MARCH 15, 1962 VoL. XIV, No. l
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Page NEw CALEDON IA, T i l E CORAL-RI GED ISLAND-F.:/ izaberh C. Pope 3 FLYI NG FoxEs-1 . E. Nelson 12 C HIMBU P LUME T RADERS-Ra/ph Bulmer 15 STONEFISH- R . Endean 21 B ALER SIIELLS-D o na/d F. McM ichae/ 24 T H EY' RE GooD B AIT!-T. S. Hailstone 29 T H E T UATARA, NEw ZEALAND's ANCIE T R EPT I LE- W . H . Dawbin 32 BooK R EVIEW S 20, 28 OTES A D NEW 11, 19. 20, 27
• FRONT CO VER: T he Grey-headed Flying Fox (Preropus poliocephalus), which is found in the coastal areas fro m Rockham pton (Queensland) to nort hern Victoria. F lying foxes spend the day-time in cam ps in trees, go ing out in search of food at night. Some camps are estimated to contain 250,000 fl ying foxes. T he photo on our cover was taken by Mr. J. E. N elson, of the Zoology Department. U niversity of Queensland, whose article o n fl ying foxes appears o n page 12.
VoL. XIV, N o. I MAR C H 15, 1962 RECENT PUBLICATIONS THE "ENDEAVOUR" JOURNAL OF JOSEPH BANKS edited by J. C. Beoglehole H ere in two beautiful volume is the Jo urna l kept by Joseph Ba nks on his voyage with Captain Cook in the Endeavour. Published in associatio n with the Trustees of the Public Libra ry of New South Wales as the first part of the State's memorial to Sir Joseph Banks, it is now available in full fo r the fi rst time. An o utsta nding feature is the wealth of illustratio ns. ma inly by Sydney Parkinson. the artist o n the voyage, including many very beautiful colo ur reproductio ns of natural hi to ry subjects. A biographical introductio n a nd anno tations throughout the text ma ke the jo urnals interesting and ente rtaining reading as well as being of g reat scientific impo rtance...... The two volumes: £6/ 6 / - (post 4/ 7) THIS VITAL FLESH b y W illiom Bo ylebridge Volume 1 of the Collected Wo rks ( Memorial Edition) edited by P. R . Stephensen. lt is a statement of the socio-political philosophy of a major A ustra li an poet who died in 1942. ln its strictly limited edition of 1939. this work was awarded the Gold Medal of the A ustralian Literature Society. lt has been o ut of print fo r many years, and is now for the first time made full y available. 30 1- (post 1/ 3) THE GOOD LOOKING WOMEN b y Ruth Pork " As good a anything she has do ne: a novel of fa mil y tensions. dealing with domestic situations that most readers will recognize... (Muster, Sydney) 21 / 6 (post JOd .) Available Again: THE SONGS OF A SENTIMENTAL BLOKE by C . ). Dennis 12 / 6 (post IOd .) ADAM IN OCHRE by Colin Simpson This new editio n includes a new secti o n. " The Aboriginal Future··. 30/ (post J /3) THE FACE OF AUSTRALIA by Charles F. Loseron 28/ 6 (post 1/ 3) at all booksellers ANGUS & ROBERTSON LTD 89 CASTLEREAGH STREET, SYDNEY
Page 2 A usrralia11 Nahua/ History AUST.RALIAN NATURAL HISTORY
Published Quarterly by the Australian Museum College Street, Sydney Editor : J. W. Evan , Sc.D. Annual Sub cription, Posted, 14/ -
VoL. X IV, No. 1 MARCH 15, 1962
New Caledonia, the Coral-ringed Island
By ELIZABETH C. POPE
T HE i lands of the New Caledonia group land masses for o long that the migration a re ituated on the edge of the tropics, of vertebrates to it was limited to those that lying between latitude corresponding to could traverse wide stretches of sea a nd it tho e of Mackay a nd Bowen on the Queens vertebra te land fauna is a somewhat land coast, and are a bout 800 nautical miles impoverished one when it comparatively to the ea t of Queen land. They enjoy a la rge i7e and the ecological diver ity of it mild climate and are a delightful place to habitats a re taken into con ideration. spend a winter holiday. Even in July and Flying foxe (bats) a re the o nly specie of Augu t air and sea temperatures make swimming, aqualunging and shore coll ecting mammals native to N ew Caledoni a. and one along the many reef very plea ant. while species known a the roussette i u ed in a in the ummer month the normal heat of justly famou and delicious tew. The Rusa tho e latitudes is tempered, o that the Deer (Cervus timorensis), which now over average maximum temperature remain run the rolling savannah or Niaouli country about 80 degree F., by the acti on of the on the western side of the isla nd. was intro strong E.S.E. trade wind ( l'ali7c) which duced in 1862 by the wife of one of the blows acro the i land from the sea. The early governors. The pig . introduced by period of high summer hould be avoided man into the neighbouring island group by the touri st, not becau e of heat, but ( ew Guinea a nd the ew Hebrides). did because of the likelihood of cyclone . not reach ew Caledoni a before the settle ment of the white man with hi domestic Second only to ew Zealand in size animal and attendant oests, rats and mice. among Pacific i s l and~. ew Caledonia is There a rc no frogs o r fa nd snakes a nd onl y about 250 miles long and about 30 miles a few specie of linrd . including ome acro. . Like ew Zealand. it i . geologi endemic species of Gecko and skinks. Of call y speaking. a n old island, and ha been 34 species of litard. 30 a re peculiar to widely separated from the la rger continental these islands.
March. 1962 Page 3 This outcrop of lime'>tone. The Rocl,s of Heinghene. b a '>tri king feature of the north-east coast of ew Caledonia. lt is also l..nown as The itting Hen Rock or I he To\\ er~ of otre Dame. because of its appearance from different angle'>.
The occa ional record of . nake which family to occur anywhere in the vicinity of one meets in literature probably arise the tropics. One wonders if it i coincidence because the writer had encountered the that it - li ves in the Lac en Huit (8- haped black and cream banded ~ea nake L :~ k e' . on the Plain of Lakes, an a rea on (Laticauda colubrina) during their land the i land famou as the home of ma ny going excursion to breed. as the author did "living fossil" plant . when seven of them were een during a short walk acros the tiny coral cay. llot A in most of the i la nds of the outh Amcdce. The snakes were moving about we t Pacific. birds are the most con picuow. very freely on the land, and only their of the la:1d vertebrates; the recent survey flattened , paddle-like tails ma rked them a by the noted American authority. Ern t ea nakes. Mayr, li t 68 native pecie of land and fre hwater birds, of which 16 may be Though one might expect fossil Horned considered peculiar to New Caledonia. Turtle (Meiolania) to be found in New Included in -thi fauna are grebe , heron . Caledonia, since they a re known from ducks, birds of prey. button quail . rail . a Walpole l sland and from tiny Lord Howe few parrot and lories. cuckoos, owls, king I land. to the south. there is as yet no fi shers. honey-eater , numerous ong-bird . record of them. pigeon (including the gia nt dark pigeon known as the Noto u) a nd, probably the Unique Fish most interesting of all New Caledonian bird . the Kagu or Cagou ( Rhinochetos The only freshwater fi sh reco rded from jubatus) . New Caledonia i an extraordinarily interesting o ne belo nging to the family Feathers of the Notou were formerlv used Galaxiidae-a family which otherwise has to decorate the ma k of the tribal so r~erer . an exclusively southern distribution through as may be een in the Museum in Noumea. New Zealand, Ta mania and South but the bird itself i carcely li kely to be America. In fact, this unique fi h. N eoga een by tourists ince it li ves in the topmo t laxias neocaledonicus. is the only one of its canopy of the fore t tree .
Page 4 Australian Natural History Also living in the forest in the outhern of Placostylus) and ma ny of the insects, part of the island is the ground-dwelling spiders a nd millipedes are found nowhere Cagou-a mo t peculiar greyish-coloured et e in the world , so that there i a high bird, about the size of a rooster, which emits degree of endemism among them. Such a cry like the barking of a sma ll dog. The animals a re, however, of little concern to pair seen by the author were in captivity amateur naturali sts a a rule. The marine a nd obligingly trulled about upon our fauna, however, mo re than compen ate for approach with stiffly held wi ng and raised. any deficiencies in the land a nimal . It is outsized crests. nfortunately, the vi it wa abundant and varied, as one expects made at dusk a nd no flashlight was avail tropical faunas to be. able, so no attempt could be made to photograph this rarity. Its food con i t of worms and the Gia nt Snails called Native Agriculture (Bulimes), which a re also nati ve to the The aboriginal New Caledonians-the islands. Although the Cagou i chiefl y indigenes- are chiefl y Melanesian in origin, nocturnal, its somewhat trusting habit and like the warlike native of New Guinea, Fiji it Ios of ability to fly have made it an ea y and the ew Hebrides, but in place along prey to hunter and dome tic dogs. o it i the ea t coa t traces of Polyne ian ance try now a ll but extinct. Wings are present, but may be noticed in the people in one or two the birds seem to have lost the ability to areas. As might be expected in a land take to the air. One other bird, a rail where game animals were carce o r vi rtually (Tricholimnas lafresnayanus), was also said absent, the indigenes developed an economy to be flightless, but no specimen has been depending largely on fi shing a nd agriculture seen for 50 years or more. Unlike New -chiefl y the raising of taro root in irri Zealand and other islands of similar gated, terraced gardens of surpri ingly large antiquity, New Caledonia may almo t be size a nd apparently constructed according said to lack flightle birds. P . J . Da rlington. to very ound engineering principles. Jr., wrote in hi "Zoogeography" (publi hed Traces of the e former tarodieres may be by John Wiley and Sons, London, 1957) een by most travell ers in inland districts that this was evidence of the fact that the when the sun is at the right angle to light vertebrate fauna of the island is not, geo up the evenly paced terraces on certain of logically speaking, an old one and has the hillsides where the soil was suita ble and reached it by " island-hopping" rather tha n where streams could be tapped a t the right across land connections. height to irrigate the gardens below. The The humbler invertebrate land fauna of present-day Mela nesian seem to have lost New Caledonia i , zoologically, extremely or abandoned the art of cultivating their interesting, with many ancient a nd peculiar crops in this way a nd farm in a much less species, of which the Giant Snail ( pecie "scientific" manner.
Re-thatching a native house with reeds from nearby marshes. When the author and her friends approached. the work men sat down on the ridge-pole and ceased work.
March, 1962 PageS A typical view of New Caledonia's east-coast ve!letatio~. Along the _flooded H ein g h ~ n e River mangroves are backed by Coconut Palms. w1th native forest clothmg the mounta ms. A few characteristic Pin Colonnai res. with their pencil-like foliage, project above the general level of the trees, behind the hou e.
