Sessile Animals of the Sea Shore

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