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FISHERY BULLETIN OF THE FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



ence of its components from region to region and 

 area to area, that it may be regarded as a single 

 biome type." This is probably an extreme view, 

 but in view of our ignorance concerning the 

 bottom communities of the Gulf of Mexico, we 

 cannot examine this question in detail here. 



It is necessary to emphasize, however, that the 

 complex character of marine communities cannot 

 be simplified by terminology. The dual character 

 of that community which includes the various 

 species of shrimp is an example. Both estuarine 

 and neritic bottom communities are part of this 

 complex which may be best regarded as elements 

 in a major ecosystem transgressing the various 

 environments in both space and time (Hedgpeth 

 1953). For the purposes of discussion, several 

 "major bottom communities" are recognized (fig. 

 51). The four major communities recognized are: 

 the oyster bottoms, the shrimp grounds, the coral 



reefs and patches, and the sponge grounds. The 

 sponge grounds occupy roughly the same area 

 as the coral patches west of Florida and may, on 

 further study, be considered a subcommunity 

 of the coral grounds. Segregating these by 

 physiogi'aphic or environmental requirements, we 

 have in the curyhaline-bay environment the 

 oyster community (and other communities) ; the 

 shrimping grounds fall in the estuarine and neritic 

 environment; while the coral and sponge com- 

 munities are stenohaline-neritic. These are also 

 working labels, simply describing as briefly as 

 possible the conditions in which the communities 

 are found. 



THE OYSTER COMMUNITY 



Foremost among the communities of bay waters 

 is the oyster community. This is not a continuous 



Figure 51. — Approximate location of major bottom communities in the Gulf of Mexico. 