With the esta blishment of New Caledonia held in place by heavy. fl attish river as a French posses ion many other races pebbles. Some of the huts. with wall of made their homes there. and a visit to the sun-ba ked mud, have frieze running ro und dawn market in Noumea reveals the surpri · them just above the ground, making the ing number of peoples who make up the native villages most picture que; they a re kaleidoscopic popula ti on of the isla nd genera lly surrounded by pla ntations of today. Besides the people of European coffee. taro. bananas, tapioca or coconut descent there a re lndone ians. Vietnamese, palm , growing omewhat haphazardly Polynesian . Wa lli Isla nders and nati ve together. peoples from distant French possessions such a Madagascar a nd Trinidad, along The Vegetation Of New Caledonia with the Melanesian . a ll milling a round the The main i land of cw Caledonia 1 vendors-a most interesting study for any shaped like a long cigar and ha a one with even the lightest interest in mountainous backbone that lend great anthropology. beauty to the cenery. One can readily appreciate how Captain Cook wa o Outside the townshi ps many native hut forcibly reminded of Scotland that he and vi llages a re to be een and vary in called the territory ew Caledonia. shape from beehive to rectangular. with This chain of mountain . the highest of wall s either of thatch or mud. Many arc which is over 5.300 ft.. play a major role thatched wi th reeds from the extensive in controll ing the island ' weather pattern. swamps but a picturesque variation of for they lie directly acros the path of the thatching is provided by the use of bark moisture-laden trade winds. Approximately off the Paper-bark Tree (M e/aleuca), which twice as much ra in falls on the east as on i laid acro. s the supports of the roof and the west coast, and since the range are
Page 6 A usrralian Natural Histor.r closer to the sea in the east the swiftly many of which drain towards the central , fl owing rivers soon empty into it without low-lying, marshy Plain of Lakes. Drain forming extensive ma rshes or flood plains. age from this area has been dammed up by Consequently, the roll ing type of savanna h the large Yate Dam to form a huge artificial country which cha racteri ses the western (or in land lake which now supplies water and Noumea) side of the island does not develop hydro-electric power to southern New there, and the characteristic vegetation of Caledonia. Extensive views across rolling the two coastlines differs greatly. [n the hills, rather ba re of vegetation, are enhanced east the shoreline is bordered by a fringe of by the rusty-red colour of the soil a nd graceful coconut palms, while the west weathered rocks. Underfoot the ground coast is bordered mainly by ma ngroves appears to be composed of "gravel", but a known locally as Palctuviers. T he man fi stful of this "gravel", or a small boulder, groves on the east coast occur up-river wi ll be found to weigh very heavily in the rather than along the shore. T he character hand , due to the quantities of iron a nd istic tree of the savannah is the Paper-bark other heavy minerals present. called the Niaoul i which, from a distance, has much the general form of a gum tree. so Extraordinary Forest that the landscape looks strangely familia r to Australian eyes-a feel ing which is 1t is on thi s southern mountain massif strengthened by views of groves of She-oaks that one encounters the most peculia r forest (Casuarinas) , bracken and la ntana scrub, known as the " Dry" Forest, on the slopes with Mimosa bushes forming a general where the continual trade wi nds desiccate undergrowth. In Australia one associates the pla nts in spite of the rainfall. Instead Paper-barks with swampy country but in of the jungle-like growths which one looks New Caledonia these trees flourish up the for in the tropics there is a much more open, sides of mountains to 1,500 ft. or more. rather sparse-growing vegetation, with Niaouli s belong to the same major plant gna rled and stunted-looking trees such as group as the E ucalypts a nd, like them, the Mountain Kaori and the "Dry" Forest contain abundant oil in the leaves, which i Ara uca ria ( Araucaria humboltensis), and distilled a nd used medicinally. Local be li ef the a rchaic-looking Araucaria imbricata, attributes the fact that mala ri a is unknown with other resinous. stunted-looking in the island ( though rife in the neighbour shrubs forming a loose kind of under ing New H ebrides) to emanations of essence growth . This area is a veri table happy de ni aouli from the trees. hunting ground for botanists, many Another cha racteri stic and picturesque of the species being not only confined tree is the Pi n Colonnaire (Araucaria to New Caledonia but also .in the nature of " li ving fossils". The soil is cookii). which is indigenous to th is group of rich in iron, nickel, cobalt and chrome, islands. It was because of the dense stands of these pines on the numerous small islets elements often scarce in other soil s, but it is (of which Kunie is the largest) that Cook poor in such essential elements as phos gave the name of Isle of Pines in 1774 to phorus and potassium ; thi s may exclude the group lying just so uth of the mai n isla nd many of the more ordina ry plants from the of New Caledonia. Many people mistakenly a rea, allowing the archaic types to exist seem to apply Cook's name to Norfolk there free from competition from more highly evolved and " modern" p lants. Isla nd beca use it, too, possesses an indigenous but different species of pine. Disappearance Of Jungle A car trip from Noumea to the tiny village of Yate on the east coast takes one It is becoming increasingly difficult for into a terrain that seems to belon!! to a the tourist to visit a nd view areas of native different a nd geologicall y older wo rld ~ Even jungle. for much of it has been ruthlessly the vegetation has an archaic look on this cut out by the early timber-getters, especi mountain massif, typical of much of the a il y the Sandalwoods. Scrub fires, as in country where mining is being carried out. Australia. are also a very serious menace to T he a rea has a n extremely high rainfall and the rain forests. Once jungle is burnt out. is traversed by del ightful rushing streams, Niaouli seedlings tend to colonise the fired
March, 1962 Page 7 a rea a nd the o riginal forest does not The chief concentration of minerals and, regenerate itself. Thus. the Niaouli country consequently. the main mining activity of is increasing in area a t the expense of the the isla nd is between T hio on the ea t coast origi nal jungle. Also, the papery bark chars and Noumea in the south-west, and is quite readily during bushfires and protects the easy of access. Another geological attrac li ving matter of the N iaouli trees, so that tion for tourist is the peculiar outcropping they tend to survive fires. and , like the of limestone of dramatic p roportions a nd Australia n gum trees. grow new foliage shapes which runs like a jagged wall afterwards. th rough the la ndscape near Heinghene, on A good stand of jungle may be seen by the north-east coast. In one place it looks visiting the little tourist resort at M t. Koghi , like a sphinx, in another like a ruined castle, just out of Noumea, and at the same time complete with water-filled moat. and o ut one may enjoy delightful views of the to sea it forms the picturesque Towers of peninsul a on which Noumea sta nds. Here Notre Dame (or if looked at from a nother walks have been cut through the hillside angle. a huge brooding hen) . jungle which wind through the trees with trailing lianas and a n undergrowth of tree World's Second Longest Barrier Reef ferns. pandanus palm a nd mosses forming a thick forest very reminiscent of Australia's Another geological wonder is the barrier tropical scrub. T he thick carpet of leaf reef of coral which not only surrounds the litter is well populated by small, leaping main , long island of ew Caledonia but a mphipods (Talitrus sylvaticus} , many extends far to the north a nd south of it to insects, millipedes and earthworms but, include the Belep Isla nds (north) and the although a search was made for them, no picturesque southern isla nds. Every marin e trace or record was found of the G ia nt naturali st should make a trip by air to the Earthworms associated with similar forests Isle of Pines, on a day when visibility is in Australia. good, in order to view the isla nds, reefs, cays a nd banks of coral along the ro ute. On the roads leading into some of the It is a veritable demonstration in field coral jungle-clad valleys extensive masses of geology. Owing to the elongated shape of gossamer spider web obliterated from view New Caledonia its barrier reef is second the bushes along the side of the track. only in size to that off the coast of Queens Patches up to 30 ft. or 40 ft. long, gli sten la nd. and is about I ,000 miles long. Being ing with imprisoned water droplets which distant from the mainland on the average were catching the light, were not unusual by only about six miles. it is much more and when examined closely were seen to be accessible to naturalists than its Queensland the communal effort of hundreds of spiders counterpart and may be reached in quite which lurked at intervals of about 6 ins. small craft powered by outboa rd motors. from each other a mong the fine veil of webs. The whole length of reef. with its sheltered For the most part, the jungle by day was lagoon, offers wonderful opportunities, strangely silent, and few animals were especially on the leeward side of the island, abroad. for skin-diving, reef-hunting a nd fi shing. R ich In Minerals In some seaside suburbs of Noumea There is plenty to interest an amateur banks a nd clumps of coral grow along the geologist in these island s, and the economy shore a nd coll ecti ng there can be very of New Caledonia depends almost wholly interesting, especially at places like R ocher on the mining industry. Local residents a la Vo ile or the point at Rica udy ( reached refer to the "pigs" of nickel which one sees from Anse Vata). T he former a rea stacked on the wha rves. ready for export, provides a rocky substratum with boulders as "Noumea biscuits". Gold, silver, copper, to turn over a nd the latter a series of sandy lead, zinc, cobalt, ma nganese, iron and, depressions and pools alternating with ridges most important, chrome and nickel are all of rock on which grow barnacles, corals, found in workable a mounts in the meta vermetid shells, bands of oysters a nd other morphic rocks which outcrop at intervals bi valves. and cushions of zoanthid a nemones throughout the island. of the Palythoa type.
Page 8 A ustralian Nalllral H istory The snail-like molluscs are also plentiful /enia gratiosa) or vice versa, so that for those who know where to look for them. coll ecting along the reefs can be extremely One tourist hotel on the east coast has a interesting to the expert. collection of cowries, nautilus, volutes and stromb shells that would make any collector Delightful Aquarium envious. It is tantalising, too, to rake over Noumea is now justly famous for its the shore m iddens near the reefs where the interesting and delightfully ituated indigenes hunt shellfish and to see from the aquarium. which features displays of li ving broken pieces, opened to get the meat, what corals and the associated fauna- probably species may be expected in the region. A lso the most intere ti ng tropical collection of interesting is the extraordina ry variety of anima ls in the worl d. A most d iverse a nd pecies used as food . T here are four species Loologically interesting collection of marine of oysters alone. Of these, the one from a nimals has been assembled , and some of the mangroves ( Paletuvier Oyster) is, in the them have probably never been continu author's opinion, the tastiest. Turban shell s ously observed a li ve before, even by and cockles also appear to be very popula r professional zoologists. because the as food. problems associa ted with their capture and maintenance have hitherto not been success T he variety of colourful fi shes seems to be fully solved. T he aquarium is owned and almost endless, as one would expect in the Oj)e rated by Dr. and Madame R . Catala. tropics, and sea star , sea urchins, brittle both of whom have had extensive field stars and, above all , Beches-de-mer are mo re experience in marine research, are expert in evidence than in temperate waters such skin-di vers and show unflagging devotion to as those off ew South Wales. In fact, New their captive reef animals. Over the years. Caledonia is a regula r happy hunting ground they a nd a sma ll band of " Friends of the for an echinodermologist. M any of the Aqua rium" have come to know the needs species of marine animals are, a one would and ha bits of the New Caledonian reef expect, identical wi th tho e from Queens fauna so intimately that they a re able to set land' G reat Barrier R eef, but there are up a nd stock the aquarium a nd keep ali ve intriguing differences in the two faunas. A such " difficult" creatures as c uttlefi sh, species which may be considered somewhat pearly na utilus, rare deeper-water cora ls rare in Australia may be very common in which they discovered fluoresced in ultra New Caledonia (like the ea urchin Parasa- violet light. tiny reef fish so beautifully
This dark-coloured sea urchin (Parasalenia f?rat iosa), with a white mil led ring around the base of each of its spines, in habits crevices and ledges under, or low down on, small coral boulders. Though one of the com monest inter-tidal sea urchins near Noumea, it is regarded as rather rare and sporadic in its occur- rence in Australia.
Photo.-Mr. Justice F . G . Myers.
