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SEPTEMBER 15, 1962

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(ii ) Australia11 Natural History CONTENTS Page

THE B u RROWI NG S HORE C RAB or SouTH ERN Aus TRALJA- R . W . George 7 1

B ooK R EvrEw s 74, 78

TH E WANDERI NG A LBATROSS, A BRIEF R EVIEW OF STU DIES J PROGRESS- M . D. Murray 75

REM ARKABLE GRASS HOPP ERS FROM SouTH Aus TRALIA 79

PLANTS OF Til E PAST-H . 0. F/etcher 80

" MERM AID's P ENN IES' ' 87

TH E BIOLOGY OF W ARRAGAMBA 0 AM (LAKE B U RRAGORA N G)- V. H . Jolly 88

H YDROIDS o M AR I NE SNA ILs- lsobel Bennett 93 W ATER B EETLES-David K . M eA/pine 94 T I·I E PRI VET H AWK-MOTII CATERP ILLAR-L. Courtney-Haines 96 R ABBIT-EARED B ANDICOOTS. OR BILBIES- A . E. Newsome 97 NoTES A D N Ews 98 J OH R OAC H AN D T il E B uDGERIGA R- T om lreda/e and G . P. Whitley 99

• FRONT C OVER : A pair of Wandering Albatrosses nesting on Macquarie Island. T he female bird (right) is sitting on the nest. This photo was taken by M. D. Murray, whose article, "The \Yandering Albatross, A Urief Review of Studies in Progress," appears on page 75.

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Page 70 A usrra/ia11 Natural H istory AUS IAN NATUR I STORY

Published Quarterly by the Australian Museum College Street, Sydney Edito r : J. W. Evans, Sc.D. Annual Subscription, Posted, 14/ -

VOL . XIV. No. 3 SEPTEMBER 15, 1962

The Burrowing Shore Crab of Southern Australia

By R. W. GEORGE Curator of Invertebrates, Western Austra lian M useum

L EPTOGRAPSODES OCTODENTATUS long, at a barred estuary near Hopetoun, was first described from K ing [sland in W.A. There in the burrow we found a Bass Strait by the Frenchman Milne­ large purple and yellow male crab snapping Edwards in 1837. Since then, this rather his slender cream pincers at us. Nea r Den­ secretive crab has been found in T asmania, ma rk. W.A .. on the other hand, we found Victoria. South Australia and Western Au - them scuttling amongst the granite rock tralia. ln Western Australia it occurs as like their near relatives and neighbours, the far north a the Abrolhos Islands (see map). blue or yellow R ock Crab L eptograpsus Tt can be ea ily recognized by its purple variegatus; but unlike the Rock Crab they a nd yellow mottled carapace, the large pin­ cra mbled away into a nearby freshwater cer of the male and the presence of four stream ( ee photo on page 74) . Mr. Hale pairs of low teeth on the edge of the cara­ reports them in brackish wells on Flinders pace behind the eyes. These teeth prompted I land. Bass Strait, and members of the Milne-Edwa rds to give it the specific name Western Austra lian University staff found octodentatus (eight teeth )-see photo on them in freshwater soaks on Wallabi fsla nd the next page. of the Abrolhos Group. Perhaps the mo t unusua l ha bitats are the edges of the very Mr. H ale, in hi s book on South Aus­ salt lakes at R ottnest Island, off Frema ntle. tralian Cru tacea, ca lls it (under the scien­ and at Middle Jsland in the R echerche tifi c name Brachynotus octodentatus) the Archipelago, W.A. There the crabs dig Burrowing Shore Crab-an apt name, and shallow burrows beneath tussocks, logs or one that is used in this article- but although stones; these are actually only a maller of the crab burrows. it does not always Jive on 3 ft. to 6 ft. away from this highly saline the sea shore. water. yet on each occasion we have always The first encounter with this interesting found fresh or brackish water in close crab was at the bottom of a burrow, 2 ft. proximity to the burrow.

September, 1962 Page 7 1 A mature female Burrowing Shore Crab collected at Robe, South Australia. by Dr. J. W Shields, who took this photo of it.

