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Vol XVI No 6

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Vol XVI No 6 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY Published Quarterly by the Australian Museum, College Street, Sydney Editor: F. H. TALilOT, Ph.D .• F.L.S. Annual ub cri ption, $1.40 po t~d A sistan t Editor: P. F. Cou IS Single copy, 30c (35c posted) \'OL. 16, NO. 6 J U E 15. 1969 CONTENTS P AGL HO\ 0 AMiLRO S IS THE M ORA Y ELL ?- John £. Ra/1(/a/1 177 THJ: A STRAliAl\ BIRD-BA!'IDJ (, SCJil.MJ D. Purchase 183 TJJF T ALCiAI CRANI UM: T111 YAL 1 01 ARCIII\ I.:S N. W. G. /1/acintosh 1 ~9 BooK RE 11 ws 195 THE A USTRALASIAN SUBA TARCTIC I SLAi\DS (PART 2) J. C. Ya/dll'\'11 196 SOCIAL BIIIAVIOUR A D IT [VOL Tl O'-- Jiro Kikkmm 200 M1 1 UTC MOLLU CA- W . F. Ponder 205 M ECT O UR CONI RIB TORS 20~ e FRO~T COVER: The Wedge-tailed Eagle (Aqui/a audax). of u<; lralia and Ta mania. has a "ing-span of from 6 feet 3 inche to 7 feet 3 inche..., \\ith H Tasmanian pccimen h:ning a record of 9 feet ~ inches. lt \\eighs about 8! pounds. Like it rclathel> the Golden Eagle • it has ah~a~s been accused of taking ~·oung lambs. Thi · problem i no" being ime tig:lled by member of the Wildlife Research Dhision of the CSIRO. They have found that the bird's diet is ' er) varied and may con il>t of young kangaroo!>. ratl>. possums, cro\1 ·, frogmouth , and large lizards. A fcm lambs have been found among its prey, but it is impossible to say whether they were heallby or sick when taken. BACK COVER: The origin of this interesting hark painting in the Australh1n Museum collections is uncertain. At the time of the Melanesian art exhihition in the Art Gallery of New outh Wale in 1966 thi painting and several other in the same tyle were found to be unnumbered and undocumented. However, this di tinctive painting tyle occur only in the area of the Keram Rh·er, a southern tributary of the epik Rh·er, northwestern ~e'' Guinea, and this group of bark!> can safely be attributed to that locality. They \\ere probabl) collected in the 1930' by E. J. Wauchope. \\hO conducted se,·eral expeditions up the epik and bought many uperb artefacts for the Mu cum. The colours in this painting are red, \\hite. yeJIO\\ , and black. [Photo : C. \'. Turner.] HOW DANGEROUS IS THE MORAY EEL? By JOHN E. RANDALL Marine Biologist, Ha waii Institute of Marine Biology, University of Hawaii, and Ichthyologist. Bcrnice P. Bishop M useum. Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.A. H E moray eel ha the unenviable T re putati o n o f being gro uped with the sha rk a nd ba rracuda as an extremely d angero us fi sh which ma ke unprovoked a ttacks o n ma n. lt i popularly believed to be reluctant to relea e it grip o nce it ha bitten a diver, thu po es ing the po tentia lity o f ho lding a victim beneath the surface long eno ugh to cause him to dro wn. Further­ more, it bite i o metime rega rded as veno mou . No o ne can do ubt that the moray\ a ppearance alone warrants such notoriety. With its la rge powerful jaws, lo ng needle- harp teeth, and mu cular na ke-like body. it ha a ll the attribute to elicit a fright re pon e. The mere ight o f a large mo ray by a novice diver u ua ll y result in a rapid removal of hi pre ence fro m the eel' vicinity. if no t from the sea altogether. Mo re expe ri enced diver gradually discover tha t they are no t in mo rta l da nger when they encounter a mo ray-at least when the mo ray" view of them i total and no t ju t a clo e-up gli mpse of part o f a n arm o r leg that might be mi taken for a fis h o r octo pu . The collective experience o f many d iver ha s hown that the mo ray' ini ter reputatio n a a man-killer is unde erved (a nd, it might be added. that the threat of the barracuda is The author pulling a mora) eel, Gymnotltorax iavanicus, on two pea rs to the surface at also exaggerated). AI o, the notio n tha t Johnston Island. Only the head end of the big there is a veno m a ociated with the teeth of eel is visible. T he pointed end of one of the