and are filled with water. They are interesting due to the large “selection” of colors and sizes, as well as various types of “stinging” tentacles, with which you need to be especially careful. Sea anemones are excellent eaters of captured food, and many of them live in symbiosis with clown fish. The latter feed, clean and protect “their” sea anemone, in return receiving an underwater “home” protected from predators. It should also be noted that the sea anemone can actively move around the aquarium, causing inconvenience to other invertebrates. You need to especially carefully monitor the location of the pumps in the aquarium - there are often cases when sea anemone is “sucked” into the pumps and “grinded” into fine dust.
Disc anemones and zooanthids
As a rule, they live in large groups, reproduce well in captivity and are not too whimsical.
Crustaceans
There are about 40 thousand species of crustaceans in nature, but only relatively few are suitable for keeping in an aquarium. Crustaceans are chosen not only for their unusual shape and color, but also for their “sanitary” features - they usually utilize leftover food. All crustaceans molt regularly, shedding their exoskeleton (shell), and the empty shell looks so impressively like a living crustacean that some mistake this moment for the death of the animal. Large crustaceans can lead a predatory lifestyle and be dangerous for small fish. On the other hand, many small shrimp and hermit crabs will be useful even in a reef aquarium.
Echinoderms
Echinoderms include such well-known inhabitants of the sea as starfish, sea urchins, as well as lesser-known brittle stars, sea cucumbers and sea lilies. Many sea stars are predators and can harm or eat corals. Many starfish regenerate well, that is, they restore own body even with significant damage. So, for some of them, a new starfish grows over time from each “torn off” ray. In turn, many of another popular class of echinoderms - sea urchins - feed on fouling and algae, although some do not disdain coral polyps. Depending on the species, their needles may have different lengths and shape. It should be remembered that the injections of some hedgehogs - for example, diatoms - are extremely painful, while other representatives are completely poisonous. But sea cucumbers are so named because they really resemble large cucumbers, with tentacles at one end of the body that filter food. When keeping sea cucumbers, you need to pay attention to the fact that in the event of danger, some species release toxic substances into the water, which in the confined space of an aquarium is destructive for all its inhabitants.
Shellfish
This is a very numerous (about 120 thousand species) and diverse group of animals. Many bivalves are suitable for keeping in an aquarium, the most popular being Tridacna species. Nutrition bivalves occurs due to water filtration; in addition, the bodies of many of them, like corals, contain zooxanthellae. Gastropods, as a rule, are not very popular, since in addition to plant fouling they can cause harm to corals by eating them. But with live rocks, as a rule, small species enter the aquarium, eating fouling and - which is very useful for the aquarium environment - decay products. Mollusks also include cephalopods, such as cuttlefish and octopuses. Keeping the latter is also possible in marine aquariums, but it is quite complicated by the peculiarities of their diet - cuttlefish and octopuses can destroy all living organisms in the aquarium, so they need a separate microcosm.
Worms
Among all the earthly diversity of worms, the aquarium is mainly of sessile polychaete worms. They typically live in tubes of mucus or a horn-like substance from which protrudes a corolla of brightly colored tentacles. With them the worm filters water and receives food. Representatives of other groups of worms can also be observed in aquariums - on live rocks and in the ground. They are often additional and natural food for fish.
Kingdom: Animalia, Zoobiota = Animals
- Class: Asteroidea de Blainville, 1830 = Starfish
- Class: Crinoidea = Sea lilies
- Class: Echinoidea = Sea urchins
- Class: Holothurioidea = Sea cucumbers
- Class: Ophiuroidea Gray, 1840 = Brittle stars, darters
Phylum: Echinodermata = Echinodermata
- Read: Type Echinoderms * Poisonous Echinoderms
- Crown of thorns starfish * Slow moving starfish
Echinodermata (Echinodermata) are a phylum of marine benthic animals, which currently includes five modern classes, including starfish, sea urchins, holothurians, etc. Listed below are the five modern classes of the phylum Echinodermata, which are classified into three subphyla . It should be borne in mind that there are apparently much more extinct classes.
Subphylum Crinozoa or Pelmatozoa
Class: Sea lilies = Crinoidea
Subphylum Asterozoa
Class: Starfish = Asteroidea
Class: Brittle stars or darters = Ophiuroidea
Subphylum Echinozoa
Class: Sea urchins = Echinoidea
Class: Holothurians or sea cucumbers = Holothuroidea
Representatives of the phylum Echinodermata appearance They are not similar to any other animals and are characterized by the fact that adults have radial (beam) symmetry, but their larvae have bilateral symmetry. That is why radial symmetry for representatives of the echinoderm type is secondary acquired, in contrast to some other primitive animals that also have radial symmetry, in which such symmetry is primary. In the process of individual development, when the larva begins to transform into an adult animal, the left side of its body begins to grow intensively at the expense of the right, which as a result of such disproportionate growth is completely absorbed. And the new body that develops from the left side of the larva is divided into five parts. They are symmetrically located around the axis of the body giving a radial radial symmetry. Along with this, many species of echinoderms have a spherical or disc-shaped shape, while their symmetry is not immediately apparent, while in some other groups of species the body rays continue to branch, resulting in a complex tree-like body structure.
Echinoderms, in addition to the unusual symmetry of the body, are characterized by the presence of a dermal calcareous skeleton, the intensive development of which develops, especially in sea urchins, into external appendages of various structures, such as spines, spines or pedicellariae. Echinoderms are the owners of a completely unique system for the entire animal kingdom - the ambulacral system. It consists of many small legs that are controlled by the hydraulic pressure of the internal fluids of the body and therefore can move in different directions. The ambulacral system performs numerous functions for the body of echinoderms, and primarily motor functions: on the one hand, moving the animal itself in space, and on the other, transporting food particles to their mouth opening in sessile species.
The sensory organs of echinoderms are quite diverse, but primitive in structure. They are represented by various sensory cells that are diffusely distributed throughout the body and perform the functions of touch, vision and chemical sense. In most echinoderms, light-sensitive cells are distributed throughout the body, but in some species these cells can be concentrated in special organs of vision - the ocelli. The nervous system of echinoderms is very primitive, and it consists of a perioral nerve ring and radial nerve cords located in the skin epithelium.
Paleontological evidence suggests that echinoderms arose back in the Precambrian era. And in the early Paleozoic there were, according to some estimates, about 20 different classes, most of which have now become extinct. At the same time, the echinoderms that exist in our time are quite prosperous animals, and there are about 6-7 thousand species of them in the modern fauna.
If the sizes of some extinct species of echinoderms were up to 20 m, then the sizes of modern species range from a few millimeters in length (diameter) to a meter. The body shape can be stellate, spherical, disc-shaped, barrel-shaped, heart-shaped and even worm-shaped, and in echinoderms such as sea lilies it more closely resembles a flower. Despite all the diversity of forms, all echinoderms have pentaradial symmetry at one or another stage of life, and this despite the fact that some species, as a result of individual development, already acquire bilateral symmetry for the second time.
The development of echinoderms necessarily involves the stage of a free-swimming larva followed by its metamorphosis. Some species are capable of bearing embryos until the formation of juveniles. Although most species of echinoderms are dioecious organisms, few of them are hermaphrodites. Fertilization in echinoderms is usually external, since they sweep the reproductive products into the water.
Echinoderms are exclusively marine animals that live on the bottom from the littoral zone to almost extreme depths. They practically cannot tolerate noticeable changes in water salinity, since echinoderms are not capable of regulating the salt composition of body fluids. Moreover, at great depths, echinoderms, mainly holothurians, are the dominant group of benthic animals. By type of feeding, many species of echinoderms are detritivores, but among them there are also polyphags, such as many brittle stars, and predators, such as most starfish, and herbivores, such as many sea urchins.
The coral reef is home to a variety of crustaceans, from small crabs hiding between the coral branches to huge lobsters. Most reef crustaceans have a bright color, which serves as reliable camouflage for them in their colorful coral world.
The body shape of the lobster somewhat resembles crayfish, however, it is devoid of claws - all legs end in claws. An animal 40 - 50 centimeters long is not uncommon, but it seems even larger thanks to the stiff whiskers with thick bases sticking out forward. The lobster moves along the bottom, slowly moving its legs, and in case of danger, it quickly swims backwards, scooping up water under itself with its powerful tail fin. During the day, lobsters hide under overhanging slabs of coral, in niches and tunnels of the reef. Sometimes the tips of the whiskers stick out from under the shelter. When trying to pull a lobster out of its shelter by its whiskers, the latter can be pulled out, but it is impossible to get the crayfish itself in this way. If a disturbed animal fails to escape, it rests firmly against the walls of its premises. Experienced hunters behind the lobsters, having noticed the victim, they try to find at least a small hole in the back wall of the shelter, through which they insert a sharp stick. By lightly pricking the lobster from behind, they force the huge crustacean to leave the saving thickets of corals and go out into clean water. When leaving the shelter, the lobster is grabbed by the cephalothorax shell, while being careful of the blows of its powerful tail, along the edges of which there are sharp spines.
An even more ingenious way of catching lobsters is somewhat reminiscent of hunting burrowing animals with a dachshund, only in this underwater hunting the role of the dog is played by an octopus. As is known, this cephalopod- a natural enemy of crustaceans, and therefore the lobster avoids meeting it by all means. The octopus does not require special training, especially since it is apparently impossible. For a successful hunt, it is enough to catch an octopus and show it to the lobster, or, by attaching an octopus with a hook to a rope, let it into the crayfish’s refuge. As a rule, the lobster immediately jumps out and falls into the hands of the catcher, unless, of course, the latter does not gape, since the escape of the lobster is always rapid.