March , 1962 Page 9 Noumea Aquarium is noted for its nuorescent corals a nd other beautiful creawres from the local reefs. ( I ) The Aquarium. (2) Coxcomb Oysters ( Loplw crislagal/i) from deeper waters. rarely seen alive. ( 3) Rhinoceros Sea star ( Pro1oreas1er nodosus). with a Bi g-eye Fish (A pogon norfo/censis). ( 4) Fluo rescent corals ( Euphyllia species) expanded and feeding. while a Squi rrel Fish (bottom left ) lurks nearby. (5) Black and Tan Feather Star ( Coma!ella macula/a). ( 6) A Grub Fish ( Parapercis cylindrica) re ~ tin g bc ~ide the Pinna- lil..e bivalve A 1rina J?Ou ldi.
Paf!e lO Aus1ralian Na/llral flis1ory coloured and patterned that they remind one of gaudy aviary birds, and many of the interesting commensal animals like the EW NA ilfE FOR Giant Anemones and small Amphiprion Fi h. MAGAZI E The ite for the aquarium wa chosen. after ca reful research. on a penin ula where clea r, plankton-rich sea-water could be The Australian Museum Maga-;,ine's pumped to a hill ide re ervoir and from name has been changed to Australian there reticulate to the aquarium tanks in a Natural /-1 istory a from thi i sue. volume sufficient to maintain the plankton The new title has bee n adopted food-supply to the fixed animals and to becau se it more accurately describes keep the water in the clean natural state the magazine' cope. th at so many of the reef animal!> need . Thousa nd of litres pa s through the tanks The nature and content of the every day and drain away on the oppo ite magatine will remain unchanged . side of th e peninsula from the point of intake. Feeding the inmates of an aquarium i M any hour may profitably be pe nt in rather like running a diet kitchen for a lot the Aquarium either just admiring the of fussy hospital patients. Some, like the bea utie of the animals or making behaviour Butterfly Cod ( Pteroi.1). will cat only small studies of their rhythms. feeding and fi~h of an exact si7e- neither more nor le!>!. reaction& to other species. The tory of the -and th e prey must be lively or it will be animals in the Aquarium alone would need i!!nored . Another specie . like the large the space of a large text book . Perhap blue-green Caris or Double-headed Fish, some day its story will be told in a fitting ea ts certain kind of shellfish. which it manner. but mea nwhile it is a place every cracks up like nut. in a nut-cracker . Other. marine naturalist hould vi it. require a diet of cra b ~. while the large T here is no end to the intere t that Rhinocero Sea Star (Protorea.wer nodos/1.\ ) amateu r naturalists may enjoy by visiting spends a lot of time in nur uing and corner thi ~ most stimulating island of ew ing the eed le-.pined Sea Urchin (Diadema Caledonia . .\eto .w). whose armature of long !.pines doe!> not seem to protect it from the bulldo?ing [P/u)fO,\' in thi.\ article are by the awhor. attack of the &ea star. except where stated otherwise.]
Stinging Fi he OR:\'ITHOLOGY IN THE i\ 1 SE ~ 1 Dr. A lien Kea<,t, Curator of Ornitho logy at A snccial feature of the Noumca th ~ Au\:rali ln l u<,cum since 1957. ha'> been q uarium is that one may view th ere such appointed Assistant Profes.,or of Biology at dreaded tingers a the Stonefish, the Butter Queen\ Uni v.:: rsit y. Kingston. O ntario. Canada. fly Cod or Lion Fi h. eedle-spined rchins Dr. Kea\t will b~ b~s t rcm c m b ~ r ed at th ~ and the rea lly viciou stinging urchin. A ustrali an 1u ~~ um for his worl.. in the prepara tion o f th ~ new b ird J!a ller y. In this worl.. he Araeosoma. which looks like a blown-up transformed the o ld crowded and drab ca~c'>. filled beret covered with irritant spines and spikes, with a bcwilderin'! array of perching bi rds. into ome of th em electric-blue in colour. The colourful and m od ~ rn exhibits. collection includes a small brown anemone Mr. H. J. de S. Disney. who ha'> replaced Dr. (genu not known) wh ich inflict. ting . the Keast, is a g raduate of the University of Cam bridge. and h a~ had a wide exp-::rience o f large feathery stinging anemone A ctinoden ornitho logy in many parts of the world. dron . which retract into the sand in the Before the war. in which he served in the evening. and several tinging o-ca llcd R.A.f.' .. h ~ collected birds in o rth Finland and "corals" uch a Millepora and stinging ewfoundla nd. and u b~eque n t l y spent a period hydroids. Sea nakes are also represented. on th ~ ~taff of th e Kaffarian M u~e um in outh A frica. So vi sitors may become aquainted with the In recent years ht! has been an applied biologiM appearance and habits of most noxious in East A frica. engaged in the stud y o f the biology animals and thus avoid them on th e reefs. o f variou injurious birds and mammals.
Marclr , 1962 Little Red Fl} ins Fo\es (Pteropus scapulmus) hanging from trees at Grafton, ew outh Wale'>. Photo. Auth'lr FLYING FOXES
8y 1. E. NELSON
Department of Zoolo~y. Uni\iCr\lly of Quecn,land f LYI G foxc (or fruit bats. as they are fruit. They are eo mopolita n. found in ~omet im es called) are grouped into the both the Old and the ew World. ub-order Megachiroptera of the order In Au tralia there are 10 known species Chiroptera : bat compri e the other sub order. the Microchiroptera. of Megachiroptera. varying in i?e from the sma ll olita ry bios om bats, onl y 2 in . to "Chiroptera ·• mean "hand-winged". 3 in. long and weighing t 07 .. to the large whi ch de cribes accurately the wings of bat colonial fl ying foxes. which are about 10 in. a nd nying foxe ' for the wing a re a double to 12 in . long a nd weigh about 2 lb. fold of skin tretchcd between the body, the a rm and the greatly elongated finger Huge Camps bones. The smaller Megachiroptera a re ra rely een, and little is known of their habit . T he Mcgachiroptcra a re blossom, nectar and fruit eaters, a nd are found from Africa The fo ur large colonial specie of fl ying fox, thro ugh Egypt. India, the Malay Penin of the genu Pteropus. are found in coastal Queen land in la rge ''camps". some of sula . the island of the Ea t lndies and New G ui nea to Au tra li a. wh ich have been occupied easonally for 80 years. In orthern Queensland these The Microchiro ptera are mainly insect camps are very large. Ratcliffe has e ti eaters. although some pccies feed on mated that in ome of them there were bl ood. fi h. small bird . smaller bat , and a quarter of a million fl ying foxe . rn
Page 12 Australian mural HistOr) these camps, wh ich may be found in rain Normall y each species forms its own forests, tea-tree swamps, or mangroves, the camp, but occasiona lly two or three species flying foxes spend the day sleeping, scratch may be fo und in the one camp. In one ing and fighting. such camp, in the southern part of its range, The fo ur la rge colonial species differ in a small group of 200 Pteropus gouldi were their geographical distribution and in their found in a camp of Pteropus poliocephalus habits:- containing 8,000 to 10,000 individuals. • Pteropus poliocephalus, the Grey The Search For Food headed Fox, is found in the coastal areas from Rockhampton (Queensland) to nor At dusk, the flying foxes leave their camps thern Victoria. in long columns to search for food . As the column moves over the countryside, the fl y • Pteropus gouldi, the Black Fox, is ing foxes spread o ut from the column and found in the coastal areas from Broome fl y to fl owering blossoms, which form the (Western Austra li a), through the Northern main constituent of their diet. They prefer Territory, Cape York and New Guinea, to the blossoms and nectar of eucalyptus, tea just south of the Queensla nd-New South trees, apple gums, and bottle brushes, and Wales border. the fru its of rain-forest trees such as figs • Pteropus conspici/latus. the Spec and quondongs. tacled Fox, is found in New Guinea and in A small percentage of fl ying foxes prefer Cape York Pen insula as far south as Card cultivated fruit, and the preferred fruit well. varies with the species. Pteropus polioce • Pteropus scapulatus, the Little Red phalus, for instance, does not favour citrus Fox or Honey Fox, is fo und fro m Roe fruits or mangoes, whereas Pteropus gouldi burne (W .A.) through the Northern Terri consid ers both a great delicacy. tory, Queensland and New South Wales. On their nightly feeding forays, fl ying This species may be found up to 400 miles foxes may move up to 40 miles from the inland. camp. ln the early hours of the morning,
I .. I . T .. \ .. "' ,.. I 4 ' I / I , -- -- ( ( ./ •• __.. /
\'l
" : \. I "~· ' ;-,...... \ •1 "'•I • , •'. r' ' . ' -, J ' - ' ., .; .,. ·' . ·~ - ' .. - I ' ' I '·-·..,......
- / _.. ...
" - ..- r ... "· •. r ".,: I • / "' .. ,. :· - ~ ..... \ ...... -., ' ... - -•, . - . -.-. \ · ~... / ... w ...... · ;·.:.:-...... Grey-headed F lying Foxes (Pteropus poliocephalus) at Murwillumbah, New South Wales.
Pho to.-Author.
Match , 1962 Page 13 they begin to arrive back in the camp in the wave-length of the sounds must also be twos and threes. so tha t by dawn a ll have small , hence the necessity for ultrasonic returned. sounds of sho rt wave-length. In all species except Pteropus scapulatus, No Megachiroptera produces ultrasonic the single young a re bo rn about October : sounds. but three species of the genus in Pteropus scapulatus, the young are bo rn Rouseltus use a udible sounds to locate ob in April. T he birth occurs while the female stacles. As these o bstacle are the walls of is hanging from a branch, a nd, as soon as caves and tombs. there is no necessity for the young emerges. the female presse the a n ultrasonic sound. In co mplete darknes yuung against her body to prevent it fro m Rousettus echo-locates. but when there is fa ll ing unti l it has attached itself. The claws sufficient light it avoids obstacles by using of the young have sharply-curved tips, and its eyes as do all other fly ing foxes. the teeth curve towards the rear of the T he eye of a fl ying fox is unique in that mouth. By biting into the teat. and by hook the wall has been pushed up into 20.000 ing the claws into the fur. the young a rc able to 30,000 conical projections, so tha t the to cling to the fe ma le while she fli es about visual elements li e o n the sides of the the camp. conical projections like "trees o n a The young a re born with their eyes open. mountain". The result of this is that and w ith no fur on the ventral surface. o bject at various distances fro m the eye They a re carried everywhere by the female arc a ll in focus at the same time. but at fo r the fi rst mo nth or so of their life. even varying levels in the cones. During the day. to the feed ing grounds. When they a rc the si1e of th e pupil is reduced to a pin about a month old the fur has grown on head. while at night the pupil widens to the ventral surface. and the young are left allow a la rger amount of light to enter the in the camp at night while the mother fli es eye. The eye of a fl ying fox is well adapted out fo r food. At this age the young a re fo r vision in twilight, a nd in fli ght, and unable to fl y. T he young a re fed by the owing to changes in pupil-size the fl ying mother when she returns in the mo rning. fox is able to see very well during the day. and each fe male finds its own young-ap The Microchiroptera. on account of thei r parently by smell . When the young arc two ma ll eye (which functio ns like a pin-hole mo nths old they can fl y. and at three month camera). have all o bjects in fro nt of the they leave the camps at night to feed . eye in focus at the same time. But, in spite of this. they have very poor vision. for they Flying foxes locate the blossom on which can only see o bjects which subtend J 5 they feed by their sense of smell. Moehres deg rees at the eye. and Kulzer have shown that Rousettus (the tomb bat of Egypt) is able to locate J 00 So the old saying, '·As blind as a bat". milligrams (o r I / 300 of a n o unce) of is true. but fro m the term " bat" we must ba nana extract from a distance of three to exclude the flying foxes. four metres (abo ut IO ft. to 13 ft.). and O ne of the most o utstanding features of is able to distinguish between the synthetic a ll Chiroptera is their ability to hang upside banana essence and the natural banana ex down. T he Chiro ptera a re able to do this tract. because the blood from the wings and from the head is pumped back to the heart and Echo-location against the fo rce of gravity by the autono T he Megachiroptera. unlike the Micro mous beating of the ve ins themselves. Tn chiroptera. do not use ultrasonic sounds the wings. these veins are supplied with (those above the range of human hearing) valves so that the blood wi ll not be forced to echo-locate obstacles. T he M icrochirop back into the arteries with the beating. tera emit. fro m the larynx. pul ses of ultra During their evolution. fl ying foxes have sonic sounds, and they are a ble to locate become highly adapted to a necta r- feeding, obstacles by listening fo r the echoes from nocturnal life. This adaptatio n is no doubt them . As the o bstacles in which the M ic the main reason fo r the success of the rochiroptera are interested a re small in ects. specie .
