~-_....,...... AlUJ ~1r]R{AJLII~ N~lf~JL IHIII~'Jr(Q)JRilf

VOL. 16 NC? 1 MARCH, 1968

3 0 c

PUBLISHED BY THE AUSTRALIAN

IEGISTIEIIEO AT THIE GIENEIAL POST OHICI. SYDNEY, fOI TIANSMISSION IY POST AS A NIIOOICAL AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY

Published Quarterly by the Australian Museum, College Street, Sydney

Editor: F . H . TALBOT, Ph.D .. F .L.S. Annua l Subscription. $1.40 posted

VOL. 16, NO. l MAR CH, 1968

CONTENTS

PAGE

T HE T URRI D SHELLFISH OF AUSTRALIAN SEAS- A. W. B. Poll·e/1 ..

H EAD-HUNTERS I N THE WESTER D ISTR ICT, PAPUA- Roy D. Mackay 7

ARGE T l 1E A NTS- G. Pasjie/d 12

Y E OMOUS R I GED OCTOPUS 16

MANGROVES AND THEI.R FA UNA - Wi/liam M cNay . . 17

THE M u D-LOBSTER- /sobe/ Benneff 22

B ooK R EVI EW .. 25

V ENOMOUS STARFISH I N SYDNEY H ARBOUR- £/izabel/i Pope 26

EXPERIME TS ON THE EFFECTS OF R ADIATION 0 A NTS- S. H . Skai(e 27

THE R oss AND OTHER A TARCTIC SEALS- Judirh £. King 29

e F RONT COVER: Part of a ceremonial shield from the village of Am bot, on the Keram ){iver, a tributary of tbe lower Sepik River, New Guinea. The pig face is moulded over a human skull, which is set in the centre of the shield. T he shield is composed of a rattan fra mework, plastered with clay, in which cowrie shells a nd pig bones are set. Tt was proba bly made fo r a ceremony to commemora te a well-known ancestor, and would have been used to decorate the interior of the village men's house. (Photo: C. V. T urner.) BACK COVER : The Brittle Star Ophiocoma insularia variety rariegata. of Australia coral reefs. T his starfish has attractive blendings of greys, brown and olive. Its disc reaches a width of 1 inch. (Photo: Howard Hughes.) THE TURRID SHELLFISH OF AUSTRALIAN SEAS

By A. W. H. POWE LL Assistant Director, Auckland Museum, New Zeabnd

HAT are turrids? One may well ask, W for, although they constitute one of the largest of shellfish fam ilies. not many of the species occur abunda ntly in the inter­ tidal zone. T he family is of world-wide occurrence; they range to the great depths, are well represented even in Arctic and Antarctic seas, and some thousands of fossil species are known. extend ing back m time to at least the upper C retaceous. In o ther words, the known a ncestry of turrids goes back at least JOO million years. Even so, the earliest kn own species, fro m Bald H ills, Cali fornia, U.S.A., does no t d iffer markedly fro m the turrids of today, and one is therefore induced to consider a n even earlier o rigin fo r the family. Turrids in general do not q uite ma ke the glamo ur class among the fa milies of shells favoured by the amateur collecto r- the cowries, cones, a nd volutes. Nevertheless, o ne of i ts m embers, Thatcheria mirabi/is, fro m deep water off Ja pan, is undo ubtedly the most exquisite a rt form of a ll m o llusca n shell s. A turrid is a difficult thing to define in general terms, owing to the diversity o f shapes encountered in the famil y; some look li ke cones. others superficia lly resemble tere brid s, fasciolarids, and even buccinids. T he Japanese deep-water Thcucheria mirabilis H owever, the one feature that is diagnostic Angas. the most beautiful of all the turrids. T here is an unconfirmed report of the presence of a turrid shell is a nwre or less well of this species in north Queensland waters. developed labial sinus, a sipho nal sli t or indentation, sometimes quite slig ht, in the upper part of the outer lip. The form a nd apparatus. Most gastropod mo lluscs have position of this sinus, coupled with the style a di tinctive feeding mechanism, known of p rotoconch, the p resence o r a bsence of as the radula, which lies back down the an operculum. and a special ized type of th roat of the a nimal and consists of numero us dentition, are the features upon which the rows of sharp teeth attached to a fl exible family is d ivided into nine subfamily groups. chiti nous ri bbon. In most gastropods food is masticated by T he t urrid dentitjon being forced d own the throat over the Undoubtedly there is close affinity between radular teeth, an actio n that has been likened the tu rrids a nd cones. which is revealed by not to ha rrowing a field but to fo rcing the a n anatomical feature common to both, the fi eld over the ha rrow. In ma ny turrids a nd toxoglossate (poison tongue) style of dental in a ll cones a very specialized state has

March, 1968 Page 1 developed in wh ich the teeth can be loo e and in the form of slender barbed a rrows. Associated with this style of radula a re a poison gland and duct whereby the a nimal can actually shoot "poisoned a rrows" into its prey. However, not all turrids have the fully develo ped toxoglossate dentition, a nd in these, wh ich are considered the more primitive, there is a prototypic style of radula, consisting of a central tooth, comb­ like latera l teeth a nd slender po inted margina l teeth as well. Even in this prototypic radula, which has the teeth fixed to the lingual ribbon, there is a n associated poison gland. lt is assumed that. in this form of ~adul a, the pair of marginal teeth, which are the longest, administer the poison, and the central a nd laterals perform the mo re no rmal functi o n o f mastication. Jn the case of certain large tropical cones, even human fatalities have resulted fro m punctures received while handling the livi ng shellfish. However, there are no cases on record of toxic bites from turrids, although it is known that they attack and na rcotize other shellfish. and even small fi shes, in which proces they are aided by a long proboscis.

Some pointers regarding classification To the uninitiated. turrid identificatio n is not easy, which is understa ndable, for the experts are frequently similarly puzzled. The vast number of turrids that have been described-almost I 0,000 of them, recent and fossil- fo rces one to apply a system of Top: Turrictda ne/line granobalteus H cd ley. from Broome. Western Australia. Left: family subdivisio ns. if for no other reason Leucosyrinx, a new species from deep water ofr than to reduce the spec.ies to manageable Caloundra, Queensland. Right: Bemho(ascis groups. biconica ( Hedley), from the same locality. is not proposed to go too deeply into Bottom: Comitas nulrraH•o/ga (Garrard ). off lt New South Wales, 75 fathom<;. ( Benrhofascis the boring subject of classification, but the belongs tO the Conorhiinae. the others to the foll owing pointers sho uld help the collector T urriculinae). to arrange specimens into subfamily groups and thus narrow down the search for the relevant genus and species. Fo r the remamtng seven here are some Nine subfam ilies have been adopted, and indicators: their names a re : Turriculinae, Turrinae, If the pro toconch is sculptured with Clavatulinae. Borsonii nae, Clavinae, Conor­ diagonally cancellated threads, and the binae, Mangeliinae, Daphnellinae, and labial si nus is sutural a nd of reversed L­ T hatcherinae. Of these we can el iminate shape, then the specimen is daphnellid. If two, the Clavatulinae and the Thatcherinae, the sinus is on or adjacent to the peripheral since they do not occur in Australian waters. carina, V-shaped, or a deep sl it, then the There is, however, an unconfirmed report of Turrinae is indica ted, except that similar the latter from north Queensland waters. shells. but with the addition of pillar-plaits,

Page 2 Australian Natural History Well-known Lndo-Pacific members of the subfamily T urrinae known to occur in Australian waters. From left : two specimens of Tun·is crispa ( Lamarck), Cairns, Queensland ; Turris spectabilis (R eeve), Capricorn Group, Queensland ; Turris undosa ( Larnarck )~ Tin Can Bay, Queensland; Tun·is annulata ( Reeve), North Queensland ; Gemmula hawleyt (Iredale), Port Jackson, New South Wales; Gemmula kieneri ( Doumet). north Q ueensland. belong to the Bo rsoniinae, A large sub­ The Australian living turrids family, the Turriculinae, have a sinuous sinus, There are over 400 livin g species of its apex upon the shoulder slope. Bo th the Australian turrids, and a very considerable Turrinae and Turriculinae mostly have a number of fossil species have been described tall spire and a long anterior canal. Mem­ fro m the T ertiary beds of Tasmania. V ictoria, bers of the Clavinae have tall spires, but and South Australia. usually the anterior canal is short. The The southern species are now fa irly well sinus is upon the shoulder slope and is known, but new additions are constantly often constricted to subtubular by ao coming to light in northern waters as the apertural tubercle. The Mangeliinae are result of more intensive commercial fi shing. by far the most prolific modern group. Many of these new additions are well-known They a re mostly of small size and variable species from southeast A sia a nd Japan. in form. Most are fusiform, i.e., spindle­ Mr Charles Hedley, formerly conchologist shaped, with a relatively weak sinus upon at the Australian Museum, published in the shoulder slope. The operculum is 1922 a comprehensive paper on the Australian generally absent, but it may also be vestigial turrids, illustrated with beautifully executed or even fully developed. Finally, the Conor­ wash drawings by the then Museum artist, biinae are the nearest approach to the Miss Phyllis F. Clarke. Knowledge of New Conidae, and, like them, have a tendency to South Wales turrids was greatly enhanced dissolve the inner structure of the early in 1944 by the published researches of M r whorls. They differ from the cones in Charles Laseron. having a tall spire a nd a deep sutural sinus. Now that we have been initiated into the The Turriculinae broad outline of turrid subfamily classifica­ The turriculinid subfamily group is repre­ tion, we are in a position to attempt generic sented in Australian waters by four genera , and specific identification of some of the Turricula, Paradrillia, Comitas, and Leuco­ Australian members of the family. syrinx. A common shell at Broome,

March, 1968 Page 3 Western Au tralia, i Turricu/a ne//iae operculum i leaf-shaped with a terminal granoha/teus. a regional ub pecie or the nucleus. A large shell , Comitas murrall'o!ga. typical ub pecies, which occur at Mauritius; from deep water off the east Australian another sub pecies, spurius, is widespread coast, is most closely allied to C. kaderlyi from the Per ian Gulf to Japan. Another from Japan. The Leucosyrinx i a newly genu of thi ubfamily, Paradri//ia, has a discovered and spectacular specie . from deceptive re emblance to a clavinid. and it 70-100 fa thom in outh Queen land waters. al o occur abundantly in hallow water and it description and name wil l be publi bed from the Per ian Gulf to Japan. Quite . hortly by the author of thi article. The recently a member of thi genu , P. incons1ans type . pccic of the genus comes from the prunu/um, ha been noted from north Queens­ southe.t ·tern United State . but there are land localitie . Both of the !!enera Turricula member in the deep ocean ba in<> of most and Paradrillia have an oper':c ulum which is sea . including the .Antarctic. ovate with a medio-lateral nuclcu , but in the genera Comi10s and Leucos)'rinx the ~ .

