The annual growth rate of the solitary coral
Fungia scutaria Lamarck was determined by observed
increases in skeletal length and width. Growth was
followed for periods varying from 7.5 to 9.0 months
during 1963 and 1964. Measurements were made in situ
at the center of fungid distribution in Kaneohe Bay,
Oahu, where there exists an aggregation of Fungia
which is atypically dense for the Hawaiian Islands.
Although this bay provides a relatively optimal environment
for the growth of Fungia, as demonstrated
by their abundance and increased rate of growth, variations
in growth rate is apparently as erratic here
as in other areas. Growth curves, constructed for
various arbitrarily selected size-classes of Fungia,
confirm earlier observations of greater rates of
skeletal growth in the smaller corals. The results
of this study indicate the necessity of basing reliable
estimates of coral growth rate upon an adequate
sampling, taking into account the past history and
size of the corals measured.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UHAWAII/oai:scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu:10125/15287 |
| Date | 06 April 2010 |
| Creators | Bosch, Herman F |
| Source Sets | University of Hawaii at Manoa Libraries |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis, Text |
| Format | 43 pages |
| Rights | All UHM dissertations and theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission from the copyright owner. |
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