Page 14 Australian Natural H istory CHIMBU PLUME TRADERS
By RALPH BU LMEH
Departmenl of Anthropology. U ni ve r~ it y of Auckland. Nt\\ Lt:aland
SINCE the 1920's it has been illegal for petus fo r outside trade, as is shown by the Euro peans to trade in bird o f para enthusiasm with which Chimbu sign up fo r dise plumes. Befo re that tho usands were paid labo ur away fro m ho me. sent each year fro m New Guinea to the mil liners o f Eu rope. T o day the greatest traders in birds of paradise are the Chimbu, named aft er the sma ll highland valley which is their traditio nal ho me. a nd the related peoples o f the Wahgi Va lley. lt is hard to find any part o f the recently contro lled interio r o f Austra lian New Guinea whe re C himbu do no t penetrate. demo nstra ting in an unusua l way the truth of the o ld adage that trade fo ll ows the fl ag.
There are good reasons why it is the C himbu who dominate this trade. Plumes were. a nd still are, extremely important in their traditio nal way of life. not o nl y, as in most parts of New Guinea. as ceremo nial o rnaments, but also as objects o f value used in fo rmal exchanges and in pa rticula r in bridcwealth gifts at any marriage. T wo o r three d ozen skins may be in cluded in a single bridewealth.
The 60,000 Chimbu a re among the most d ensely settl ed peopl e in the island. Dr. Brown a nd Dr. Brookfield, of the Australian Natio nal University. who have recently made a detailed study of their social o rganisatio n a nd system of land-use, report that some Chimbu communities a re li vi ng at densities of u p to 600 per square mile. This means that bo th natura l and cultivated timber are spa rse in their do main, and birds of para dise, which require tall tees a nd thickets, are A d ancer at C hristmas cc!ebrations o n the correspondingly scarce. Inc reasing pressure no rthern ;lo pes of Mt. Hagen wears bird of of populatio n, the cessatio n of warfare paradise plumes collected in the Papuan low- which in past times occupied the men, a nd la nds. more than 300 miles away. the scarcity of local employment as a source o f cash income, have all increased the im- Photo.- Author.
March , 1962 Page 15 The Le:,scr Bird of Para di ~e ( Paradi.1ea minor). Photo.- Capt. rrank l l urlcy.
The Chim bu traded plumes from their which is particularly rich in the Y ellow Bird immediate neighbours long before J 933. of Pa radise; a nd at T ari in th e Southern when E uropeans fi rst met them . According Highla nds, where they were acquiring. in to Father Nilles, a n anthropologicall y-trained pa rticula r, the fast-disappearing Blue Bird missionary who has lived for many years of Pa radise which abounds the re in the tracts among them, they made expeditions to the of tall timber between the garden lands. north slopes of the Bisma rck Mo untains and into the Upper Jimi Vall ey, to barter a wide Ma ny Chimbu reach these a nd simila r range of commodities. We may assume that localities by getting legitimate employment these included fea thers. T hus the Chimbu there as policemen. storekeepers. medical have a tradition of externa l trade by barter, ord erlies, forestry workers, or servants to as well as the highly develo ped systems of Europeans, and then trade in feathers on the gift-exchange between kinsfolk and in-laws side. O thers set out on free-l ance trading present among all New G uinea peoples, expeditions, consisting generally of half a whi ch accounted for most of the fl ow dozen or so men and boys. The wide dis of good and services in pre-E uro tribution of Chimbu employees on E uro pean times. What is striking now pean stations throughout the interior assures is the geographical range to which them of hospitality a nd protection. In some they operate. In my own travels in pa rts plume trade is combined with other New G uinea in 1955-56 and 1959-60 enterprises. such as gold-pa nning or casual I met or heard reports of them on the work fo r E uropeans. Ma inly they get from north slopes of Mount Hagen seeking the place to place by walking, but some buy long-tailed Sickle-bill, Stepha nie's and Rib fli ghts in a ircraft to localities like Ta ri , which bontail Birds of Pa radise of the mo untain a re diffic ul t to reach by la nd. forest : in the Sa u Valley, fu rthe r to the They offer both money and goods for north. purchasing the Blue (R udolph's) a nd feathers. In 1955 traders in the Baiyer a nd Y ellow (Lesser) Birds of Pa radise of the Sa u Va lleys were offering up to 1Os. or 12 s. northern mid-mountain a nd lowland fo rest · for a ski n of Stephanie's Bird of Paradise. in the Schrader Mountains, seeking t h ~ a nd up to 15s. for the Lesser Bird of Pa ra ena mel-plumed Duke of Saxony and any di se. though they apparently acquired ma ny thing else they could gel; in the Jimi Valley, for less than these sums.
Page 16 Australian Narura/ H isto ry Most frequently their aim is to purchase tresses of two birds had cost £10. I took fe:1 thers. but sometimes they also offer them thi s to be salesman's hyperbole. fo r I fo und fo r sale. T wo parties came thro ugh Yara it ha rd to believe that a group of indenlur<:d manda, the Kyaka Enga settlement on the labourers, earning, at that time. only 25s. no rth slopes of Mr. H agen, where T was each mo nth. could raise over £ I 00 to buy working in the last fo ur mo nths of 1959. feathers. On the o ther hand , Dr. Murray Both bro ught plumes of the G reater Bird of G roves has told me that Gabadi shooters in Paradise with them. This creature is very the Galley Reach area near Po rt Mo resby ra re on the no rth slopes of the dividing sometimes obtain as much as £5 for a single range, and is mo re prized by the K yaka bird fro m Chimbu labourers o n the rubber tha n a ny other species except the H ar pyop estates. sis eagle. They timed their visits well. si nce Ln any case, the Chimbu were not now the local people were preparing both for asking money for their wares. They said the fo ur-day Christmas dancing and fo r the th ~y wanted pigs, o r, alternatively, skins traditi.:mal cycle of ceremonial excha nge of the lo ng-tailed birds of the mountain festi vals known as the Moka o r T e, which forest. One p ig they had already accepted occurs every fo ur years o r so. and there was fo r a plume was quite a small one, less than great dema nd fvr o rnaments for both these 30 lb. in weight and not worth mo re than occasio ns. Local men said . cynicall y, that 30s. by local standards. When I asked whv once the festivals were over the Chimbu they were prep:ued to accept such a small would be back to buy-up the plumes again return for an object which had cost them at cut-rate pri ces. so much. they said that pigs were very sho rt Each party visiting Y a ra ma nda consisted in Chimbu a nd much mo re valuable than of six men, or men and boys. The first here. and that in any case they came o n ~ro up had 14 skins fo r sale. a nd the seco nd these expediti o ns mo re for the adventure 22, all in excellent condition. Altho ugh and the interest than for material profit. the red-plumed Greater Bird of Paradise occurs ir1 the Wa hgi and Chimbu Vall eys. I Traders' Cool Reception was very surprised that surplus skins were T he reception the traders get is vari able. available from these areas. However. ln 1955 the Yararnanda people received examination led me to suspect that they them most hospitably. but the 1959 parties came from somewhere else. The highland na\.i a cooler reception . When the first va ri ety of this species generally has deep arrived. the assistant headman of the local red, a lmost tawny. display tresses: these clan, a Christian convert, addressed the trade plumes were brighter a nd glossier. assembled crowd, using the local language When I asked where they came from. I wao; which the visito rs could not understand, and told Po rt Moresby. One o r two members of exho rted them no t to give their pigs o r hard each trading party, together with kinsmen earned mo ney for mere feathers. The head not then present, had been indentured man, a pagan, did no t criticise the trade as la bo urers in the Papuan lowlands and had such, but nevertheless made a speech, which bought the feathers fro m the local Pa pua ns he had translated to the traders, to the effect who legally owned shot-guns and illegally that it was tradition31 among his people to used them to kill birds of paradise. One offer food freely to visiting strangers; how very striking o ra nge-tressed plume, w ith ever, he said, some youths fro m Yarama nda throat a nd breast feathers which also dif had recently walked thro ugh Chimbu terri fered fro m the rest of the collection, was tory while travelling in search of work, a nd said to come fro m " Kasem near M adang had had to pay 1 s. fo r a meal of a few and Lae" (i.e., from somewhere in the sweet potatoes, and therefo re the Chimbu no rthern coastal belt) where, again, it had themselves sho uld expect to pay fo r food been purchased by an indentured labourer. that they were given. The assistant head ma n meanwhile sent a youth to fetch a Costly Skins bunch of cooking bananas. The Chimbu T he Chimbu said that they had paid up leade r ostentatio usly gave him 9d. for it. to £5 fo r each skin, a nd that o ne pa rticularl y The general o pinion at Y aramanda was that magnificent o rna ment made of the display the Chimbu were bad, dishonest people, but
March. 1962 Page 17 ;.., ---' -'""
Abo,·c: Chimbu arrive at Yaramanda settle- ment with plume•. wrapped in nat parcels of pandanu\ leave' and brown paper. for sale or barter. Right : They di ~ play 14 red plume' of the Greater Bird of Para- disc.
Photo,. Author.
Pa{?e 18 Australian Natural H i~tory
... their sophisticated dress and appea rance Chimbu are now pro bably the most widely were admired-all wore garments of Euro travelled, confident and sophisticated people pean cloth. were clean- haven and had their in the highlands. etting fashions in dress and ha ir trimmed hort. I hea rd of no ea e in trade and private enterprise which other thi a rea of trouble eau cd by Chimbu visits. groups quite clearly imitate. They are bound but I have been told of bloody fights and to become increasingly important as local litigation in some other place , sta rted by and central government pass into native men who alleged that the visito rs had hands. It is unfortunate tha t their enterprise cheated them. i nece sarily illegal and inevitably lead Although people from the home leads a ll them, sooner or later. into conflict with a round flocked to Yara manda meeting European authority. ground to see the plumes, a nd clearly coveted them, only one prospective pur As to whether this trade is eliminati ng chaser was found. This was a brash youth the birds of paradise. absence of systematic who had worked for European a nd acquired tudy mean that on thi point one can more per ona l wealth than most. He an only guess. My gue s is that they are stimu nounced that he would fetch a pig and give lating hunting to a dangerous extent in areas where particula r species a re ba rely hanging it for a plume ; but he did not return until on. but that in the long run they are a much a ft er nightfa ll. when the Chimbu had moved on. He said the p ig had "gone bu h" and less important agency of extermination than he could not find it. but on questioning ad the forest-clearing native gardener and the European-employed pit-saw team. mitted that he had had a furious a rgument with his parents who had upbra ided him for wa nting to exchange a pig which he ought to be saving up for u e in bridewealth. Unlike the Chimbu. the Kyaka do not use plume in bridewealth or other ceremonial excha nge, SCOMUROIO F IS HES and only value them as ornaments. - The Museum\ C urator of F i~ h e\ , Mr. G. P. Whitley. attended a symposium at Mandapam When Christma came. however. it wa1. Camp. South Ind ia. in January. to discuss Scom clear that men in other Kyaka settlements broid fi shes. particularly tho e of Australia and had succumbed to the temptation whi ch ew Zea land. The Scombroid fishes are the Yaramanda had resisted. for several of the mac J..ereb. tu nas. J..ingfishe and swordfishes, all glossy o range-tinted plume were well in good food-fis h e~ which range o ver great a rea~ evidence. of ~ea . Their biology i therefore of internationa l and economic importa nce.
Law Broken AllORIG INAL CULTURE The C'himbu break the law by trading in 1\ l r. f . D. McCarthy. Curator of Anthropology plume o utside their own administrati ve sub a1 the Museum. ha\ been elected a member of di trict. and also by transferring li ve tock the Interim Council of the Au ~t ra li a n Institute of A bori ~i nal 'tudie\. recently e~ t a bli s h ed by the (i.e .. pigs obtained by barter) from one sub Commonwealth Government to promote re earch di trict to a nother without a permit from the worJ.. o n th ~ now f a\t-d i ~ appea rin g cultures of the agricultural a uthorities. who a rc neces<>a ril y A ho ri g in e~. vigilant to prevent e pidemic di sca e. uro pean administrator . like local Papuans. gi ve S RVEY OF BARK LICE the Chimbu a mixed reception. Ma ny. especially those on remote patrol stations. l he M useum\ C urator of Insects. Mr. C. are very uspicious of them and of th..: Smithers. recent!} spent two weeks collecting in trouble their activitie may sometimes cause. the coastal area ~ of New South Wales between and do their best to shift them out of their Gra fton and S'Vdncy. The obiect of this field '-'OrJ.. was to collect the Psocoptera {or bark areas. Others find them useful in places lice. a little-studied order of insects in Austra where even semi- ophisticatcd and semi lia) . as part of a surve} of the c insects in the skilled labour is at a premium. and turn a State. Future field work is planned to cover blind eye to their private enterprises. The other parts of ew South Wales.
March . 1962 Page 19 BOOK REVIEW
T ilt O t'AI BooK. by 1- ra ni-. Leechm an: Ure Sm ith. familiar with o u r national !!C mstone. T he booJ.. 1961: pp. 255: pi.. 9 colour. 10 b. and " · Price. can be recommended particularly to overseas £2 5 -. v i ~itors. O n the debit \id e. it i_~ u nfor tunate . th~ t t h_e A\ thi\ re\ iewer wrote in the foreword to thi \ author gives the impreSSIO!l that op~hz.:lllon " booJ.. a ft er reading the manuscript version s~me taJ..ing place :11 the pre~en t lime by \taung .that _an )Car~ ago, it i!> a notewo rthy boo J.. because ll IS o p1liz.ed ~J..ele t on of a cat w~ts found at Lt gh_t~m g the fir'! time that <,uch a complete account o f the Ridge. He apparently m1<,read the o n gmal ~ubj ec t has been wril!cn. lt i full of the moM account. which stated that the object was the useful info rmation on all opal fields. both Aus o paliz.ed sJ..eleton o f a reptile as big as a cat. 1t tralia n and fo reign, a nd it give\ the latest and wa<, u ndoubtedly a Cretaceou\ ple,iosaur which mo t correct th eor i e~ on the cau~e o f the p lay o f become e>.ti nct about I 00 million years ago. A lso. colour in o pal. Tho'>e who wish to go prospect in a laudable al!em pt to discount the various ing for opa l will find much o f interest o n mining ~ u pe r s titi o n s about opal bringing bad luck. the method\. A \cries o f usefu l hinh a re given o n au t ~o r gozs to:> far in the o ther direction a nd how to grind a nd po li <, h the precious ~ t o n e. auemots to ho-w th at opals are bringers of good luck by quotinl! the p ~<,e nomena l number of lo ttery The fact that o m uch info rmatio n i> avail able prize~ won by the weii -J..nown Sydney curie dealer between the two cover of one booJ.. wi ll be appre wl,o handled opals as a sideline. The more like!) ciated hv tho-,e alread y int e r e~ t ed in the ~ u b j ect. exp'anation of hi ~ !> ucces i!> that he bou!lht a lt should aho arou\e the intere\t of tho-.e not yet phenomenal number o f lollery tickets.-R.O.C.
Notes and News
L :\11 0 S EAIH HWOHMS order in S\dne). 1 he \\Orm<, \\ere fair!) large. \ar)ing from about 9 in. to 12 tn. in lcnl!th and 1\1 r. I . A. Mc Donald. of the Biolog) Depart being about four-tenth '> of an inch in diameter. ment of Armidalc I eacher\· College. "rote to "I he) "ere a darJ... p urple-mauve above. with the the Au'ltralian M u<,eum \Ome months ago en IO\\ er surfa~~ li l!hter in colour. and belonged to quiring abol.!t luminous earth" orms. H e said: the famil) 1ega colecidae. " During a recent trip in nort h-"e tern e'' Most recent researches '>late that certain cells South Wale'>. I sa" for the fir'>! time a large noatinl! in the coelomic Ouid in the ca,itie of earth,, orm sho'' ing a mo 1 marl..ed luminescence. the bo-d) of the \\Orms contain granule and that I found thi-, \pec-ie\ in a '> mall creek-bank. near tfJc c arc re~pon'>ible for the production of the the \acint)re River. bet"een Yetwan and Bo,l! light "hich one \Hitcr liJ..en'> to the giO\\ pro ~abi l l:.!. Th\! di!>CO\er) ''a entireh accidental. as duced b) .. a bar of iron heated to \\hitc heat .. . I wa' u>ing them and a some"hat imil ar pe cie!> fa r fi sh bait··. f he fluid. \\ ith its light-producing cells. i'> often l"mil!ed as a re\nonse to timulation to the \\Orm urr.erou> record!> o f lumino>it) in earth"orm!> of quite a minor nature. such as handlinj!. or the \\ere fou nd in booJ.. s and re>earch papers. 1t d il!l!i n~ - up of the soil in "hich they live. T he seems to occur in quite a \ariet) of genera. in colrl. luminescent light is produced b) the 0\.1- c lud in~ tho>c in the f amil~ M egascolecidae. to d ntion of some light-producinj!. chemical. but the " hich man) nati' ..: Au,tralian \\Orms be l on~. presence of lucifcrin and lucifera'>e (n:~po n s i b l e Howe,cr. this is the fi rst act ual repo rt o f luml fo r light- production in mall\ other animal groupq nosit) in a., Au>tralian species. accord ing to the has ~et to be pro,ed in earthworms. E.C.P. record'> and cataloj!.ue in the Au tralian Mu eum . M r. Mc Donald -wa~ therefore asked to coll_ect a nd forward some o f these \\Orms for inclusiOn VISITOH TO M USE M in the M u cum "s re\earch collection. The Director of the South A frican Association I n eptem ber. some do7cn or o worms taken for M arine Biolo)!ical Re<,earch. Durban (Dr. at Goondi" indi in northern 1 ew South Wa les Cavid H. Da,ies). visited the Australian M u eum were sent b\ Mr. Mc Dona ld and \\ere alive wh en in September. He is the author of a number o f received. but their tran>po rta tio n by post had papers on sha rJ.. s and shark attacks. a nd examined taken >om e time and t h e~ \\Ould not lumine ce to pecimcn and records in the Museum.
A ustralian Natural History Two tonefish : Synanceja trachynis (left ). with the more a nterior of its dorsal spine erected, and Synanceja t•ermcosa, with all or most of its dorsal pine erected.
Pho t o~ . -Author .
fish. F urther camo uflage is provided as a STONEFISH result of the production of a milky fluid by the wa rt-like excrescence . This fluid By R. ENDEAN forms a coating of slime over the fish and Department of Zoology. UniverMtY o f Queen,Jand to this coating algae. detritu and sma ll sedenta ry anima ls uch as hydroids and Q F the ma ny kinds of venomou ma rine polyzoans adhere. Should pa rt of this coat a nimals found in tro pical Australian ing be removed, the true colours of the fi sh waters, few have a more sinister reputation can be seen. Even then. irregula r blotche than the tonefi sh. Evidently North Queens of ru t-red, brown and white provide a good land A boriginal were well aware of its example of a disruptive colour pattern venomous nature. for they u ed beeswax whi ch tends to break U!J th e outline of the model of the fi sh a nd mimed the effects fis h. of a sting during their initiation ceremoni es. H owever. there arc few a uthentic records Several structura l features enable the two of stonefi h tinging in Au tra li an waters, Queensla nd specie to be d i ting ui shed although there is reason to suspect that readily. In each. the eyes arc carried on many cases have. for one reason ·J r an other. not been reported. Be th is as it bony bo ses. In S. rrachynis these bosses may, stonefi sh well deserve their evil reputa are conjoin t a nd p ro ject well above the tion fo r they have been responsi ble for eye . In S. verrucosa the bosses are well severe injurie a nd occasiona l deaths in separated and do not project above the many parts of the tropical Indian and eye . T hi specie . too, has a remarkable West P acific Oceans. mecha nism for covering its white-encircled eye . which a rc perha p the only fl aw in T wo species occur in Queensla nd . O ne. its camouflage. Below each eye there is Synanceja verrucosa. has been found in a "drawbridge" of ti s ue. When this is Ba rrier Reef waters, while the other, S. raised it meets a fl ap of skin which is trachynis, appear to be confined to main lowered over the eye a nd in thi way the land water from Moreton Bay northward . eye is completely hidden. T he wart-like Both pecie have a grotesque a ppeara nce. bumps on the skin of S. trachynis are la rger Bony eminences, deep ho llows and ne hy a nd more numerous a nd there are deeper outgrowths occur in the head region. and hollows in the head region than is the case wart-like bumps stud the trunk a nd extend in S. verrucosa. Also, the cavity of the onto the large fan-like pectoral (shoulder) mouth has a yellow green lining in S. fin . T he up-turned mouth is partially hid trachynis. while the whitish lining of the den by a fringe of serrated skin. All these mo uth cavity of S. verrucosa is fl ecked wi th fea tures tend to di srupt the contours of the the red of small blood vessels.
M arch, 1962 Page 2 1 which the fi sh ettle . Sand is then scooped up to cover the tail and part of the trunk. T he fish then lies motionless, except for the scarcely detectable movements of its gill covers, and it will not move irrespective of the amount of disturbance created in its immediate vicinity. Its resemblance to a partially embedded weed-covered stone is complete, and it represents one of the best illustrations of camoufl age to be found in the animal kingdom. The trained o bserver Left : The eye (pupil arrowed) of the stonefish can detect the fish if a glimpse is obtained Synanceja verrucosa . Right: T he same eye covered from below by a raised "drawbridge'' of the yellow-green lining of the cavity of of tissue and from above by a flap of skin- a the mo uth fra med in the crescentic slit of form of camouflage. the partially open mouth, but otherwise there Photo ... .- Author. is no indication of the presence of the fi sh.
