Proliminaqy Re2oi-t on itariiie Dtolog Study of Onot,or: Atoll, Gilbert Iu!.alds

Part I

by John EE.hddl

Issuacl by

TI23 PACIFIC SCIENCE BGAW

National Acadenii of Scioncos--National Research Council

Eiashirigton, D. C.

December 15, 1352 PRTXfMINARY REPORT ON Mh?INZ EIOLO!X STUDY

OF OI4OTOA ATOLL, GTLEFZT I%iU?DS

SC1'34TIE'IC INVFS'I'IGATIOPJS IN D!XCPOiVESTA

Pacific Science Board

N~tionaLResearch Council

Dr. . H. Banner Uiiiversity of Hawaii Honolt~lu, Hawaii February 20, 1952

Part IT ~dr.John E. Randall University of Hat~aii Honolulu , Hawaii March L+, 1952 This field xorlc was carried on in coni1eci;ion with the Coral Atoll

Project of the Pacific Science Board of the National Research Council and ms sxppor-Led by fut~?sgranted to the XatLon::l Acadw of Sciences from the Office of Maw.?. Resenl,ch.

Generom cooperation was received fram the PIilitarj- Air Transport

Seyvlce and the United States Coast Guard Ln anssisting with transportation,

tiin University of Hawaii i? supplying much needed equipnent, the admlnis-

trative officials of tha Gilb~rtand Ellice Islands Colony. The author

is pzrticularly grateful. for the assistance estended by Xiliss EMlestine

Akers mcl Kz. Earold $. Coolidge of the Pacific Sciecce Board. . . . . Th~ksa.re also due to Dr, Preston E. Cloud, Jr., the leader of the

~xpedition,for the use of the map he made of the islmd, and to R.

Tacker Abbo-bt of the U. S. National PIusevm for the identification of

Bone of the molluscs. The mri?e bio:lLogical r'rork on Uno'toa j.s dtvisible into five portions:

1. Tile investigatioil of shallow water ecological associations, re-

por'ted !lerein:

A, The ecology of the rrindr,;ard reef,

B. The ecology of the lagoon reefs and shores.

2. The investigation of thc deeper water ecological asscciaticns, to be

reported by Dr. Pres-Lon E. CLond, Jr, 3. The investigation of the rnnr'ine algae, to be re??orted by Dr. Edwin

I40ul, L. The 5nvestigation of the ichthyofauna, reported by Er. John Randall and appended to th6s report. 5. The native use of tlzz rfiarine liizvertobr-ates for food, reported herein. iiy portion of the stuci~,the inarino in~e~tebrates,rras severely limited by an attack of blood poisoning and a subsequent attack oi' influenza that resulted from attemp-bing to do field work :?hen not fullg recovered from the

first illness; as a result of the-e two illnesses, over ffive of the ten %reeks

spent on Onotoz rrere lost and the investigat-ions made were neither as thorough

nor as extensive as planned.

The followiing repmts ore rei,and should be taken to show merely

the extent of the work 60ne. Tho idenfifications are fiilld idmtifications

and must be confirmed by expatt.;, vith the except.ion of soiiie of tine mollum%

r,rliich have already been iden-Lified by R. Tucker kloiwt-t of tho TJ. S. ?rational

14usem; and no coccli~.sinnsarc! ir1co::poratcd in the reports. hJnen tliese

reports are published the deficiencies vill. be corrected. The - ind?.rard reef on Gnotoa is found along the northern, eastern and southern shores of the atoll, presen-Ling an alnost unbroken barricade against the force of the prevailing wares, It varies in vbd-l;h froi;~three or four hundred feet to ova a q-~arterof a 31i1e a?d is nore extensfvely devsloped

around the southern island thm arounr! the rorthern, As it is of quite uniform height, structve and biotic zones, a sirlgle transec-t across its surface rias . . deemed to be indicative of the general ecology of the recf. ------Condi.tims of Gk;?. Reef The inshore border o? the Feel' is coiqmsed eit,her of consolictated and

eroded coral rock or :;nodeinzte1y Fine sad ~Lththe wper edge extendbg to the mexin~uk~heigllt of the sto:.i~:taws 2nd tho 13rier- edge vxying but u&~allyabout

the 2.0 to 2.5 foot ti& Level, Be:rond this skq? shorerrard area tine r?ef

ilat e.,te... LK?S to a m.iform srea of slight slope, vrii,h ,'re:pei?-t sr:.a;l. to large s~~allowpoo~sof ~~ater lei.: ~~5lov $ids. Y:?s rxf fl~tin the transsct

stxdiedtas 650 feet bi'c~ti, Cear~arclof the ITS.? ;!.at is a depres-;io?, the

heck-ridgz trough, be"c.rb-.n 50 .w.d.1C0 fee: vld2 zie raging in de$h from . . about the 0,2 to the - 2.5 foot tidal level. The final edge of the reef is tile coralline ridge (or Lithotharmion ridge by previous ~rorkers),a

r~mpnr.tbetveen l.0 and 2,O feet above the zero tide and 50 - 100 fezt broad. Its shore~mrdedge presenk an almost co.ltir~uous frclt of redclish cordline

algae, but on its sez~ardside soon develop.e.eer, fisswes or surge channels

at rj.gi3-t w.gles to. the shore that reach six or nor* feet below the surface

of the reef aid that are of varying rridthl, ~rrideningas they reach seariard.

T'ne seaward edge of tine cordline ridge thus separates into a series of separa.te and depressed fingers that finallg slope rapidly dom to the growing reef surlacc beloti. The outermost reef or the reef shelf is relatively narrori, about three hundred feet iide, and slopes rather rapidly from about

ten feet deep on the shoremrd side to over thirty or thirty five feet deep -. , . on the seaward side; it consists of living coral gro~~incin irregular ~nouncls r7ith areas betmen the heads strew xith dead coral fragments. Beyond this . . . . reef shelf the bottom drops suddenly a~ray, at a slope of perhaps norc than L,S0

and soon disappears in the t~rbid'aters;this last zone was not eqlored at

all,

The viniimrd reef facing the trade :rinds scstains the almost continuous

beatin? of the waves. :?t lou tide the waves are broken egainst the coralline

ridge and only slizht mves are felt in the backridge trough: I-Ior~ever~when

tile tide is high, only a 7,ortion of .the strong riaves is cxpmdcd against the

coralline ~idgeand the asjacent t-ough and moderste sized r.iz.ves srieep 'across

the reef flat, carr~yingenough energy to now coral. rocks a foot or two in

The rcef fl2.t froikx the coralline ridge back is the evident result of the consolidation of a li~ingcoral reef, chiefly or --Heliopora, by coralline algae; in dxost all areas the old !!eliopora is co.aploiely dead a~dcovored

rrith the algae to make an aldost table-like top. his top, hotrever, is

pitted vith small to large depressions, and in many areas perforatcd'by . . burrotrs leading doym mong the old coral fronds,

Animals living upon the ilat are subjected to many biological vicissitudes

in addition to thc action of .laves. In the ins!lore area esneciolly the reei . . flat is exposed to the air for severai ho~ursat a time at the lomr low waters,

and those airtals t!iat cannot cigrate to the shallorr pools must be oble to

~rithstmclthis period of dessication. Those animals in the pods, as vell

as those exyosed to the air must also be able to withstand great changes in salinity of their environment, for the high tide has the normal ocean salinity,

~i'nilethe loir tide mag expose thex to torrentid rains which riou3.d lover the salinity of the topmost layers at least to alxost zero. Hotrever, because of the difference in specific gravity and the a.bsence of agitation in tkzse small bodies of wntw it is likely thet the bottoms of the pools and the burrow i~ the rock es;3ecially 'L.their normal saltnity.

?robab:Iy the r,iost pl-onounced physical changa the minals are stlbjected to is the change in tempratvre for %be c?ark reef surface on low tides is exl,osed for long periods to the tropical sun. At these times the r~aterin the inshore pools become hot to the touch (strtdies oil tempratwe m?a by Strasburg will be re!?orted by cloud): yet yith tile flooding tide the temperature will drop perhaps lsOin a few milutes. Previous studies hayre sho-m that the oxygen cmtent of Yne water over the reef at high tide and in the pools at lor. ,tide is almys near if not above its sat~rationvalue. Gut as the tmperature rises tLis salrration value, in grams of ox:ygen per liter of sea ?rater, decrease; rapidly, so the reef inhabitants must be able to aclju-st to less than nonncl oxygen,

Tvo biological conditions o: the reef ?lit sho~ldbe r81entioned 2.s i.n- flucnclnr; its ecology. In -:he fii-st place thz reef su~face.lot in the small tide pools is covered in most areas by a dense alga& mat that affords botA food and protection for the inhs?.>it,?nts; this .ins ?ar-ticdarl:i true in tile middle and outer portions of the reef ?la& Secondly, r.hila fs; lxgcr :mxiato~sand scavevengers like la:-ger fish, lobster md cr&s were f0ur.d rrhile the smey was conducted at l:xi tide, they moved onto the reef ?.t high tide. -iietk~ods ar,d LirnItztions -of the Study: The objects of the ir,vectigation .;rere to fix6 the transition of dominant forms over tl.e reef surface, and, if possible, to clesignate sharply delimited zones on the reef through a quantitative study,

On the main reof flat the study was conducted ?sy -3aytng out a series of continuous stations, twenty feet vide aid fifty feet long, and within than areas ex'ten5ing the length of the station on? or two feet ?:ide. %thin the smaller area all_ anbnds were collected and counted; the larger area was then inspected foy largzr but iess coimon animals Like the larger snailso sei cucmbers, etc. Then areas in the sane tick1 zone adjacent to the studied . . . . zrea %reresuperficially exxlinei to see if the zone selected rras typical; it i:as found so in all cases,

In the inshore beach area, in the bac~~idgetrough9 and over tha ol'fshore sheLf PO quantitative stuciy xas attexpted because of difficulty in obtaining either enouo;h animals in a t~~icalarea or becavse of the &f..&ulty in laying oct :ti area for study and collecting it (as in twenty to thirty feet of ?rater), ~. Gecause of poor tides and poor rieathor conditio~s?,hen i.t was 9ossYsle for me

$0 do field rrork, alrnost no study rsas made bn the cordlin'e *idge at all.

. , The limitations of the study ae:

1. The study is linited to macroscopic invertebrates; no microscopic i'orins of life nor any fish are considered. i.k, Randall did a paralle: study on fish and ?rill report it seper:atcly. . .

2, Concerned as it is rrith the dominant animals, this study omits the more rare mimals.

3. All identificctions of animals are but field identifications, and rrill be corrected upon the identiTication by experts, . . . The s tudy is lintted by necessity to the xore superficially 'occ~rrring . . animals; it w,-s impossible to explore' thetubes reaching dom from the con- solidated surface of thc reef. 5. No statistical checks have been applied to the quantitative results, and they should be accepted merely as rough indications rathzr then accurate

:;tcrbis,tj.cs; in other :.rords, a sjlili1.a section two hundred feet ar?ay rilight give different figures, but vo1G.d show tile sane trend* --Transect Area A-0; Shorexard beach.

'Eqe 7rel.l-denarked bezch extends from about 2.5 feet to about 8-10 feet above tile zero tide zone. It is divisible into t-ro different habitats, the

sancl beach coni~osedof loose a;id shifting sand, and the rocis beach consisting of cons~li~atedcord and beach rock, eroded a?ld GZ.th soine snial.1 tidal pools.

The sand beach is the habitat only for -.--Ocypode ceratophthalma, the "ghost crab" that lives in deep burrows by day; also at ni$ht terrestrial

hermit crabs migrate dorm to the upper zones of tine beach.

The rock 'beach is' iahalxited by -.-.-Grapsus -.-.--grapsus in fair nmilbers, some

identified hermit crabs, and large nunbers of -:iI\?erita plicata (species marked -:i -.- ---

indicates the identification has been confilmed . 1~. ..R. Tucker Abbott.)

Areas !.-I to A-~L.

