118 



COLIN 



Fig. 21 Views of lagoon reef coral colonies. Upper left: Turbinaria sp. Upper right: 

 Large colony of Pontes rus with areas removed, possibly by coral damaging fishes. 

 Lower left: Pontes nts, large colony showing a shift from columnar to plate-like 

 growth with depth and exposure to less light. Lower right: Fan-like growth form of 

 the hydrozoan Millepora sp. on a lagoon margin. 



ingested material in two abundant lagoon zooplankters. 

 Furthermore, lagoon copepods have also been known to 

 ingest and assimilate such particulate matter (Gerber and 

 Gerber, 1979). 



Gerber and Marshall (1982) suggest that the 

 occurrence of planktonic organisms in the central lagoon 

 results mostly from production and consumption in the 

 water-column community. They indicate that the reef com- 



munities are the sources for a large percentage of the car- 

 bon and nitrogen fixed and present in lagoon waters. The 

 phytopiankton community of the lagoon is also important 

 as a food chain base, but the relative importance of each 

 is not well understood. 



Gerber (1981) documented the diversity and abun- 

 dance of zooplankton at two stations in the lagoon. Ninety 

 six species of copepods and species of chaetognaths, larva- 