The lobster feeds on animal food, mainly mollusks, and goes hunting at night. However, in its shelters on the reef, it obtains food for itself during the daytime. Lobsters, as large predatory animals, are never numerous, and therefore their fishing is limited. Due to their high taste, their meat is widely considered a delicacy. The caught lobsters are delivered live to consumers. Owners of seaside restaurants tropical countries they willingly purchase lobsters and keep them in cages lowered directly into the sea, where restaurant visitors can choose any one for dinner.
Not a single coral reef is complete without hermit crabs, and here, like most other reef animals, they are brightly and colorfully colored.
The abundance of gastropods provides hermits with a free choice of shells that are suitable in shape and size. Here you can see red hermits with white speckles, black and white, bluish, and green hermits. Some reach significant sizes and settle in the shells of such large mollusks as the marbled turbo. The heavy shells of Trochus also do not remain empty after the death of the mollusk. They are inhabited by hermits with a long, almost worm-like body, which only thanks to this shape can be placed in the narrow passages of the trochus spiral. The small and frail hermit hardly carries the heavy shell, but his efforts pay off in the strength of the shelter. Even in the shells of cones, special species of hermits live, whose body is leaf-shaped, as if flattened in the dorsal-ventral direction. And the limbs and claws of such a hermit crab are also flat. As elsewhere, hermits feed on a variety of plant and animal foods, not disdaining decaying substances, which are especially abundant on reefs polluted by human economic activity. It is safe to say that a large number of small hermits - sure sign that the reef is in poor condition.
Small crabs, green, pink, black, brown, live inside the coral bushes. Each type of coral has its own set of crabs, blending in color with the bush that gives them shelter. Between the corals, clinging, they make their way more large crabs the size of a chicken egg or slightly larger. Their shells are thick, their legs are short with strong claws and powerful claws. Even a strong surf does not wash such a crab off the reef. The color of coral crabs is usually brown or reddish; Athergatis has a delicate pattern of thin white lines on its back; Erythia has large red eyes; the surface of the carapace and claws of the actei crab is covered with many tubercles.
When in danger, all crabs hide in crevices and climb into narrow spaces between coral branches. Resting their thick legs against the walls of the shelter, they are firmly held there. To get such a crab for collection, you have to chip away at hard limestone with a hammer and chisel. If there are no extra backups inside, it's pretty easy to catch him. It is much more difficult to grab the flat, fast-swimming crab Thalamita, which never tries to climb into a crack, and if pursued, flees. It swims with the help of flattened paddle-shaped hind legs.
On the outer slope of the reef ridge, among thickets of branched corals, like giant tropical flowers, sit amazing echinoderms, which are called sea lilies. Five pairs of delicate feathery hands sway slowly in the clear water. Small body sea lily, located in the center of the “flower”, is almost invisible. Numerous wriggling attachment tendrils, covered with hands on top, cling to the coral. The size of the animal in its armspan is approximately the size of a tea saucer, the color is predominantly dark: cherry, black or dark green; some species are colored lemon yellow or yellow and black. The outstretched arms of the sea lily serve to catch food - small planktonic organisms and detritus particles. The mouth opening is located in the center of the body and faces upward.
Sea lilies are inactive. Clinging with their antennae to the irregularities of the corals, they slowly move along the reef, and when they break away from it, they swim gracefully, waving their feathery arms. Despite its immobility and harmlessness, it is very difficult to obtain a good specimen of a lily for a collection, since at the slightest touch it breaks off the tips of its arms. Self-mutilation is a characteristic defensive reaction of these echinoderms. When attacked, they sacrifice one or more arms just to remain unharmed; the missing organ soon grows back.
When working on the reef, especially if the body is not protected by thick overalls, you need to be careful not to get stuck on the thin long spines of the sea urchin tiara. The apple-sized black body of this hedgehog hides in a crevice or under an overhanging colony of coral, and bunches of tiny needles stick out. When examining a needle under a microscope, you can see that its entire surface is dotted with tiny sharp teeth directed backwards. The diadem's needle, as hard as a wire, easily pierces the skin and breaks off there (it is, after all, calcareous). Whenever you try to pull the needle out of the wound, it only goes deeper into the body. There is a through channel inside the needle, and through it a toxic liquid enters the wound, causing severe pain.
Some reef inhabitants use the space between the needles of the diadem to hide there from attack by predators. This is what small cardinal fish from the genera Paramia and Syphamia do. The crooked tail fish (eoliscus) places its narrow body parallel to the spines of the hedgehog, and holds its tail up. Another fish takes the same pose - the hedgehog duck, or diademichthys, which also has patronizing connotation: Longitudinal white lines run along the back, sides and belly of the hedgehog duck’s narrow black body, creating the appearance of needles.