These stations covered the reef-flat a113 presefit roughly the same type

of sdostrate. The surface is relatively smootli, being bnilt up by %he con-

solidation of the individual heads ai~dfronds of coral.... by coralline algae,

Its surfzce is pitted !rith ssinal!. shallorr depressions in uhich rater stands

at low tide; these are .usually less than a square foot in axea aid not over

a,bout three .inches deep. The exposed surface of the coral a.nd in some areas

the tidal pools, usua!.ly covered ?!it11 a more or less dense grorrth of algae

(to be reported by Dr. iioul). The erceytions to these [;eneralizations are

in the back-ridge trough (areas A-13 and A-14.) rrhere the surlace is below

the level of the lovest tides. Areas A-7 and'il-8 and .A-9 ::ere at least in

part covered by a. single extensive tide pooi; in these weas a fer: living

pieces of 2--Heliol-iora were still graving uncovered by coralline algae. -5- . . . .. TRURSECT, WD?lMPPRD REEF FLAT . : Stations A-1 to .4-14

In the tabxlations below those animals not quantitatively estimated and those a~imr.1~that are rare, scattered or very irregular in their occurrdce

(as would be those found only in the occasional loose coral boulders) are in-

. . dicated by -P for present. . : ....~ . .

Height 2&12,212.0 1 1.81. . 1.6p 1,11! 1.2' LO' 1.0f.0,8 1 0.6 1 O.L'&O.Lf-0,2 above0.0 I I t I I I I I t I I to I to tide zone 1 I I .I I.., 1. . I I 1'. -I I l-0.21-l,b 11 1 I t I I -1 1 I I I I I I I I 1 I I 1 I t I I. I Approxi- 11 t I t I I t I I I I I

1 ', I , 1 1: I I 1.. I 1 1 :nate :.per- I I . . . 1... . catage 11 1 I 1 I I I I I I I 1 covered 70%30$13O%rf;O$ 1 30$130%1 80%'100%' 90%' 70% -'80% 70% '20% '100% by tidal tt I I t I I 1 I I I I I 1. .I pools, ' I 1 1 1 1 I I 1 . . .I 1 I 11 I I 1 I I I 1 1 1 1 1 PORIFrnA 1 I I 1 I I I 1 I I Elack Sponge - - - - 1 80 20 1 40 60 - I 1 120 - 1 - I I I I I Purple Sponge 6 I 11 3 1 8 LO 100 LO 1 - - -1 - .. -1 P 1 1 I I I 1 P Yellov Sponge - 1 - - - 1 - - - 1 - - -1 - - - t 1 I 1 1

Zooan.thids - 1 P - - I - - . - I - - -1 -. - -1 - . .. I I I I I . . -1 , , -1 Sea. Anernone 60P 1 - - - 1 - - - 1 - - - I I t I I _.ICII~~-.~-.~.-.---.-.-~-.~..--.- I I : I 1 I --PorLtes -lobata- 1 Z - - 1 - - - - 20 100 9 20 2b.O !Pip 1 - 1 1 ' 1 1 I

Polyclad I 1 I - 1- - PI P - -1 .. 1 I I I I Ewythroe sp.- 1 P - -1 - - -1 - - , . P., ... &P . - I - t I I 1 1 ...... Other t I I . I Errantia - I P P 1 p p - I. - - Pf-120P - 'P 1 1 I i1 1 Tubetrorlns I I ,.. . 1 ... ,, I ...... dth fora- 1 I 1 I I minif era1 I I I . . I ...... I tubes - 1 P . P -1 --. 80p I.P '.p If-. - .. I-

CRET~'LCFJL I I I I .. . ., ;.. I ...... I I I . . p" 1,. :+. '80p I Stoxatopoda - 1 P - 1P1 1P - - I ... - -. I- (Pseudosqdlla t I t I ...... ,. 1 ...... ciliata) (? ) 1 I I ,, I

I 1 I I ' ' -- 1 Crangon sp. - 1 P 17P 70P1120F - 20P 1 20P P P LOP 1b0~ P bP ...... + ...... I 1 I '' ' I' ------..------..- , ...... Synalnheus sp.- 1 - - -7 - - -1 - - -1- - - IlP I I I t . . ... I , ...... ,, Shrimps, other-. 1 - - -l 3P - - 1 LOP - -1- - - P

-.--. -.--. I 1 1 I ...... I ....., . . : .. -,,...... Paribaccus sp- 1 - - ,I - .. -1. 1 - .-. . - I- 1 I 1 I ...... 1 ~ermi.4crabs 800 1 87 689 1500'3400 39CO 1720 1.111 60 - 1 -.-- . - - - - I. - I I 1 1 1

Ikcnia sp. - ! - - 1 p - -1. - ..- - I,' ...... I-

Drupa ricina - - '1 :

. . .. . ! .... I;. ' hebraeus 1. 't I -:~onus . . - 1 IS 1'' & C. spon- I : I -,..d&s- 22 1 81 100 500' lllC 60 60 1120 - 2 1 1 - -.I ,-, '1 . ' 1 1 I . . I " "

.-I Cythara sp. - I '-. . - 200' 20 280 - :- - - I :- - 4-- ,: I: I :.: ,,:..1 : .... ':. 1

. . ... ! :. 1 I. I " I' --Volsslla I I' I I I --.--a~rticulata - I - - 401 - - -I - - -I - - -I - skIsognomon- I t I I I perna 31 2 3 1 20 40 -1 - 20 601 - .. -I - - 1 1 1 I I i(Ga£rarium t I I I I pectinata -1- 2 -1 - - -I - - -I - - -1 - I 1 I 1 1 ECHINODElWATA I I I t I I 1 I I I Tripneustes I I I I I ---- -1 1 --gratilla -I - - -I - - -I - - - -1 - I I - I I 1 1 I 1 I I --.-Echinometra I I I I I mat!iael -1- - _I .. - -1 - - -1 1 - -1 - I 1 I I I ---Diadema I I 1 I t paucispinus - 1 - - -I - - -I P - -I - - -1 - 1 I I - I I -.Distichopis - sp.- 1 - - -I - - -I - -1 - - -1 P I I - .--1 I 1 I I I I I Ophiocoma I t I I I -I -1 1 -.or evapes -I - - -I ------1 p I 1 1 I I Other brittle I I I I I t 120P P I stars 1.25~1 2 8 -1 lp - 2P 1 - - - - -

---HolO:&&ia . . I I 1 I I I 1 11 --atra -I p 1 11 - - - 1 - -1 - I " ' I 1 1 I

Other Ho3.0- t I I t I I -I 201 tliurians -1 - - - .. ------1 - . . ...Corllline. ridge,......

Yne topographical featmes of this ridge are described above.. Unfor-

, ...... timatela tides and -raves.... did not permit an exmination, wither quantitative : nor qualitative, of the favna of this zone. The rnlativcly smooth surface of

"' th6 coralline Qae did not o?fep any protectj.on for aninal Life; the shifting ...... rocks a% the bottom of the surga ch&nels offered less, :Ior.f~ve-, rea:hLrg into

'' thd.~nessof tine cbrallke elg-.e :rere nmerous openings, uld xitinin the: heads

i1ei.e chu:ib%rs in. :rhich many mj.msl.s li-ved. In this habitat ?$ere found such :. .. , .. anbals as Echinometr; mz'Ynei A&erocentrosus sp., and several spaciss of ------9 ---.-

...... This area, l*ng beyond the outer edge of the corall'.ne ridge, tias

es%Lnnated to be about 3CWfee', 4de, froa 8-10 feet ?cep at the coralline

ridge to 2bou.t 20 feet deep where the 'sottoin begins to cirop away abruptly.

In this area no invertebmtas other than corals :rere olssei-ved, and no . -.

.:. .facil?*ti*s'-rere available to tr2nsport heads.... of ccra2. to shore for :?urther exarnin~.tlc;i; hoirever, nw.krous ho!.es were' note6 in the coral floor irhere . . crustacean's, irorins and. other foms could have 1.i-red.

,' . The coral on thshelf rras ro~ghlyzoned, ~iththe domin,mt species in ...... the shalid~~erir>.ter near the'coralline 'rid~ebeing Pociilopora ---,nenndrina.

and in the dcenor vater of ..the middle and ou.tor shelf, species of -.-Acronora, In the middle and outer portions of the shelf rnassive heads of Porites lobata

were conspicnous. Among the ot'ner corals found in this area vere all of

those re:?orted froiii the back-ridge trough and so;ile small specimens of ...... Stylaster gror~ingon the undersides of coral heails in tmrity feet ormore of

.rater. L;rge areas of the bo-Lt,om rrere covered vith dead, loose fronds of . .

ABT.S lTOT IN LAGOO3.

I. Lcevard Island Reef.

This area lies to.the lee of the ends of the islands, r~estand northwest

of Tabaurorae and hts ncrthern reef. The regions famistically approach the

riind~rarclreef but on thm there is not a well-developed 'eef flat and no

bsclcr.idge trough. . or coralline ridge vl~atsoemr, bxt instead changes at places . . quite abmptly into conditions similar to tke reef shelf off the windward

reef, ?n mtcr of noderate depths -- 'ko to five feet -- the aaJw elanents of tLe fauna are th~sane as the bachid~etro3e;h on ths rrind~ardreef.

The rnajor exception to thesc gene:rali.tizs Lies the region nor%h?rard of: . . in

the Yeliopcra flats off: Lqteuna; here, . the. co~ditionsars similar to the

area r?itb.in .the reef t3 the :!est of Lbenecnec Island (to be described by . . . . Dr.. . ClouZ) . . .

IT.. Heliopora F!.ats. . ..

Thc xeas desihmated as F@liopora Fl?.ts are fo~mdin a irotected region , . ' . be&< th: rrindrrard ;-eel" at the south 2nd of thz north isi;!ncl and north~restof . . the tip of the north is,land, . .

Tie sol%her;.l I&?-iopora flat consists of extensive tide ~joolabout 800 . . sin Zest in dia.etcr, protecte:! o?: the ocemside by a coa-csc ccrnlli.ne boulder

ridg?, and by elzvated sand and boiL?.ei- covered reefs on the other sides. . . Tila bottom of the pool is estiniated to be al~outthe 0,O tid.al level, and the ...... wateir stmds a1:iort t~relve.to eightecn inches dezp. The bottom is sad. The dominant a?hijl is ----H&Lopora, 75th one ilea<. ahout square :ard; ---Porltes

: .SJ. is p~rhapsa t,enth.as flentiful. giber corals, all infrequent, include QTbic~UsPocillop~ra~ Leptoria, Gn the exposed sand bottom no animals ex- --,,) --,,) -- cept ----Holothuria -atra are conspicuous. Other invertebrates are found in tvo habitats.

A. Under coral heads. Here are found stomatopods (Pseudosquilla ciliata), ..--Tethys, two species of tunicates, four species of holothuroids, -%Thais-. -hippocastanurn, .- and several species of brachyuran crabs. Be In coral heads. Here the dominant forms are crangonid shrimps and

small xanthid crabs. Encrusting sponges of various types are common; black

colonial tunicates are plentiful; one head only shoved numerous small sea

anemones. Annelid. tronns, both Zrrantia and Sedentaria, are moderately common. Several species of clams, iqcluding ?~Isognomon- sp. and -:*Barbatia tenella, are found between the inner brarches of the coral,

The northern Helionora flat is faunistically similar to the southern,

with the same population. Ho:J~v~~,it shows the transition, on its inner

side, between a typical Feliopora flat as described above with infrequent

heads of Helio-oora reaching from the sand bottom, through a condition where the ---ileliopora is grorring thickly and the top ends were being consolidated by coralline algae, to a consolidated condition like that described in section

A-8 of the windward reef. In the labpinthian passages below the surface con-

solidation are numerous smll fish. Cn the outer edge these flats gradually

change in a moderately deep water coral association with passages between the

coral six or more feet deep; , ...... i. . . , 111. Shingle Flats...... These areas of shingle -- flattenidand waveworn cdral r&ks lie in ...... regions where the ?raves and the currents are strong enough to sireep away the

s&d, These conditions are found in the passes between the islands, as in the

three passes bebieen ITorth Island and South Island, and the two passes west

of South Island. The siae of the rocks varies with location, being large xihere there is an mbroken sleep of the .rater, 3s betveen the vindrrard side of the Abenemec passes, and grndually chmging into fins g;~.vel on the inore protected extensions of the current, as to the vest end of the southern tip of ?.?orth island, !.~hichin tun is replaced by the fine sand c!xiracteristli? of the lagoon. hll shingle ireis 5nspecti:d rrer? shove tile 0.0 tidal zone, and in piaces extender: i~p-to the ed2;e of the terrestrial flora. In ssie portions of the passes there rierc developed broad shallo:: tidal ~ools,uith a bottom of finer rocks or sand.

