158
_
THE SEAS
'
.
of ne apertures each consisting of a centralopening sur—
rounded by a ring of from ve to seven“ smaller ones.
The —former is occupied in life by a relatively stout, stumpy
polyp; whichhas a mouth and adigestive cavity, while
thrbughthe smaller ones project 10ng,—-slender structures,
each with a series of little tentacles branching from the
'
main axis. These are all without mouths, but have
batteries ' of the stinging cells with which. such animals "
paralyse the minute animals on which they feed.
These
stinging cells are so powerful that they can penetrate human
_
skin causing a painful nettle—rash, so that Millepora is known
as,theStinging Coral.- Apparently the two types of polyps
"
work in conjunction, the one kind capturing the prey and "
then handing it over to the large central polyp, which
swallows and digests it.
As a‘result of continued branching,
great masses of Millepora are formed while fresh colonies are
begun' by the attachment: of the little embryos, which ‘
develop fr0m eggs produced,. not directly by the Millepora,
.b'1it by very tiny swimming j ellysh, or, medusæ, produced
by the coral.
.
-,
.Some' of'the ‘-‘ false,” or Alcyonarian, corals. form important constituents of cOral reefs; -In this group is
_
included the red coral of commerce which“, as we shall discuss
,
detail in Chapter XVI,iS never ionndiri Coral reefs,
.
being an" inhabitant of temperate seas; and also the sea fans
.
-
and the deaàmenîs-gers of…-Our own '.coasts… But other
.
corals of this typè,are important constituents of cor—al_reefs,
,
one ;of Which, as-sh0wn in Plate 59, having a remarkable
_
type "of growth,
result of which the .skeleton takes the
form cfa series of little tubes running parallel to one another '
and unitedby little platf0rms, an-arrangement-Which has led
to itsbeing' known; to Science as Tubiÿom musica and to ”the
_
world at large as the:Orgair—pipe Coral. The skeleton has
;
a_deep' red cdlour,’ but thisis obscuœd in'«lifa by the »emerald
_
THE SEAS
'
.
of ne apertures each consisting of a centralopening sur—
rounded by a ring of from ve to seven“ smaller ones.
The —former is occupied in life by a relatively stout, stumpy
polyp; whichhas a mouth and adigestive cavity, while
thrbughthe smaller ones project 10ng,—-slender structures,
each with a series of little tentacles branching from the
'
main axis. These are all without mouths, but have
batteries ' of the stinging cells with which. such animals "
paralyse the minute animals on which they feed.
These
stinging cells are so powerful that they can penetrate human
_
skin causing a painful nettle—rash, so that Millepora is known
as,theStinging Coral.- Apparently the two types of polyps
"
work in conjunction, the one kind capturing the prey and "
then handing it over to the large central polyp, which
swallows and digests it.
As a‘result of continued branching,
great masses of Millepora are formed while fresh colonies are
begun' by the attachment: of the little embryos, which ‘
develop fr0m eggs produced,. not directly by the Millepora,
.b'1it by very tiny swimming j ellysh, or, medusæ, produced
by the coral.
.
-,
.Some' of'the ‘-‘ false,” or Alcyonarian, corals. form important constituents of cOral reefs; -In this group is
_
included the red coral of commerce which“, as we shall discuss
,
detail in Chapter XVI,iS never ionndiri Coral reefs,
.
being an" inhabitant of temperate seas; and also the sea fans
.
-
and the deaàmenîs-gers of…-Our own '.coasts… But other
.
corals of this typè,are important constituents of cor—al_reefs,
,
one ;of Which, as-sh0wn in Plate 59, having a remarkable
_
type "of growth,
result of which the .skeleton takes the
form cfa series of little tubes running parallel to one another '
and unitedby little platf0rms, an-arrangement-Which has led
to itsbeing' known; to Science as Tubiÿom musica and to ”the
_
world at large as the:Orgair—pipe Coral. The skeleton has
;
a_deep' red cdlour,’ but thisis obscuœd in'«lifa by the »emerald