?bioherm

[Latypov]

Dear coral-listers,

I watch with the large interest discussion concerning the terms  reefs  and
 bioherms . The statements the Alina Szmant and Mark Erdmann are especially
close to me.
I am the geologist and sea biologist. I studied long time of Rugosa and
paleozoic sea communities (Ph.D. dissertation, geology). I study modern
reefs and their benthic communities since 1976. I investigated many reefs
from Australia up to Africa (Dr.Sc. dissertation, biology)
I would like to add to this discussion the supervision and my point of view
on this problem.
  I observed many times in paleozoic depositions moundlike structures from
increasing against each other Tabulates, Stromatoporates, Rugosas,
Brachiopods, Bryozoas, Crinoideas and so on. It is the present bioherms by
Cumings. I saw the same structures on reefs of the Timor Sea, Vietnam,
Seychelles Islands, Island Sokotra and other reefs. They were formed on
large massive colonies Porites or on organogenous blocks. These structures
are very similar to mineral bioherms and answer by definition the term a
 bioherms , except for that condition, that they are made in environmental
breed. However on reefs of Sokotra I saw such bioherms half cover by modern
reefogenous depositions from rests of foraminifers and calcareous seaweed
Halimeda. I consider what the term  bioherms  (by Cumings, ER. 1932. Reefs
or Bioherms? Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 43: 331-352) can be applied to modern
moundlike structures generated from corals and sessile macrobenthos,
accompanying them.
The word a reef leaves by the roots to Dutch  Rif  and German  Ripple , that
designated an edge or cross obstacle. We are interested not with the sea
term and biological organic reef.
 I agree completely with the Mark that the recurrent themes for reefs
include:
-rigid framework
-dense packing of sessile (often colonial), gregarious organisms whose
 skeletons are intergrown in living position
-positive topographic relief
However as correctly wrote Alina  Everyone wants to have a coral reef in
their back yard and many systems that are not true " coral reefs " are being
called by that name . Corals can have high cover on a volcanic and rocky
substrate, but it will be the coral settlements. The coral reef is an
ecosystem which has except for the set forth above characteristics distinct
bionomic zonality that indicates the presence of two portions: an inner
heterotrophic and outer autotrophic one.

Best regards,

Yuri Latypov

Chief Laboratory of Benthos Ecology
Institute of Marine Biology
Vladivostok, 69041
Russia