Diadems, like many other sea urchins, eat various algae; in addition, research conducted on the island of Curacao in the Caribbean recently found that at night, tiaras emerge from their hiding places and eat the soft tissue of reef-forming corals. Despite the formidable weapon in the form of poisonous needles, the diadem is not guaranteed against attacks by predators. The large blue coral triggerfish, or balistes, easily removes the diadem from its hiding place, smashes its shell on the reef and eats the entrails.
Fish from the wrasse family swallow small tiaras whole along with their spines, and large hedgehogs pre-break into parts. The German zoologist H. Fricke conducted an interesting experiment to study the reactions of triggerfish and wrasse to the sight of food objects. It turned out that these fish are guided solely by vision when searching for food. They were offered three models: black balls, long needles tied in bunches, and balls with needles stuck in them. The fish always attacked only balls with needles, and did not pay any attention to other models. Wrasses and triggerfish showed particular activity if the needles on the models moved, like those of live hedgehogs.
Wrasses and triggerfish hunt sea urchins only during the daytime; with the onset of darkness they fall into deep sleep. Perhaps it is for this reason that tiaras do not appear during the day and are active mainly at night. These sea urchins have another characteristic feature: on flat, open areas of the bottom they gather in regular groups, with one hedgehog from the other located at a distance of the length of a needle. It is not individual animals that move in search of food, but the entire group, which ensures collective protection. The gregarious behavior of diadems is a unique phenomenon in the entire phylum of echinoderms.
An encounter with a cluster of tiaras does not promise anything pleasant, but contact with a large cherry-red sea urchin, Toxopneustes, even though it has no spines, causes even more sad consequences. This hedgehog, reaching the size of a large grapefruit, has a soft, leathery body, on the surface of which there are many small tweezers, the so-called pedicillaria. All sea urchins and stars have similar tweezers; with their help, animals clean the surface of their bodies from trapped particles of silt and other foreign objects. In the spineless Toxopneustes, pedicillariae play a protective role. When a sea urchin sits calmly on the bottom, all its tweezers slowly swing from side to side, opening the valves. If any living creature touches the pedicillaria, it will be immediately grabbed. The pedicillariae do not loosen their grip while the animal is moving, and if it is too strong, they break away, but do not unclench their valves. Through a puncture of tweezers, a strong poison enters the wound, which paralyzes the enemy. This is how Toxopneustes escapes from attacks by starfish and other reef predators.
The poison of this sea urchin is also dangerous for humans. Japanese scientist T. Fujiwara, while researching Toxopneustes, received only one injection of tiny tweezers. He subsequently described in detail what happened following the defeat. The pain from the bite quickly spread along the arm and reached the heart, then paralysis of the lips, tongue and facial muscles occurred, followed by numbness of the limbs.
The patient felt somewhat better only after six hours.
Fortunately, Toxopneusthes is relatively rare, but it is still well known to local residents. Fishermen on the southern islands of Japan call Toxopneustes a killer, as there are known cases of people being fatally affected by this sea urchin.
It is very noteworthy that the sea urchins Trypneustes, closely related to Toxopneustes, also living on reefs, are completely safe. In the Caribbean, on the island of Martinique, they are even eaten. The urchins collected on the reef are broken and the caviar is removed from the shell, which is then boiled until a thick dough-like mass is obtained. Finished product they fill the empty halves of the shells and peddle the delicacy.
The population of Martinique consumes so many urchins that in some places entire mountains have been formed from the shells, similar to the kitchen heaps of mollusk shells left by the ancient populations of Europe.
Not everyone recognizes Heterocentrotus as a sea urchin. It has an unusual brown-red body of the same color and thick needles, reminiscent in shape and size of a cigar, each with a light wide ring near the outer end. Heterocentrotus sits, huddled in a narrow crevice, on the very surf part of the reef. With thick needles it firmly rests against the walls of its shelter.
Small echinometer sea urchins use their short green spines to drill small caves into the coral. Often the entrance to the cave becomes overgrown, and then the hedgehog ends up walled up alive in its shelter.
Starfish live on a coral reef. Here you can see a beautiful bright blue linkia with thin straight rays and a brown kulcita that looks like a loaf of round bread. The spiny tricolored protoreasters are very impressive, but the most famous starfish of the coral reefs is, of course, the crown of thorns, or acanthaster.
Among the coral colonies in the water, giant sea anemones stoichactis slowly sway with their tentacles. The diameter of the oral disc of such an anemone, together with thousands of tentacles, sometimes reaches a meter. Between the tentacles, either a couple of colorful shrimp or several fish - sea clowns, or amphiprions - are constantly hiding. These cohabitants of Stoichactis are not at all afraid of its tentacles, and the sea anemone itself does not react in any way to their presence. Usually the fish stay close to the sea anemone, and in case of danger they boldly dive into the very thick of the tentacles and thus avoid pursuit. In total, over a dozen species of amphiprions are known, but each anemone contains representatives of only one of them, and the fish jealously guard “their” anemone from the encroachments of other species.
