Table 9. Chordates at Rincon 



[s land-Continued 



Class 



Common Name 



Scientific Name 



Aves- 



Double-crested Cormorant 



Phalaoroaorax auritus 



Continued 





(Lesson) 





Pelagic Cormorant 



FhalacroQorax pelagians 

 Pallas 





Brandt's Cormorant 



Phalaarocorax penicillatus 

 (Brandt) 





Eared Grebe 



Podiaeps nigricollis Brehm 





American Avocet 



Reaurvirostra ameriaana 

 Gmelin 





Starling 



Stumus vulgaris Linnaeus 





Common Murre 



Uria aalge (Pontoppidan) 



Mammalia 



Gray whale 



Esahrichtius glaucus 

 (Cope) 





Steller sea lion 



Eumetopias jubatus 

 (Schreber) 





Harbor seal 



Phoaa vitulina (Linnaeus) 





California sea lion 



Zalophus oalifomianus 

 (Lesson) 



V. SUMMARY 



The construction of Rincon Island has seen the development of a mature 

 and balanced reef out of an area which might well have been considered to 

 be a biological desert. The total number of species present before con- 

 struction probably numbered no more than 25 to 30 species (by count only 

 14 species were observed) . After construction was completed and sufficient 

 time elapsed for a climax community to be established, 298 species were 

 recorded (probably even more are present) , representing all of the major 

 marine phyla. The major phyla recorded are composed of numbers of species 

 as follows: 



Table 10. Major Phyla at Rincon Island 



Phylum 



No. 



Phylum 



NO. 



Cholorophyta 



Rhodophyta 



Phaeophyta 



Porifera 



Coelenterata 



Ctenophora 



Platyhelminthes 



7 

 11 



9 

 14 

 19 



1 



4 



Nemertea 



3 



Annelida 



10 



Arthropoda 



21 



Mollusca 



65 



Bryozoa 



8 



Echinodermata 



15 



Chordata 



118 



Two major advantages have made possible this climax marine community: 

 (1) the establishment of a substrate conducive to the attachment of various 

 marine forms, and (2) the island's position one-half mile off the coast 



73 



