THE STUDY OF MARINE ECOLOGY AND ITS 

 IMPORTANCE TO THE FISHERIES 



By Roy Waldo Miner 



Ecology is that subdivision of biological science which 

 deals with the relations between organisms, or groups of 

 organisms, and their environment, as well as their economy 

 and manner of life. 



The facts connected with plant relations and those of 

 animals, though overlapping at certain points, are in the 

 main widely divergent because of the dissimilar physiologi- 

 cal and morphological characteristics of the two groups. 

 Accordingly the general subject of ecology in turn may be 

 subdivided into plant ecology and animal ecology, though 

 in either case, the organisms of the other kingdom must be 

 regarded in a secondary way as a portion of the environ- 

 ment. 



Thus in the study of the ecology of a gi\'en animal we 

 must consider not only the other animals of its neighbor- 

 hood, but its plant environment as well, and finally, we 

 must note the bearing of its inanimate surroundings upon 

 its life and activities. 



The side of animal ecology with which we are concerned 

 in this paper is that which centers about the life in the 

 seas, and may therefore be spoken of as marine ecology. 

 Marine life falls naturally under two heads, (1) oceanic 

 and (2) littoral. 



1. OCEANIC ECOLOGY 



That the waters of the open ocean swarm with countless 

 organisms has been realized with growing appreciation ever 

 since the middle of the past century when Johannes Miiller 

 began the use of the "fine surface net" to obtain the material 

 for his studies on echinoderm larvnc. The wealth of minute 

 and hitherlo unknown sea crcaiurcs which was hrouc'ht 