T op row (from left): Inquisitor formidabilis H cdle) , Yeppoon. Queensland: Inquisitor sterrlws (Smith). Moreton Bay. Queen land: Vl"xitomina metcal/t•i ( ngas). Pon Jackson. New South Widespread member of the subfamily Turrinae Wale . Centre (from left l: Splendrillitt woodsi found in tropical Australian waters. T op ( Bcddomc). otr Cronulla, N.S. W., and Tnrridmpa row (from left): Lophiotolltn amta (Perry), a cut igemmata (Smith), north Queensland. Moreton Bay. Queensland; pale form of same Bottom row (from lefl): £pidirona ltedfeyi from Nonh We<;t Island, Queen land: ( I redale), Port Jack on: Epidirana quoyi .Yenuroturris cinguli(era ( Lamarck), north CD esrnoulins), Western Port, Victoria: Barh 1'­ Queensland. Bottom (from left): Lopltiotoma tOmtl ( \1icmuapex) agnata ( Hedlcy and Petterd). ( Lophioturrin indica C Roding), rtacka:,-. Queens­ olf Cape Moreton. Queen land, in 100 fathoms. land. and Gemmula ( Unedo!(emmula) unedo ( Epidirona and Turridwpa are Turrinae, Bathy­ ( Kiener). Queen land. a well-known Japanese tonw is Bor oniinae, Vexitomintt i Turricu- and Penan Gulf hell. linae. !IUflliSitnr and Splendri/lia arc Cla' inae).

Page 4 Australian {l(ural History length of 6 inches: the bri lliantly maculated T. spectahilis. also wide-ranging in the lndo­ Pacific: the omewhat imilar but boner­ based T. u11dosa, and. mo t recently. the heavily pirally-ridged T. annula1a. Two of the best-known shells of this subfamily are Lopltioroma acuta, common on the andy flats in north Queen land and with a very extensive lndo-Pacific range. and Lophiotoma (Lophiorurris) indica, which i rather common in northern Australian water and al o has a considerable lndo-Pacific range. Although simi lar in adult feaLU re , these two hell have very different protoconchs. that of the fo rmer being multispi ral and culptured, that of the latter paucispiral and mooth. Other specie , very similar to Lophiotoma. ha ve the peripheral keel con picously granose, and the e, appropriately, belong to the genu Gemmula. A New South Wales member i the deep-water G. hmrleri, and in Queen land water the well-known A iatic G. kiene1 i has recen tly appeared. A deceptive mem­ ber, G. ( Unedogemmula) unedo, recently recorded fro m Queen -land, is a common shell in A ia tic water . particularl y Japan. At fir t glance it appear to be a Lophiotoma, but ha the keel of the early whorl ge mmulose as in Gemmula. Another deceptive member is Xenurorurris cingul{fera, which, wit h its truncated base, looks like a clavinid. bu t otherwise i clo e to Lophiotoma. Another urpri e inclu ion in the typical ubfamil y i Turridrupa. a ma ll solid hell, ome of the drawing. by Phyllis F. Clarke in very like a clavinid except for the si nus, Charle Hed lcy· 1922 pa per o n Australian which is at the end of a bisecting spiral rib turrids. Top row (from left): Efl·ema wrtisiana on the shoulder slope. The dentition o f Hedley, Port Cuni , Queensland: Eucitlwra hrocha Hedley, Thur day I land, Queens la nd : this genus decides its po it ion wi thin the Gura/eus pictus (.'\dams and Angas). Port Turrinae. Two other genera characteri tic Jackson, · ew So uth Wales. BotlOm row of the deeper wa ter of outhea tern (from left): Lienardia mighelsi rred ale and Australia are Epidirella (which re embles T omlin. north Queensland : Pseudoraphitoma nxiru/a H edley. Torres Strait: Dapl111e llt1 Gemmula) and Epidirona, one member of botanica, Port .l ack on. (All arc Mangeliinae which, £. hedleyi, is a common shell in except the la t-mentioned, which belongs to Sydney Harbour. The latter genus resembles the type genus of the D aphncllinae). the clavinid except that both the sin us and the radula uggest location in the typical ubgenu . The Turrinae

The subfamily Turrinae contains the The Borsoniinae larger and more pectacular members of the family. and quire recently new record This ubfami ly is more trongly repre ented for Australia of well-known Indo-Pacific in the Australian Tertiary than in the Recent pecies have been located in north Quee n - fa una. A characteristic li ving member is land waters, mo tly incidental to commercial Bathy toma (Micantapex) agnata, from the fi shing enterprises. They are the slender deeper waters of the east Australian and speckled Turris crispa, wh ich attains a continental shelf.

March. 1968 The Clavinae mo t commonl y encountered ones tn The clavin id are repre ented througho ut Australia n waters being Guraleus. Macteola. Australia by quite a number of genera, Eucithara. Pseudoraphitoma, Lienardia, and typica l e amples being the mooth, Etrema. Some are spindle-shaped, with a glossy Splendri/lia ll'oodsi; the small. thi n outer-li p and a ve ry light sinus vertically-ribbed Austrodrillia angasi. a (Gura/eus); other are eithe r tout hort­ common Syd ney shallow-water pecies: and spired hell with a long narrow aperture. the larger Queen land shell. Inquisitor sterrha. frequently armed with denticle or plication In thi ·ubfamily both th e prototypic and the (Eucithara). o r long lender- pired ones with toxoglo ate type of dentition are en­ a deep rounded inu and a trengtheoed countered : Sp/endrillia ha prototypic outer-lip ( £trema). T he genus Pseudo­ dentition and Inquisitor that of paired raphitoma ha a striking arrange ment of ma rginal onl y. its ri b , wh ich line up from whorl to whorl.

The Conorbiinae The Oaphnellinae T hi ubfamily i repre ented in A u tralian Agai n, thi i a la rge ubfamily. and one water by the deep-water Bentlu~(ascis onl y. alway characterized by a diagonally cancell­ a genu often referred to a. the most cone­ ated protoconch and a di tinctive sin u like of the turr·id ·. which i utural and of rever ed L-shape. The Mangeliinae The attractive little Dapl111el/a botanica is The Mangelii nae are all of sma ll size and not uncommon in the ha ll ow waters of so variable in their fea ture that generaliza­ New South Wales, and in additio n some tion onl y i possible within the cope of thi fourteen genera repre ent the ubfamil y in article. M r Charle Hedley did excellent Au tralian water . work on thi · difficult ubfam il y, which i [Photos !11 this article are b1• the authar. compo ed of a la rge number of genera. the except ll'here stated otherll'ise.] ·

SPINY-BACJ(ED TRUMPET FISH

Exemplifying the unu ual in fi h shape , the Spiny-backed T rumpet Fi h or Painted Flutemouth (AuloslOIII"tS chinensis) ha the habit of swimming next to the dorsal profile of ome larger fish. uch as a parrot fish. Smaller fi h, attracted to the food disturbed by the parrot fish"s feeding. are then preyed upon by the T rumpet Fi:.h. '' hich darts out from i t ~ semi-camouflaged position. T he T rumpet Fish al o has the ability to change colour readily to u1t 1t needs. omz being lemon-yellow. orhers dull brown. This underwater photo o f a pecirnen almost 2 feet long wa taken at Heron Island, on the G reat "Barrier Reef. by L Smi th.

Page 6 Australian atural His1or.1 Head-hunters in the Western District, Papua

By ROY D. MACKA Y Prcparator-in-Charge. Papua and cw Guinea Museum. Port Moresby, Papua

ECENT new:;;pa per and radio accounts R of raids by head-hunters and cannibal­ i m in the 'omad Ri ve r area of the Western District, Papua, bring to our noti ~e that there i till a part of the world where life is truly primitive. The stories of head­ hunters which we read as boys have the ri ng of truth when one ees a fresh trophy kull perched on a helf at the entrance of a hou e onl y 20 mile from a Government Patrol Po ~ t. Nomad River Patrol Po t wa established in the heart of the head-hunters' te rritory only 6 year ago. lt i set on the banks o the Nomad River. about I 0 mile from it junc tion with the Rentoul. a tributary of the Strickland. and almost 200 mile from the outh coa t of ew Guinea. From the air, an almost unbroken sea of rainforest stretches away in every direction. Near the patrol post the ground is slightly undulating and di .; ected by myriads of creeks and fast­ flowin g tream . Patches of secondary growth denote old village sites. Open pace of up to half a mile sq uare, where one or two communal houses and extensive garden can be een. are the onl y other break in the primeval rai nforest. To the ea t and northea t the ground rises from about 350 feet near omad River to un­ mapped 9.000 feet lime tone range on the edge of the Southern Highlands di trict. 40 miles away. T hi area and territory to the north. we t and outhea t are the land of the Bia mi and A young head-hunter fro m the Nomad R iver it ubtribe the Supe, Gebusi. Bibua, area. Ku bor. Alibu, Dinuk. Sonia, Orogo, and Karu a. Each ·ubtribe has its own dialect of the Biami language. Many word are The village unit common to a ll ubtribes, other words are Separate houses are not built for separate entirely different, and others are embellished families. One or two communal houses wi th prefixe or suffi xes. Each subtribe make a village and may house one famil y li ve in mortal fear of another subtribe. and or several, so that one c0mmunal house may ometime even communities o nly 10 mile shelter ixty or more ~eople. The communal apart will not vi it each other for fear of ho u e i built to a tandard pattern, with being waylaid on the journey. subrrac tiGn in the maller hamlets. Similar

•\ I arch. 1968 Page 7 N

SUPE

T he Nonnd Ri ver area. hm,ing locations of tribal group,. Inset: the location of the omad River area. house a re to be found o n the o uth side of Gardens of up to lOO acre a re c ut o ut of Mt Bo avi, 50 mile to the o utheast, bur the forc · t. The la rger garden are u ually they are rai ed off the g round a nd are hump­ maintained for several year . The maller roofed. In the o mad River a rea the hamlet or communal group wi th gardens hou e are built o n the ground a nd the roof of maybe 2 acre will hift to a new pot ridge i~ tra ighr. The men' leeping within 3 to 5 year . quarter and di cus ion platform are ra ised to a higher level than the leeping quarters Hunting and fishing are carried o ut o n a of the women and children and are reached mall cafe, particul a rl y in the remoter by a log ladder fro m the communal kitchen area . where it is unwi e to venture far fro m area, which i o n ground-level. Small home. The cassowary. G o ura pigeon. horn­ smouldering fires a re kept going between bill, vari o u fruit pigeon , fi h. tortoi es, and leeper at night. for the night can be cool crocodile are eaten with rare relish. de pite the low altitude and tropical environ­ Birds or Paradi e are in a bundance in the ment. T he di cu ion platform a nd lookout area. The plumes do no t have the same are u ually the highest section o f the hou e, impo rtance a they do in the highlands. and with a view over the gardens a nd approache . even the highlanders have no t ventured into The fro nt or the house is kept clear o f bushes this a rea to trade for plume o r cassowary a nd cover o that there i le s less likelihood chicks. o f being taken unawares by a stealthy e nemy. Great cake o f sago are wrapped in bark heath or leaves a nd stored on shelves in Food the communal house. a lo ng ide taro. sweet potato. a nd many bamboo tube of water. The Biami are. m the broad ·en e. shifting agric uhura li ts with a diet ba ed Pig are highly valued but arc not very on banana . ta ro, weet potato. and ago. commo n in the a rea.