!Tithaat exception %ese 2.ctud pass areas rcre found to be demid of

1wger ahc1.s; even thc tidal pools aypezed l.iieless, Howa-er, vhere thew, rcas slight protection either from is?.ancls or from bars, there uas a feeble i'a11na developed, :ith soiile %anthi&crabs, a fevr spollges andheads 31" ---Porites in the tidal pools. In the fine gravel zoiles, tr~asitiond.betvieen the shingle and tile lrgoon sand, sonic 15fe xis fou4 in the ?.eveis :Tea7 the zero tide zone.

Durro~~Lnginto the dead coral. me;' unS.er these areas iisre f.o~mdsipunculids and ennellds; in tile small. shallow tidd pools vere found. occasional brit-Lle stars, solitary zooanthids andsma'2.1 crabs 'u&r tne sen-Ltcred loose boulders,

Lil.GCGN kR:.LG

IV. Smd Foreshore...... < /\long .the l~goonside of ";he island t'ne foreshore, from about the trio

foot tidal level up aii;ernn.i;cs betrieen f.'.ne sand and consoliclatec! beach rock i:ith more amas of beachrpck of: the northeiv island and more said off the ...... ,...... sou2LheTn. Only r.ear .the tip of the islands and arounds:nalleFislands like

Antema and Abenccnec ?re tilo,?e tvo c??aractori,sticbeach formations replaced . . by coral shingle. The sand ;oreshore is devoid of life except for occasional

ghost crabs Ocypode ceratophti~aha-- the same species that is found much nore p~.enti?ullyon t'ne riindmrd sand beach, ., .. . . V. Beach-rock Foreshore.

Alte~"nct;_ngnith the sand foreshore are areas :?@ere the elevated beach- . . rock of the islandfs base is exposed by :rave action. This slab is eroded on the top surface into the typical cupped pattern, and oft2n is undercut along the lorrer ed.ge by cave action and possibly solution by fresh yater from the . . . . islanc: lcns, At places, esbecially in the lo!~er tidal zones, the ydercutting. . has proceeded far eno&h so tilri; slabs up to&evaral fert or mop l~nghave . . .. broken 0% trom the base roclc adlie free on the substrate of either beach- roclc or of sand,

Animal communities 5.n this habita-t rrhen the tide is out are subjectecl to . . ~.... . dessication aid heat, to ra$n and especj.ally to the iloring.. fresh. .ratesg common ali along the shore; vhen tile ti& isin, to inod~ra-te;?am action (excegt,

~~ossi'vlyil.uring periods of stoms from the iiest.:~henthe rrave action rrould be vigorous). . . . . The rocks can be r?~.b2iv$.ded.into four x%soci.?.tFons: . . A. The lii~herbsach-rock areac This is above about the 2.5 foot tidal

neither as cormlon as on the simila~rocks on the .rin&ard side of the island. . . B. Lo~r-;.rbeach-rock area, rocks 1y;i.g on solid substrate or undercvt .' : solid roclc; Thes rocks ..lie l;et::een. ..the 0.0 and 2,s tidd zones. In them . . aye ie%dbur?o.ring sipunculi~:rams; near the edzes of the roclcs are numerous . ....

Holothuria atra andless numerous. . Xolothuria monocs?xia, sone colonies of - , . ... . colonial tunicates ad some sponges; under them are nmeroui' crabs of at

lehst four species, four or more s;?ecies of crangonid shrixps,'very few ~.. . hemit crabs, and no :rorxls. C. Lorrer beach-rock, rocks lyirig on 'sand. These we in the scnle zone as 9 abo-ie, but lie ;?it11 the base inbedded i> t'ne sand, Ahoul, thk- e6g~sis the coiimor, --.-.. ;;olothuria --ahra andclusbers- of woantlii; in burroirs under .them in the sand are nunierous large rrms of the gsnus -.--EuryLhoe and three species ~of. crm-gonii, shriips.

D. Lo7rer beach-rock, suspn6ed rocks, These, l~ying:iith one end on other rocks, leave a lar~esurface underneath open to :re:, circd.atioh.'of water or air, and protection ?rox the sun and rain. Gn this scface, hanging dorm, are h.ydroid colonies in profssim, and some colo~i-a1tvnicates, a ferr spongcs.

VI iiud Eats.

In a s:lort narrow area a1or.g the micXle of the :Tor%h Island, belo-i the foreshore and behind the incipient beach-rock (BIL) there is a mud flat, The height of the mud f1a.t ia sli.:

In t!iis mud fl~tproper is only one spxies visibls, -the brilliantly colored Pddler crab, living in blu^ro~,is.. In amas trans!.tiona!. betireen the niud flat and the sand. zre found some hu.rro:rs of stomato~ods, %we :!ere no traces of annelid.burro:rs or of other macrosco;xi.c life,

VII Incipient Bsach-rock

h mall ,-re? off mi&!le of the n6rthern island, bounded inshore by the . ~' rnudflats (VI) and off shore 'and at the ends by sax! I^lats or turtle grass . .:

(VIII and a).,Fs co:n:>osed of beach~rockin the process of formation, according to Dr. Clovd, T!% rock is as firm,'or allilost, ?.s fim as the typical elevated beach rock (v) hut its surfacc, necr the zero tide zone, r;as rouzhly eroded

Like the xore exposed rock (IV-A). In ,pro.tected areas in thg ~.oc!;, as ind.eeper cusps, 'i~.fissures and

mder. tile. occas;.onal loose rocks are the following snails 2 ?'Th.ais-. hippocas-

,."anurn; "tra virgata and %. litterata.?'%ynathiutn chlorostomum and ':'Conus : P ---- - 9 --,- . .. . - hebraeus.- Unde' the rocks are nmerous her~nitcrabs. Burcowing into the rock were sipunculoid rrorms and sea anemones were found in protected loca-

tior~sjhere they were living in shallow pits that precisely fitted the basal

-portions .of their colwms. In shallow but rather long burrows that they

have eith.er excavated or ta::en are the large red-eyed crabs'and; fiddler crabs;

at the entrance of-these burrows were vast numbers of CollemboZz*. . . :

. .,. VIII Sand Flats. .,. .. .

The :nos% extensive habitat in the lagoon is the sandflat;. These flats

run fron -the inshorc beach along the three major islands extending as a broad,

a1;nost level, flat from the inshore beach outwards for several hundred feet

vide to a half mile or more. Cn the outrrard edge -they either continue as the

sand bottom of the lagoon or are cove~ed.by turtle grass (IX), or are de-

mar!:cd by a decadent coral. reef (X). Thc portions of this area described

belaw run Prom about hro fest above to several feet belorr the zero tidal zone.

??he.'sand varies fror~iless th!m an inch t:xicl:, coveriizi: old coral reef, to at

least several feet thick. . .

The fama of this zone var5.e~rrith the depth in the tidal zone, the fine-

ness of sand particles, the amount of wave actlcn, and !rith the depth .of the

saml. The differences b? tl~efauna are iiot'rrel? demwked and~losto:ften are quantita-Live rather thw q~~alitative-- the same species present in most areas, . but varyirig in relative abundance, Of course, ~6ththe differ~nceindepth

the fauna changed ::xarkedly; :for example, in the highest portioni here conskdered

(soae tidal pools in the middl~tidalzone off htewna), the only elements of

- 19 - the fauna left were the Enteropnnustan, ---Ptychodera, and on the other hand, be- lo~the -1,O tide level solitary heads of coral wou3.d reach rip above the sur- rounding sand.

'Thesc solitary heads of coral in this area, like those in the Turtle grass area, collstitni;ed microenv~ronmaitsn:a;.kedly diifeirent from the surrowding sand, For that rea.son they are coiisidered as a separate subdivision below.

A. Sand area proper, fama:

Forifera: Purple sponge, black sponge (trro kinds), oranze sponge,

Coelenterata: Zooantliids (corals considered below).

Tubeworms 7:1ith leathery tubes an6 eith sand tubas; ttro Anne!.ida:.~ . .. species o; Ema1tA.a; mall and giant sipunculids,

.. ~ Crustacea: --Lysiosquilla -- -- maculata;- Callianassids, Calappa spo

iIollusca: (Note : remarkably few traces of living mollusca were

folliid, al.thoue;h dead shel3.s ?rere seen in some areas; this may ,. .. be attributed to the f;ct .that ~!;osto_^ the sand fiat molluscs ...... are esteened as. . food by the ~ilbertese.) Clzns, various , . :,. . .: . ?. A, species including "Cai'rar!! pectinata, "Tellina crassi$ica%a, .. .. ,c"Tellina -- sp., >,'3la.utica sp., various species of --Wtra, Terebra, ......

Cchinodermata:

Holothmia atra (extrei,ieS;; cornon in some arcas, counted a% . . . . 5-15 per square yard),

Chordata: Ptychodera --s~.

B. Isolated coral hezds, fauna:

Poriiera: sa,ie as akove, Coclcnt,er~ta:Porites sp. (dowant); Poci.Uopor3 damicornis;'.. . . -- Acropora servicornis; -Orbicella; &her corals'$nn;:lesser . . numbers. . ' "

...... Pennaria......

Amelida: Tube brorms in liny tubes; sipunculids '.

Cyustacea: Crmgonids, various species; brach3ruran 'crabs...... Hollusca: Cyprea eroya "?ionwtaria ::ione-b, 39arbjtia -_I-J -. -- -- Chordata:. Colonial tmicates ... .,: .... .

. . . ,.:...... :...... ,...... lXc Turtle Grass ' ' . , .;...... :,,. " ...... , . .<. Large are& in C'ne northern part of the lagoon and portions of tine southern ...... : . . lagoon are d6m&&tkd by Turtle Grass (~hailisia'sp.) rrhich extends over the . ,. . , . . ).:. ..:.... I. . . , , :::...... stifid botto~~f~bm!:~at&r 2b6Ut 2.t t:~&:a), .kldom grorrs over a foot or more high; : .. , ., . ... ,its creep&; rhiion& make a dense intenro~enmat in the sand substrate. In .... . :., ...... the s6utneri1 poriion of the lagoon less area is adaptable to the gro-trth of . . ,......