In a ll these situations the crabs li ve in adult males develop much la rger claws tha n water of a much lower salinity than sea­ the females; the fin gers become curved and water, and we have found that they can sur­ irregul arly toothed. whereas the females vive for long periods in ordinary tap water. (and the juveniles) have straight, regul arl y T he burrow positions are ve ry carefull y toothed fin gers. Other features, such as located in seepage areas and always at a the dentition of the wrist and the depth of higher level than the " high tide" level of a pair of pits vn the carapace, also vary the sea or salt lake. Nevertheless, these with age. These changes in morphology crabs are never fo und very fa r away from with age in the two sexes have been the the sea, rarely further than about 200 yards cause of some confusion in the na ming of trom it. this species and, in past years, three sepa rate scientific na mes have been gi ven to greatl y Feeding dissimila r sex ual or growth stages of this single species. Burrowing Shore Cra bs normally scavenge at night, picking up rotting vegetation and animal debris with their slender The Name Of The Species claws. In the morn ing, feeding paths are easily seen leading away from the burrows The full scientific na me of this southern a nd these fresh " fingerprints" indicate to the Australian shore crab is Leptograpsodes daytime coll ector that the cra b is present ~ctodentat us (M ilne-Edward s), 1837. Hess in its burrow. in 1865 described the same species as Crap­ sus inornatus from Sydney, but Mr. F ra nk McNeill , formerly Curator of C rustacea at Sex Differences And Sexual Maturity the A ustrali an Museum, informed me that T he Burrowing Shore Crab reaches sexual this locality is probabl y incorrect as the maturity at a carapace breadth of about crab has not since been collected from I in.. and large adults may reach a size N.S.W . Montgomery in 1942 gave a new of about 3 in. across the back. T he name, webhaysi, to specimens from the

Page 72 Australian Natural H istory Abrolho , believing that they were mo rpho­ a generic name of which the type pecies logically di tinct fro m the eastern ocroden­ (8. se.xdentatus) clearly belo ng to the ub­ rarus. fa mily Varuninac. but Montgo mcry ha Thro ugh the courte y of the Australian shown ( J 931) that the species octodentarus and South Au tralian Museums, specimens actuall y belongs to the sub-family G rap inac fro m the eastern State have been compared and it cannot therefore be a member of with the We tern Austra li an Museum series, Brachynotus, a genus of varunine crab . which include some from the Abrolhos Mo ntgo mcry proposed the generic name ( the type locality of Montgo mery's web­ l.eptograpsodes fo r it. and his conclu io n i haysi) . There is no do ubt as to the specific fo ll owed here. unity of these eparately described "species". Reproduction R eader who use H ale's book for the identificatio n of the sho re cra b may The Burrowing Shore Crab spawn in wonder why L have used the generic name the summer months from December thro u2h Leptograpsodes instead of the name Brachy­ to February. Females with eggs carried notus. The reason i this: Brachynotus is beneath the ta il are commo n during th e~c

I ABROLHOS ISL ANDS 11 . MONORAI N ISL AND 2. ROTTNEST ISL AND 12. TW IN PEAK I SL ANDS 3. GARDEN ISLAND 13 MIDDLE ISLAND 4 CAPE NATU RA LI S IE 14 ISRAE LI TE BAY s CAPE LEEUWI N IS FLINDER S ISLAND, S. A. 6 GREEN POOLS 16 KANGAROO IS LA NO 7 ALBANY 17 PORT ELUOT 8. BALD ISL AND 18 ROBE 9 PA LLI NUP ESTU AR Y 19 K I NG ISL AND 10 CULHAM INL ET 20 HUNTER ISL A ND 1 1 FLI NDERS ISL AN D , BASS ST RAI T

tH

Known localities of the Burrowing Shore C rab of southern Australia. V Map by Miss R. Hunt.

Septemher, 1962 Page 73 A typical habitat of the Burrowing Shore C rab at Green Pools. near Denmark. West­ ern Australia. Here the crabs li ve in bur­ rows beneath tussock rushes beside a fresh­ water stream flowing into th e; sea. l'holo.-13 . IC Wil,on.

time nfortunately we know no mo re, i finding their way back to the e rather and we can o nl y peculate o n the rest of specialized localities suitable for adult life the cycle. alo ng the generally a rid we tern and southern coa ts. Do the young of the Burrowing Sho re Crab ha tch in the ea as tiny free-swimming Captive Animals larvae ( like mo t crabs do) or do they pass their early life in the low-salinity water in Furthe r investigatio ns of the Au trali an Burrowing Shore Crab a re required to solve the burrow of the adult? some of these q uestions. Their survival in Lf the la rvae do require salt water then such a wide variety of environments make the adults must move into the sea which is them a very suitable animal fo r study in the close at ha nd. T he well documented fo rest la bo rato ry. where their behaviour, growth crabs of Christmas Island make such migra­ and respo nse to waters of va rying salinity to ry jo urneys, but ad ults of the Burrowing could be read il y studied . Mo re difficult. Sho re Crab have never been observed im­ but perhaps mo re interesting, is the tudy mersed in the ea. Another difficulty fac­ of reproduction and larval develo pment in ing the larvae. if they do develop in the ea. this unu ual Australi an crab.

