221 ANIMAL AND PLANT COMMUNITIES OF THE COASTAL ROCK-PLATFORxM AT LONG REEF, NEW SOUTH WALES. By Ei.rzAKKTii C. Pope, M.Sc* {By permission of the Trustees of the Australian Museum, Hydney.) (Plates vii-xi; three Text-figures.) [Read 27th Octoljer, 1943.] Contents. Page. I. Introduction 221 II. Extent and position of the area and the nature of the substratum 223 III. Environmental factors 224 IV. Terms and method of presentation 227 V. The supra-littoral 228 A. Plants of tlie supra-littoral 229 B. Animals of the supra-littoral 229 VI. The littoral 231 A. Plants of the littoral 232 B. Animals of the littoral 234 VII. The sub-littoral fringe 241 A. Algae of the sub-littoral fringe 241 B. Animals of the sub-littoral fringe 242 VIII. Discussion 2.50 IX. Summary 251 X. Bibliography 251 I. Introduction. The rock-platform at Long Reef has long been considered by marine biologists as one of the most productive collecting grounds in the neighbourhood of Sydney. Owing to the nature of the rocks which form the platform, many types of habitat are offered for colonization by marine plants and animals. In consequence, the fauna and flora are exceedingly varied. It was thought, therefore, that it would be of interest to attempt to list the various plants and animals of this area and to find out, as far as possible, what communities existed there. Conditions are such that rock-dwelling and sand-burrowing communities are found, side by side, in the same tidal zone and under similar physical conditions. It is, therefore, possible to make comparisons of these faunas. The area chosen for this survey forms only a small part of the rock-platform at the western edge of Long Reef, Collaroy, and lies on the open coast about six miles to the north of the mouth of Port Jackson (see Fig. 1). Its exact position is latitude 33° 44' 30'7S., longitude 151° 197E. Long Reef is exposed to the action of the surf, but the ai'ea under study is relatively sheltered from the force of big seas, by the easterly projection of the remainder of the reef and by a number of residual blocks of stone and reefs on its seaward edge (see PI. X, fig. 23). As no maps of a scale suitable for use in this work were available, a map was constructed by plane-table survey and proved accurate enough for the purpose of this paper. For ease of reference, the various parts of the reef were given the names which appear on the map. It should be understood, however, that these names ai'e for the author's convenience alone and will not be found on any official map of Long Reef. * The greater part of the work was carried out while the author was holding a Linnean Macleay Fellowship in Zoology.
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