I the plmt,, 2n$ in .&&:itis iimitcd to a relatively narr.ow zone near the .., . ., , shore of 'die ~isldnd;,in'theroicldle 02 the lagoon, off the ?asses betmen ...... , . . North and South Island and the zdjucent areas, and'off Tabuarorae and the

southrrcsternmost .L20rtionof the lagoon tilere is no Turtle Grass :rhatsoever, ...... The ~~irt1e'Grisspropcr isrela'&vely devoid of invertebrate lire. On

the fronds of t!le grass are found black colonial tunicates and occasional

sponges of scve?al typs; a5out the baszs of the grass are nore sponges of

the same tyy md, nost abundant in iilmy areas, a 'papillose green-black

holotlmrian. It vas impossible, once digging rTas started, to dig out the few b~rroriingznimals detected becauce of the clouds of fqne silt that rendered .unr!.ec:atz vislon il~;3ossible. The burrmiing animls, l;o:;svcr, are fer: in nmber and appeared to be ii~ni~ctto a sinall squillid (~ysiorquiUz)--.-.- adsorie bwro~ringxorms, . .. In the ciecper pwt,ions cf the Turtle Grass beds, especia!.ly in the area off t'ne nortllem island, there xpear solitcry an6 sepwated cord masses, like is1,mds in a sea of grass. Thase isolated masses nre rich in liSe, both fish and invertebra%e, Tiley eridenly are made l1.p primarily of --.Forites, but they ere covered in a large extent by otky corals lii:c --L.-Acronora, --.-?ocillopora, - idrncella etco The invcrtabr.~tefama is in gmeral similar to the fauna of coral he& in tile sanc! beach area (iinl-E),

X. Decadent Coral Reef,

Iil mmy orees tho sand :"lats prade eraddu!.?_3rfnto a reoon of dead co:d reefs that lic bctrrcen # 1,O and - 1.0 tfdal level. These areas appxr to be .those -1here the riave action and cwrent action is strong-r, sweping t'he veneer of sand, from tile flardnr subotwte, They aye founii to the sou-bheast of

mtem~a;off the sou.thern po'tisn of :he 2'orth Islana xid the northern portion

of 'the Sou-Lh 1slan-l ahd the passage:, bc.t-,rcen; and She;. are extensively de-

-rer?ebratzs: on the harc! coral therc are places of a'c*,acbmen-t, protected

and unpro-kected, for seasl'.lc Tomis; in n?tu?~lJ.;. occurr5lg spaces and in

bwrorrs in the cord ti;er? are $aces .'oz the sme:Ll.er iilvertebrstes to hide;

in %he arsas be'tvem the heads 02 coral, tither broken off as the reef rras

p;ro~,ringor s~bserjumtlyc:ot?z& rrcm the reef surface are pockets of sand and

gravel to accommodate bur:'ouLng foms; these pockets, some of them many feet long, retain water when the tide is ouk and pr0vid.e a tidal pool for the . . protection of its inilsbitalts. For this reason the fauna of the area is niore diverse. than any other area of tie lagoon;, however, with Sai exceptions, no ., ., elonlents of the f awn are exceedingly common :

Porifera: Yellov to red encrust3ilg sponges, several species lioderately common

Black, rounded qonge lhcomnon

Orange ups tanciing sponze Lh common

Pennaria . '. Comon on undersides of coral overhangsB

Forites, living Shconmon -Pocillouora damicornis.- Uncomnon Annelida:

!?oms in li~jrtubes, tvo species '31coimon

Burro-?& Errantia, 1 specGflcn Uncoimon -Sl~unculus SF. Crustacea: . . Crmgon, &d other genera Uncommon

Brachyuran crabs (other then ~ortunids) Uncomon

' (Portunicls) (Iloderately comnon)

Uncomon

Rare

Iioderately common

Rare

Rare

Rare Un cormon

Common

Common

Rare

Rare

--Linlcia sp. Rare Holothuria atra Abundant in tide- --- pools at imer edge of area (60 in one pool of about 60 square feet);. other- vise rare. Papillose sea cuc~m~bx(as in :K above) 2are

Ptychodera- Rare Encrustin:: com9ouad tunicate, 'three species Rare to common, according to the spocies. Cne of the important phases of a study of a native peoples is the study

of the food resources available to the people, and of their utilization of

tiiese resowces, This is especially true of the inhabitants of a coral

atoll, rrhers the food resources at best are somevhat limited, and r~here, on a

mall dry and overpopulated atoll like Gnotoa, these resources may be the

deciding factor in social structure and even of life and death.

On Onotoa the population had available three sources of food; the con-

ventional lanci produce, plant and animal r~hicchobviously rras inadequate to

supporj'ithe island's population, especially in times of drought; the marine

fisheries, apparently the chief source o? protein in the native diets and

one of the main sol.wces of calories; and finally, the marine invert~brates, .. . rrhich appeared to be at best lnerekv a supplenen'iary sovrce of food, gatgered

.. pritnarily eitker uhm ,"ortui%ous occasiom arose, like low 'tidos at night . . for the collection of lobstess, or to serve as mere vnriakions in the usual

diet of coconnt-pandanus-fish.

Iiorrever, this study trill give sme indication of the extent that the

Onotoans are utilizing most of the zvailable resources as food,

lethods and Limitations of the Study:

This study was carried on to large pzr-t rrhen I vras irmobilized by

blood-poisoning. 4 native assistant was assigned to help me uhen he was

not busy irith other jobs; he iras rrilli.ng and cooperative, but the study iras

inhibited by his most imperfect l3mglish and my total lack of Gilbertese; at

ths an interpreter was used to bridge the gap* The stu6y, in its original phases, consisted of looking at pictures in illustrated books of marlne 1-ice. Later, upon ,Finding that thr.t system vas inaccurate because of the inability of natives to interp-et correctly the illus'cra%ions, dl in.fol~ati.onrras gatherel by shor:bg the nat2.ves actual s~ecimens, sy:ecirr.ens that were either collected for us by our native assistants . . or by ourselves,

The study has three major limitations and sources of ir! accuracies.

;?iri:t is tile probii3i.lity that :re !:rere unzblr: to find all of the foods of tile people because rre had neii;her illustr-tions nor s~ecimensof the:n, and our

informants did not aiscuss them because of the !.angua~e 3.initaa;ions. Second because 02 their ";.r?llingness to @.ease" i,he natives in.cluded anirnrls tlzt

possibl.; ixere not e;tm, or thha meexhen only under extre!r,e farniae con-

dit;-ons, To remove this ~mssibil3.t~several natives ?:ere checked, one against

another, in as mny instaces as possi.ble, 'ihii-d is thz5 not all individua3.s or family groups utilize ';he iil-~er'eb:a.tc foods a:: rnuch as others -- like in our o?m society so:m fmiiies eat crabs but otincrs would not consider them,

Perhaps my informants rrero not Nnong thoso rho knev and. utilized all of the

fcods Sound on the reds and shores of Onotoa. I did observe on some of the

food species that there rras no agreemalt as to the nativ nme; for example,, I received three native n'mes for $he snlil Quimalea--- . -?omum, This rro-dd seon

to indicate that it vas not t., coimzon article of foodo

Systematic Acco-mt

T'nese large (10-121r) scyphomedusae

occurred at a xodcra1;e tide slightly

before tie full of the moon; reportedly they-- at sinrum phases of the moan throughout the year. They

are gathered on the windtsasd reef

wading wnnen and children who either

put them in baslcets or string them on

patdzms fibers. In preparation the

outer layers of jelly are stripped

off, the oral and aboral ends removed and only the remaining material -- the nuscular coat of the gastro-vascular

cavity is saved. The cleaned material

is thus 6-8 inches long, 1$ inches

broad and about 1/8 inch thick. It is

re~ortedthzt this is boiled to form a

rather sticky ltsouplT.

Annolida-Sipunculoidea

2. Sipunculus inciicus Peters These are found burrowing in .sand flats

Te Ibo ;. . . of the lagoon. They are one to tvo

feet long and the diameter of a mts

. . little finger. 1-Then the native,

usualb a man, finds a hole and

casting made by the ?ram he probes

the sand behind it vith a fle%ible.~:.." . . and sharpened young root 6f a pan-

danus; this, trhen hitting the vertical

portion of the rron burrow follows

dorm the tube. llhen the rsonn is touched by the tip of the probe, it is thrust vith vigour and penetrates xLfAh the

introvnr-6 into the .mCeri.or bod27 pocket,

securely iiolJ.ing the -.rorin, The worm is

then dug ?ram the tube. The ?robe is

jerked ouC, rupturing the anterior body

:mil 02 the rrorin, Then t.ke ;iol-n is

scizcd by the back end and. szapped like

a whip, completely eviscerating it and

Zemilig n3thing bxb the thick :nusctiLar

coat, This in vasheci and eaten raw,

cooked by LoiXng or dried for future

use.

%is lares storato>od (.-.boat I foot

Ion&) is forcnd only 'ovmoired in the

smd in the lagoon. It is caught by

both men anci vcmen by pl.acixg a spe~m

in the sac1 so th;t it i2 in X.ne vith

the hole; a piece of fish is placed at

-the ei;trancc of the b~u~o.:as a lure, a

noiss is !t.ade to athact its attention,

and. as the stomatopod comes. .to t'ne mouth

of the burrow to strike the baitij the

spear is -thrust hone. The animd is

cooked. and all except the viscera under the carapace is eaten. k. Pseudssquilla ciliata All mialler stomatopnds trhm captvred Fnd other s~e'cies) are eaten; they run from one to four Te liar0 (as above) inches long, The principal source of

these stomatopods is under rocks on the

. . windyard reef fki;, rrherc they are

gathered by hand or by mall scoop nets

. . together rrith shrimps, dc. They are

. gathered prhcipally by !romcn. I-Iethod

of preparation as in 3 above,

Decapoda 5. ---Craxgofl ---stren.ms (Dana) (Note: this Gilbertese name evidently includes other genera and species of

chelate shrimp and lobster-like

crustaceans '~ut. . tho .. .. only. for% observed

was Crangon strenuus). These range in

size from one inch to fowteen inches

long and are caught br all menbers of

the family near the back-ridge trough

of the rrin&.m.rd reef in small. ncts when

torch-fishing. They are boiled and both

the cephalothorax and abdomen are eaten.

This lobster runs from six to eighteen 6. -Panul.irus ----pencillatus liver) Te Ura inches long. It is caught along the

r.rj.ndrrard reef by men and rromen either

during the day i.!hen the tide is out or . , over t?ie pee? surface at aii:ht, when

torch fishi;;~. Dip nets are uscd for

its captwe. It i-;boiled adthe

abkmen, por Lions of i;he cephalotilora;_u,

and legs are eaterll, 7. Parabaccus ----antarcticus (~,uid) The sand lobster rzaches the length of Te Ynarra n&e inches; it j.s caueh.L3 prepared and

eaten in the same ?ray as in 6.

8, Rirgus latro These coconut cabs are sntirely terres-

Te Aii trial adare found by da;r k. b\lrlrror-~s. The:? are dug ou.t only by nen. !:hen

boiled the abdomen and legs are eaten.

These krgs land cmbs are found only

on the i

of 3notoa. They are caught by mcn and

r;ror~snat night by torch ligh% the

middle of the island, They are boiled

and eaten li!ce other crabs (see below).

10, (Terrestrial Hel'mit Crabs) These we ma!.l ter?est,rinl hermit crabs. '

Te iiakauro that 1;-ve b 'the she1.l~of E, etc.

T??c;. zre ca.ught either by day or by

nisht, the latter time by torch light.

Only c'?ildr?n irere ohserved gathering

thela. They are boiled and the abdomen

alone is eaten.

- 30 - 11, Golappa iinpatica (L. ) These sand crabs reach the breadth of -- - ..,. .- -4 ~enn&nb about 3". They are captured i? the sand

of the lagoon vhun the tide is. out by .

feelkg for them under the sand with the

hands or feet. Z~rerjronehelps in their

capt,lre. They are boiled and the legs

alono are, eaten. ,, .. .

12s --Ghujbdis --erytkodactyla (Laraark)These crcbs are six to eight inches Tentzbarer eld broad across the carapace and found

both on the ~rind~~ard. ..reef in the lagoon. They are gathered by anyone

findiiig them and boiled; the legs =d the

ventral nortion of the ccphalothorax is . . eaten, . . 13. Carpilius ---naclllatus (L.) These crabs are found only on the . . . . Te Il~aTaburiiilai riinchrard reef ;men the tide is out by

day or at night by torchi'ishing; only

adsts catch thex, either by nets or by

hand. They aru boiled and eatm as above.

14. (hidentificd crab) These crabs are abort 6-7" across the

Te Nikare>rererre campace, and their habitat, mode of

capture and preparation are the sane as -13. 15. (Red-eycd crab) These crabs nre found high in the

Tentababa intertidal zone on both rrLmlvard and

lee.!ard beaches, underneath beachrock; they reach the carapace breadth of

about 3 inches. Anyone may catch

them, and thcy are gathered by hand

and prepared in the same fashion as

above.

Oc-jporle ceratoahthaliii (pallas) These "ghost crabs" are found high on 16. --.- --.A -.-.- .Te Kauki the sad beaches on both shores of the

islands where they !.ive in burrows;

they reach the breadth of 3". Anyone

nay capture them, either by dig:bg by

day or by torching at night vith a net.

They are boiled and portions attached

to the ventral half of the body are

eaten. 17. ---Zozymus -..--aeneus L. These crabs are fo~mdat night on the Te Iiukua winchard red .'Ln torch fishing; they

' are reputedly extremely poisonous in

", :i. . . a11 parts of the body, czusing ra-pid

death when eaten. They are never wed

as food.