We have already discussed above some fish that live in the coral biocenosis. In total, over 2,500 species are known. As a rule, they all have bright color, which serves as good camouflage for fish in the colorful coral world. Many of these fish feed on corals, nibbling and grinding the tips of branches.
There is a fairly simple but very reliable technique for catching coral fish. In a clearing between the bushes, a fine mesh net is spread and several branches of coral are chopped into its center. Many fish immediately rush to this place, attracted by their favorite food. All that remains is to remove the net from the water, and most likely some of the fish will be caught. Attempts to catch coral fish using a net always end in failure. On the reef, everything is solid and motionless, so every moving object is fraught with a potential threat. Coral fish hide from the approaching net in thorny thickets, and it is no longer possible to drive them out or lure them out.
A lot has been written about the beauty of coral fish, but all descriptions pale before reality. When, after the first Soviet expedition to the coral reefs of Oceania, a small color film was shot, many viewers, including biologists who had never seen live coral fish before, mistook the natural filming for color animation.
Certain species of fish in the coral biocenosis are poisonous. Very beautiful pink lionfish with white stripes and rays of the same color are kept in plain sight, as they are protected by a whole series of poisonous spines. They are so confident in their integrity that they do not even try to escape persecution.
An inconspicuous stone-fish lies quietly at the bottom, half-buried in the coral sand. It’s easy to step on it with bare feet, and then things can end very sadly. On the dorsal side of the stone fish's body there are several poisonous glands and short sharp spines. Poison that gets into the wound causes severe pain and general poisoning. The victim may die as a result of paralysis or heart failure. Even in the case of a favorable outcome, complete recovery occurs only after several months.
To put an end to the dangers that await humans on the reef, we also need to say something about sharks and moray eels. Sharks often visit the area above the reef or stay close to its outer edge. They are attracted to various fish feeding on the reef, but there have been cases of sharks attacking pearl mussel divers. Serpentine moray eels, sometimes reaching considerable sizes, hide in the reef itself. Very often the head of a large moray eel sticks out from the crevice with its toothy mouth slightly open. This strong and cunning fish can inflict large incised wounds with its razor-sharp teeth. In ancient Rome, rich patricians kept moray eels in special pools and fattened them for festive feasts. According to some legends, it is known that in the pool with large moray eels they abandoned the offending slaves, and the fish quickly dealt with them.
Now let's talk about what threatens the existence of coral reefs, which can cause their oppression and death. In their book The Life and Death of the Coral Reef, Jacques-Yves Cousteau and journalist Philippe Diolet address this important issue. In their opinion, main reason the destruction of reefs these days lies in careless economic activity person. However, we should not forget that reefs most often die as a result of natural disasters.
All last week In January 1918, heavy rain fell continuously on the Queensland coast. Streams of fresh water hit the shores, the sea and the Great Barrier Reef. These were the heaviest rainfalls ever recorded by the Australian weather service: 90 centimeters of rain fell in eight days (for comparison, we point out that in Leningrad, which is famous humid climate, only 55-60 centimeters fall per year). As a result of heavy rains, the surface layer of the sea desalinated, and during low waters, streams of rain lashed directly onto the corals. A pestilence began on the reef. Corals, algae and attached inhabitants of the coral biocenosis died. The moving animals were in a hurry to go deeper, where the desalination was not felt so strongly. But the disaster spread deep into
well: the rotting of dead corals caused poisoning of the water near the reef and caused the death of many of its inhabitants. Many areas of the Great Barrier Reef were dead. It took several years to restore them.
In January 1926, heavy rains destroyed coral reefs near the islands of Tahiti, and in 1965, heavy, prolonged rains caused the death of a rich reef in the bay of Tongatapa Island in the Tonga archipelago.
As a result of rainfall, coral reefs usually die over a significant area, since heavy and prolonged rains cover entire areas, rather than isolated limited areas.
A coral reef destroyed by rains is restored after some time to its original location. Fresh water although it kills all life on the reef, it does not destroy coral structures. After a few years, the skeletons of dead corals are overgrown with new living colonies, and the reef is reborn in its former glory.
The situation is completely different with hurricanes. It is known that in tropical seas Severe storms occur periodically, which sometimes take on the character of natural disasters. The story about the causes of hurricanes, their destructive power and consequences is yet to come; here we will only talk about the impact of hurricanes on reefs.
In 1934, a coral reef off Low Island on Australia's Great Barrier Reef was destroyed by a cyclone. The wind and waves literally left no stone unturned: everything was broken, mixed up, and the debris was covered with sand. Restoration of the reef proceeded very slowly, and 16 years later, in 1950, young coral settlements were swept away by a new cyclone.
