Presents a synthesis of current ideas on the diverse structural, biochemical, behavioural and physiological adaptations which have lead to sessile animals successfully invading the intertidal region of the sea shore. Aimed at non-specialists and students.
Sessile animals on the seashore - the shore community, features of the sessile lifestyle; the sea shore environment - movement of the sea, exposure to the atmosphere; the biotic environment - seaweed and micro-organisms, plankton and other animals; requirements for life on the shore - attachment to the substratum, protection of the body, physiological adjustments for emersion; acorn barnacles (Crustacea - Cirripedia) - structure of acorn barnacles, representative intertidal barnacles, structural adaptations for shore life, growth of barnacles, movements of barnacles, reproductive specializations for shore life, physiological adjustments of barnacles; mussels and oysters (Mollusca: Bivalvia) - representative intertidal species, general organization, the shell, attachment to the substratum, nutrition, reproduction, metabolic adaptations to shore life; tube-dwelling worms (Annelida - Polychaeta) - representative species from rocky shores, structures related to a tubicolous lifestyle, tube secretion in the serpulidae; sea squirts (Tunicata - Ascidiacea) - representative sea squirts from the shore, the integument of tunicates, blood and circulation, generation of feeding current, sexual reproduction, advantages of asexual reproduction to shore life; Bryozoans (Polyzoa - Ectopracta) - some common Bryozoans of the Littoral Zone, protection and attachment, the Lophophore and feeding, reproductive strategies; sea anemones and related animals - (Cnidaria - Anthozoa) - general structure of sea anemones, representative sea anemones, anthozoan Cnidae, movements of sea anemones, behaviour of sea anemones and its control, physiological adaptations of sea anemomes to shore life; hydroids (Cnidaria - Hydrozoa) - structural organization and examples of intertidal hydroids, importance of the Perisarc to hydroids, movements and behaviour of hydroids, hydroplasmic flow, growth of Thecate hydroids, functions of the stolon; sponges (Porifera) structure of some Littoral sponges, the skeletal system of sponges, feeding currents and digestion, growth and reproduction of sponges; colonization of the sea shore - reproductive strategies, larval mortality, dispersal and settlement; community structure and interations - interaction between different species, interaction between members of the same species, predators, distribution of animals on the shore, the dynamic nature of shore communities. Appendix - systematic classification of sessile animals.
A clear and stimulating account of the rocky shore and its sessile fauna from both northern and southern hemispheres is given in this excellent book... Journal of Fish Biology; It will ...be useful to teachers, researchers and anyone who wishes to know more about those animals that are seen covering the rocks at low tide. The Biologist; ..An exceptional feature of the book is the excellent figures. It is refreshing to find a text so well illustrated by new drawings. Each main chapter has its own useful summary; there is an appendix on the classification of sessile shore animals, and both a systematic and subject index are provided. Fisheries Research