Page 8 A us/ ra/ian Na1urt1/ H isiOI'J' The front of a communal house in the Nomad River area. Fxtra logs are placed acro the entrance in the C\cning to seal it.

The tone adze i till the main tool for Clothing garden clearing, hou e construction, and Men wear a hort grass or string sporran chopping firewood. Men will keep a in frJ nt, and behind is a bustle-like skirt cf particular harpening stone for years on succe ive layer of gra s fibre. Sometime end and will take it with them when moving the kirt i adorned with soft bark fibre to a new hou e. A photograph on page I I tassels which are hooked onto the bark belt show how the adze blade is held when worn around the waist. T hese bark belts, being sharpened- not edge-away, as we about 9 inche wide, are worn partly fo r sharpen a chi el. A little stone is gathered decoration and partly a protection against in the area for tool making, but most is arrows. They are often decorated with fi ne traded from the north through the Strickland c:me binding and painted ochre patterns. Gorge. A li ttle comes through from Tari in the Southern Highlands. Necklace of va rious kinds, u ing string, gra eed , cas owary wing quills and Steel axe and bu h knives are graduall y cowry shell , are worn simply round the replacing the tone adze. Steel has a ve ry neck or in bandol ier fa hion. T he shell high va lue. One month's wo rk at a patrol are traded from people in the ea t, and it post is rewarded with a teel axe-blade. lt eem that they may CJ me fro m the Kikori va lue may be gauged by the fact that several River route on the ea t ide of Mt Bosavi. succe ful raid have bee n made on store of Some come from the people near Lake axes and bu h kn ive near outpost of Kutubu. civilization in thi area. Ear-ring are often worn. Seed and Stone cl ubs are a feature here. but ection of ea owary wing quills are ewn apparently they are not made any more. together with tring or threaded onto a There are ·everal lyle , from simple disc­ feather haft and looped through a hole headed cl ub to ball-headed, ta r-headed o r pierced in the eJr. double-star-headed cl ubs. No "pineapple'' For no e ornaments, the septum of the club heads were seen here. nose is pierced and , at fi rst, a thin piece of Bow and arrow are th e hunting weapons, bamboo is fitted. The s;nallest children with variously tipped arrows. Simple points. may wea r th ese. As th e children grow. heavi ly crratcd multiple point for fi shing, la rger pieces of bamboo are inserted until and broad bamboo blades fo r pig and man a short length, about th ree-quarter- of an killing are the main type of arrow heads. inch in diameter, is fined. Women also Bow are of Black Palm and "strings'' are wear the no e o rnament. One enterprising of strip of bamboo. No shiel d are used. fell ow I met had picked up one of my · ~e nt

March. 1968 Page 9 12-gauge cartridge and fitted that in hi onto the bark belt. ex tra necklace and no e ·eptum' Ca owary leg bone u ed anklet are put on. and the body i painted to be cut for this adornment. and the Papua in red, yello\\. and black in long line from and e\\' Guinea Museum has a erie of boulder to midriff: then a man i in fu ll these from about three-quaners of an inch dre . Tortoi e-·hell are painted and either to alm o t I inch in diameter. hung on the body or displayed by hand at the " ing- ing ··. Oil from a certain tree Women mostly wear string kins (wogoe} (Campnosperma brel·ipeliolafa) is rubbed into in fro nt and behind. but occasionally gra the hair and over the body. ~ki rt s are worn. U ually a bark cloak i worn either over the shoulders o r over the These people never intenti onally wa h tring kirr. Women and gi rl are hardly themselves. T he women "beaut ify'' them­ ever without a string bag, the string being selve regularly with oil and charcoal rubbed made from the fib res of sago pa lm leaf. onto the body. arms. and legs. Other fibre are u ed fo r other tring for different purpose . ~ Death and sorcery Armband are u ed by all. T he men And The death of anyone in the community i them useful for rucki ng in tobacco leaf or generally regarded a the \\ ork of evil ::,pirit , a ea owary boo~ dagger. though if murder is su pected they have On thi ba ic dres are several variations their method of "bu h ju tice·· to bring the a nd addition . uch as headband of eed . ki ller to the ground. literally. string. section of ea sowary wi ng quill . The deceased is propped up in idc the and cu cu fur. Head-dresse are worn communal hou e while friend and relati\e frequently. and e pecially at time· of dancing come to mourn and wail over the body. and ceremonie . Bird of Paradi e plume Thi may take a week in the ea e of a high feature little in these adornments, but the per onage. At thi tage. of cour e. the feather of the cassowary and White Cocka­ corp e i bloated and festering. The too are commonly used. Extra tassels and mourner and wailer lough off the kin a tiff piece of bark, painted in reds and and rub it onto thei r own bodies. ometime ye llow and frayed at one end. are hooked mixi ng it with charcoal into a pa te to pread

W omen and children leer in a ep3rate ection of the commum.l house.

Page 10 Australian mural History T he adze blade is sharpened with the edge towards the workman. on their arm and leg . Afler the required many fo rm of operation. A man from time the corpse is taken o utside and placed T erapobi vi llage. on the border between on a loping platfo rm everal yards away the Gebusi subtribe and the Biami. de cribed from the house-though not too far. T he one of the methods of sorcery practised in corpse then putrefies -and fa ll s away until this area which i akin to orcery practice onl y the skeleton is left. T he bones are in much of western Papua. An intended collectd and hung up out ide the house in victim is watched for some time until ome a tri ng bag or in a specially made canework of hi faeces or hai r can be collected. T hi · basket. All the worldly po es ions of the i burnt and mixed with his food. He i decea ed are then draped on a ma ll cro - then made aware that he ha been ingled tree im med iately out ide the house. out. He become ick, goe mad, and die . Banana , u!lar cane or other food is hunl! The orcerer. if fo und out, is killed by ou t­ wi th the e diings to feed the departing pi rft right stabbing or beheading. on its journey to the hereafter. Life is very precarious at Nomad, though If a mu rder is su peered, everyone in the the peace enfo rced by the whi te man i fa t community and nearby friendly villages is bringing security to these people. No doubt a ked to come and pay their res pects to the within the nex t 5 year the children wi ll be departed. Theoretica lly the murderer. con­ going to chool to become the next generation fronted by his victim. hake wi th fright and of doctors. teacher , farmer , engineer . o r urinates freely, and o gives himself away. politicians. A Biami head-hunter' child Thi man i then wa tched and discreetly fro m the tone age to a highly sophi ticated di posed of. man in, ay, 25 years? 11 can be done. Sorcery is practised here as much as [The photos in this m·ricle are by the author. anywhere else in the Territory and has a The map is hy rhe author and E!rie BrOl\'11 .]

March, 1968 Page l l An Argentine ant \\Orker. magnified 10 time . [Pho10 · C. V. Turncr.l

ARGENTINE ANTS

By C. PASFIELD Chief Entomologi t, Department of Agriculture. i\'en South Wale [ Re carch re ult of experimental work are being prepared for publication in collaboration ''ith M r T . G reave, Senior Re earch Scicnti t. CSIRO.]

RG E Tl E ants. the world' 'orst ant major pe t in the United State of America. A pe ts. are brown ants about an eighth in fe tin g ome thousand of quare mi les. of an inch long (the worker ) which travel in T hey are al o present in Europe, Britai n. well defined trail to and from their ne t . Canary I land . Madeira, South Africa. They do not have a formic acid smell when Hawaii, and Au tralia. crushed, but may have a rather mu ty odour. They are not ea ily distingui hed from many Fir t record in Australia other specie of -mall brown ants. but the Their fir t record in Au tralia wa from fact that the thorax i- 2:1.- time a long a Bah\ yn. a uburb of Melbourne. in 1939. the V. idth of the pron::Hum (tOj1 of the fir t In 194 1 they we re recorded from Perth and segment of the thma \ l. is a re! ia hie guide. Albany. Western Australia. Then in April. The Argentine ant (lridomrnne\' ltumilis. 1950, they we re found at orth Auburn. a Mayr) was fir t described in · Bueno Aires. suburb or Syd ney. From the extent of the Argentina. in 1866. and occur~ in other infe tali o n ~ found in the e places it was South American countries. Since being obviou that they mu t have been present in troduced into orth America at 1ew for many year before being reported. The Orlean by con·ee · hips from Brazil (their more than 70 ~quare miles of infe tation in nati'c habitat. according to some research We. tern Au-;tralia are spread widely th rough worker ) about 1888. they have become a town nnd country areas or (he outhwest

All.\lralitlll (l(ural H isrory Land Zone. In Victoria the 15 to 20 quare thousa nd and the number of queen 1n it miles of infestation are confined largely to from one to many hundred . Melbourne. but infestations have been found Their natural spread i fai rl y lov. - a in Wangaratta and Sale. ew South Wale ' maximum of 300 yards pe r year in Sydncy­ I 11 square mile of infestation (300 sfparate a nd it is mainly by artificial mean th at they infestations) have been in th e Sydney area have been transported and become wide pread except for three infestations in the Woll on­ throue:h out the world. They can e tabli h gong area and one at Oak Flat , just outh thems'elve in a great variety of containers. of Wollongong. One sma ll infestatio n wa materials. and goods, but it is thought that found in a weet factory in Hobart in 1951 . load of oil or fi rewood from infe red but this was eradicated and no other infesta­ areas play a big part in their spread and tions have been recorded in Tasmania. establishment. lt should be noted that they Like other ants, Arge ntine ants are social can survive immersio n in water on fl oating insects and thei r colonie contain queen , debri for considerable periods. I nve tiga­ males. and wo rkers and a brood con isting tion ha indicated that it take at lea t 4 of eg!!s. larvae. and pupae. Life-hi tory years for a new infestation to build up to tu d i~s in America have demo nstrated th at I acre in area. the pearly-white elliptical eggs take from 12 days to nea rly 2 month to hatch. while the Major household pest larva l rage may take from I I to 60 days and the pupal period 10 to 25 days. The Once they become e tabli hed in a locality mi ni mum period from egg to adul t is about they will not tolerate other specie of ants I month, but it may take 4 to 5 months !!enerally. and a their populations build up and average about 2-!- months. in den ity they move out on a front in a ll directions, consolidating a they go. and The adult wi nged male . which are ome­ driv in g other species before them. They what larger than- the worker ant but much become ex tremely numerou wi thin these smaller -than the '"'inged \ irgin q ueen , well defi ned areas of in fe tation and it i u ua ll y ferriliz-:: the queen in the ne t, a becatLe of their number and their great the nuptia l fl ig ht which i o common wi th persistence that they are regarded as the other ants is ve ry unusual with these. After fe rtilizati on. the q ueens Jo e their wi ngs and begin laying thirty or more egg per day and may live fo r everal year . The large l increase in colony population takes place in the midsumme r to early autumn peri od and it is then that mo t complai nts are received from househo lders. as the peak of activity is. reached durin..g hot. humid weather.