The reef was severely damaged by a severe hurricane that struck the coast of British Honduras (Caribbean Sea) in 1961. An equally strong cyclone destroyed the reef on Heron Island (Great Barrier Reef) in 1967. It so happened that it was on this small island, shortly before the disaster, that a biological station belonging to the Australian Committee for the Study of the Great Barrier Reef was established. Scientists had not yet had time to seriously examine their new possessions and describe the reef of Heron Island when not a trace remained of it. Their further work began with studying the restoration of the reef after the disaster.
Destructive cyclones have a limited range. If long-term heavy rains come with a wide front, then the path of the cyclone is a relatively narrow strip. For this reason, it destroys only isolated areas or small reefs, while neighboring ones remain undamaged.
What happens on the reef during the passage of a cyclone? The most comprehensive answer to this is given by Peter Beveridge, an employee of the University of the Southern Pacific, who examined one of these destroyed reefs immediately after a hurricane named Bibi visited there in 1972. "Bibi" walked widely across the western part equatorial zone Pacific Ocean. Its epicenter crossed the Funafuti Atoll, the same atoll where drilling was carried out to test the theory of Charles Darwin. Immediately after the disaster, P. Beveridge left his cozy office as the dean of the preparatory faculty in the capital of Fiji, Suva, and went to distant Funafuti. He found a picture of complete destruction. A thriving tropical island was virtually destroyed. Slender coconut palms - the basis of the islanders' livelihood - were thrown to the ground. Local residents said that waves rolled over houses and broke trees. To avoid being washed away into the ocean, people tied themselves to palm tree trunks, but this measure did not save everyone. Funafuti Atoll consists of several islets and a series of reefs surrounding a lagoon with a diameter of about 20 kilometers. In windy weather, solid waves roam the lagoon; during a hurricane they reach gigantic sizes. But even larger were the shafts that approached from the side open ocean. Coral reefs are strong and resilient, but they have not survived. Individual detached colonies or their fragments rolled in waves and played the role of cannonballs. They broke up living colonies and generated new debris, which in turn bombarded the reef. The hurricane washed out new shallows, brought fragments of coral and sand into the former living areas of the reefs, created new channels between the islands and erected new islands from the fragments of the reefs. The entire atoll has been transformed. Coral settlements on Funafuti were described in detail by the English expedition of 1896-1898; in 1971, they were examined by a complex expedition of the USSR Academy of Sciences on the research vessel Dmitry Mendeleev. They haven't changed much in 75 years. After "Bibi" the description of these reefs needs to be done again.
There are known cases of the death of a reef under streams of liquid lava pouring into the sea from the mouth of an active volcano. This is how the coral reefs around the volcanic island of Krakatoa near Java were destroyed when, on August 26, 1883, the most powerful volcanic eruption in human history occurred. After a terrible explosion, which was heard even on the coast of Australia, a column of steam more than 20 kilometers high rose from the crater of the volcano, and the island of Krakatoa itself turned into a mass of hot lava and stones. All living things died in the boiling water. But even less significant eruptions can cause the death of the reef. Thus, a coral reef died in 1953 during the eruption of one of the volcanoes on the Hawaiian Islands.
Earthquakes pose a serious threat to living coral reefs. One of these disasters occurred off the coast of New Guinea, near the small seaside town of Madang. On the night of October 30 to November 1, 1970, powerful tremors shook the city and the bay. The epicenter of the earthquake was at sea, so the town was not damaged, but the reef was destroyed over several kilometers. From the first blows, thin delicate branches of bushy and tree-like corals broke off and fell to the bottom. Massive spherical colonies broke away from the substrate, but at first remained in their places. The earthquake was accompanied by rough seas caused by tremors. The sea initially retreated and then rapidly rose to 3 meters above normal levels at high tide, according to coastal observers. The outgoing and rolling waves swept away flat leaf-shaped and disc-shaped colonies. The meter-long and larger coral balls torn from the bottom began to move. Rolling over the reef, they completed the destruction. Many such colonies rolled down the slope of the ridge, while others, although they remained close to their places, were turned over. In a few minutes the reef ceased to exist. What was not broken and crushed was buried under a layer of rubble. Some surviving animals of the coral biocenosis died in the days following the disaster as a result of water poisoning by a mass of decomposing organic substances.
A terrible threat to coral reefs lies in the invasion of hordes of predatory starfish, which scientists call Acantaster planzi, and the press and popular science literature have dubbed the “crown of thorns.” More recently, until 1960, the “crown of thorns” was considered a rarity, but in 1962 not only zoologists, but also journalists and government officials started talking about it. Having suddenly multiplied in countless numbers, the “crowns of thorns” strangely changed their tastes and switched from feeding on shellfish to destroying reef-forming corals. Many reefs of the Pacific Ocean, including the Great Barrier Reef of Australia, have been subjected to massive attacks by starfish.
