Also note that in the tables below publicly stated critcism is in red colored text, while my responses are in white, blue and green colored text.

With regards to calling a dark sump a 'Cryptic Zone', the following Public Comment was made:

There is no scientific designation of a zone such as you describe, this is a hobbyist designation and it really is meaningless.

That comment is wrong in many ways. For starters, what hobbyist designate has meaning. Especially within the captive reef market itself. There has also been published scientific studies that have utilized the term cryptic to define areas or habitats with low light. An example is quoted below.

Meesters et al (1991) Sub-rubble communities of Curacao and Bonaire coral reefs. Coral Reefs 10:189-197 "Cryptic reef habitats, which include cavities and the undersides of overhanging corals and dead coral rubble, have been estimated to comprise 30 to 50 % of reef volume. In contrast to the open reef, these habitats are characterized by low light levels, limited above-surface space, and reduced exposure to other environmental controls. Prominent organisms in cryptic habitats belong to sessile groups such as sponges, bryozoans, filamentous and encrusting algae, tunicates and foraminiferans, together with their predators and a variety of shelter-taking animals."

All I have done is substitute the word 'zone' for habitat. There should be no problem with this because the concept of zonation is well documented within the reef scientific literature. For example, the term Twilight Zone is well referenced and established. The logical leap to the cryptic zonation term can be found within the following published paper.

Jackson J.B.C. and J.E. Winston, (1982) Ecology of Cryptic Coral Reef Communities. I. Distribution and Abundance of Major Groups of Encrusting Organisms. J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 57:135-147 "In this paper we describe the distribution and abundance of major groups of cryptic reef organisms which encrust the undersurfaces of foliaceous reef corals in Jamaica. These substrata support a highly diverse biota of thin, sheet-like sponges, bryozoans, algae, and other sessile taxa which commonly show marked zonation with distance from coral edges."

So the claim that their is no scientific basis for using the term cryptic zone to describe a low light habitat is false. Its there if you choose to look for it. Just like the organisms hiding within the cryptic zones. The cryptic term itself has also been utilized within the scientific literature to define a 'spatially confined habitat'.

Wunsch, M. and C. Richter (1998) Note - The Cave Cam - an endoscopic underwater videosystem for the exploration of cryptic habitats . Mar Ecol Prog Ser 169:277-282

With regards to stating that cryptic life forms live in darkness and need darkness, the following Public Comment was made:

"Cryptic" simply means "hard to see". An animal described as "cryptic" is highly camouflaged, or transparent, or otherwise difficult to discern from the background. It does not mean that the animal lives in the dark. While there are animals that do need darkness to exist, these are animals of the deep seas, not coral reefs.

The dictionary states that in biological terms cryptic means 'serving to conceal'. This obviously can refer to the form or coloring of an animal. Scientists that have utilized the term 'cryptic habitat', are obviously referring to the concealing nature of the habitat itself. And many cryptic organisms need to be concealed from large macro predators and environmental parameters such as UV light. Both can cause the death of many cryptic organisms. Some of the cryptic animals are so delicate in form that small water currents can tear them. I have personnaly grown a small colonial Botryllus sea squirt colony that was too delicate to even be slowly moved underwater.

One of the critics that complained about the use of the term cryptic zone, actually suggested that I use the term 'Reef Refugia'. This unfortunately is another comment born from ignorance. The terms refugia and refugium are trademarked by the same company enforcing the Algal Turf Scrubber patent. No one should ever seriously suggest the use of these terms. The zones utilized in my system are much more then biological refuges. These zones have restrictions on the size and nature of the organic matter that travels into the cryptic zone. The zonation term adequately defines these types of distinct separations.

In an attempt to elevate the integrity or viability of the criticism against the use of the terms 'cryptic' or 'cryptic zone', I showed one of my critics a couple of references of the only other viable option for a descriptive term. That term is Coelobite. The references are listed below. Coelobite refers to a cavity or hole dwelling organism. Cave dwellers are obviously low light adapted organisms.

Richter, C. and M. Wunsch (1999) Cavity-dwelling suspension feeders in coral reefs-a new link in reef trophodynamics. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 188:105-116 "The cavity walls thus provide a very large living space for low-light adapted organisms or coelobites and, hence, a potentially important interface for biogeochemical fluxes between the interior and exterior of the coral reef." "Due to the paucity of light, heterotrophs generally dominate coelobite communities, particularly cryptic suspension feeders such as sponges, ascidians or bryozoans."

Gischler, E. and R.N. Ginsburg (1996) Cavity Dwellers (Coelobites) Under Coral Rubble in Southern Belize Barrier and Atoll Reefs. Bulletin of Marine Science 58(2):570-589 "Cavities offer sessile, vagile, boring or encrusting organisms of different taxonomic affiliation a habitat which is largely free from predators and physical disturbance."

Now the same critic that suggested the use of the term 'reef refugia', now suggests that I can properly use the terms 'coelobitic community' or 'coelobitic fauna'. The problem with these terms is that there are numerous low light habitats that are not caves or cavities. For example, the deep Twilight Zone is a very large low light zone that contains many of the organisms that also inhabit the shallow water dark reef caves. So I needed a non-trademarked term that adequately describes the shallow water and deep water tropical reef habitats that experience very low light levels and very low water current levels. The term 'cryptic' (serving to conceal) adequately describes these habitats where organisms are concealed from strong light, strong current and some predation.

If you encounter another hobbyist, professional or scientist that tries to prevent you from using the term 'cryptic zone' to describe low light zones with weak water currents, tell them to visit the EG pages on this web site. If they try to claim that the use of the term 'cryptic' to describe low light animals that normally inhabit the internal areas of a reef platform is not valid, you can also tell them to visit these pages.