1e t near food w urces Nests. which are u ually very shallow and no more than 6 inches deep, are large ly found close to food source . but they are \Cry eld om e tablished in ide o r un der buildings. T he mo t preferred ite are under piece of iron. brick. tone. or waste cloth or paper, under garbage cans, a t the ba e of shrub and tree . in damaged timber, in pot plant . compost heap . manure and raised area of soil or sand . in garbage lip . alongside path . gutters a nd kerbing . in lawn , garden • etc. Soil types appear to have no limitation on the e tablishment of Argentine ant . The population of a colony A trail of Argentine ants from a nest under a may vary from a dozen or o to many ga rbage bin. [Photo: A . Sear!e.]

;lv/arch, 1968 Page 13 Grid spra}ing on a foot­ p:tth for rgentine ant eradication. CThe !incs painted on the photo show where the actual grid lines were marked on the footpath.) !Photo: A . Searle.l

v. orld' v. or t ant pest and one of the major • Within the infested areas. the queen hou ehold pe t . a well a the worker may mo\e about They are practically omnivorou in their freely. Consequently. efficient re ul t can be feeding habit· and may infe t all room in obtained wi thout treating each individ ual hou e or bu ildings in their que t for weel ne r. or fatty food. In the orchard and garden • Thei r hallow nesting habit make them they protect sap- ucking insects from their u ceptible to urface sp~ay treatment with natural enemie a nd can be a serious agri­ in ecticide such as chlordane. cultural pe t. They a re also important pests of apiaries. poultry farms, a nd aviarie in some a rea Experimental eradication campaign Following their di covery in Sydney, early An experimental eradication campaign wa re carch indicated that 2 per cent chlordane :onducted by the ew South Wale Depart­ pray wa the mo t promising insecticide for ment of Agriculture in co-operation with controlling them. Subsequent experimental CSI RO between 1952 and l 959. This work performed in co-operation with M r T. demon trated the practica bility of eradicating Greave . Senior Research Scientist, Divi ion Argentine ant from large area ofinfe tation. of Entomolog), CSI RO, confirmed the Although 2 per cent chlordane pray wa efficiency of this pray and demon trated used initially, it was later replaced by 0·75 that. when it wa applied in a pecially­ per cent dieldrin pray becau e of problem de' i. ed, open-grid pattern. Argentine Ant a ociated wi th the importation of chlordane could be eradicated from mall area5 of at that time. infestation. It \\a also determined that A a re ult of thi ucce ful experiment. certain of their habit made them unu ually the ew South Wale Government pas ·ed fa vourable ~ubject for eradication, and the Aruenline Ant Eradication Act in 1962, the e were: and un-der the provision or the Act, which • Where Argentine ant are e tabli hed i the re ponsibility of the Min i ter fo r Local they become numerou a nd very obviou . Government, it is proposed to eradicate Argentine a nt from all infested areas in • T he teady expansion of exi ti ng areas Sydney and Wollongong. Local council · of infe tation i easiJy observed. It i thu contribute $2 fo r every $1 by the Govern­ easy to determine the limit of each infe ta­ tion. ment to fi na nce the campaign and council also pay for the cost of spray material . • Flying warm are rarely produced. Thi campaign ha proceeded ati factorily

P(lge 14 Australian 'atur(l/ Hi.\for.v and it is anticipated that all known areas of campaign- to remove the Argentine ant a infe tation will have been sprayed by early a general menace from metropolitan and 1968. Since 1952 about $350.000 has been country di trict - has been achieved. · pent on eradication. In Victoria it i understood that the Publicity i. no-.: the most important factor: Argemine ant problem ha been left to the pecial attention i being given to it becau e hou eholder and local council and i con­ the succe ful completion of the eradication tinuing to 11pread, but not very quickly. campaign is na turally dependent upon finding Dealing with Argentine ants is a commun­ all infc ted area . a the method of eradica­ ity matler becau e sporadic and unrelated tion has been demon trated to be practicable. action. although givi ng ome temporary Chl ordane is again being used because it is relief. wi ll not contain these persistent and afer to apply than dieldrin and can now be annoying pest . and they can only be held obtained readily. at bay by householders by consi tent action. In Western Au tralia some 45.000 acres The erad icati on and control campaign in or more of infe tation have been sprayed New South Wales and Western Australia ince 1954 at a co i of about $ 1.500.000 to have demon crated that it is only by co1ttro/ Ar!!e ntine Ants. Although eradica­ meticulous applicati on of the recommended tion ha - not been achieved, nor was it methods that ultimate uccess can be achieved expected. the main objective of the control with uch a pe t.

Sea-hare from Sydney Harbour

Angas·s Sea-hare (Aplysia daNylomela). from Sydney H arbour. lt is found throughout the warm sea of the world. and in Au!'tralia ranges as far south as Sydney. where it i one of the commonest species of -ea-hares on the open coast. 1t is about 6 inches long. and i ea ily recognized by its dark circular markings and a dark-coloured tail. Sea-hares are opisthobranch mollu cs. relative of the sea-snails, aod are so called becau e 0f their erect. ear-like rhinophores (seen at left in the above photo), which are sense organs, used to detect changes in the chemical nature of the sea-water in which they Jive. They have an internal, flatly- coiled. fragile shell. [Photo: H oward H ughcs.l

March. 1968 Page 15 VENO!YIOUS RINGED OCTOPUS

A young sen iceman recently d1ed in Sydney from the bite of a sm:lll octopu . Hapulochlaena mamlo.w. a speci men of \~hich i een above. The popular name Ringed Octopu ha been given to 1his animal becau e the body is marked by a series of brilliantly blue ring. "'hich glow like neon lights. The adult octopus is rarely more than 8 inchc· across, from anT tip to arm tir>. and is not uncommon near or below low-water mark on o;;hore reef around southern Australia. from Bri bane to Fremantle. Sk indiver may find ll lurking camouflaged among seaweed . [Photo: H oward H ughes.] Below: A Ringed Octopus· egg -.tring. \\ hich was attached b) the adhesive thread at left inside the hell of a dead O). ter dredged up b) n fi herman 1n the \-tanning Ri \ ere tuar) . ew South \ ales. [ Photo: C. v . T urner.l - Eii::aherh Pope.

Page 16 Australian 'arura/ HiHor.1· A mud skipper of the genus Periophrlwlmus Cpo sibl) the species sobrinus) along ide its nesting burrow in northern Mozambique, east A frica.

Mangroves and their 17auna

By W IL LIAM M ACNAE Senior Lecturer, Department of Zoology, niversity of \.Vitwa ter ·rand, Joha nnesberg, South Africa

A G R OVES a re tree or hrubs which are presuma bly relic fo re t occur in the M grow in places submerged from time So uth Australian gulr. In tho e o uthern­ to time by the sea. They occu r between high most and mo t isolated forests only A l'icennia water of p ring ride a nd a level a little marina is pre ent. a bove mean ea-level. They range a ll round Mangrove tree belonging to a few genera the ocean in the Tro pic : o n Africa n and o nly are specialized fo r their ha bita t. The e Austral ia n coa t a nd in South China and pecializations involve leathery leaves; a the Ryukyu Islands a few specie reach ap wi th a high o. motic pre ure: m beyond. T hey occur only o n sheltered A l'icennia, Aegiceras, a nd other , glands o n ho re a nd penetrate estuarie as far a. ·air the leaves to remove exce sa lt: in many. a water penetrates. ra nge o f ta nnin which eem to a si t the M angrove tree vary in height from giants tree to exclude salt: pneumatophorc on the of over 125 feet in the ever-wet o f southea t root system, either prop root as in A sia to crub bushe scarcely waist-hig h o n Rhi::ophora. knee root a in Bruguiera and drought-stricken ho res. So me thirty pecies Ceriops, or pencils sticking up a bove the may be found in the mangrove fore ts of soil a. in A l' icennia. Sonneratia a nd other . Malaya and adjacent i land , together with M a ny have viviparous fruits- eeds which several low-growing bu he a nd sprawling germina te o n the tree. drop o ff a nd are hrub . About twenty pec1e of mangrove ready to affix them elve in a ho rt time when occur in Q ueensla nd and no rthern Au tralia ; they gro und. This may be beneath the eight reach the African coast. In Au tralia parent tree, but if they fall into the high tide two species occur in Sydney Harbo ur a nd they may be carried on the c urrent to grow o ne reaches almo t to Melbo urne. What o n fre hly deposited mud elsewhere.

March. 1968 Page 17 &L ...lj .. J • • • ,i

A seaward fringe, with the mangro\e Sonnera1ia a/ha. in nonhcrn \1ozambique. The Fiddler Crab Uca urril/ei i abundant among the pencil-like root pneumatophores. In Australia the Fiddler Crab Uca dussumieri would occur in a similar itllation.