morays i fa llacio u . pear can be seen projecting from the lower jaw. [Photo: Alan Banner.] Moray . if they a re een at a ll , a re nearly a lway observed with j u t their head projecting fro m a ho le in coral o r rock, or re ult in con iderable bending o f the spear. while making a brief excur ion fro m one ho le A few adventu rous diver have fed morays to a no ther. When confronted by an under­ by hand, a p ractice which sho uld be dis­ water wimmer, they generally remai n in couraged , for o ne wo uld not expect a hung ry e sentia lly the same po itio n ; they may mo ray to displ ay the be l table manners: emerge slightly. as if curio u , o r they may a Anger might ea ily be included with the withdraw completely. If tapped o n the head pro ffered food . with a pear tip. they retreat. If speared In a n attempt to di pel the much-maligned thro ugh the head , they ma ke a herculean mo ray's evil reputatio n, I do no t want to be effo rt to pull back into their hole whi ch may guilt y of creating a n impre io n tha t thi June, 1969 Pagt> 177 The head of a 4~-foot specimen of the moray eel Cndwlyna.,,a canina, from M arcus Island (24 N .. 154 !:..). Th1 "eel has slender and omcwhat hook~d ja\\~ with exceptionally long teeth. h "' believed to be among the more aggrcc; 1ve of moray . [Ph olO: Autlwr.] group of li hes is docile and harmle:-, . On Once pulled free of its hole on a spear. the the contrary. the moray is voraciou . and, moray' behaviour i apt to change. l t will when adequately timulated. very aggre · ivc. often bite the pear if able to do o. If it Many diver have been injured by morays: free. it elf from the pear. it may direct it~ I have been bitten four times. early all of vengeance at its tormentor. the pcar­ the e incident fall into two categories. The fh,herman. fir t i:-, the placing of an extremity. u ually a I n generaL a moray that has bitten a man hand. in the proximit) of an eel' head in oon relea e its grip. An analy!> i of the uch a manner that only the hand or foot or dentition of morays will revea l that these portio n thereof i seen. In biting, the fish are not equipped to cut piece · from eel pre!> umabl) mi ·takes the human extremity large- ized prey in the wa) that many harh for a fi h or octopu (an out tretched hand do. When a finger i di covered. attached to could ea ily loo k like an octopu • a favourite a hand, or a hand to a ubstanttal arm. the food of many moray ). The prese nce of a eel seem:. to realize that it ha · not encountered -. peared fish. truggling lobster. or detached a meal. Like a snake. whose evolution of an !> hellfl h will certainly increa e the chance of elongate body. lo of limb • etc., remarkably being bitten. Bardach, Winn, and Menzcl parallel!> that of the eel. the moray u!>ua lly (Copeia. 1959, no. 2) have shown that the wa llow!> it food entire. l t long pointed se nse of !> mell is the principal sense u ed by teeth are adapted for seizing and holding moray for locating food. The econd slippery prey. and the larger canines are category into which moray attack fall is the depres ible inward o that the prey. once re ult of provocation. such a pearing, or firmly ca ptured. can move only toward the being bro ught into a boat_ on hook and line. eel'~ ~ t o mach . Page 178 Ausrralian 1\arural Hi.1fory Three of my bite were pro bably the resul t ra nge of my left hand. It promptly a nk of morays triking ar what they believed were it teeth into o ne of my fl exed knuckles­ items of food . T he first occurred in ha ll ow a n event which aved the life of the grouper. water a t Kauai, Hawaiian Island . 1 gripped (The grouper is known in Au tra li a as the reef-flat to maintain my positio n a a groper.) wave a pproached , thrusting o me of my fingers into mall ho les. One fi nger was Attack by a giant moray nipped : the pattern of clo e- paced rows of tiny p unctures left li ttle d o ubt that my The e mino r incidents fo rtuna tel y involved diminutive assail ant was a moray.
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