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Science 5 January 1979:
Vol. 203. no. 4375, pp. 47 - 49
DOI: 10.1126/science.203.4375.47
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Articles

Coral Reef Growth in the Galápagos: Limitation by Sea Urchins

PETER W. GLYNN 1, GERARD M. WELLINGTON 2, and CHARLES BIRKELAND 3

1 Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, P.O. Box 2072, Balboa, Canal Zone
2 Department of Biological Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara 93106
3 Marine Laboratory, P.O. Box EK, Agana, Guam 96910

The regular echinoid Eucidaris thouarsii is a conspicuous omnivore on coral bottoms in the Galápagos. Unlike Eucidaris in Panama and mainland Ecuador, Galápagos Eucidaris are large and abundant and graze heavily in the open on live corals day and night. These differences are probably due in large part to more intense predation by fishes on mainland compared with island urchin populations. An assessment of coral growth versus coral attrition from grazing shows that Eucidaris interferes with the establishment of pocilloporid reef frame and therefore reduces reef growth in the Galápagos.

Submitted on December 27, 1977
Revised on April 11, 1978


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Limestone coastal morphology: the biological contribution.
T. Spencer and T. Spencer (1988)
Progress in Physical Geography 12, 66-101
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