T he habitat and behaviour of stonefish Voracious Appetites ensure that their camouflage is used to full Thus concealed, it waits for its prey advantage. Both specie are sluggish a nd usua lly sma ll fi sh. shrimps and other crus appear to spend the greater part of their tacea ns-to swim within reach of its up time living on the substratum in shallow turned mouth. T hen there is a surprisi ngly water. R ecent observations indicate that swift upward leap, and the prey is engulfed. S. verrucosa occurs ch iefly amongst weed Despite their norma lly voraciou appetites. covered coral rubble a nd/ or dead clam shells where there is an admixture of coral it is usually difficult to entice stonefish kept sa nd. S. trachynis lies amidst weed-covered in small aq uaria to feed. Some fi sh have rocky rubble where there is a substratum refused to eat for up to three months without of muddy sand . Thi species has been apparent loss of condition. Average-sized observed to settle in its hiding place. adult specimens are about 11 in . in length , First, the la rge pectoral fins are used to but they a re reported to attain a length of scoop up sand and a hollow is formed into about 2 ft.
Photo of a stonefish (Sy nanceja trachy 11is ) ta ken through 2 in . of water in its natural habi tat. The fi sh is pa rtiall y embedded in muddy and and onl y its weed covered upper surface is exposed. T he head (to the left) and tip of tail a re ind icated. ote how the fi sh blends perfectly with its weed-covered surroundings. The f{o Page 22 A u March. 1962 A Baler Shell laying its egg-mass. consisting of hundreds of separate capsule . each containing an egg that will hatch into a small, crawl ing ·· ~nail." The a nimal takes everal months to complete the laying, by which time the fir st laid capsule~ are almost ready to hatch. This photo was taken o n the Great Barrier Reef by G. C. Clutton. BALER SHELLS By DONALD F. 1cMICHAEL AMONG the many la rge and vividly books a nd referred to as the " Crown of coloured shells which are found in the Ethiopia" . Another species well known to warm tropical waters along the northern the early conchologi t differed in that the Australian coa t, none a re more pectacular spire lacked the circlet of pines completely. than the gia nt volute known a Melon or [n this species the body whorl grows up Baler Shells. These monsters of the mollus over the spire in such a ma nner as to pro can world reach over 18 in. in length and duce a very smoothly rounded shell. o it as much a 12 in. in diameter. Even a n became known a the Melon Shell. average large specimen would be I 0 in. or 12 in. in length. They are not the bigge t The "Father of Zoology", Linnaeus, of the gastropods, however. for the Fat e named the first of the e pecies Voluta Trumpet Shell of northern Au tra lia attain aethiopica and the second Voluta melo. a length of over 2 ft. Later on the e hell were eparated from Vo!uta and placed in the genus M elo Balers have probably been known to (though many writers have u ed the genus science from the ea rliest times, becau e name Cymbium for them, which is these shells were brought by traders from incorrect) . the Orient to the Mediterra nea n region. where they were known under the name Balers Smother Bivalves "Crown of Ethiopia'', no doubt because of the many small spines which circle the to p Baler belong to the fa mily Volutidae, of the main body who rl li ke pike on a and li ke the other volutes they a re carni coronet. Probably these fir t-known Baler vores. feeding on shellfi h, mostly bivalves came from reefs around the Philippi nes or which they come acros while ploughing Malaya, as the specie which lives in that along through the sand . T hey enfold the area is the one illu trated in all the early bivalve (which may be quite large pecies Par:e 24 Australian Natural History Some Baler Shell .-Top left: Melo umbilicnrus ( 12 in. long). Top right: An unnamed species from the Coral Sea ( 10 in. long) . Bottom left : M e/o mi/1o11is ( 10 in.). Bottom centre: An unnamed species (8 in.) from Moreton Bay. Queens!and. Bottom right: M elo amphora, the Common Baler. a 9 in. specimen. Centre: Three growth stages of the Common 13aler. from the newly-hatched shell to a length of 4 in. PholO.· llo"ard llughes. M arch, 1962 Page 25 such as the H or e Shoe Clam, Hippopus) to develop until a few week later. The in their large foot. which mothers the young hells feed actively on mall gastro bi valve and causes it to relax its adductor pod a nd grow very lowly. After eight mu cle. so that the shell valves open. The month ' growth in their natural envi ron Baler then in ert its proboscis-a long, ment. young pecimens of M elo umbilicata tubular. nout-like organ containing its at Heron J land, Queensland. had reached horny tongue o r radula-into the fold of it a length of only 11 in. lt would seem that foot and proceed to tear away the fl e h of a fully-grown Baler 18 in. or more in length its victim until it has entirely consumed the must be very old indeed . oft part . The Ba ler then proceeds on its way, leaving the empty hell behind. There may be a difference in the size of Balers wi ll a lso devour any convenient the shell in ma le and fe male individua ls. It has been uggested that the mall hells gastro pods. such as cowries, and one commonl y found a re males, while the very collector has found this to be an easy large. swollen hell are females. An method by which he can have his shells observer with access to a popul ation of cleaned : he simply put them into a cage with a Baler a nd next morning coll ects the Balers could check this easily. as the ma les empty hcll s! Young Balers have also been arc at once identifiable by the long. finger like penis which protrudes from the side of observed to cat their younger brother soon after hatching. the animal. just behind the head. Baler shell s were used by the native There has been much confusion in the people of northern Austra li a a water past over the correct names for the variou carrier and. of cour e, a utensils for baling ki nds of Baler Shells. which eem to vary out thei r canoes, hence their common na me. considerably in colour. ize a nd the degree They were a lso used by the Aborigine for of development of the pine . This variation fa hi oning ornaments a nd magic device , is due to their method of reproduction. and the shell were traded over vast which doe not a llow for a drifting larval dista nces. Shell whi ch must have origina ted stage during development. A s a result. in northern Australia have been found in Balers tend to form colonies which breed southern New South Wales, and may well within themselves, with the result that each have ta ken centuries of hand-to-hand colony tends to become geneticall y distinc trading to travel that far. ti ve. This means tha t from any one locality there is a general uniformity of shell type. Large Egg-mass while from a neighbo uring locality, perhaps only a fe w miles away, quite a different One of the mo t interesting feature of style of shell may be found. Despite this. it the Baler Shell is their characteristic egg ha been po sible to work out the variou ma . Thi i a very la rge, horny structure. specie fo und in Australia by studying a containing many individual capsules linked sufficient number of shell from every together. Each capsule is about 1 in. in pos ible ource and the na me of the diameter. a nd the whole mass may reach a vario u pecie can be decided fa irly length of 17 in. or more and a diameter of accurately. a bo ut 6 in . Jt takes many weeks for the Baler to lay this huge egg-mass. during The most distinctive of the Au tralian which time the female crawls about with it species i the Southern Baler (M e/o attached to her body. The young ta ke miltonis). which seems to have been able to several months to complete development. withsta nd the cold er temperatures of the but the earli est-laid cap ules a re ready fo r southern oceans and which li ves today in hatching a short while after the egg-mass the G reat Au tra lian Bight and around into has been comp leted. south Western Australia as far as Shark' Bay. Its bold colour pa ttern of cream to T he young nai l which emerges from each white roughl y-triangula r patches on a capsule is about ~ in. long, consisting of a reddish-brown background. combined with bulbo u protoconch and a portion of the its slender form a nd crown of many small first whorl. with trace of colour patte rn 5. pines. make it easily recognised. Another already apparent. The spines do not begin di tincti ve species is that mentioned Australia" atura/ Histor.\ previously, M efo umbilicatus, which inhabits shows a great deal of va riation in its colour coastal Queensla nd a nd occurs from time pattern, which is generally of zig-zag lines to time on coral reefs as far north as and flames of reddish-brown on a cream to Torres Strait. It has a characteristic ora nge ground colour. The shape varies a immersed spire, as a result of the growing lot. Il change , as the shell grows, from a of the body whorl up above the level of the fairly slim young shell with well-developed, protoconch. The spines are well developed spaced-out pines, through an intermediate and slope decidedly inwards so as to partly stage in which the spines, having reached a cover the spire, and consequently the proto maximum length, suddenl y cease to develop, conch is set at the bottom of a deep cavity to the old and swollen stage in which the in adult shells: this feature gives the pecies ravages of time have obscured the colour its scientific name. pattern and practically obliterated the spines except for the broken stumps on the early Unnamed Forms whorl s. A variety of other names have been A recen tl y-di scovered form from Moreton applied to populations falling within this Bay and south Queensland appears to be as series, but it is doubtful whether any of yet unnamed. lt is a rather small species them a re worthy of recognition, even as ub with a colour pattern of small. light species. coloured tria ngles on an orange-brown shell , There may be one or two more species of and when young it has a most distinctive Baler which occur rarely in Australian protoconch wh ich project up high above waters, but up to the present time we have the crown of short spines. The spines slope not sufficient specimens to be certain in a little, but not as much as in M efo whether they are really di tinct. or just umbificatus: the adult shell , which does not slightly aberrant examples of the common seem to exceed about 9 in . in length , has forms. The accompanying photographs the protoconch a little ob cured by the illustrate the species which have been spines of the body whorl. described and should assist in the identifica Another form wh ich appears to be name tion of most Australi an Baler Shells. less is found in the waters of the northern part of the Coral Sea, o n reefs about New Guinea and the Bisma rck and Solomon ABORIGINAL ART RECORDED Islands. This has been called Melo A Museum party comprisi ng Messrs. F. D . McCarthy. Curator of Anthropology; H . Hughcs, aethiopicus, but it differs from the typical photographer; J. Beeman and D. Rae, artist , Indo-Malayan species in growing to a much has returned from western New South Wales, la rger size (about 12 in . in length) with a where 31 caves of Aboriginal paintings were re crown of a few short, spaced spines which corded in scale diagrams and photographs. cease developing when the shell is half I n the rock shelters studied are preserved several thousand colourful figures- in red, white, grown. It has a greenish periostracum, with yellow and black, principally of men and women the external colouration a purplish-brown, dancing. fighting, hunting emus and kangaroos, a nd the inner part of the body whorl is performing rituals and hunting-magic rites. With usually marked with two broad, light-brown them are stencils of human hands. feet and weapons, and an important series of linear de bands. Both these species are illustrated in signs which link the paintings with the carved the accompanying photographs. trees of this State. In the various books on shells, the Two cave floors were excavated to establish common Baler of A ustralian waters will be cultural assoc1atwns and the antiqui ty of the paintings. Colour fi lm of the paintings and found referred to under a variety of names, excavations were made. including Cymbium flammeum, M efo dia The proiect was financed by the uffield Foun dema and M elo amphora. All three of these dation of Australia. names a re based on the same figures in the Detailed studies of extensive local series of old shell books, and these figures all rock a rt have been carried out elsewhere by M r. illustrate the common spined Baler, with McCarthy to further the understanding of Abo irregular brown markings, which ranges riginal art as a whole, to ascertain the relative importance of local and diffused motifs. the right around the northern coast of Australia. changes in the art during prehi toric times, and Its correct name is the oldest of the three the relationships between various kinds of Abo mentioned, M elo amphora. This species riginal art. March, 1962 Page 27 BOOK REVIEW PROB LEM S IN TH E ZOOGEOG RA I' HY OF PACIFIC