Urgent intervention was needed to save the corals, but no one really knew what exactly should be done. Even about the starfish itself, science had very little information. And so scientists from different countries and various specialties rushed to coral reefs to learn as much as possible about the insidious “crown of thorns” and find its Achilles heel. Acantaster is one of the largest sea stars: individual specimens reach 40 - 50 centimeters in the span of their rays. Young stars of this species have a typical five-rayed structure, but as they grow, the number of their rays increases and in older specimens reaches 18 - 21. The entire dorsal side of the central disk and rays is armed with hundreds of movable, very sharp spines 2-3 centimeters long. Thanks to this feature, the acanthaster received its second name - “crown of thorns”. The body of the star has a grayish or blue-gray color, the spikes are red or orange.
Acantaster is poisonous. The prick of its thorn causes burning pain and subsequent general poisoning.
The “crown of thorns” is capable of moving quite quickly and climbing into narrow spaces between corals, but usually these stars lie calmly on the surface of the reef, as if aware of their inaccessibility. They reproduce by throwing a mass of tiny eggs into the water. Renowned coral reef researcher Professor Frank Talbot, director of the Sydney Zoological Museum, and his wife Suzette conducted a special study on the biology of the crown of thorns. They found that on the Great Barrier Reef, the acanthaster breeds in the summer (December - January), and the female lays 12 - 24 million eggs. The larvae remain in the plankton, and various planktonic predators can feed on them, but as soon as the larvae settle to the bottom to transform into a young star, they become poisonous. The “crown of thorns” has few enemies. It is reliably known that these stars are eaten by large gastropods Charonia, or Triton. Acantasters are widespread throughout tropical zone Pacific and Indian oceans.
Like many others starfish, “crown of thorns” predator. It swallows small prey whole, and envelops larger animals with its stomach turned outward through the mouth. When feeding on corals, the star slowly crawls along the reef, leaving behind a white trail of coral skeletons. While these stars are few in number, the coral community hardly suffers from them. It is estimated that one hectare of reef can feed up to 65 “crown-of-thorns” without harm. But if their numbers increase, the corals are threatened with destruction. The Talbots point out that in the area mass outbreak breeding Acantasters feed around the clock. Moving along the reef in a continuous front at a speed of up to 35 meters per day, they destroy up to 95 percent of the corals. After the reef is devastated, the stars suddenly disappear, but soon appear on neighboring reefs, crawling along the bottom of the deeper areas separating one reef from another.
Some zoologists were inclined to see the cause of the disaster in human disruption of natural relationships on the reef. It was assumed that the mass production of large newt mollusks for souvenirs, having beautiful sink, led to an increase in the number of starfish. After all, the newt is almost the only enemy of the “crown of thorns”. It was also assumed that catching small Chimenocera shrimp also contributes to the reproduction of predatory stars. There were reports in the press that someone saw how these small crustaceans, gathered in a whole flock, danced on the back of a star and jumped until the exhausted “crown of thorns” retracted its numerous legs with suction cups. Then the crustaceans climb under the star and eat away the non-poisonous soft tissues of the underside. However, none of the scientists had to observe this. Newts are indeed capable of eating starfish, but these large mollusks are never found in large numbers, and their role in regulating the number of crowns of thorns is negligible. To save the reefs, the governments of many countries have banned the fishing of newts and the sale of their shells, but this has not changed the situation on the reefs.
The scale of destruction in a short period of time reached an unprecedented magnitude. Several groups of specialists from Australia, England, Japan and the USA examined 83 reefs of the Pacific Ocean. By 1972, a total of about a million pounds sterling had been spent on these expeditions and on developing measures to combat the star. Meanwhile, the stars continued to multiply. Control calculations in the Hawaiian Islands showed that one scuba diver can count from 2,750 to 3,450 “crowns of thorns” per hour. Attempts to destroy acanthasters with poisonous substances or to fence off reefs with bare wires through which an electric current is passed will lead to desired results They didn’t bring me. There were voices from scientists about the need to strengthen control over ocean pollution.
The first observations of the “crown of thorns”, carried out by Soviet scientists during a special “coral” voyage of the research vessel “Dmitry Mendeleev” in 1971, convincingly showed that acanthasters mainly attack weakened reefs polluted by household and industrial waste, as well as petroleum products. The head of the study of the Great Barrier Reef, Australian zoologist Professor Robert Endean, came to similar conclusions. In 1973, R. Endean and a member of his laboratory, R. Chisher, came to the conclusion that most often the areas of outbursts of stars and their damage to reefs are in close proximity to human settlements. On reefs far from settlements, outbursts in the number of stars do not occur.