Animals of the mangroves S pectacular insects Within th e canopy of the tree li ve animals, Insects ma y be spectacular. Throughout mostly deri ved from the land. including Leaf southeast A ia from Thailand southward, Monkey in Malaya, Proboscis Mo nkeys in through the I ndo-Au tralian archipelago Borneo. and e\eral birds. Mo t of the as far a ew Guinea and New Britain. fi re­ bird are fi her . uch a e!!ret - and other flie may ho'' their nightly ynchronously­ heron . d a rter~ . cormorant , ~ea eagle . and fla hing di play. Thi i a magnificent everal fi hin!! hawk and kite . Some are performa nce. '' hich may be continuous from crab eaters. ~ uch a~ the Mangro' c King­ du k to dawn. lt is clearly an epideictic fi her . Some maller birds are insectivorous display wi th each " fl y" in it!. ~ t alio n and - Mangrove Flycatcher are common m running around in a limited area on a lea f. ome areas. A newcomer. fla hing a he fli e~. may be out A few ·nail· climb in to the trees. These of tep wit h a tree·s fireflie . but a soon as are mainly pccic of Lillorina which feed he land he quickly acquire their rhythm. on the diatom~. etc., growing on the urface A reduction in number fla hi ng occurs as of the leave and twigs. Such na il tend w individual · begin to mate. T he di play be higher in the tree in the eaward fringes occur along creeks, ri,er . and other than at the back of the mangrove forest . fli ghtway ir~ the mangrove forests, but Crocodile and Mo nitor Lizard s may be chiefly where the will ow-like Sonneratia common, but les o than they used to be. caseolaris edge. the stream . . J n outheast A ia a crab-ea ting frog is Sometime insects are annoying. tolerant of brackish water both as tadpole Mosquitoes are numerou . and o me have and adult. but the mechanism of adj u tment cu rious habit . For e ample, Aedes is different. T he tadpole adju t in the pembaensis in ea tern Africa lay eggs on manner of a bony fi h. the adult in the manner the chelae of crabs. and the pallid larvae of a hark. and pupae live in the pool at the base of the

Page 18 A usr ra/ian Nar ural H isrory burrow. Others, like Aedes Pigilax, of the other run around with no apparent choice Jndo-Au tralian region, breed in pools lert of any heltering place. The most abundant by the tide, the Jar al and pupal period are mar h crabs of the genus esarma. being related to the time of surviva l of the Clo e on 150 pecie of thi genu have been pool. Some mosquitoes feed on mud- de cribed. Some of them, like Sesarma kippers, fish lying on the mud alongside meineni, are widespread (this one extends the creeks. Tiny midge of the family from Pondoland in South Africa lo south Ceratopogonidae (often mi called sandflie ) Queen::,land hut not to New South Wales). live a lar\'ae in the surface layers of the mud Some are local in distribution. including the and emerge to annoy any visi tor to the majority of the ma ller pecie . which run manl!rove area. Tailor Ant of the genu about on the surface eeki ng shelter or Oec;Jp!Jylla extend into the mangrove ...area. burrowing. Sesarmas feed on- any debri , They use thei r larvae to sew th e leave togeth er plant, or animal. nibble germi nating ·eedlings, to form the ne t . of which one colony may and even feed on the oil. which they pick up have several in a group of neighbouring with their pooned chelae: they manoeuvre tree . T hey how a predilection for tho e the oil with their maxilli ped to remove trees on which scale in sects are abundant, edible diatoms. etc .. and di card the un­ such as Bruguiera specie , Ceriops species, wanted oil as pseudofaecal pellet . Sonneratia caseolaris. and occasional ly species Fiddler Crabs of the genu Uca are of Rhi::ophora. Other ant , at present un­ abundant. The e are gaily coloured crabs. identified, li ve in the drier soil of the of which the male have one large and one Bruguiera fore t and plug the entrance to small claw. Some have bodies wh ich are the burrow from within ju t before the tide yellowish, or bl uish-green. or rich dark blue. reaches them. o r black edged wit h red, or mottled in everal colo ur.; the big claw of some i pi nk or Crabs abundant white. of others orange or yel low or even a On the ground. crabs are abundant; ome bright carlet. Fiddler Crabs are usually burrow in -the oil, some helter under debri een on the edge of the forest, along the lying around on the fl oor of the fore t, and creek . or on the bare flats in open un.

The landward mangTO\e fringe. with a parkland of old trees of Aricennia marina. at Inhaca Island, Mozambique. Under the coar e grass in the foreground i!' a large population of the Fiddler Crab Uca /t1ctea and the marsh crabs Sesarma eulimene and S. orm1t11111i; on the tree clusters of the mud whelk­ Cerilhidea decolla1a cling to the lnded 'iides o f the trunks. Sirr.ilar groves arc found south of Townsville in Queensland, wi th a different series of crabs. l.,. laclea and U. hellator are common there. a Sesarma runs around and Ceri1hidN1 anlicip(lfa cling to rhe trunks.

March. 1968 Page 19 The male are con picuous "ith their large deep "ater oft" Madaga car. and po ~ ibly claw : the female are less so. fo r in them they migrate there to breed. both claw are equal in size. imilar to the small claw of the male. The large cla-w i Another member of the mangrove fauna u ed in territorial di play and defence. to i 1he ~t ranee mud-loh ter Tlw/assina anomala. v.hich i· th~e subject of another article inthi · threaten v.andering males. and to attract r ue. potential partner : a little dance u uall} acc!:>mpanie the di play. All thi waving and dancing rnay be imple or complex. Mud kipper depending on the -pecie . Fiddler Crab Four genera of gobioid fisl1e .... commonly feed by craping oil particle between the known as mud kipper . occur in as ociation econd and first maxilliped , the soil being with mangrove. . Scanelaos riridis, 1he Eel picked up by pooned cheli ped and. after Skipper. occurs on very on mud towards crubbing, being di carded in the form of low water in the bottom of creek . The e p cudofaecal pellet~ . Each peeie can. a are leaM adapted to an out-of-the-water a re ult of the form of the pooned hair~ of exi tence. Bo/eophtlwlnws hoddaerti may be the ma,illiped . deal '·' irh one i7e of oil 'er) abundant: it i recorded from 1alaya particle ,md ..,o each pecie., come to he to Au-,tralia. Thi animal i a herbi' ore. re tricted in it'> di tribution to one grade of feedine on the diatom and other aleae v.hich ~,i\e in the surface laver~ or the m~d. lt emerge. from the water ind mo\eS ::,lowly over the mud with a characteristic ide-to­ side mO\ ement of the head a it k ims ofr

The Frddler Crab ( ea im·ersa bes1tle a heap of ih r eudofaecal pellets Ill \1o7ambiquc. Thl\ crab "a' I rnch acro it carapace.

... oil. T he tolerance of the crab to temper,\· ture .Jl<.,o limit') di tribution. In genc.al. onr m.ty ~ay that crnhs of the bare open flat arc more tolerant of expo ure than tho c wh ich li\e in the ..,hclter of the trees. Along the creek and occa ionally in burro" in the fore~t th~ wimminl! or mud crab Serf/a serralll may be found.'" Thi. i the be i eatinl! or all crabs. lt i common all round the~ ,J ndian Ocean a nd in New South Wales. and many hundred of mile up the Yangtse Ri ver, China. Everywhere it i· the gourmand' choice. In South Africa it rcache up to 9 inche acro the carapace, and it reache a ~imila r ize in Queen land. In Ceylon it rarely reache fore t of the mangro'e Rhi::ophom in pcnin<;u)ar more than 3 inche . o much i it ought Tharland. at mrd-tide. The large tree'> are Rhi::ophora mllcroll(lfa, about 150 feet high. after. Such crab ha'e been recorded in ote the abundant regeneration beneath.

Page 20 Australian 'mural Hi~tor.r this, but they retreat f rom the ad vancing tide into the mangrove forests. A t the nests t hese groups a lso behave differently. P. chrysospilos (and Perioph­ t!Jalmodon sch/osseri) excavate "bowls'' or "saucers" in the so ft mud alongside creeks. P. kalolo and others of the group build " turrets''--sometimes single, sometimes twi n - further back within the mangrove forests. Both have characteristic display patterns in which the colo urs of the dorsal fi n a nd of the underside of the chin are con p1cuous.

Man's use of mangroves But what of man, the explo rer, the hunter. the modifier, the destroyer? W hat doe5 he wi th mangroves? Many rema in unexploited. but some have been p ut to man's service. A male mudskipper ( Periophthalmus clrrysospilos), T he Javanese discovered that they CJuld in the foreground, turns to display before a cut out the trees, use t hem as firewood. and. female. He then continued on his way towards the camera and into his nest burrow. Photo- wher e the trees were, create ponds in whic h graphed in M ozambi(}ue by l van Polunin. fish and prawns CJuld be cultured. T hese pond s p roduce the highest return o f protein per acre of a ny a rea of cul tivatio n in the the surface layers. T hen it returns to a pool world. This type of nsh culture has spread of water, where it may be seen to wash the to the Philip pines a nd other places. material, swallow. a nd return to the skim ming. Scartelaos is an o mnivore, In Malaya ma ngrove timber is cut in grabbing little mo uthfuls of the surface rotation and used as fuel, usuall y conve rted layers, which con tain not o nly algae but to charcoal. A few species o nly, Lumnitzera a lso copepods. etc., of t he interstitia l fau na. lillorea (as a rosewood) and Xylocarpus T he difference in feeding techniq ues is of mo/uccense (as a mahogany) a re used for interest. Both these animals show behaviour furniture. rneast A frica mangroves were cut patterns where they confro nt o ne another , by A rab d how crews a nd taken to Arabia but the significance of this is no t understood. whe re, because they are resistant to termite attack, they have formed the basis of an Periophthalmodon a nd Periophthalm us a re architectura l form. The poles, some 15 feet both earn ivores. Periophthalmodon schlosseri long, fo rm the ceilings of o ne storey, a nd. is an ardent hunter which m igrates into the on t hat ceiling, rubble, etc., is placed to form mangrove forests as the tide rises. T he the floo r of the next sto rey above. T his species of Periophrha/mus fa ll into two trade is now almost fi nished. grou ps- one with fused pelvic fi ns and the But with a ll , we know little about t he other with partially fused or unfused pelvic mangrove associatio n. We know what trees fi ns. T he fo rmer group. of which the type a re there, we know some o f the a nimals specie is P. cluysospilos, is characteristically associated. One wonders why some crabs, found at the seaward fringes and does not snails, a nd mudskippers extend from Pondo­ penetrate in to the forests. As the tide land in southern Africa to Q ueensland and advances they climb up into the trees, why others are purely local. Wil l man clinging in a vertical position to twigs and re:illy exploit the mangroves' potentia l to the branches. When about to be submerged full o r will he scratch, both literally and they skip off over the surface of the water to metaphorically, on the edge? another perch. The members c f the econd group. of which P. kalolo is the typical [Photos in this article are bv the author species in the Indo-west-Pacinc, cannot do except u·here otherll'ise stated.] ·

March, 1968 Page 2J T he mud-lob<; ter !Thalan ina mw11wla). showing the large flauened claws used in burrowing. [Photo: Mr~ L. Marsh.]

