Notes on the coral reefs of the island of Itaparica, Bahia, and of Parahyba do Norte

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From the Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History,
Vol. xx, May 15, 1878.

NorTes ON SHE CoRAL REEFS OF THE ISLAND OF ITAPARICA,
BauiA, AND OF PARAHYBA DO Norte. By RicHArD RATHBUN.

In the American Naturalist for July, 1876, I gave a short descrip-
tion of the coral reef skirting the outer shore of thé island of Itapa-
rica, in the bay of Bahia, Brazil. From a further examination of
the reef and a study of the specimens procured from it, I am able to
add a few items of interest to those previously given. I also wish to
call attention to the existence of another reef, similar to that of
Itaparica, to the south of the entrance to the Rio Parahyba do Norte.
It was explored by Mr. John Branner of the Geological Commis-
sion. In shape and structure, as well as in the paucity of coral life
upon it, this last agrees very closely with the Itaparica reef. It fol-
lows the trend of the shore, at a short distance from it, and between

o™

Rathbun.] 40 [May 15,

the reef and the shore there is an average depth of water of about six
or seven feet only. The upper and outer portions of the reef are
very irregular, but the inner part is comparatively smooth. No large
corals are living upon it; at the northern end were collected a few
small specimens of Porites, and towards the south a few millepores,
Symphyllia (?), and Porites. Much of the bottom surrounding
the reef is very rich in coral growth. No sections were obtained
giving us a clue to its structure, which is, however, probably the
same as that of the Itaparica reef.

In my former description of the Itaparica reef I stated that, while
the lower portion was plainly made up in large part of true corals,
the upper part appeared to contain only nullipores. I have since
found that the worm tubes covering the surface of the reef enter
very largely into its structure, probably to as great an extent as the
nullipores, and give rise to an exceedingly hard, calcareous rock
from which, ultimately, all traces of the worm-tube structure disap-
pear. The worm tubes and nullipores evidently compose the entire
upper half of the reef. The nullipores, in the upper portions, so far
as my observations went, were*all of the encrusting lichen kind, and
resulted in a compact structure, showing a sort of wavy lamination
which is due to the successive growths of nullipores. The large dig-
itate nullipores, so common at Pernambuco and at many places in the
bay of Bahia, are limited to the lower part of the reef, where they
are associated with the true corals. At present nullipores are living
in abundance only on the outer side of the reef, to a height of about
one foot above medium low tide. Above the line of nullipores we
find the entire upper surface of the reef coated with a layer of living
worm tubes and large barnacles. The latter are generally broken off
by the waves when dead, but the former remain, producing a loose
structure near the surface, which becomes more compact below.
The existence of nullipores in this upper portion indicates, however,
that they lived on top of the reef at no distant time, and probably
also that the reef has been elevated to a slight extent since then.

. Within the reef the water is very shallow, being deepest near the
reef and especially at and around the openings through it; it gradu-
ally shallows inwards toward the beach. The bottom of this shallow
inner channel is covered with sand and fragments of all sizes of cor-
als and shells. Gorals were not found in an upright position in this
channel, nor do living corals exist there at all. The coral fragments
are all old, frequently much worn, and almost invariably covered

1878.] 41 [Rathbun.

with nullipore and bryozoan growths, also dead. They form beds of
considerable thickness in places, often more or less consolidated, and
are dug up to burn for lime. The species discovered among the
fragments are all found living in various parts of the bay, excepting
Mussa Harttii, which does not apparently live at present anywhere
in the bay of Bahia. This extensive accumulation of broken corals,
which must have been formed by the breaking off and heaping up of
living corals from the surface of the reef by the breakers, when the
reef was at a lower level, testifies to the exceeding richness of the
coral life at that time. Corals have apparently ceased to be reef
builders in the bay of Bahia.

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