Not everyone agreed with this opinion. Thus, one of the commissions created in Australia, contrary to the evidence, came to the conclusion that “crowns of thorns” are practically harmless to the reef. However, this commission was under strong pressure from oil companies seeking permission to drill wells in the Great Barrier Reef area. This is stated in an article by zoologist Alcolm Hesel, published in 1971 in the journal Marine Pollution Bulletin.
Not only individual companies, but also government officials were involved in issues related to the “crown of thorns”. In 1973, the US Congress passed a bill allocating $4.5 million to carry out a program to study this problem and develop appropriate measures to control the situation. It is unlikely that congressmen would so easily part with these funds for the sake of pure science or some exotic reefs. It is quite obvious that the tycoons of industrial capital, primarily oil companies, stood behind them.
Summing up the review of the causes of the death of coral reefs, we must also add the direct destructive effect of ocean pollution on them. Finally, several reefs fell victim to atomic testing. This is how the existence of all life on the Enewetak Atoll, where nuclear weapons tests were repeatedly carried out, ended sadly. Zoologist R. Yoganess, who examined Eniwetok 13 years after the explosion, found only small colonies of four types of corals on the reef.
Reef recovery rate more precisely birth of the new coral biocenosis is different and is directly dependent on the cause that caused the death of the old reef. It is difficult to expect a complete restoration of coral reefs that have been oppressed or destroyed by human economic activity. Sea pollution near populated areas and industrial enterprises is continuous and has a clear tendency to intensify. Restoration of the reef after a hurricane is very slow, as this destroys the foundation on which the coral biocenosis develops. Even more significant changes in the bottom structure are caused by nuclear explosion, to the mechanical action of which radiation is also added. It is clear that R. Johannes found only pitiful crumbs of life on Enewetak Atoll, although 13 years had passed since the disaster. Reefs destroyed by rainfall or earthquakes recover relatively quickly. There are extremely few regular repeated observations of the development of such a reef; the most interesting and important research results were carried out by Soviet expeditions on the Dmitry Mendeleev and Vityaz.
A reef in a bay near the city of Malang in New Guinea was taken under surveillance. A group of scientists visited it three times - in 1971 (8 months after the devastating earthquake), then in 1975 and 1977.
During the first year, algae predominate on the recovering reef; they cover all the coral fragments lying on the bottom with an almost half-meter loose layer. Of the bottom-attached animals, sponges predominate; there are a number of small colonies of soft corals. Reef-forming corals are represented by several species with thin branches. Colonies of these corals attach to the fragments of dead polypnyak and reach a height of only 2 - 7 centimeters. For every square meter of the bottom there are no more than 1 - 2 such small colonies.
A year or two passes, and algae give way to sponges. After another year or two, soft corals become dominant on the reef. All this time, hermatypic (reef-forming) madrepore, hydroid and sun corals are slowly but steadily gaining strength. 4.5 years after the destruction, there is almost no algae left on the reef. They cemented the debris into a solid mass and gave way to sponges and soft corals. By this time, corals with a limestone skeleton occupy second place on the reef both in the number of colonies and in the degree of coverage of the bottom with them. After 6.5 years, they already dominate the biocenosis, occupying more than half of the living space. They strongly suppress and push back the sponges. Soft corals are still resisting, but their fate is sealed: in a few more years, the reef will be completely restored to all its former beauty.
Coral reefs play a huge role in the life of the population of tropical coastal countries, in the life of the peoples of Oceania. The population of the islands eats coconut palm fruits, vegetables from their small gardens and seafood that they get on the reef. Here the islanders collect edible seaweed, mollusks, echinoderms, catch crustaceans and fish. Animal husbandry on the islands of Oceania is poorly developed, and the reef serves as the main source of protein food for the population. Coral limestone is used in construction. A variety of household items, tools, tools, jewelry, and religious objects are made from the shells of coral mollusks. The reef, absorbing the blows of the surf, protects the shores of the islands, where aboriginal huts, palm groves and vegetable gardens are built on a narrow strip of land. It is believed that life on tropical islands would be impossible without coconut trees. In the same way, it is impossible without coral reefs.
In the vast expanses of the salty ocean desert, coral islands are real oases, where life is saturated to the limit. The reasons for the high biological productivity of the reef are not yet fully understood, but finding out is very important. Every year the role of offshore underwater farms is increasing more and more, but they are still unprofitable. To increase their productivity, it is necessary to understand the reasons for the high productivity of some natural marine biocenoses, primarily coral reefs.
Due to the rapid growth of the Earth's population and the increase in human economic activity, there is a threat of destruction of many natural complexes plants and animals. To protect them, reserves are being organized everywhere. The first coral reserves have also been created, but there are still very few of them, and reefs need protection no less than other natural communities.
Coral reefs, which provide the opportunity for the existence of millions of people, are distinguished by such fabulous beauty and are so sensitive to the most different forms impacts must be preserved.