7.iellusca, Gastropoda

18. --.--jTrochus all species T&so are found aloii~the rindward reef;

Te Baraitoa thy. are gathered by all members of the family, boiled i? the shell ahd the meat is plfiled frois the shell for eating. . . 19- --Turbo, all species These are fowd along the iiindmrd Te 'e\l~iiatanin reef there t!wy are gathered by all

??embers of the faix-ly; they ray be

prepared or the she!.l my be broken

and the snail eaten raw.

20. Cerithium, all species These are found in the sand of the

Te Dulcikalcang lagoon when the tide is out; they are

gatl~erzdby everyone, The si:ail is

coo1:ed in the shell and the meat re-

moved after cooking; the shells are

used for ommental bands on dancing

belts, etc, 23. -Lambis, all species These snails are found on coral in the Teneang outer portions of the lagoon, in ... vaist deep or deeper water. Cnly the

men gat:ler the snail; it :,my be eaten

raw after breaking the shell or it may

be boiled intact 76th the meat subse- ,. . quently removed. . . . . 24. Nautica---- sp. These are f omd a few inches under the Te Twara sand in the lagoon; they are caqht by . ... everyone, boiled in the 's!~&lland the . . meat su.bsequently ydh&ed. 2.5'. --Efonetaria noneta (L.) These are found in both on rlindward Te Durerewa reef and in the lag,oon; they are

gathered by everyone. The snails are used only for shell ornaments; thcy are

first boiled and then buried in the sand

for trdo to four veeks, and finalllj

washed in fresh water,

26, Cyprea, various speci-es These also are not eaten, bnt gathered

Te .Xabaua to be used as shell ornaments* The

larger species of cowyies are not used -. at all. iie-thod of preparation is the sane as --?*Ionetaria moneta (L. ) (25). 27. Arnphiperas ovum These shells are not found. on Onotoa,

Te Bwe but are itn~ortedfrom Abemams to be

used as ornaments for the borr and stern

of the outrigpr c,moes9 and for

decor?.ti?ns in the Naneabas.

These snails are found high on the rocks

on the windward beaches and to lesser

extent on the lagoon beaches; they are

gathered by everyone and cooked 5i~the

shello

29. Cymathium- sp. These are found on the lagoon beaches at : Te Wiaau lor* tick onk near Aiaki (the.~iiddle of

South Island); they are gatherec' by

everyone and boil& in the shell,

30. -..-Bursa ---bufonia These arc fotnd pn3.y on .the win8ward. .. Te Iiqanging reef flat, here tihey are gathered by

everyone; they are boiled in%he shell

before eating. 31. -----Charonia tritonis This large conch or triton is fouild along Te Tauu the outer edge of the lagoon on coral in

~~aistdeep or deeper water; it is

gatlered ozly kj mn. It is considered

poisonous and not eaten; however, the

shell is used as a trimpet to mnounce

meetings in the conuflunit;~hall, and the

shell, hung upside do~rn, is used as a

flask to store coconut oil (the oil is

poured out of the syphon, frml vhich it

emerges .in a sxall and easily con-

trol.lec1. stream), 32. --Tonna --perdix This snail is foueci in the lagoon in Te Tau water tvo fatl.oi,is or more deep, on

coral; i% is gathered only by men, . ., Before eating, the animal is boiled in . ,

~...... the s?1ell (one old inan informed me it vas tine young of the conch (31) and had

the sane name).

33. --.-mimalea -po~ium This snail is found in the saxe habitat Te Xal

Thais ._-__hippocastanurn (L.) ward reef flat, vhere they nay be . . Morula- ---gramilata Duclos gathered by men, voiwn or children; Te $Jimakaka they are cooked in the shell. All are

Inom by the same name.

- 35 - 3 B,all species These species are fo~undvariolisly on

Te ??ouo the ocean 0:- lagoon side of the island in shallorr or dczp water; primrily

women and children gathey them on the

irind.mrd reef, while only mn gather

t'nem ir! the deeper :rater of tne lagoon,

0: F;hi-le --.-Gonus ---, striatus one the 9oison cones, is %long Close gathwcd, the

Cilbertese szem to have :lo hodedge of

its "sting". All are boiled before

eatAng, and tken tic shdl is broken

to :.rithdrw the mea'c, Another informant

called ttllm Ve ITuo DTuo",

These snails are found only on the 36, Pollia ,-.-undosa Te Iqiliakang ;rinhard reef flat and gathered by everyone, Xieg are cookd. and the

mcat is thcn pulled from the shell.

37. m, dl species Tnese snaiis are found only buricd one to -tvo hches deep in the saxl of the --"-2Terebra all species Te ICabi-nea lagoon ;:ha the tide goes out; they are gathered by a11 members of the

L'm15.l.y 2nd boiled in the shell. Bo-th

genera have si~il-arha3itats and bear

the sane Gi1.bertese name.

38. T:elampus, all species These sycies are found only high on

Te KoIcoti rocky beaches on the northwestern and southwestern isl.ands, irhere they are

gathered onl;i by r~romen and children;

the snails are not catcn but the shells

zre used as ornments on articles of

clothinga

39 (Nudibranch) This four-Lich nudibranch is found on

Nei !Cm.mging the niidde sect!.on of the windmrd reef

under rocks; it is &hered by anyone

iirdhg it; befox lreing caten it is

boil.ed for two or three ho.urs,

This is essei?ti~.llytne same as the

nndibranch above (37), except before

being cooked the visceral mass is re-

itlovsd.

Found only in southern part of lagoon,

t7-o cathoms or more deep, partially

buried in sand. It 'is"a4;hered by .men '

only, and boiled &lore 'being eaten: ... . . T!?is "clan" is found along lagoon

shores in sand, one foot or more deep.

Zvidently it is not used for food or

omanlent. k3. Finctada mcxginif era The pearl oyster is found only on the

sand bottom of tile south.restern. lagoon

in three or m0r.e fathoms of water. It is gathered by wen only. The meat is

removed from %he shell before it is

boiled. Some pe31-1s are fomd and the

shell can be sold but there is no

established pearling trade on Onotoq.

The shcll is used al.so by the mtn ?or

ornaments on belts, for earrings and

for canoe decorations. &. Hippopus- hippupus This giant clam is found on both lagoon

Te Nei Toro - slilall ancl ocean reefs from thrce fe?t deep to individuals about two fathoms. All sizes, froni two Te Aubuna - large ind4viduals or tki-e inch spec9mens to those about

three feet zcross, are :gathered by men

for ei:ting, At times they are eaten raw.

r .? .len fresh, their neat is boilsd vith

water or coconut milk; they my also

be drled vith salt and kept sevcral

months, The large shclls are often used

as wash basins, Some families make snall.

holding pens o; coral dong tine beach

in front of their houses and kcep small

specLxas alive until they grorr larger,

or vntj.1 the family is ready to eat them.

One fu;lily had a pin about four fzet

square that held ten clans rmging in

size froiin three to trrelve inches across o liS. -Tridacna cumingi These are the same as Hippopus above ---Tri6xr.a elongata (&) cxcepttng for their smaller size -- Te ;'ere up to nine inches across in lazoon,

three inches across along the ocean. 6 ---Tridacna --squcmosa These are tile saxe as -Eippopus zbove Te 1 ere 1Iakai (Y!); size up to about fourteen imhcs

ECTOSS. ----Cardium spe These coclcles are found in the lagoon . . . , ...... " Te Tuai or oniy slightly mderthe 'bWface sf

the swd, in intertidal zone. They

ar:, gnthered by everyone; the cbm is

boiled for food and the shell is used

as a coconut meat scraper to make baby food . These cockles are found near the sur-

face of the scnd in the intertidal

zone along the southern island oniy.

They are gathercci by everyone and

boiled in the sheil before being eaten.

These are both found in outer lagoon on -Venus ---clathrata cord wd not in sand, in about one fatilorn of They are gathered by

both ncn and :;omen diving from canoes,

They are removed from the shell before

boiling. Both species are referred. to

by the same nmne. 50. -Pitar (~grioporna)- ---japonica Goth of these clam are found along -Mesodesina --.-striata islands buried one to two inches deep Te IWtura .in the saad high in the i.ntertida1

zone. They are gathered by everyone

and boiled in their shells before

eathe,, 1. Protothraca- ----staninea m>ims . clam is .fow.d loi:? in the intertidal Te ICovmara zone along the lagoon only near the end

i.slands buried up to six inches deep in

the sand. It is gathered by xomn and

chil.6~enar.d may be eithe~eaten rarr or

boi?.ed in the shells. 52. --Tellina --crassi?lic&a This clam is fvund buried eight to Te >Ji!:atona tvelve inches deep ?n saxl in lower

intertidal zone off the south and north

island and. off the south island. It is

regor-ted to be about "fis:ied outH. It

is dug the year around by anyoine. It

may be eakn raw, boiled after removing

from the silel.l, or salted axl dried, clam 53. --...Asaphia - dic11otorr.a This is iound in lagoon sand in Tei iioikoi lover intertidal zone brried about one

foot deep all along the coast except

off the xiddle of the southern island. It is c'ug only by riojacn and children; it nay be eaten raw or boiled in the sheil. . . 54. Asaphis deflorata .. . This cl.an is found only at ).banana

To Bun Island but not on Gnotoa nor any other

island; it is fouqd low in intertidal

zone in smd of the lagoon. Gn

Abernamz it is dug by everyone; it may

be eata raw or bioled and is reportedly

of excellent taste, The shells were

imported to Gnotoa to be used as fishing

sinkers.

The octopus is one of the principal

5nv:~bcbratefoods of the people. It

is ccught on both sj.des of the islnnd

in holes under roclts when the tide is

out by spearing rith short hocked

. , spears. iien, women and. children all

capture it, ,ill parts of i.t are eaten

except thz ink sac, Sevsral rilethods of

prepcration are used t&th it: It can be

. . . . ?omded on a. stone rji.thout addi-ti.ond

salt unti: soft, and then either boj-led

in mte~or coconut milk for se>w-al

hours; or it can be ealtcd and dried to

be kept for at least sewre1 nonths.

Before the dried octopus is eaten, it is

washed and boiled. - hl - -DISCUSSION

it is rernarltable thct those people did not use certain supposedly edible aninals of their rezion. For examplep cai'eful qnestioniny, showed no evidence of the use of sea :.reads, of sea urchins (quite cormon around the islands), and of fiurine zzmeli?.s like the palolo rm-m. All three of these constituted relxtiv.ely jiiqortant foods for the peoples of Hairaii and Samoa.

In a.dZiti.on several othar foods used by othcr poples ,:rere not used on the islends, like the sea anemones eatm by Samoans; hoirevor, no large sea anemones :rere seen about Cnotoa,

Several foods on t!leir list, cn the other hand, possibly are not . . too wide spread in their use; this is especially &me of tne scyphoinedusae, . . the sipunculids (although these are eaten in the ~hrshalls)and the . . .~ . . sugposedly poisonous cone shells.

The lagoon reef is ~otveqr 2roductiv:: of the edible moliuscs; in a11 of the field mirk in the intertidal. areas of the !.agoon no evi-ciences of . . living clams or edible snai1.s mre secn. ?ikiile it is likely this co~dition stemmed from overfishing by the concmtratxl pop-fiation:, it may actuall:~be tile resulk of 1.0~producti.vity of the Onotoa lrgoon reefs, Gnotoa is a small atoll rjith a relzti.rely high populxtion density; it is quite.&;r and:subject to extended drought. Few food planbs can be ZroTrn, and even the coconut crop fails at tines. Thus, for the Gilbertese on 2no+oa,

A, Lmre is z. very great depsn2ence on the sea. for food. ,. . . The r,:kfilods of fishing are mny and varied and involve inen, iromen? and . . . . children alLke. xshing is undertaken lzrgely by the men, homver, and centers . . . . .' ., arovnd the use of the nativz outr',ggzr canoe.