BOOK REVIEW EA HELLS OF THE WORLD, by R. T ucker the figure are so clear. Dimension and Abbott, a Golden Nature G uide, under the editor­ geographic ranges are gi ven. together "ith in­ ship of Herbert S. Zim; Golden Press, New York, formation on the families of molluscs and their 1962; pp. l -160, with numerous coloured illustra­ habits. T here are one or two minor errors o f tio ns. clas ification. such as the inclusion of Gyrineum and Bip/ex in the Bursidae (they are in fact The publication of this compact guide to the Cymatiids) , and some well-known Australian bcllcr-known species of sea shells is a milestone shells will be found allolled to genera different in the literature of popular malacolog}; it is the to those used by local specialists; this is a re ult first such book dealing with molluscs from a of the author"s approach. which tends to be world-wide point of view. wrillen by a profes­ conservative and so to ignore the smaller sub­ sio na l worker and. therefore. with sound divisions in favour of broad generic groupings. classification a nd an up-to-date nomenclature. The scale on page 160 is designed for the larger There arc 562 species illustrated. and they include C c Luxe Library edition. a nd in the small pocket a ll the shell wh ic h collectors are most likely edition comes out about three-quarters natura l to have in a general world-wide collection. The ize. But these minor criticisms hould not de­ illustration are good. with clear-cut outlines and tract from this excellent production. which will reasonably accurate colours: there is scarcely a ny be a boon to beginner shell collectors throughout descriptive te,t, but this is not necessar} "hen the worl d.-D. F. McM.

Page 74 A us/ralian a/ural His10ry Scientists studying the Wandering Albatross on Macquarie Island. Photo.-Author.

THE WANDERING ALBATROSS A Brief Review of Studies in Progress

By M. D. MU RRA Y

LBATROSSES a re the largest of oceanic is particula r_ly useful for identifying the A birds, and of the 13 known species nine vanous spectes of Mollymawks. Excellent are fo und in the southern regions of the keys for the identifi cation of the various Atlantic, Indian a nd Pacific Oceans. The species of albatrosses to be found around colours of their plumage are black, grey Australia a nd New Zeala nd have been pre­ and white and they may be divided into pared by Mr. J. Moreland. of the Dominion three groups: the Sooty Albatrosses, which Museum, Wellington, New Zealand. are da rk all over, the Great Albatrosses. The la rgest of all the albatrosses is the which have pink bills and a re white on the Wandering Albatross (Diomedea exulans), back and tail, and the Mo llymawks, which which has a wing span of 11-12 ft. from have dark or yellow bill s and a black mark­ tip to tip and weighs 16-25 lb. It is the ing on the upper surface of the wings that commonest of the Great Albatrosses a nd is is continuous across the back. As alba­ the large white a lbatross which may be seen trosses fly mainly by gliding with their following shi ps in the southern Atlantic, wings o utstretched the pattern on the ventral Indian and P acifi c Oceans. T here it breeds surface of the wings is easil y seen, and this on the isolated islands in the Subantarctic

September, 1962 Page 75 whe re, in a nest made of vegetatio n a nd But what changes take place in the plumage ta nding about 12 in . high. it lay a single colouration wi th each successive mo ult, what large wh ite egg. The egg is laid between is the relation hip between the e change ovcmber and February, and female and and the age of the bird. and where do the male bird take turns to sit over it for it immature birds go? So me informatio n ha 60-70 day incubation. The chick. whi ch is come during the last fo ur year fro m a white and downy initially. fe eds in a charac­ locality which may surprise ma ny­ tcri tic manner. It places its opened bill Bella mbi. cw South Wales. between and acro s the opened bill of the parent bird which then regurgitates a par­ Albatross Gatherings tially digested mea l. Fo r many year one of the sights fo r It ta kes a bo ut nine months for the chick bird-watchers has been the winter gathering to become fully grown. and whether they are of Wandering A lbatrosses off the coast at o r a re not fed th ro ughout the winter has Ma labar, near Sydney, where as ma ny a been a source of controversy for many 600 bird have been seen sitting o n the years. So me have maintained that the chick water. Ano ther gathering occurs 50 mile a rc abando ned by the parents fo r the winter. south of Sydney, at Bellambi, where two To postulate this infers that the albatros a ma te ur o rnithologists have developed chick can grow and keep warm during a technique for catching albatros es. Since Subantarctic winter witho ut any additional 195 6 a tota l of 1.120 Wa ndering Alba­ o uree of energy o ther than its own fat. Jt tro es have been captured a nd banded at would be a remarkable bird in- deed to accomplish this physio- logical feat. The truth is that the TRISTAN DA CUNHA , parent feed the chick thro ughout • GOUGH IS the wi nter. Thi was o bserved by Ha rrison-Matthews in 1925-6. yet it has required the further MARION I S ' o bservatio n of K. Keith, when SOUTH '· CROZ ET IS with the A ustralian Natio nal GEORGIA - Antarctic Research Expeditio n o n Macquarie Island in 1956, to fin a lly ettle the q uestion. A full KERGUELE. N IS year is required for the parent bi rds to build a nest. incubate and hatch the egg and feed the chick until it is capable of fend- ing fo r itself. Consequently. the Wa ndering Albatross breeds only every second year. T he life of an immature alba­ tros after leaving the island of its birth is largely unknown. Much ha been suspected, but proof has been absent. When the immature bird first fli es its ANTIPODES IS • plumage is brown all over but B - BELLAMBI fo r its whi te face and underwing, . I yet the plumage of breeding birds M - MALA BAR ~ is predo mina ntly white. A lba­ trosses with varying a mo unts of This map of the southern oceans surrounding Antarctica brown and black mottling and shows the i lands on which the Wandering Albatross breeds. white a re een frequently, and Birds banded at Bellambi a nd Malabar, New South Wale . clearly these are birds of have been recaptured on South Geo rgia and Marion Island. different age Map by the author.

