Abstract
IN the postscript to Mr. J. Gwyn Jeffreys's report on the “Deep-sea Dredging Expedition in H.M.S. Porcupine,” I notice the following sentence:— “The presence of corals at great depth will also materially alter the views generally received of the depth at which reef-builders may work, and modify to a certain extent Darwin's theory of the reefs and their mode of growth.” This opinion has gained much credence, but it is founded upon error, and is a mistake. Count Pourtales has been good enough to send me the commonest corals which he dredged up off Florida and the Havana from depths greater than 100 fathoms. He has forwarded also the description of the species, and a note upon the nature of the genera represented in the depths of the Gulf of Mexico, and which have not been as yet described. I have received the greater part of the corals dredged up during the expedition in the Porcupine, and have examined the specimens carefully. Being thus acquainted with the deep-sea coral fauna of both sides of the Atlantic, and having a previous knowledge of the species of the Mediterranean, I have no hesitation in asserting that there is not one species found in these deep seas which is “reef-building” in its habit or whose structures resemble those of the true reef forms. Mr. Darwin's theory is therefore as yet as strong as ever.
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DUNCAN, P. Deep Sea Corals. Nature 1, 267 (1870). https://doi.org/10.1038/001267b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/001267b0
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