Lackin:: s~lit&bLetrees for dugouts, tine outrig~ersin the Southern. Gil- bert Islands are constmcted from Custralian plank .liunbcr, .. obtzined 2rox Ocean .. :., ... ,;.: Islmd, !To inetal :)arts are used, the plmlcs and outriggers being lashed in '.. . .. place vritn a native cord made from rettecl cnconut husk fiber. The outrigpr . . . . itself is a solid:.?iece of rrood anci usually inade. .. from, driftiood. . .. ~. Not every i;an.o?ns. a canoe, hut near17 every family has one or access to one.iIn the:vill@geof!iiaki there are 370 people and 82 canoes,++ Xf-by- .. . eight of these- are good-sized,sailing cmoes and can be used for trolling ,. .: .. .. ~.. .. ,

outside of the lagoon. :.:. . , ...... The fisherman rho oms a canoe xL11 usually have the rollor.ring items of

fishinz gear: a fe:r fishing lines of mrious sizes, a smz.11 assortnent of hooks, leader wire of :le;cible galvanized type, a. krge sha'l: hook, one or t?~o handnade iurez, a flying fish net, a pointed metal rod :ith a irooden handle

for gaffing large fish, a lnife, and swira goggles. Jost of the fisherinen own

a fish syar :rith rubber sliiig. ;

for torch fishing. So~ehave eel snares, fS.sh traps, beach seines, and fine-

mesh nets for snall fish,

seT!lis infcmation, as riel1 as certain other facts in this report, was supr~lied by Dr. Ward Goodena:gh. A cooperative store is located on the atoll and is supplied infrequently fromTarawa, It usually has hooks and fish line for sale. l?Tormal-sized hooks are qui.te inexpensive, ranging in price from $ to 1s pennies. The large shark hoolcs, when in stock, cost 2 shillings 6 pence (3O$), Heavy fishing line, of sufficient length for one trollhg line, costs 5 shillings.

The Gilbertese can earn wry little money; hence they can buy very far of the preferred manufactvred items of fishi.ng gear, Copra and various items . . of na-tive handicraft made fro:n pandanus leaf fiber are the principal sources of income, Rach year about 60 raeq from Cllotoa are taken to Ocean Island where they r,iork as laborers and by their s.tandards are uell. paid. On their return they custo~arilybring with then: smh th?.ngs a3 Tire, old inner tubes, metal rods, pieces of lea,d, and glass, all of r:~h-lchare i:..~portm$in their making of fishing gear.

There are may differen-t kinds of fishes yihich serve as food for the

Gilber$ese, and frequently special methods of fishing are utilized for certain species or groi2ps of species, 1.Jsually -thes? inethods are standard froin fisheman to fishernan, but some individual ~a~iatioiidoes, 0:: course, exist.

In some cases a family or indiviclual ma7 have an efficient mean of catching fish iihich is kept secret. The descrip-tion of the various methods as given below represent the staildard :rays of procuying food fishes on Gnotoa.,

Tro1.ling: Sailing canoes are used for trolljng which may be undertaken in the lagoon, 13v.t the usual site is in deep mter just outside of the west , . reef of the a.toI.1, especi.al1.y the region where there is a large :ies-hard projection of this reef. At most anytime,. . bu't especfia1.ly in the morning, one can see numerous sailing canoes trollhg back and forth beyond the reef.

These canoes may be operated by a single man or by trro persons. If there are two persons, they are usually of the saae fanlily, as father and son, Women may help their husbands r.rhen trolling, 'but this is not a common occurrence. - 44 - Trolli.ng speed is highly -variable depending on. , the -rind, but gaernlly r.0

In fact, it rrovld seem that top often the contrary occurs; that is, that good trolling speed is exceeded.

The lures rjilich are used are corxonly of three t~es.A hook may have chlcicen feathers tied. directly to it. Such a lure is used for smaller fish'such as the.sxall tuna, E:_"hpmus --pito. Therenlay be a lure consisking of a piece of metal, usually lea6, kn :,hich there fs a hole through -1hich the leader -ire is rm. The back cart of the metal is notched for the attachment of feathers.

The hoolc is atta.ched to the leader xire and is aliiays single. The third type of lare is xsde from an elongate, rrell-polished piece ol ?car1 silell. The hook is at'tached directly to the piece of shell, and feathers .nay or may cot be added.

The u.se of :;hole fish

Fishes &ick are talcen ::hen trolling at the surface in deep vater are: . . . Eut'n?pnus yaialto, Acanthocybium solandri, Istiophorus p&rliusg Elagatis ------&--- -- bipinnd.atv*s Icatsu-:onus ?elmis, Xeothunnus inacropterus, adat least one --$ - . . other unidentifiedspecies o< tuna. Swordfishes are occasional?.y caught, The dolphin, Coryphaena hip-curu.s, .is rarek? talcen. Nearer the reef, species of --- -.- Cnranx and SiYqraenn are caught, TYhenlarge-sized fishes are hooked, they are gaffed and thzir heads beaten -5'd~a roo2en cluis before be-bg brought into the cmoe,

S;3e;rjng: ;?onneiily a lon~wooden spear ~i.Lha cletal point 'lashed at one end

...-,a,, p employed. This ??as Sabbecl at fish rihile srriming ?.mc!zl*mtez-. NO-i,, the coxnon method invo1v.vas a simp-le slastic ding device and a stcel rod of about

2: inch dianeter and five or six f zet in length. The sling consists of a. piece of triick tire Snne? tUh or a mc%ion of 'oicgc1.e S.r.ner tube to 7iflich a loop of sturdy cloth is tiad zt one end md a 1001; of cord a.t tile o?hzra The rdal rod has a notch at one end and is sh-lrlxned to a point at the other.

There is no folding-t&e barb, but Liere n;ay be a mall oblique cct :tn;ade ir, the rod near the point an< the sectior. of mctal a:;ay fro?:, the po:i.nt bent slizhtly outvard. Tile Fnumb of the left hand is ;,laced thfough the losp of cloth and t!le notch of the spear engaged iz the cor?, The :lotchecl end of the spar is thn drmm back ~5ththe right 5ainrl, bov and. ayrow fashion, and the spezr is guided as it is lau?che&by thz thumb and fingers of +,he left hand.

The pear-fisher~ani!e2.rs snail gozgles r?hich he makes for ilinisel," f~omlocal

:rood and. glass obtained. ffrox Ocoan Islad.. Tine gozgles are tied o~ behind the hezd xith heaTJ sfri!lg. T?le final item of spe?rlnz ?..Ccnut?rment is an

vtional me and consirts o< a l?iece of cord on 1;~hlichthe fish ard strung.

The fish are sus,xndsd from ",no back, ti12 cord being tixl around the waist.

In sr!i;.uning the frog kick is usei tho fich me aj,j.:roecheci very cautiously, all sharp ;;.ovements bs5ng avoidnd. fi. sper,? can be shot lor e. lior53ontal dis- tance ~reaterthan 25 reet lsat :'LS not ve2y ffactive beyond a distmce of 6 feet or SO tocause of reduced accwu-acy. Zpezrirgis undertalcen in both ths

legoon c.nd on the sea side, Ciemmlly the lagoon is ;:referred foi. there is no iieav'j svrf iiLth ihich to con-tend, In %he lagoon the fisherman usually sails or ?addles his caoe outto a svita.ble area. It is ac!~oredrLth a

heavy stone or tied directly to a coral lno!.l. A pac',dle or piece of buoyant

riood is tied to the anchor line belo-r the surface to prevent the l.ine from

catching on coral and chafing.

Sparing fish is a very iii~portantmethod of fishinz. It is utiiized

i,~ostlyby the younzer men, som of vhom prezer it to any other means of ob-

taining fish. .',noiy those fishes nost sought are iGmdbers 0;" the fallorring .- genera: Cxanx:, Scarus> T,~:tianus, iiyryrFpr?ktk, tiol0centru.s Acantnurus - - --.- 3 --.- (especially -.k. --nigricans and -A. ---triostegus), Ctenochaetus, Gymothorax, -Ce?halopholis, and Epinephelus. -Shark Fishing: Very strong :in$, ::ire lea<& nade froii? smaller strands of irire crudely twisted together, and a Large heavy hook c~~~prisethe usual

tackle for shark fishing. The hook is us~allyapurchased cormnercial product,

but it riay be mace by han3 fron steel ro3, in ~rhichcase there is r.o barb

but the tip of the hoolc is stiron,.;ly recur-red, Fishin2 my be encaged in from

cenoes driftixg ?:ell o!~t at sea. T%ole fish is the usual bait, the favorite

kin,. tie small tuna, Zutiiynxs &to, rr!lich is caught by trolling imediately

prior i,o tne actucl fishing for sharks, If the bait fish is alive, it is

hooked carefii.1~through the gill openinss; if dead i-t may be tied securely

to the hook rrith coconut !iusk fiber in a variety of trays. The line ispaid .. . . opt to orinck~arc!and remains near the surface: &ten sevwal heavy shells'

(Sanbis truncata) are tied to a second lihe trh~chis loriered a fev feet below

the surface and kept in constant motion. Thenoise of the shells knocking

togethor su.ppose?J.y attracts sharks , Some fish?men ccu fresh fish into.f ine

pi.eces 2nd disperse this in the rrater vhereupon -the !nuch-discussed poTTer of

blood to attract slm-1cs is brought into operation. This surface fishing often results in the taking of large pelagLc fishes such as swordfishesS wahoo, mr1 yllo!-Sin tuna, as riel: as shayks.

liore cort?;lonly shark fishing is undertaken over shailou reef areas ~6tha weighted line. irhole fish or cut fish is the usual bait. The shdm taken

rin reef areas are sxaller speciest generdly, such as the x~llifetip and the black tip.

The flesh of the shark f.s h-ighly estoemed by the Gi3.?xdcese, many of vhon

a,ctualLy prefer it to 'mi?.and othcr fish. It is usua1l.y ?re>ar%dby slicing

-into sectLons and roasthg in a pi.t in t'ne ground. Soniet,iincs the flesh is

sa.lted and dried in the sun and ul'cina.tely eater: xithou-t cookiig. Still &her

times it is boiled b sea ?!aLer,

?lipht 7is'ling for Flying ioish: The sailing canoe and zt least trio persons are f-LL.-L- - -I-..I- re#.red in fishinz f or f lyin?; fish. If there are but ~JOprsons, one holds

coconut frund. toxI~cs vhile the other stzers the wxsel. and i~rlrsa dip net,

?i.s~icgis done oc.tslde tile reef vnl,le no-ring at ordi~arysail.ing sreeci.

There are usually al2ouf efght or ten torcites at haad, made fro,n c3ied coconut

leaves lashed 5n 'oun6.les ahoat seven fed long. The fks'; .torch is lighted

;rith lmtches or by s'kiking E.ir.t md stc?l ove &ied coconut 'nrsk, Each

s~:.bsecjuent torch is light:& f~oat!?e prwicus one just a3 the latter is &out

to burn ov.t. The helinsman (mi fisherman) gererslly wears a iioven coconrt

hat to shade his eyes fl-om the toxh light, :3is di? net is ellipt.ica1 in

s'lape, do~ttvro feet in its grsatest dkpoter. The moden hanriie is at

least t~welvefeet in lez@h.

The fljring flsh arz attractad to the torch Eght and skitter a5out the

canoe, so!w strikicg the si?.e of it quite 'escun6ing'ly. The fish we usually . . caugilt at the sw'Face but occwiorialiy are ~icke2richt out the air by an

alert fishelman. i'hein the fish are on tha surface the net is dropped

directly over them ins'tezd of scooping fro;.,^ the side. iTs1lal2jr the netting -L8- opext5on takes place on ths lcerm-d side of the canoe (the side -Ithoutthe o~.trigger), bct the nore slcillful fishermen exten6 their range to the water to the stern and the vindward side aft of the outrigger,

The only flying fishes observed taken a.t the 2.toll. were of genus ----Cypelurus. i:ost of these rrere of good. size, 'eaching a maxiinurn of about 3-5 i-nches in length. Occasionzlly som half-beaks were r.et%ed, --11001; -=d -Line: The Gilbertese fish kith hod< and line fro:.%canoe, from shore, or Klile standkg in shallo.; iratere A pole may or imy no-t be em?loyed,

no use of sct lines of any sort vas observed. Usual1.y the fishernan handles

but a single line hich contains but one or a ver:? fwr hooks due to the great

chance of loss of tackle on coral.