AND fa una of the is la nd, which. surely. cannot ANTARCTIC I NSECTS. by J. Linsley Gressitt. with have acquired its special cha racteristics in a ppendices by T. C. M aa , S. akata, I. M. Macker ras a nd L. W . Qua le . Pac ific I nsects the short peri od since the Pleistocene. Mono g ra ph 2 , Ento m o log} D e partm ent. Bernice P. B"shop M use um. H a w:11i. 196 1. Possibly there were at least two separate This is a most useful publication, since it periods of la nd association between A u tra brings together under one cover information lia a nd New Guinea in late Tertia ry times. on insect distribution in the vast a rea of During the earlier one, va rious ma rsupials the Pacific, a nd in no other region a re the a nd plants, such as Nothofagus, which a re zoogeographical problems so varied a nd so associated with a wet a nd possibly a cool climate, may have reached the island . while puzzling. during the later one an intercha nge of tropi T he a uthor suggests that the most pres cal fa una a nd flora took place. Further sing problems in need of investigati on a re more, it was during the second association the sources and histo ries of the faunas of that certain characteristic New G uinea mar isolated oceanic islands; the na ture a nd hi s supials, such as tree kanga roos ( Dendro tory of dispersal ; the nature of the lagus ) a nd cuscuses (Phalanger ) , entered "southern continent" : the relationships and north-east Austra li a. geological histori es of these areas. a nd the relati onships of the Oriental a nd Austra While detailed, a nd informed, accounts lia n regions. of the distribution of two fa milies of Coleop tera, two fa milies of Diptera. a H omopter Some results a re give n of the trapping of ous family a nd the Phasmatodea a re given a ir-borne insects over the Pacific and An by the several authors, the greater part of ta rctica and nearby seas, a nd disclose, as the work consists of an uncritical compila might have been expected , tha t the types tion. As is consequently ir.~ ev it a bl e in the of insects trapped can be correlated wi th circumstances, statements are recorded the prevailing- representation of the insects whi ch are not uni versall y acceptable, but o n the more isolated isla nds. which nevertheless a re not without value since they may resul t in the stimwlati on of Attention is drawn to the problems of constructive criticsm. Among such state the inter-relationships of the faunas of Aus ments a re the quoted opinion of Mackerras tralia a nd New G uinea a nd, in particul ar, to ( page 16) that the Oriental insect fauna the fact that while the vertebrate fauna of was originally weak and was populated by the island has close affinity with that of an earlier Ethiopia n intrusion and a later Australi a the insects of New Guinea a re Palaearctic influx and that the former had for the most part of Asiatic origin . A pro more influence in the South Pacific. While visional explanati on of th is discrepancy is this may be so for Taba nids. it is certainly provided by the suggestion that the long not for several other groups of insects. insul a r history of New Guinea, which ante dated the age of ma mmals, prevented the Another unaccepta ble statement is that influ x of terrestri al higher ma mmals from there are almost no New Zealand elements south-east Asia, whereas insects were a ble on L ord Howe Island. to cross water ba rriers a nd Australia n mam mals had a mple opportunties to gain access As well as problems of dispersal, those to New Guinea d uring the Pleistocene. rela ting to island speciation and ecology a re discussed. While this explanation is sufficient to account for the absence in New G uinea of The work is well illustrated by maps and mammals of A siatic origin, it seems inade photographs. many of the latter being in quate to explain the very distinct vertebrate colour.- J .W .E. Page 28 Australian N atural History THEY' RE GOOD BAIT! By T. S. HAILSTONE D epartment of Zoology, University of Queensland A LONG the eastern Australian coast, J. D. Da na from specimens collected in the angling is a popular pastime, par Lllawarra District of New South Wales. ticul arly during the warmer months of Dana named this animal Trypaea austra the year. If you talk with the a mateur liensis, but in modern terminology it bears fis hermen in the estuaries, eventually the the name Ca/lianassa australiensis a nd is but talk turns to Ma rine Yabbies (Ghost Nip one of the 70-odd world species of Callia pers or Burrowing Shrimps), and you will be nassa. told " they're good bait". However. though Ma rine Yabbies Ji ve in burrows in inter many fishermen know of the yabby's quali tida l, estuarine sandflats and. as far as we ties as bait, few wonder about its way of know, they rarely, if ever, leave their bur life. Because of the large numbers that are rows voluntarily. The entrance of a burrow used annually it might be of inte rest to know is easily recognised, but collection of yab how the yabby li ves. bies from the burrow presents a problem. The a nimal that the fi sherman knows as The fishermen's ingenuity, however, solved the Ma rine Yabby (see the illustration be the problem when they devised three dif low) is a prawn-like crustacean. The re ferent types of collecting equipment or semblance to a prawn is only superficial, "yabby pumps". however, as the yabby has more features in T wo of these a re now sold commercially common with the hermit crabs and crayfi sh. a nd are manually opera ted , while the third The yabby was described first in 1 852 by is motor-driven. Both ma nua l pumps are T he Marine Yabby ( Cal/ianassa r.ustralien sis), seen from the left side: (a) an adult male; f b) adult female (carry ing eggs): (c) juvenile male; (d) juvenile female. Sexual differ- ences are shown in the a nterior two pairs of swimmerets a nd. in adults, by the large cheliped. Drawn by the author March, 1962 Page 29 essentially coring tubes which. when pushed whether the soft body is a result of the bur into the sand and extracted. remove a core rowing habit is debatable. Secondly. the of about 2 ft. in length a nd from 2 in. to sand into which the yabby burrows contains 4 in . in diameter. Either pump is then pa rticulate, organic m atter which is sieved reinserted into the hole so formed and suc from the sa nd gra in s th rough hairs on the tion is applied (with the a id of a plunger mouthoarts. T his o rganic matter is passed in one model or by closing off air outlets into the mouth a nd portion. at least, is and withdrawal of the pump in the other digested . model). As a result of this suction, water. A burrow is excavated by each yabby sand and yabbies are drawn into the hole during its juveni le li fe a nd, as far as we can a nd removed. The motor-driven pump ascertain. this is its perma nent residence, works on the reverse principle, i.e.. water bei ng extended both vertically and into side under pressure is driven deeply into the galleries as the animal grows. Burrowing sand a nd yabbies are fl ooded to the sur is accomplished by the use of the la rge ni p face. The two manual models work best pers (chelioeds) a nd the following two pairs when there i little or no surface water, of legs. The latter limbs a re u ed to scoop whereas the motori sed model works best in the sand forwa rds into a ''basket" fo rmed a few inches of water. between the chelipeds and the preceding Bail collectors work regularly amongst pair of mouth appendages. The sand in this the yabby colonies or yabby beds in the "basket" may be either sifted fo r food or more accessible parts of estuaries. In a carried to the entrance of the burrow, where densely popula ted bed. an hour's pumping it is nushed o ut to the exterior. As the bur may yield over 200 yabbies a nd , with a row is not much wider than the widest part number of collectors working on the one of the va bby's body. the animal is faced with bed over a period. it is not surprising that a problem of "one-way traffic". This prob it may become impoveri shed quite quickly. lem is solved by the excavati on of wider This is only localized depletion, however, cha mbers ("turn-a round. ") at intervals for in less acces ible areas the yabby is along the burrow. particularly where gal relatively free from huma n interference. leries branch from the main shaft. Tn these Luckil y, this a lso acts via the fi shermen, as the animal can reverse d irection by somer when the beds are nearing depletion the saulting. difficulty in coll ection deters bait coll ectors. The walls of the burrow are lined with T he beds are soon re-colonised with yabbies fine particles which are compacted by the (probabl y juveniles) recruited from less constant movements of the anima l a nd accessible areas. possibly also by secreti ons and/ or bacterial T he yabby is known only from the eastern deposits. The burrow of a large specimen coast of Australia (Low Isles in northern may descend to a depth of at least 30 in., Queensland to Port Philli p in Victoria) . and beyond that depth it is difficult to trace Within this range it has disti nct habitat pre because of water seepage. ferences. It is found only in estuaries or From di verse lines of investigation, it the lower reaches of coastal rivers a nd appears that two to three surface openings streams (where it is most a bunda nt on sand correspond to one yabby. In densely banks or gently sloping sandftats composed colonized yabby beds there may be up to of fine-grained sand mixecl with lesser 800 openings per squa re yard of surface, proportions of mud) a nd in the centra l por and under these conditions adjacent bur tion of the intertidal range. Yabbies can rows, no doubt, often interconnect. also be found in other substrata and o utside T he effects of interconnection of burrows this portion of the tidal ra nge. but never can be seen if yabbies are kept in glass a densely as in the above habitat. tubes (of about burrow diameter) filled with The yabby burrows for two reasons. sea water. When two adul t males share Firstly, it is a soft-bodied c rustacean a nd a tube. they fight vigorously. the large cheli the burrow offers protection. much as a dis peds bei ng entwi ned a nd each endeavouring ca rded marine snail's shell is used by a her to break off the cheliped of the other. When mit crab. Whether the a ncestors of yabbies this ha ppens, the "victor" rams the " loser" burrowed because they were oft-bodied or out of the tube with hi own cheliped. If Page 30 Australian Nawral H isrory - two adult females are placed together. pre limina ry fighting commences but is not con tinued . After a time, they separate a nd may thereafter avoid each other. If an adult female o r a juvenile of either sex is placed with a o adult male "sparring" may com mence, but eventually the female o r juvenile is tolerated by the male. All of thi sug gests that within the burro ws territo ria lity may exist a nd that there is some fo rm of exua l recognitio n. Sexua l recognition is pro bably vi a to uch, for the fighting behavio ur is released o r with held when the large chelipeds make co ntact o r when the cheliped of o ne to uches the lower anterior side of the abdomen of the o the r. Jn both positions there are sexually different features (see the first illustratio n) in adult , while in juveniles, tho ugh the a bdo minal sexual appendages differ, the chelipeds a re a like in both exe and proportionally similar to tho e of adult females ( i.e .. rela ti ve to other body measurements). T he idea of exua l recognition lead to the ubject of reproductio n. The gonads of yabbie reach sex ual maturity when the a ni ma ls arc a bo ut 1t -in. lo ng. We have not witne ed copul atio n between yabbies no r The ~ix planl.tonic, larval stages of Callian arc the re a ny literature records of such assa ausrraliensis, shown in seque nce of o bservatio ns. Presumably, copul ation ta kes development ( I to V I ). place in the burrow during summer (at D rawn by the author . lea t in o uth-eastern Queensla nd) fo r in the a utumn mature fe males may be collected page). they settle to the substratum as with eggs under their a bdo mens. Another juveniles about half an inch lo ng. reason for PO tulating this as the time of Juveniles of this size have been fo und copulation is that during J anua ry the o nl y amo ngst or near patche of Eel G rass maio rity of males have mo ul ted and the (Lostera) and in proximity to establi hed females likewise during February. which. burrows of older specimens. Within patche!> to the carcinologi t. uggests a precopul atory of Zostera their burrowing activi tie accom mo ult a in many other types of crustacea. pany the fo rmation of small circula r clear A minor breeding ea on occurs aLo in ings (''yabby circles") whi ch extend a the pring. animals grow. lt i during these early stage!. Each female may carry abo ut 2.000 egg~ that recruitment of depleted yabby beds i!