THE MUD-LOBSTER

B~ ISOBEL B E~::'\'ETT Profc!>sional Officer, chool of Biological Sciences, L nhersit~ of ydney

E of the mo t characteristic a nimal burrowin g activities. Callianassa IS highly of the mangrove wamp of the tropical regarded a fi h bait and i captured by 0I ndo-Paci fie reeion i rhe o-called rnud­ mean of a peciall) made hand-pump lob·ter (Thaittssina anomala). Fro m which is placed over the holes in the andy Ma lay-ia to northern Australia ( outh to mud. A core of mud i ucked up and then central Queensla nd), westward to India, and pumped out, u ually with two o r three gho t eastward acres the Pacific Ocean to the hrimps. or "yabbie •· a the fi shermen Fijian a nd Samoan Islands, it large m o und ·ometime call them, being brought up in of mud, up to about 2 feet in height, may be the mud. (See "T hey're Good Bait''. by -een dotted acro the mangroYe fla ts. T. S. Hail tone, Australian arural Hisrory, Thi a nimal belongs to the group Vo l. X LV. o. I. March, 1962. page 29.) Tha la inidea of the cla Cru tacea, coming Thalassina i a much larger a ni ma I. between the prawn- a nd lobster-like marine reaching a length o f I 0 ro 12 inches, and decapods and the hermit crab. . Along the u ua lly reddi h in colour. It activitie have tern perate e tuari ne shore of eastern a pectacular effect on the surro unding A u tralia a related pecie . Cal/ianassa cenery. a may be gathered from the photo australiensis. occur in enormou number of the mound . T he pre ence of these mud­ where the a ndy mud is uitable for its lobsters mu t have a marked effect on other

Page 22 Australian Natural History Above: Large mounds of mud thrown up by mud-lobsters on a tropical mangrove flat on the west coast of Yiti Levu, Fiji. [Photo: Author.] Below : Two sub-fossil Thalassina from northern Australia; viewed from the under side. These are typical of specimens ~1sually found washed out of late Pleistocene to Recent raised beaches, and clearly show the egmems of rite jointed abdomen bent around under the body. [Photo: Mr Justice Myers.] animals which normally inhabit this kind of locality, since the substrate is considerably altered by the enormous amounts of mud which these animals turn over in the course of a single year. The burrows beneath the mounds are stated to reach 3 or 4 feet or more below the surface, and the animals remove the mud with their well-developed, Aattened and partially claw-like first pair of legs. ln countries like Malay ia where large a reas of land have been converted into culture ponds for fish and prawns, the mud­ lobster is regarded as a pest, for it under­ mines the bund wal ls of dammed-up areas, considerably weakening them. Since the animal is seldom een to venture from its burrow in daylight, except perhaps on rainy days, it is difficult to capture, or to observe its habits, and practically nothing whatever is known of life-history, breeding and feeding. Some authorities have stated adapted for mud-feeding and it appears far that it feeds on terrestrial vegetation, but more reasonable to assume that, in turning this bas been disputed, for, although the over the huge amounts of mud, the a nimal animal has legs well adapted for burrowing, is obtaining from it a p lentiful supply of o n land its progress is very clumsy and its organic particles and small li ving o rganisms. legs are so placed that they are too weak Although mud-lobsters are obviously very and helpless to enable it to move far. common in tbe mangrove flats of northern On the other hand, its mouth-parts are well Australia, it is a curio us fact that almost

March, 1968 Page 23 Mangrove wamp<, of the warm temperate coa~t o f ew South Wale~. Tree \!!angrovc~ (AriN!nnia marina), \\ith many <:hon \erlical breathing root'i, and Black Mangro,co; (Ael!iteras comifu!atum) arc -;een in both photo'\. ''ith abundant Rock Oy•Her~ (Sa.wwrea commercicdi\) in the upper photo and with Sydne) Whelk (Pyra::uv ebenimHI in the lo,,er- a very different fauna from that associated with the tropical mangro\e \\amp frequcmcd b} mud-lobster . [Photo-.: uthor.]

P.Jge 24 A 11.11 rafitm .Vatural H istory all the publi hed data on thi group appear Since then, ma n) ub-fossil Thalassma in geological rather than zoological paper . have been found from northwestern Au tralia to centra l Queen la nd. and it ha been the e, The fir t emi-fo ilized decapod cru tacean rather than the living a nimals, which have recorded from Au tralia wa a mud-lob ter upplied the li ctle that i k nown of their de cribed b) Profc or Thoma Bell, of di tribution in Au tralia. King· College. Lo ndon, in 1844, the speci­ hould any reader find or be a ble to men having been coll ected by L ieut J. B. collect pre ·ent-d ay o r fossil pecimen , or Emery, R.N., an officer of H.M.S. Beagle upply a ny information concerning these during the ship' · crui e along the nonhern a nimals, the C urator of Crustacea at the and western coasts of Australia between Australian Museum would be very pleased 1837 and 1843. to hear from them.

Trapped Butterfly BOOK REVIE~,-

\1,\Rl'\E Fl. H E OF ~EW ZEALAND. b~· Eric Heath and John 1oreland. Publi hed by A. I I. and . W. Reed, Art:armon. :"/e\\ South Wale . 1967· Fifty- ·ix pngc'>. rnore than lOO coloured figure<;. Price 2.65. This book gives an excellent idea o f 100 of the sea fishes likely to be encountered in N ew Zealand. The names, habits. si7e, food . and fishing method!> arc itemi;cd for each pecie by John Mor·cland. 1cht hyologic;t. The coloured illustrations are b~ the well-known New Zealand artist Eric Heath. Whllc;t these arc not fu sily parricular a to the exact number of rav and pine and cales. a!. in '>cientific paper on fi he . t he~ give a da hing rdeJ of the fi he.,· appearance in life. People in more countne than C\\ Zealand will be grateful for thr • bccau<>e man) of the pecies ha'e not been featured in colour before. Figure 89 ho" the orthcrn Krngfish and 90 the Albacore, not a tran'> poscd rn the text. Figure 44 of the Yello\\ Eel o;eem to have the dorsal fin too far back for a G 1'1111101 hora , ..

Au~ t ralian and O\cr ea a well as e" Zealand readers will benefit from the instructive text. Le tha n one quarter o f all the known marine fi ·he of New Zealand are dealt wi th. but we learn that 22 per cent of the who le are native to New Zeala nd while 31 per cent a re shared with southeastern A ustralia. The deep-sea fishes, cosmopolitan types. and south temperate forms make up the other 47 Thi Wanderer Butterfly ( Danaus plexippus), per cent o f which nearly half are species o f great which had <;e ttlcd on a yellow hibiscus flower depths. on ly rarely een. An independent analysi for the night, was trapped when the flower by this reviewer agree broadly with M o reland· . clo ed prior to dying ofT. When removed from but award approximately 35 per cent each to the fl ower the bunerfly wa fo und to be one "nati\C .. and the group o f cosmopolitan or deep- which had been tagged a pan o f the Australian ea type or traggler from the tropic . Mu eum\ <;tud) of butterfly migration. [Photo: Athol D'Ombrain.] - G. P. Whitley.

.Marrh. 1968 Page 25 VENOMOUS STARFISH IN SYDNEY HARBOUR

By ELIZABETH POPE Curator of Worms a nd Echinoderm . Australian Museum

member o f the Australian Museum· and dry specimens of the starfish ha fai led A stafl- recentl y reported that he had to disclo-e pedicellariae (tiny pincer-equipped been ·' tung"' by a starfish while skindiving organs). sharp pines. o r any other organ in Sydney Ha rbour. which might pierce huma n skin . It happened while he wa helping under­ H owever. the victim certainly suffered a water ph otographer Kevin Deacon to make tingling en ation in the hand. and the a rea clo e-up shot · of the rather spectacula r which had been in contact with the tarfi ·h pecie Plecraster decanus. known locally as showed a few reddened pots a long the the M osaic Starfi h. T hi name de cribe in ide of the thumb a nd index fi nger, where the appearance of the upper urface. which the animal had made contact wi th the skin. con ist of irregular crim o n-reddi h areas The period of contact wa somewhat separated from each other by a network of prolo nged. a the starfi h had been held while clo e-up photograph. were taken. All thi wa done under water. The victim was not aware of a ny "attack' ' by the starfish until he left the water some 20 minute or o later. Her fi ngers began to well slightly. and itchine remained for everal days and then gradua ll y ub ided. There were no after-effect . She was no t aware of having handled a ny a nima l o ther tha n this tarfi-h during the dive. Plectaster decanus belo ng to the echin­ a terid ramily and occurs only in the temperate waters or Au tralia. lt is endemic. In thi ramily of the pinulose starfi he the pedicellariae a re ab e nt, o one i left guessing a lO the mean or introduction of venom .... into the victim. Many starfishes or this family produce toxic mucus. howeve r. a nd the somewhar prolonged contact with ' ome of thi mucu may have irritated the \ 1Cittm nene-ending. a e'idenced by the The Mo aic Sta rfi h is sometimes taken b~ reddened · pot· o n the ' kin. skindivers ne:Jr Sydney. small yellowi -h pines arranged in close­ H CNOR R Y A SOCit\TES packed bunche of from twenty to thirty­ Six new Ho no ra rv A s ociates of the Au <> tralian Museum ha'e been-elected. The) are: Profe· or five or so. all ending bluntly a nd being the . W . G. ~t ac illlo s h. Pro fe o r o f AnatOIT'Y at the same length. University of Sydney: Mr Peter Woodhead. In the li ving a nimal the crimson-reddi h Scientific Director of the Heron Island Marine Station : Dr R. Catala. Director of the Aquarium colour is een to be due to the presence of of oumea: Mr H. 0 . Fletcher. fo rmer Deputy numerous soft. fie hy. fi nger-1 i ke projectio n Director and Curator of Fo ils at the Au trali:ln (papulae) ·which stick up-. a rd through Mu eum: Dr D. F. McMichael. former D eput~ rounded bole in the tough membra ne Director and Curator of Mollusc at the Austra lian Museum and now D irector of the A ustra lian bridging the areas between the piny me h­ Con ervation Foundation: and Mr W. McReaddie, work. Examination of both wet preserved o f Gilgandra. ew South Wale .

