Permalien :
Advances in marine biology (volume 9)
- Date_TXT
- New York : Academic press , 1971
- Cote
- 578.77 RUS/T9
- Auteur
- Russell, F. S
- Type de document
- Livre
Description :
Volume 9 begins with a review by R. H. Millar on the biology of ascidians, soft bodied sedentary animals which in some parts of the world form a dense cover intertidal and in shallow water. The article examines knowledge of their food, growth, breeding and general ecology. Ascidians may form a major component in the population of fouling organisms on ships and harbour structures. E. D. S. Corner and A. G. Davies, and D. H. Cushing respectively cover, in two articles, important aspects of the cycle of nutrient salts in the sea. Corner and Davies consider the part played by plankton in utilizing and recycling nitrogen and phosphorus, while Cushing discusses the effects of upwelling of deep water rich in nutrient salts. The many areas of upwelling in the oceans are reviewed and an assessment made of the resulting production of fish. The subjects of both contributions are vital for an understanding of the quantity of food available to man from the sea. An article by J. A. Alien and M. R. Garrett records the occurrence of the chemical substance taurine in marine invertebrates and the physiological significance of its prevalence.
The concluding essay is a comprehensive review by N. Balakrishnan Nair and M. Saraswathy on the biology of those wood-boring teredinid molluscs known as shipworms, which cause extensive damage to wooden structures in the sea. The economic importance of a knowledge of ship-worms is great. This extensively illustrated article brings together for the first time information scattered through a vast literature.