> under her a bdo men. These are cleaned most likely to occur. and thus. fro m the regul arly and are aerated by movement of f't herman's a n_g le, the yabby may eat it the swimmerets to which they are a ttached. own fate. Once settled. it ;: ~obab l y does The egg develop in this positio n fo r abo ut not leave its burrow until it is collected by six week. until the la rvae hatch fro m their a fi sherman. or by o ne of the wading birds s urro unding egg membranes and escape or which feed on the sandflats, o r else dies a rc fo rced from the burrow. They then a more natural dea th (pro bably aft er a life join the myriads of other plankto nic span of abo ut two years). o r!!a nisms which drift in the sea water and. [This article is bnsed on work in conjunc after a plankto ni c existence fo r about three tion with Professor W . Stephenson. of the n_1 o nths. durin ~ which time they pass thro ugh Zoology Department. University of Queens •x la rval stages ( ee the illustratio n o n this la ~~tl . ] March. 1962 Page 31 An adult male tuatara. with crest raised. foraging for ground insect at night. P hoto.- M . D. King. The Tuatara, New Zealand's Ancient Reptile Uy W. H. DA WBIN Department of Zoology, U nivers ity of Sydney COMPARED with the Austra lian reptile the Agamids o r dragons. Lt reaches a len;:!lh fauna. that of New Zealand is small of about 2 ft .. has a typical Agamid a nd relatively unifo rm. Lizard a re repre shaped body with a crest of softish spines sented by two families o nly. the geckos with fo rming a mid-row along the back of the 12 species and skinks with 20, but col head, and a row of smaller spines along the lectively these are unusual in that Rll the middle of the back. The spines. the skin endemic species produce live young a nd egg folds of the jowl. and the to tal length and laying is confined to lizards which have been weight all reach greater sizes in males than introduced recently. The larger li zards in femal es. Adult males weigh up to I 000 such as the Agamids o r dragons. and the grm. (about 2! lb.). whereas females seldom monito rs-are quite unrepresented. and exceed 500 grm. (abo ut J lb. 2 oz.). The there a re no terrestrial sna kes, crocodiles o r animal is no rmally of an o li ve-green colo ur, tortoises. but specimens varying fro m slate-grey to However, there is o ne species which many almost brick-red have been fo und and all students of reptiles feel fully compen have the background colo ur broken by sates fo r the small representatio n in the numero us small do ts. usuall y of a lighter o ther ,!!ro ups. This. of course, is New colour. Zealand's tuatara. a reptile which has be The tuatara was known to the earliest come known throughout the world as the Maoris ( Moa hunters) . who, clearly. some sole representative of a gro up that times used the animal for food, as shown aoparently became extinct elsewhere more by jaw-bo ne remains in their kitchen mid than J 00 milli o n years ago. dens. However. the later Mao ri s appeared The tuatara cl osely resembles some lizards to be rather afraid of the a nimal and there in appearance, a nd there are few clues from is no evidence that they hunted it. Thro ugh external appeara nce to separate it from Maori d escriptions the earliest European Page 32 A usrralian N arurctf HiJrorv .. settlers in New Zealand became aware that colonies o n the ma in islands, a nd it seems a relatively la rge reptile existed, but it was likely that the occasio nal animals which have not until 183 I that the anima l first became been fou nd o n the North Island were o nes known to science thro ugh a paper by Dr. whi ch had been brought there by people G ray, of the British Museum. In a later who had collected them fro m the islands off description ( 1842) he regarded the tuata ra sho re. It is clear from the bone remains, as a member of the Agamid fa mily, and it however, that at the time of the earl y Maoris was not until mo re material was described it occurred at a number of sites o n ·both the in 1867 by Dr. G unther, a lso of the British No rth a nd South Islands as fa r south as Museum, that the unique features of the Bluff. At present there is no clear evidence anima l became known to the world. as to the cause of its disappearance. but it G unther fo und that ma ny features of the seems mo re likely that it has been due to skeleto n, especially the presence of certa in some gradua l climatic o r vegetatio nal primitive bo nes in the skull, the structure changes rather than any sudden direct effect of the vertebrae, the na ture of the ribs a nd of man a nd his acco mpanying animals. other parts of the skeleton, were unlike T o see the tuata ra in its natural habitat those of li zards and could o nly be matched o ne must visit an off -sho re island, and even with fossil materi al fro m the Triassic peri od. on o ne of these there will be little evidence He proposed the na me Rhynchocepha lia of its presence in day-time, as the animal ( referring to the beak-like notch at the tip comes o ut to fo rage fo r food during the of the upper jaw) to include both the fossil ho urs of da rkness and normally returns to materi al and the tuatara. Later paleontologi burrows during the daylight ho urs. On a ll cal investigations have shown that members the isla nds where the tuata ra occurs there of this gro up occurred in No rth America , a re also very large concentrations of sea Africa and the E urasia n land-mass, and birds, including shearwaters and other mem some of the specimen of mo re than 100 bers of the petrel family which return to mill ion years ago are re ma rka bl y similar to land a t night-time and have their nesting the livi ng tuata ra. T his is very clear evi chambers at the end of burrows whi ch may dence of the extremely static condition of be yards in length. So metimes the tuatara the structure of this a nimal over a vast occurs in burrows with the sea birds. a nd it period of ti me. These findings led to a very has often been tho ught that it depended on great interest a mo ngst students of reptiles. these burrows fo r shelter, but it is quite cer a nd some came fro m as far as H a mburg and ta in . fro m watching tuata ras in the field. that Bremen to New Zeala nd to collect material they just as frequ-ently excavate their own fo r thei r institutions and to make the earliest burrows a nd quite frequently live completely scienti fi c studies of the ha bits of the a nimal separate fro m the birds. During the ho urs in its natura l habitat. of darkness tuataras forage ma in ly fo r large gro und insects, especially beetl es and w ing Island Habitats less crickets, known as wetas, as well as At the present time th e tuatara is confined snails a nd other gro und o rgani sms. At the to sma ll isla nds off sho re fro m the mainland time of the breeding of the sea birds some of New Zealand. The islands occur in two tuataras include occasional eggs in their diet ma in gro ups. the first lying o ff the no rth and. d es~ it e the fact that ma ny li ve in har eastern part of the North Island between mony with young chicks and adults of the North Cape and East Cape. while the second petrels, there is clear evidence fro m feathers gro up includes a number of islands in Cook and bo nes in tuatara dro ppings to show that Strait between the No rth and So uth Islands. a number of chicks are eaten. There have been accounts of the occur [n late spring and early summer the tuatara rence of the tuata ra on the ma inla nd in early breeding season commences a nd the females European times and it was suggested that construct a de pressio n in the gro und up to the introductio n of do mestic and feral ma m six o r mo re inches in depth, where they lay ma ls, such as pigs, cats and dogs may have 10 to 15 eggs which are approximately 1} exterminated it from the mainland. H ow in. in length, ro und at bo th ends and covered ever, it has been impossible to co nfirm a ny by a parchment-like membrane instead of of the reports that it did still exist in a hard shell. The eggs are buried by the March . 1962 Page 33 female and no further attention i.s paid .to ing when two or three years old . Even the them by either sex. Incubation .t s surpns slower-growing tortoises a nd turtles a re cap ingly long, taking approximately 15 m onths, able of breeding at ages ranging from six to so that the young emerge in late summer of 16 years, so on present information the the year following egg-laying. At the time tuatara is the latest-developer of all known of hatching the young burrow to the surface reptil'es. a nd apparently search out small crevices or other natural cover in which they hide dur Despite its slow growth , the tuata ra shows ing day-t ime. T hey are uniformly clay powers of tail regenera tion comparable to brown in colour, and retain this protecti ve those of true lizards. Quite a high number colouration for a number of years. During of animals in the fi eld can be found with at the first year, the p ineal or "third" eye is least some portion of the tail showing the vi sible in the middle of the head, but later distinctive, relati vely smooth appearance of becomes covered by scales. Some writers a regenerated portion distinguished from the have attached much importance to the unbroken basal portion. Tuataras also have " third" eye as a special feature. but later considerable resistance to injury, as shown work has shown that it is equa lly well de by the fact that l have encountered two veloped in a number of other anima ls, in specimens in which an entire front limb was cluding severa l Australia n lizards. Crest missing and the tiny stump had completely development in newly-hatched young is so healed over wi thout any evidence of marked small that it takes very close inspection to adverse effect on the injured animal. Their detect any trace of the tips of spines. and activity is a lso considera bly greater in field these do not become conspicuous until the conditions than would be expected from the animal reaches at least five or six years slow growth or from the reports of sluggish of age. During this early period the young behaviour of the animals in captivity. An feed on small ground insects a nd la nd c rus adult tuatara in the fi eld is capable of run taceans, such as slaters a nd a mphipods. nin~ for 20 or 30 yards at a speed which makes it difficult to catch. and the small The growth rate of the tuatara is possibly young a nimals a re as active as geckos a nd the slowest of that for all reptiles, even skinks of simila r size. including the famous Galapagos tortoises, which are often cl aimed to be the slowest The special in terest of the tuatara lies growing of all land animals. T he growth in the fact that it is the sole survivor of rate in the fi eld ha been studied mainly by the group which. though once widespread, marking tuataras of various izes a nd then disappeared from the rest of the earth about comparing the measurements of the ame 100 million years a~o. ln keeping with its animal several years later on recovering ancient lineage, it is possibly the slowest them during fi eld trios. This has been growing of land animals. and much more carri ed out on more than 200 animals for study will be required to gain a fuller under- IJeriods up to nine years, and calcul ations landing of the rea ons for such marked from the da ta o btained show that growth is difference in this resnect between it a nd more or less continuous, but at a steadily modern lizards. The New Zealand Govern declining rate. for at least 50 years. T here ment has ma inta ined a very strict protection is, as yet, no way of knowing ·how long the on tuataras. so that permits a re req uired animals li ve a ft er growth ceases, but it even to visit the islands on which the anima ls would seem very li kely that a century or occur and the penalties for una utho ri sed more would be a conservative estimate. handling are very severe. A close watch on the tuatara population is mainta ined by Breeding occurs long before growth itself officers of the Depa rtment of Internal ceases. a nd from the minimum size of Affairs, and on most of the islands it a ppears animals which are sexua lly mature it seems that the existing populations are mainta inino likely that breeding can commence when themselves sa •i ~fac t o rilv. lt is to be hoped they a re approximately 20 years old. This that the continued strict protection wi ll is surprisingly different from the infor;na maintain thi s ancient reptile as a source tion available on li zards, nearly all species of interest for 7oologists ·a nd nature lovers of whcih so far studied a re capable of breed- of the future. Paste 34 Australian Natural Histo ry NEW SOUTH WALES ABORIGINAL PLACE NAMES AND EUPHONIOU S W ORDS ~ WITH THEIR ME ANINGS Cmnpiled by F. D. ftl cCarthy r:urator of A nthropology, A ustralian ilfuseum PRICE l j 6, PO TED 2 - Obtainable ft·om the Au tt·alian Museum, College Street, Sydney ~~ ... -.. -.. -- ...... -...... ~ ... ~~ ~ ~ ...... ~ · .. ~ ...... "! l EXPLORING BETWEEN TIDEMARKS . ~ an introduction to seashore ecoloo·y Written by E. C. P ope and P. M. :Jl cDonald, of the ~ :\I u cum taff, this new publi cation is recommended as a handbook for spcondary chool and j nnior year uni,·ersity tudie. in biology ;md zoology. imple in form and with excell ent illustr ations. Explor ing ! B etwee n Tidernarks hould a lso pro,·e a good compamon to underwater explorers a nd fi Rhermen. Price 4/ • (4/ 6d po ted) Obtainable irom T 11 E AUS T ll ALl AN MU SEU ~ I , College Stree t, ydney ~ •• • • • • • • • • ••••• • • ...... -~- ...... 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