Page 26 Australian 1at ural History Experiments on the Effects of Radiation on Ants

By . H. KA IFE Pa t President of the Royal oc i e t ~ of outh Africa

wo grave danger th reaten the world used hould consul t my book, The S ntdy of T today. One i the population expl osion, Anrs, publ ished by Longman in 1961.) and the other a nuclear war. Perhap the The elTcct of X-rays on the ant we re o ne pro blem may be the answer to the other. tested in coll aborati on with Dr P. M. L. lf human being are o in ane as to indulge le Roux, the Senior Phy iotherapi tat Groote in an atomic war, then the over-population Schuur Hospital, near Cape Town. I took problem will certainly be solved. Bertrand my nest to the ho pital and Dr le Roux Ru el l ha tated in the Hou e of Lords that. gave them do e of X-rays. putting th em in his opinion, it i a fifty-fifty chance whether under the machine when they were not in anybody v ill be ali ve on thi earth by the u e fo r patient . Variou dosage at different end of the present century- o pe imistic i rate were given. For example, one colony hi view of the re·ult of a major war today. received 100 rontgen at th e rate of 5 rontgen In the meantime, cienti t in variou part a minute for 20 minute , while another. of the world are rudying the effect of placed under ii more powerful machine, wa · radiation. the effect or those in vi ible ray do ed at 444 rontgens a minute fo r 1 1 ~ that can kil l a · well a cure. We know minute . The ant hewed no ign at all today that ve rtebrate animals- mammals, of di. tre while expo ed to th e ray : they bird . reptile and fi he - are much more were apparently unaware of them. After u ceptible to radiation than are the treatment the colo nie were taken back to invertebrates. In ect • for example, can my laboratory and carefully tended and withstand do ·es of several thousand rontgens. watched. wherea a man i kill,ed by a dose of onl y In brief. they hewed no sign of havi ng 400 or 500 ro n tge n ~ . a nd we wo uld like to been harmed by the expo ure. The queen know prcci ely why. went on layi ng normally and the egg hatched and developed inw healthy adult : Ants , -rayed there were no vi . ible mutations or mon tro - itie . Only one thing that mi ght be ignifi­ Five year ago I carried out some experi­ cant wa noted. Two lot of about 1,000 ment · on the effect of radiation on ants. \\Orkcr Argentine ant and two lots of about The e in ·ect are very suitable for uch work. 500 worker Cocktail ant \\'ere made up. The) are numerous everywhere a nd easily One each of the e pair wa expo ed to a collected and J...ept ali ve in artificial ne ·t . do e of 5.000 rontgen . the other lot er ing Their queen . egg and you ng tage • as well a a control. Six month later about half a v. orker and ~oldier . can be exposed to the Argentine ant that had been X-rayed the harmful ray all together at the ame \~ere dead, wherea few had died in the ti me. T wo pecie were u ed- th e Argentine control. The death rate among th e Cocktail Anl (lridomyrmex humi/is) and th e Black ant was about the same in both lot . lt Cocktail Ant (Crematogaster peringueyi). ~eerns. then, that powerful dose of X-rays The ·e were cho en becau e both are abundant may horten the li ve of adult ant , but thi in th e neighbourhood of my home at Hout need confi rmati on. Bay, South Africa. Several small coloni es, each consi Ling of a queen, '

March, 1968 Paf!e 27 ~o lution . When I added sugar to this olution L found that the ants would eat it "POSITIVE AND freely and in that way they were made radio-active: the Gei!!er counter ticked NEGATIVE" CRABS away bri kl) when held over them. Some of them were 1--illed and placed on en iti' e film, and the ray" from their bodie made imprints on the fi lm. But they howed no ign of any ill-effect . Unfortunately, thi experiment could onl) be carried o ut for a few week 0\Ving tO Shortage of uppJy Of the radi o-active iodine. A few year ago Or H. B. Ketllewell. of 0 ford Univer ity. ::.pent a year at Cape To \~ n ni vc r ity experimenting with radio­ active pho phoru . He grew ome maize plant in pot , usi ng the pho pho ru a fertili7er. Then he fed gra hoppers on the radio-active maize and made them radio­ active in turn. Hi idea ''a to label them wi th the i otope o that he could trace their movemenb o n the 'eld. Unfortunately. coming from England. he \\a unaware of the menace of the Argentine ant and he l~1iled to protect hi cage again t their attack. The ant !!Ot in and killed and ate the gra - ~hoppers. -When the Geiger counter wa::. held over the trails of ant::. near the laboratory it ticked away merrily: the onl y re ult of nearl y a year· hard work was to make the ant. on the campu radio-acti ve. The l\10 harlequin-like, panicotoured crabs above were found associated on the urface of a large. hlad-spotted. brown holothurian or bcche-de-mer. probably Holothuriamarmorata. at One Tree Island. Will ant inherit the earth? Carricorn Group. Queensla nd. b.> J ulie Booth, in October. 1965. The mated pair, a blad.-patterned lt eem • then. that if we are guilt) of the white male (belo") and a white-pauerned blad.. incredible folly of an atomic war, the higher female (abo.,e). are small. half-inch-wide. rH!Ctali7ed. animab, including ourselve , will be killed commen al member of the otherv.i e largely rree­ lil ing group. the portunid ·· "'imming crab ··. off. but the humble creature of thi earth. "' htch include!> uch 11-ell-kno,.,n large commercial e pecially the in ect . will urvive. If thi form a th~: .. blue "imrr.er.. and the .. mud-crab ... happen the ant \\ill inherit the earth. for The pecie:. ittu trated her~ i' Lissocarcinu., orbil'u­ they are the aggres ive. dominant in verte­ lari., . lt ha~ been recorded inumatelv a sociated 111th se1eral different species of holothurian (either brate . Ju t think for a moment about the on the outer urface. among the oral tentacle in Argentine a nl. Thi tiny in ect wa fi r t the gut. or within the cloaca of the ho t) fro m many di covered 100 year ago near Bueno part of the lndo·Pacific area. ranging from the Aire in South America. lt was de cribed ea t African coa· t to Hawaii in the ea tern Paci fi c, and fro m o uthern Japan in the north. o uth to and named a nd then nothing more wa Moreton Ba) in Australia. The .. positive" black­ heard of it fo r 25 year , when it wa reported on·white pattern of the male hown here appears to a a nui ance in ew Orlean . U.S.A., fa r be the mo re u ual coloration. but the ··negati ve··. away from its o riginal home. After thi it reverse. white-on-black pallern has also been recorded, though the two patterns have apparently spread rapidly round the world until today no t been ob erved together in the o ne pair before. it i a major nuisance in the United States. In life the black o f the harlequin crab i tinged outhcrn Europe, South Africa and Au tralia with rcddi h-brown. and thi colour appeared - and it i till extending its range. (An most striking among the la rge. white-ringed . blad. pot o r the One Tree Tsland holothurian. [Photo: article on the Argentine ant appear on page Jutie Booth.]- J . C. Yaldwyn. Curmor of Crusta­ 12 of thi. i ue.) ceans mu/ Coelenterares. Australian ,'v/u eum.

Paf(c' 28 Australian .1\'muml HistOtT The head of a male R oss Seal. [Photo : M. Thurston.)

The Ross and Other Antarctic Seals

By .JUDITH E. KING British M useum (Natural History)

N a rticle in Australian Natural History that a re normally restricted to the sub­ A (March, 1967) dealt with the o rder Antarctic and Antarctic region of the Pinnipedia- the seals, sea-lio ns, and walruses world- the R oss Seal, Weddell Seal, Crab­ of the wo rld- listed the animals a nd their eater Sea l, Leopard Seal, and E lephant Seal. distribution, a nd made particular mention Of these, the Leopard Seal (Hydrurga of those that occur a round Austra lian leptonyx) is a not infreq uent visitor to the coasts. It was noted that the resident shore of New Zealand a nd Australia, the a nimals on Australian coasts are eared Elephant Seal (Mirounga leonina), Crabeater seals, belonging to the family O tariidae, but Seal (Lobodon carcinophagus), and Weddell that some of the earless o r true seals of the Seal (Leptonychotes ll'eddelli) are much less family Phocidae a re occasional visitors. frequent, there being hardly mo re than a These true seals belong to the subfamily total of a dozen records of them, a nd the M onachinae, separated from the remaining Ross Seal (Ornmatophoca rossi) has never subfamily Phocinae by numero us skel etal yet been recorded so far no rth. All five characteristics. seals a re circumpolar, but o nl y fo ur of them may be counted as tmly Anta rctic. T he Apart fro m the more tropical Mo nk Leopard Seal li ves amo ng the outer fringe Seals, the Monachinae includes those seal of the pack ice, the Crabeater Seal in the

March, 1968 Page 29 more -.outherly drifting pack ice. the R o~ onl;,. recently that a pair of Ro eal!.. cnt ea I in the hea\} pack ice. and the most fro7en from the Antarctic. ha been a\ailable -.o uthcrl} Wcddell Seal '' ithin ight of the for d1 ssecti on. and manv intere ting feature!> Antarctic continent. ha'e come to light. Some of the ; are een for the fir t tim~e in thi eal. but though it Ne" fact-fi nding techniques i likely that the Ro Seal may be the mo t Thei r di tribution in the more d1fficult pecialized of the Antarctic animal . it i region of the \\orld ha meant that the e unlikely to be alone in all it pecialization . ~ea l · were not among the fi r t to be known. After the circum navigation of Antarctica Ros cal 's head by Captain Cook, the Antarctic continent The characteristic appearance of the Ro !I itself wa probably fi rst sighted in 1820. and ea l head i known from a few photo . lt the voyage of exploration that swiftly i:. very hort and wide. with a ·mall ·nout, fo llowed re ulted in, among other thing • bulging eyes. and a very deep throat. as . ee n the di covery and naming of the Antarctic in the accompanyi ng photo. The generic eal the Leopard Seal fir t in 1820. the Weddell Seal in 1826. rhe Crabeater Seal in I 42. and the Ro Seal in 1844. Thu they ha\e been known for over 120 year . and durine thi time a con iderable amount ha New Exhibition of been -disco,ered about them. uch a their di tribution. bod} -size. appearance, food. Melanesian Art and ge neral life-histor}. At fir l. thi "a all the information that it wa po ible to A gallery of art from Papua and ew get from imple ob enation. and kull and Guinea and other part of Melane ia ~ometimc keleton \! ere brought home for i being prepared in the Au tralian mu eum collection . At pre ent. pecialized Mu eum· new wing. Many uperb technique are being evolved- for in tance, item collected as early a the 1880' , kindivcr arc attaching depth recorder to which have never been on public di - Wcddcll Seal and finding that they are able play, will be incorporated in the new to dive to th e astonishing depth of over a exhibit . One of the e i ill u trated third of a mile. But there is relatively little on the front cover of thi i ue of that ha been done on the anatomy of these Aus1ralian Natural H isiOI')'. Thi · gal­ ·cal ·. and thi i understandable when one lery will be opened to the public in think of the problem involved in pre erving. the middle of thi year. toring, and tran porting the 9-foot-l ong bodie·. Of all the Antarctic eal 1t 1 perhaps the Ro eal about which lea t i known. The name of the eal. Ommatophoca. wa ba ed fir t pecimen were brought back from the on the enormou orbit in the kull. far 'oyage of the Erebus and Terror. 1839-43, larger than in any other eal kull of similar and publi hed accounts of Antarctic voyage ize. and yet there are ome publi hed paper during the following 100 year how that that ·ay the eyes are large and other that twehe 'oyage brought back ix complete ay they are mall. The confu ion ha keleton , twenty-nine skull • and a few a ri en becau e of the word u ed: the eye skin . and the e are now scattered throughout opening- the palpebral fi ure- i unremark­ th e mu eum of the world, from London to able in size, but the eyeball itself i enormou . Sydney, from Trondheim to Adelaide. Of lt horizontal diameter is 2~ inche , compared the oft part of thi seal. only the kid ney wi th about 1 :~ inche in seal a diverse as a ha been de cribed, and the only other Common Seal (Phoca), a Baikal Seal ( Pusa), record of one being cut up at all wa and a Californian Sea-lion (Zaloplws). The wi th gastronomic, rather that cientific. ize of the cornea in these three eal i intent. a Sir Edward Shackleton, during approximately the ame as in the Ro Seal. the voyage of the Endurance in 19 I 4, noted but in the latter animal it i the hinder part that the animal made little more than a of the eye behind the lens that is enlarged. quare meal for twenty-eight men. lt i Thi would result in an increa e in the size