Fishing from a cmoc takes place in the lagoou 'oat ksuLLly over reef

areas or near 1x:;e coral hes.ds, Instead o.C h2vi;?g ri si.nknr permanently

attached to the line, a stone is often 1oosel.y tied. liitil a slip kncC and the

line is then lo:rered to the desirccl depth where the stone is rtleased by a

sudden jerk of the line. A great var5.ety of fishes are talcen but predominantly

lutianids,'labrids, carangids, serranids, balisticis, and scarids.

!Tl.en fishing frorl sborn on the lagoon side of the atoll, the fishermen

(fre\;uently in this case ixen and children) g::nerally mde well ou'c into the

water. The2- catch usually includes sinall sip. and Gerres sp. and

occs,sionall.y lutianids.

~t low tide .fishing rlitn hook an2 ljne may be carried on in the surge

channels of the reef on t'ne sensi.de of the atoll, !!ere a pole is a grea*

asset to the fishermen. These may be made from bmboo obtained fron Ocean Island or from a local pl;ant, ---Guettarda. The pole varies in leng-bh froii 5 to 12 feet. The usual bait is land hermit crabs i:hich have been removed from

their gastropod shells. No sinker is used. The :%shes rilich are lnost often talcen are Cirrhi-ti= sp., g?alassoma spp., Iialichoeres sp,, A?3udefdxf spp,, ---"- -. -.--. .---..- an6 -.-i.,uti.mus sp, Tkse are s;nal?. carnivorous fishes uhicli occ~p;~31- s~ecid. suree c!mmel habitat.

110 deep ;i%ter h,md line fishjng was observe&, but infer%%eie...rsrrith fisher-

men revealed that a .;^el: a.pprent&y fish to a de7i;h as .great as 100 ftibhons

from a canoe outside of the reef. The average C;i.l.oer.tese does not hawe

sufficient line for this or broUl.d not ?want to risk the loss of so nuch ].he.

The fish rrhcch is most sox.ght irm %he o'e-per cater seems from native

descripM.cn to be the oi!. Ssi~or escoinr. (Ruvettus- prekios.p?rs). -To in: The equipment :or this ineans ~f catching fish consists of coconut :raid torches of the tylp &?scribed for ilying .fish f-isnjag, a basket

xoven from coconut ie,:ves, 2nd either a short-i~nllleddl? net or a long Itnifa.

One ddos the fishing, b~tcusBolil~ily ;s fo1lor:ed by a seccnd pWso~tr'rio

carries extra torches. Fshhg :nay &e plme Ti 1;hc 1-goon or on %he sea

side on the reef. The p~forreiisite for torch flshing is tha back ridge

imough, and :?or this, loir tide is a necessity-. The %ter in tie lack ridge

trough at Vnis time is about mLst dew. AS the flsheman rdlcs along he

carries the forch in one hand, the lmife or net in tile ot,her. Tie bxkk for

ti%? fish is ;lung &om his sho;il.der and hwzs at his side. Light from the

torch is q~itebright acnd fish are rez.dily seen for the water is clear except

.;henan unusaally heavy' surf is rum+-ng, Usmi'y a lisn can be a?proac!led

i:itilo'lt difficu~tyand eithar scooped up tiith the net or cut Trith a rapid

domvard stroke of the lnife. ?%shes co~mon1.ycaught by this method jnclude:

CirrhiLus su,, ktianus sn.? ?.;motaxis grzndocdis, Acanthurus triostegus, ------.-. -.- -.- -- 4 ------1.Iyripristis spp., .-~-fiIoloccntrus spp., -Pmupeneus sp., ----G;mothorax spp. belonids, :and muy;iii.ds. They are o:diiiar:.l.y eaten inmediately after thz fishing

operation is co;@eted; they are rocsted r!ithou% cleming in beds of hot c€&s. ---b!cts: The sim$est tjipe ofn.et i.s..the dip, net snch as employed in torch fishing. This net may also be used in a fishing operation during the day at lo~tfde.

Tne locati.on is a surge channel. At Onotoa the surge channels are narrow, irregular indentations into the reef averaging about six feet in width and ten feet in depth. The vater in these channels is in constant motion, and visibility from tho surrace or in t'ne channel is poor became of the foam from the breakers. One man uscs a coconut frond to drive fish in the channel to~rarda good vantage point where a second man keep his dip net in the water.

Both men stand on the reef beside the channel. This method of fishkg is not a comton one.

Snial.1 seines of about two fathom lengbh and four or five feet in depth are often used. :i seine inay'be operatea by just t~joperso%, each holding a verticol pole at exh en$., but usu;l!.y sevwal other psrsonsassist by drj-ving fish toirarC the net. FYe:pe;?tly a !:oven line of coconut fronds serves as ul extenaion of the seine fron one or both ends. At lo:r:tide on the reef the back ri&e trough is a regfon which is comonly se3ned. One such 'operation ms closely observed. A man, his 4.fe, and tio boys were the participants.

The fish they hunted iras a good-sized scari2 rhich conies up into the shallow rratcr on the recfjn small schools. The fishermen endeavored'to get between the fish and t?.le.open sea. Sometimes tnis Sn-mlrrcdect:~.al running irith the seine the shalloi.: rrater :r; at cther times slow dr;utious inovenents ijere. neces- sary. TIhen the fish .rere cat off and tried to elude the seine, they ?.?ere herde by the bops totr~dthenct vith c0c0nu.t palm fronds mdby splashing md thro-rlng stones. iiany large .parrot fish vere caughi, arid some surgeon fish

(Acanthurus triostegus) and damel, fish (Abudefduf sp.) .Xere taken. The fishes vere renbersd kactive by biting the dorsal part of the 3kuil and wkre strung by cord through the eyes to one of the poles of the seine. This one fishing operztion lasted several hours and covered a distnnce of about tvo miles.

In the lsgoon small seines are used over shal3.o.r~ sandy areas and the fishes cmght inchde --Gerres sp., small --Cxanx sp,, mullets (i-iugillidae), ad goatfishes (Flullidae). IIere tine seinbg is very often the work of wolwn and chil.dren.

Sad1 seines :my be imported cotton products or clay be made from local later-ial.

Somo large beach seines are owned collactively by entire vil1.ages. Each village usually has but one such seine. Iio~rever, Yne largest village, ?tiaki, is divided into t~~osections and ezch oms 3 seine. These are made of coconut husk fiber an& may be as long as thirky fathoms. Shells are used as ~~reights on the foot rope and pieces of a loci1 wood (~cievola)s.Lrung dong the floet line. These seines are used only in the ia~oo~,md. their operation involves mzny individuals. he is desi;;nated the leader, ard he directs the operation by hmd sfgnals, for noise is kept to a rfininxm. Gne end 02 the setne is vor1:ed out cram shore in a large smicircle until it is again brougilt to shore at ihich time both ends are hauied up on the bes.ch. The sane fishes are caught 26th these large seines as listed a5ove for smaller seines in the lagoon plus a ferr otlizrs such as lutianids. At night more larger fishes are caught, incl1.1ding mall sharl;s,

Or.e othcr type of net is used for a very special kind of fishing. This is a fine nesh netcine (geneixll.y r:.oscjirito netting) with a ::;light bag and suppKnted at four comers :fit11 poles. The net is suspended horizcntaily in the mtr betr~e~nt?io canoesg xen or vonen fro]? one canoe holding two of the poles vertically in the riater xkile those in the other canoe handle the other tvo poles. The area over the net is chwil-ed :&.tn bits of fish. Small fishes of genus --.-Caesio are caught tihen 'they s~imover tine netting by a rapi~6nulling di, or the four poles. These fish& occur in the lagoon in nw;f~e~*sgreat eno~l.ghfor such fishing only once every ten years o: so. 'key tend to form

miall schools over coral h5ads in the c ago on.' T'ney are &led on coconut or pand.wus mats out in the s-m an6 stared in tizht-lid coiitainers, iihere they remain irell-preserved foi? many years. The flil3sh is red in color ?:hen dried

and considered a great delicacy, --Traps: Eio %)~esof traps are .made from lashing slnall stick together. The most camon in use is the eel trag. This consistently has the configuration

of a 3ouse (rectangvlar vitn a sloping roof), roughiy three feet long .md a

foot and a half ride. A+, one .ad a hole of three-inch diameter can be seen.

This extends, cylinder-like, tor-a-xl the middle of the trap rhere it is narrorred by side flaps of 7roven coconut fibzr. This trap is baited, It is

set by lovering 76th a line from a canoe in vator vp to ten fathoms dezn. The

species o: eels taken are mostly of genus Gymothorax. A small tra? door in

the "roof" affor?s a means oof remov3q the eels.

The second tee of trap has the appeerance of a small quonset hvt. Sjze

Is nore variable than th.e>eel trap, but it is generally riot inox +,hail t!wee

fezt long. St is set by divhg in~raterli'g to about tllree i'atiioxs in depth.

It is placed in such a mannm in the coral that it can be concealed by

addition of a fev stones or piaces of cord. The entrance to the tr+, ?dfl.tnich

is siililar to that of the eel Gap, is kept free. This trap is not baited

and is designed to capture reef fishes 4iic:i tend to seek repage undm rocks

or icdges of cord. These irclude a nwfiber of ncanthurids iilce Ctenochaetus

strigosus, scmids, holocmtzrids, md lutianids. A covered opening on the

op:,osite end to the trap e.ntraxe is used to remove the .fish.. Such fish

traps do not seem tobe utilized very frequently. -53 - !%other txype of fish tra;) rrhich is of considerable importance is the s?:.one tr+, These are foun6. in tk.e ?.agoon, on t!le reel", and in sha2.l.m~

:;asses 'xt:.!een isl-ands. They are c,mst~,uc.:ecl by piling s-tcnes into a !.one, lor: wall ?~ichencloses a 3.arge, rouglfiy rect?ngi?lar area, The wall is usualig bbo~ta foot and a half high anr';tre?l .covered by mte? a-t high tide.

As the -tide lovers the top of the wdl is eqos-.d thus isol.2tj.ng a body of vakr :

:rere mntior-ed for the lagoon and reef sejnill.; oper~timsexcept for nullets crldch escay by jumping over G~S$;all. Gn tile ssa side the rrall is occasi.onsliy bTok2n in ;?].aces when srrf is he.my, and must be repaire-l. Xeiere, ilo?rev?rg re?. ccralline algae ten& Co cement stme of the trap together and must greatly

'educe the m.?<.nt?nmce of the trap irall, --Tide Pool Xshjag:- Three inea~nsof coll~ctingfishes from very s~i.110:~vater are iiicluded here. 'Virst tlieri! is the collec-tioi? of small ti6.e pool fish by hand dlich is usually the task of :?men an4 children. By far the most iieortant

:Fish takeifl i.s ths yoimg of Epj.ne?helus.- merra-.- 77Mch are vwy abundant in tide 2001s and in shall~.:water lagoon areas. These are d:fied in the sun and eaten

?!i.thout cooking,

occurs rrell up on tho reef flat A species el moray eel., -.-- r.3mothorax -,> +ta on the sea side of the islands 01the atoll. (I method for captcricg t!iis

species was observe:i. kt 10::t%de the fishmiii rri.li:s aver the reef, equinped with a basket vtth a lid and t-n metai rods ;bout tvo fe-t lon~. One is

sha-pened and the eiJher is hooked at. %he end. Boulders are rolled over

and every likely hole in the coral is inspected with the rods, and the norays,

;:hen located, are ;sj!led from their holes ;ith the hooked rod. Ariotlier metb.od for catc:hhitlg eels is a simple snare device, 13 sticlc about t.ro feet long is baited at the end with a piece of fish. d second sticlc has a noose vhich may be dram tight,

This is placed. around a hole wili.ch looks like 8. lj.ke3.y dveliing for a moray.

Thc? ba.it is held just outside the noose. As the moray lunges for tfle bait the noose is pul.led tightly around his Sody behind the head. This is a very old fishing metnod but still used today. Usually it 'takes place on the reef flat at loxi tide in the urge chani~elarea. The same rnethod~~aybe used in the lagoon in deepw ?;:at- by diving.

