PALAU — BAYER AND BARRY-ROFEN 



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dead corals but also the limestone floor of the tide-level notches. 

 This sponge is almost certain to prove to be one of the important bio- 

 logical agents contributing to the formation of undercut shorelines. 

 The swift tidal currents that breath life and variety into the reefs 

 do not reach the upper part of division K in the northeast corner of 

 Iwayama Bay, which is a quiet backwater. An abundant growth of 

 coral is nevertheless present, but it lacks variety. Fingery masses 

 of Porites and great, white, papery chalices of Montipora (pi. 11, 

 fig. 2) flourish everywhere, but few others can be seen. Even the 

 fishes are fewer in kind and smaller in size. Small dragonets (Cal- 

 lionymidae) dart about in sandy patches or seek refuge among the 

 coral branches. One of these dragonets {Synchiropus splendidus) is 





Figure 4. — The splendid dragonet, Synchiropus splendidus, slightly larger than natural size. 



probably the gaudiest fish we found during the summer — colored blue, 

 green, and red in an intricate design of spots and bands (see fig. 4). 

 A few species of damselfishes {Abudefduf) were abundant, each fish 

 with its own territory of coral and water. Each individual vigorously 

 defends its own particular home, bullying intruders with threatening 

 advances, cheeks distended, clicking and grunting indignantlv. 

 Hovering over the branches of Porites we could always find little 

 bronze and maroon cardinalfishes {Apogon nematopterus) , ready to 

 retire into their stony sanctuaries at the approach of our staring 

 camera lenses (pi. 11, fig. 1) . 



In the undercut shoreline of Koror nearby we found a small cave 

 of the sort that permeates many of the limestone islands (pi. 6, fig. 1) . 