Pag~ 30 Au.ftralian mural History clo e the jav. a re particularly thick. and the attachment of the diga tric are uch that A it could pull the jaw open very wide. Thu the mouth can be opened wide to receive the prey. clamped firm I) . hut. and the needle­ '> harp a nterior teeth "'ould help lO anchor a lippery and polo ibly v. riggling quid. Within the mouth there i a very horl c ha rd pa late, but a particularly long oft palate. As lhc normal relationship of the 'icm posterior end o f the soft palate and epiglotti is pre erved. the eriglottis is fu rther back in The teeth of a Weddell Sea l CA\, Crabeater Seal the throat. and a very long and compressible c BJ, Leornrd ea I ( ). and Ro s Seal ( D ). Only uprer chce l... teeth 2 4 and lower teeth 3 and 4 of mo uth area re ults, which mu t be able to the three first-mentioned ea ls are illustrated , and accommodate the bulky food. All the the full set of upper chcc).. teeth of the Ro Seal. mu cle in the throat concerned with gripping and . wallowing the food are very v.ell of the image relati'e to the ize of the eye. de eloped in the Ro Seal. and their a ttach­ "'hich "ould be very u cful to a n animal ment · are mo re complicated than in the hunting v. ift-mO\ ing a nd ~tipper} prey in Common cal (Phoca). for in tance. A very the Antarctic gloom beneath the ice. large food ma~ pa ing down the oe ophagu could pcrhap pre · on. and damage. the Feeding habit and teeth trachea. Some eal ha e complete carti­ laginous ring in the trachea. and in ome The differences in the feedi ng habit of the rin g~ a rc incomplete dor ally. But it i the Antarctic eal have at lea t one intere ting tha t in the two eal that are reflection- in the hape of their teeth. as known to wal low large objects, the Leopard een in a n accorTtpanying diagram. The Seal and the Ross Seal, the cartilage in the Weddcll Seal feed mainly on fish, wh ich it trachea i reduced to ventral bars, so the wa ll ow whole, and it ha mall cheek teeth . trachea ca n be compre sed quite flat ( ee The Crabeater Seal ieve the shrimp-like diagram). krill through the complicated system of cu p on it interdi gitating teeth, whi le the Leopard Seal u ually eat larger prey. uch a quid and penguins. and has trong three-pronged teeth. The Ro cal has very mall cheek teeth that are often loo e in their ockets. but the upper and lov.er inci or and canine are lender. with harp backwardly-curving tip . Little i known v. ith certainty of the feeding ha bit of thi eal but it i believed to eat large cephalopod . a nd one of the beak feund in the tomach ugge ted a quid about 2 c m 2 feet 6 inche in length and weighing about 15 pounds. Earlier report aid that thi eal fed o n eaweed. hut these fragment were battered remains of quid pens. Some of the modificati ons of the head may perhaps be put down to the need for dealing with thi la rge prey. The mouth is very wide, particularly at the limiting points of the Diagram of a section through the anterior part coronoid proces e . a nd, although the cheek of the trachea of the Ross Seal (Ommatopltoco teeth are mall a nd weak. the muscle ro.11i). above, and the Common Seal (Pitoca ••itulin« ). below. The cartilage is shaded black, operating the lower jaw are large. The and internal to thi in the Ross Seal i a thick temporal and ma eter muscles that would la) er of fibrou tissue (the spotted area).

March, 1968 Page 31 like thi . but within the Monachinae there i a change. the flipper getting longer and the claw getting maller. T he Wcddell Seal. fo r in ·tance. till ha large claw . the Leop are reduced to ma ll nodules. They are o mall that they can no longer be u ·ed for cratching, the oft ti ·ue is extended beyond them. and. in the fir t digit at l ca~t. thi extension i supported by a lanceolate piece of cartilage fou r-fi fth of an inch long. The increa:-.e in length of the fir t digit i:-. al o achieved by a lengthen ing of the bone~. and the c are also :.touter than th o ·e of the oth er digit . forming a trong leading edge to the Oippe r. The fifth digit i shortened by the reduction in length of the intermediate rhalanx. and thi re ults in a front lim b of B quite diiTerent -hape from that of the '"paw·· of the Phocinae: in Ommaroplroca the leading edge is long and ·trong and the other digit. decrea e rapidly in i7e ( ee A diagram). Another characteri tic of the Ro Seal flipper i the very elongated DifTcrence m fore-flipper shape and in i1c of epiphy es to the terminal phalange - quite claw bet,.,cen the R o Seal CA) and the Common Seal CB). The small spots on the Ro s different from the normal- ized epiphy c Seal fiipper indicate the claws. on the other phalangeal bone . and al o erving to elongate th e fli pper. Locomotion and food-catching There is evidence in the shape of the The e are ome of the modification that articula r urface that the Ros Seal ha le eem to have ari en in the Ross Seal for power of interphalangeal movement in its dealing with food. There are other change fore flippe r th an have the ea ls of the in structure that appear to be more de igned Northern Hemi phere: it may perhap act fo r efficient locomotion and the catching more in one piece, like the fron t flipper of of food. T he normal phocid method of a ·ea-li on. Certainly. the arrangement or progre:-. ·ion in the water i by lateral move­ ome of the mu cle is not unli ke that of a ment of the hind end of the body, aided by sea-lion. the alternate troke of the hind Rippers, No one ha ye t een a Ro Seal wimming. the fo re fli pper being held again t the body but o ne can perhaps a ume that the method except v. hen changing direction. But there i not exactl y the ame a in the northern i a con iderable change in the hape of the eal . In the ame way even the few fore flipper from the relatively un pecia lized characteristic mentioned here indicate that Phoca to the undo ubtedly pecialized the Ro Seal is a more complicated animal Ommarophoca. The fo re flipper of Plwca that the better-known seal of the orthern i a ··paw··, a hort broad tructure armed Hem isphere, and it, together with its with fi ve trong claw . the bone of the Antarctic relatives. would repay more digit are not particularly elongated, and al l inve tigation. arc of approximately the ame thicknes . All member. of the Phocinae have "paw ,. f Diagrc11ns in rhis m·ricle are hy tlw aurhor.]

Page 32 Ausrralian . mural Hisron THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM

PRESIDENT OF TRUST EES: EM ERITUS PROFESSOR A. P. ELKIN. C .M.G .. M .A .. Ph.D.

CROWN TRUSTEE:

1 EMERITUS P ROFESSOR A . P. ELKI • C.M .G .. M.A .. Ph.D.

OFFIC IAL TRUSTEES: TH E HON. T HE C HIEF JUSTICE, THE HON. THE PRESIDENT OF T H E LEG ISLATIVE CO UNCIL. T H E HOJ . THE CHI EF SECR ETARY. T H E HON. T H E ATTO RNEY-GENERAL. T H E HON. THE T R EASUR ER. T HE: HO . T H E: M INIST ER FOR PUBLIC W O RKS. TH E HON. THE M IN ISTER FO R EDUCATION. T HE AUDITOR-GENERAL. T H E PRES IDENT OF THE I:.W SOUTH WALES MEDICAL BOARD. THE S URVF-YOR-GI:NERAL Al'D C HI EF SURVEYOR. T H E C ROWN SOLICITO R.

ELECTIVE TRUSTEES:

SIR FRANK McDOWELL: R . J. NOBL E:. C.B. E .. B. ~ .A g r., M.::k .. Ph. D.: PROFESSOR A. H. VOISEY. D.S~. : G . A . .IOHNSON. M.B. f.: PROFESSOR .1 . R. A. McM IL LAN, M .S .. D . S ~. Ag r .: $. H AVILAND. C.B. E.; K . L. SUTH ERLAND. D.Sc .. F.A.A.: P K. OFI:SSOK. L. C. BIRC H. D.S~ .. F.A.A.: PROFESSO R D. P. MELLOR. D.Sc.. F. R.A.C.I.: PROFESSOR H. N. BA RB E R. F.R.S.; R. C . RICHARD; W . H MAZE. M .Sc.

DIRECTOR: D EPUTY DIRECTOR: F . H. T A LBOT . Ph.D .. F.L.S. C. N. SM ITH E RS. M .Sc.

Th e Aus!ralian j\lfuseum·s field is !he animal kingdom, minerals, fossils, and anlhro­ pology . The Museum is open free, daily, at the following times: Tuesday ro Saturday, and public holidays, 10 a.m. ro 5 p.m.; Monday , 12 noon 10 5 p.m. (during school holidays, 10 a.m. 10 5 p.m.): Sunday , 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. lt is closed on Christmas Day and Good Friday. Special facilities for study are a1•ailable to schoolteachers and pupils on application to the Education Officer. A roojiop cafeteria is open daily, except S undays, ji·om 10 a.m. to 4.30 p.m.