Pisciculture: The u!illcfish, Ciwnos chax~os, was at one time ac-Lively reared -- -,...... - -- in ??odds, especially one rai1.1~1.a;ge isol-aked bo.ly of .water in the complex of tiny islands in tha southern cart of the ato:.l. The young of this sycies vere pari~d.icnll:~seined ?ror outs5-de areas and transferred to the pondsJ since adu3:Ls will not breed .tbe?e. 'Such a pract,ice 32s been ;?ore or less discontinmd for some years.

-.-.-Poiscnons --Tishess hiumerous ?ntcrvhr.rs with groups of natives concernkg the yxence of fish inthe ~GO~m.ters with poi.sonous flesh were undertaken.

The only fishes xhich :?ere considered poisonous at this time riere the puffers and then only the interna?. orgaas, espxially the gonads,, ::ere toxic. In viev of the yeevalence of poisonous forms tnroughou.t the ::hole Pacific area, it ;:as harcl -to believz thzt there rras no suchp$oblern at Onotoa. The natives .. . . :. . '. were observed catching, p~epnring, and eating many sgecies ho~mto be poison^ ous elsewllere. Intervie~isdid reveal, horrevsr, th.-:t a cert.lin section of the reef ne'v the nsrthem part of the atoll harbored :ioisonous fishes for several yexs but for the last Lyrro years fish taken frro;? there have not been toxic.

Fiches rriith poisonous pines do occur in the area, i~otablysting rap, siganids9 and certain scorpaenids like -Pterois,-- !Be stone fish, SNnancea -.-..---vermcosa 3 xas not collected bat very probably oc-v.rs on Ofiotoa.. It 'is re- ;;orted from l'aravia.

----!:+,tacks --by --Sharks: Several discussions with nati.ves piere initiated in respect to tkis sub4nct. Only fi~ecases of attack by sharks on men ?,rere recalled - eve.? by the old:^ Silbertese. These involved large sharks and noi thp conmon sma2 lei- ;oms near the reef, The netives sriim around these siildlnr sharks ~itho~rtmy noticeable fear. Sufficient information rras not secured -F,o fdentiZy the iayger, ciw.geer.us spcies of shzrlcs.

Fishing Regu?atLons: Before the ;.?bite mn caw to the GSl'oert Islaads -.A,-.--- - sections of the reef i1.z.b and .si,-ter areas of the lagoon rrere oined bj men rrhs r&zhecl exclusive rights tc fish in tnese arsas, i. man :rho fished in aother iian's region risked violent ;?unitive measares bjr tile omer.

Iii-;sionaries arrived in inhe Silberi; 1rlm.d~ round 1853 md tended to bfeak ujj these holdii~~s.>Then the 3riti-h kok o-cer the islands as a Protec-borate in 1892, the spte7i or^ uning reef md. lagoon area* ws soon comp3.e-bely elii!~nated.

Today Sp native law one regulation of this sort exists. 1\10 man can

Cish in the vicinity of another mn's stone fish trap at or nenr lo;..! tide.

One ot-r intzrest.inc ia~resicts, i)n the rare occasions rihzn Caesio sp,

(the snecial fisl:kg method. :or th-is fish was p-eviw~sl;rdescribed) occur in the 1a;;oon in lx?r:;2nm:b~ys, no flying fish fishing ie a?.loved. It is be- li~vedthat the 1 izht fro;? t:~i;or&es tr?.;l fi-i-khten Ceesio amy. ;% fine of thiree .;hil.lings is ii:?poseci on any :.ian cau~h;f5sh.'hg for f1~Jiig Cis:: Curing this tke.

Xo rcstrictiono irsre noted cmcerni~.?gsize liri&ts, As f.r as 1cno~n-1no species of fish iiere eve:c reswved for spxial i.ndi.vidua2.s or occasions. - 56- -Preserving of FisL: Host of the 'fish is eaten fresh, the fisherman usually . . cr.fc:l's!p; o11ly' efio!l.& for imiedietc fa:nily use. ''-:hen nore is c,~ught,:it is . . cut into thin pieces and dried in tine svn. It ;nay be cdoked prior to &ring.

IJsually it is not salted, and rarely is any of the catch smoked.

A'~undance of iXsh: Xo coliec~.onof catch statistics nor d-irect r:easurer;;ent -.A- - - o.f fishing effort ?.as made, bat .the fishing effort on ~riotoa,by ato1.l stad-

ards, seems high. This is clue to one r?latively hizh popvlz.ti.on and the

ei~kmison fishing, Nzverth~less, it is doubted if any ss~rious&:?letion of

fish stocks has taken place, sven for reef fishes. There are, houe~er,?lore

reef fisnes to be seen 'by undel7rater observ,?t!-on in ou%ljing parts of the atoll

array -?ro!l usual fishing activity in other atolls rrit8h smaller nzti-re pop.1-

. . isAlso, in t;?e latker rsgions thc fishes my be an~iroachedlnvch more

readily hen sv?1!wwCngunrhrrater.

.. . "'.',' L,toclay, the Onotom Zis%ri&-~cm ol3tai.n rll tile fish he neds in a

the active ?oisonous ingredient, Ten successf2 poison stztions were

executed with the trxo hmdreti ?ounds of cub6 root rras on hand.

8early 120 species r:ers ac:.de3 to the coliection bj. ~earfisirhg,though

many -of these turned up in. 9oison stations 2,s el!.. SpearS.ng is a hiwy se-

1.ectiue rneails of ptt5ng fish and usei'ul in obtajning fishes. . sv-ci: as parrot-

fishes (scaridae) :;hich are noL easily 7oisoned. But this i?etl:od has the ob-

vious disadi~~tageof nutilation of speci.mxs, and one u.su~all7fails to obtain

a suf2i.cient nmber of spximens of my one species in this va.y for ordinary - 57 - taxonomic pur~zoses.

Csns:ider,iL.le dtfficulty vas experienced in procuring fishes from the

Gilbertese i:?l!.ch they had caught and. :rhich :zere destined for their dinner tables. This !?as especiaily true vhen the natives obserx7ed that xos.t of the i'ish vhich raas ;mrchased fro73 -them did not end wp as a cow?ofi.ent of -the expedition's Giet. Fish, they :i~vsthave reasoned, should be put to but ane use, food, 3everthel.essy some v;.lua,ble additions to the fish collection were made tilrough purchases adtrading, p,?rticul.arly vith the chi.ldren, Very mi.teria1 aid rias obtained froni the nz-hives in recovering fishes at ?bison stations,

:1 fe-;I fishes vers caught ~6thhook adiine, uith use of nets, and by hcnd in ti& pools.

Field r!ork ms dori~inatedby !na!riilg the col?.ec6,io:? o? fishes, since clescriptim of the fish fama of a :?wzea i;iust necsssari.ly pecede ecological st~dies;ncvc:t&less, so;~xological r~orlcwas dme. 3, descripth~?:as made of the amas rrhwe fishes ?rere collected. IP:lisy coupled :!i-th oxtersive under-

:!ator obszrvations, znde it ;?cssibl_e to icientify a type habitat for incay of the species. Of covrso, specific ila.bitai;s ,we difficnl) to deliinit fox inarine

.?ishes, and wen :!hen one ranages ~5thfa5 assixaxe to pinpoint a ~lsh" in a cer%aiii en~i~oni~ent,it ofter. pops up in an altogether different one.

:azly~is of the storiiach cn-tents of fishes vns made rrhen a sur@us of specimens ?!as u-railable. Sxl: data ;rere obt~inecl:or about fifty spcies; orew, ';here vere usually Snsufficient nmbe:?s of any one s?ecies exxmined to demonstrate total variability o? food ha~x.ts. ?ood studies wcch were i2ade on fishes taken by poisoning ?:-re col;lplica.teG by an unanticipated factor.

Iiany of the i'ishes ~"lich-re normally nor.-pisoivorous were found to be oppor- twists and fed ilpon smaller :?oisor2ed fishes before they, in turn, succumbed

- 58 - to'.€hKpoison, This source of error was rnore or less conpensated for by disregarding all recently-eaten fishes which could logically have been killed

'by the rotmone.

A reef transect for fishes ;:as attempted from shore to W.tliothamnion" rid.ge 2.uring a period of exceptional lox tides and rrith the last of the supply of rotenone. ':hen a?proximately half coqleted, storm conditions precluded ...... the co~pletionof this project.

Tke local Gilbertese names for Cishes were recorded. It r;as found that

mallor spcies $reqxiitly were not named. In fact, pofsoning produced many

fishes vhicil Vne ni.tives had nevsr seen, am5 for rjhich they obvioasly had no nares. It ves interesting to note how groqJs of siinilar species vere often

given co1leci;ive names vhich ?aralleled the fan?iiies of ichth;-ological nonen-

clzture. Acanthmids, 'oalistids, tetraodonts, and chaetorlonts are examples;

the rimes te riba te b-abu te bmi te ibaba can be aA>pliedfreely to ne,=.rly J - J - J - -- any fish ?.!itkin these respective fmilies. The xore distinctive or cormon mem- bers of these groups generally have ?lor$ definite n,mes, though often the above nax?S remiin 2s roots. Bcanthrus a&illes, for example, is called -te . . . . ribataukararra. There !:as not almys cmplzte azresment among the Gilbertese

for tneir names of fishes, especially for the rare species,

The fish collection from Gnotoa comprises about 325 species, Tnese still

bear Zield i.dentifications to a larre $xtent, 2nd tnus no taxonomic report

cw be ;x-escnted at this thi~e. The follord.ng is a bredcdornl of the collection

on a faxLly basis XIS. rrill sWre to give soiile idea sf its ex-tent and the

y~redor?inanceof c-st;.in fax5l-l.e~over others: Atherinidae

,iulos.t;omiGse

Halistidae

Belonidae alenniidae

Bothidae

Srotulidae

C,-n-?,higasterl6.ae

Cmacanthidae

Carmgidae

Carapidze

C:;ae

Chanidae

Cirr!iitidae

Echeli.dae

Zchidaidae

Eleotridae

Exocoetrldze

Fistu?.ar',dae

C-arridae

Gobiidae

I~Je!:~iraiiplxidce

Eolocentridae

Istiophoridne.

Labridae

Lutimidae

Lonocanthidae

iioringnidae liug2.idae

iullidae

Ophichthyidze

3straciidae

Pmapercidae

Pempheridae

?I.atycqhd-idae

Pleuronectidae

Pornacen tridae

Priacanthidae

Pseu.'ochronid

Scarldae

Scorpaenidae

Seriolidae

Zerranidae

Siganidae

Sparidae

Sphyraenidae

Syngathidae

S;modontidae

Tetraodontldae

Thunniclile

Zanclidae

At ieast Ixenty-five ac'ditional suecies rreire observed u~demraterbud were sot ta.i

MI.;; three silar!:s rrere captured. Sane rays were seon but were not taken. An opportunity provided itself to test the efficacy of copper acetate as

;: shark x?pcllcmts The folloinng is taken 6kectl;i frou my field notes: "Po sharks ('i'riaenodon ---obesus) .:ere observed by Dr. Ban-t:er and myself slogly circlbg an area ~~hemit is believed a speared (end heme bieeding) fish lras

seeking ~efv.gein a :lolo iil tile coral.. The :mtzr iias about eigh-t feet &cp

x~clfairly clear. The sharks rrere estinatcd nt 1& ad55 fcct in length. Tflc si.xL.er shark ?ras sea on i;xo occasions to stick his head dorm the hole,

thus eqxxiny' his body verti.cn?.ly .in the vrrte?. 3oni time to tine the

sharks r~rould leave the a:-ea, either singly or together, h-t a1r:ays they re-

turned. They ..rere neve? ol>scr.vcd to win ~opi~ly,.& smal!. tin of coprier

acetate crystals ms dispeased by Dr. 3ariilp.r in a ci~cle0;" abowi; 'trienby-five

feet in diameter around the area. t ti;is the the sharks rzre absent. The

smaller sha-1: -!as thzn obs-rved to approach the area but not enter it. The

1..xger. . shark, on reachi:lg the cloudy area rrhere tile scetate had precipited,

.L burned sharply ~.rowdand sr!ax very sriiftl;. away. Tlit'n5.n at !.cast the: next

ten hutes neither shark xas sezn at all."

Over two hvn&ed color pi~otopaphsof fishes r,iei"e taken with 35 mm

Kodacolor fi'h. liost of these ?!ere satisfactory,