Bioerosion of coral reefs‐A chemical approach
- 1 March 1991
- journal article
- Published by Wiley in Limnology and Oceanography
- Vol. 36 (2) , 377-383
- https://doi.org/10.4319/lo.1991.36.2.0377
Abstract
We measured total alkalinity changes as a direct clue to the rate and mechanism (chemical or mechanical) of boring of the bivalve Lithophaga lessepsiana in colonies of the coral Stylophora pistillata, the most abundant coral‐borer association in the reefs of the northern Gulf of Elat (Aqaba), Red Sea. Our experiments included comparison between total alkalinity measurements of seawater surrounding colonies of S. pistillata free of L. lessepsiana and colonies infected with it. It is suggested that L. lessepsiana is able to redissolve chemically up to 40% of the CaCO3 deposited by S. pistillata.This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: