CAPE SAN ANTONIO 207 



the young of reef-dwelling species — marvelously 

 painted creatures — and so the tide pool becomes 

 a sort of nursery or training school for the larger 

 marine world without. 



Some time devoted to the reefs that project 

 from the shore was less profitably employed 

 although the locality yielded some good things. 



Although we had not made as close a study of the 

 reefs about Antonio as we had of the Colorados 

 farther east, yet, from such data as we had been 

 able to gather while dredging or passing from the 

 schooner to the lighthouse, we felt fairly con- 

 vinced that the coral patches hereabouts belonged 

 to the fringing-reef type. No doubt the barrier 

 reef extends along the edge of the submerged 

 plateau to some point northeast of the cape, but a 

 complex of inner reefs about the cape, and indeed 

 to some extent from Guadiana West, surely indi- 

 cates fringing reefs. The sea bottom off Antonio 

 is not charted and is practically unknown. We 

 coiild determine the fact, however, that very close 

 to shore flourishing reef-corals exist in scattered 

 patches. Deeper living reefs could be discerned 

 below as far as the transparency of the very clear 

 water would permit us to see. The Patron in- 