Page 76 Australian Natural H istory Beli ambi by J . D . Gibson a nd A. R . Sefton Georgia IS providing these birds of known a nd a t Malabar by M. D. Murray, S. G . age. La ne and C. Campion. The first result from these efforts could not have been more Banding Problem gratifying. One bird which was banded at Bella mbi on 23rd August, 1958, was On Macquarie ls land there a re less tha n reported to have been present on Bird 30 breeding pairs of Wandering A lbatrosses. Lsland, South Georgia, from 29th December, However, most of the birds are banded and 1958, to 6th March. 1959. lt so happened that W. L. N. Tickell, a British ornithologist, then with the Falkland Island Dependen­ cies Scientific Bureau, was visiting South Georgia that year to ini tiate a study of the Wandering Albatrosse which breed in la rge number on that isla nd. Part of his progra mme was a large-scale banding of albatrosses, both chicks a nd adults. The following July one of the chi cks which he had banded in November, 1958, was cap­ tured at Bellambi. T o date, 12 birds banded off the coast of N.S.W. have been reca ptured on South Georgia a nd one on Marion l sla nd in the southern India n Ocean, and six birds banded at South Georgia have been recaptured at Bell ambi. lt may not be too sweeping to suggest that the birds which can be seen from Mala bar Head on any .- -~- 'I ,.,. Nt;:;,_- ~- W\NG " \AIL,__ _ _ wi nter's day come from any of the main 0 ·-1/;/dark-- ._.[0 ll!l darl<; .. breeding isla nds in the Subantarctic.

A real surpri se has been that an average 0 11 fa., .,J,,/o f••l~us ~ ~0 ~.le ; .l.r~ /uJ of 7t per cent. of the birds banded off the N .S.W. coast have been recaptured in each Dt$/uu/ ,.,!Hit! lch ~- ·-- · -- - - · · - - a ! •lho~ f» ~ 0 ,.,.., .W4 Hps subsequent year at Bella mbi. This indicates 0 {;\ whdq pqlc~ "'"9 , ~ ;,.___.;- U that albatrosses return to particular geo­ ~ wdl, ,.,J, , /r ~/ 6oe A; 9 ~ - -· · ·--· graphical regions to feed . One albatross has been recaptured a t Bellambi three years in ® Mosli y ..,l,;t., ~ - 0 Pure .,.J,;!~ u succession. The recapture rate has guaran-' teed the success of another study. When a Key used for describing the plumage of Wander­ bird is captured, detailed notes are made of ing Albatrosses captured off the New South Wales coast. It was designed by J. D . G ibson. its plumage. To standardize the descrip­ tions of different albatross-banders the plumage is compared with a standard the individual breeding history of many is description, such as may be seen in the known accurately from 1954. It appears illustration on thi s page. Should the plum­ that some pairs remain constant for many age of a bird be scored Back 2 H ead 2 ~ea rs; they _retu rn. to the same part of the Inner Wing 2 Ta il 1 and, when recaptured, 1sland to build the1r nest, but whether their the pl umage score be 4 , 3, 4, 2, the length chicks will return to Macquarie Island is of time req uired for this cha nge can be not yet known. As it is believed that this tated. A s records accumulate it will be albatross does not breed until it is about possible to determine the sequence of plum­ seven years old , it may be too soon for the age cha nges and the time required for each return of the survivors of the small number change. Should the exact age of some of of chicks which have been banded. the birds be known, then the changes in Another problem has arisen, however. plumage can be related to the age of the T_he albatross is obviously a long-lived bird . The mass banding of chicks in South b1rd, so the metal of which the band

September, 1962 Pa[!e 77 placed around its leg is made has to be T o study the Wandering A lbatross is to durable. R e-examinatio n of the ba nds o n satisfy the spirit of adventure, both physi­ birds recaptured off the N .S. W. coast cally and inteflectually. The pio neering showed that the metal of the earlier type of phase is over ; sati sfacto ry techniques have band was weakening ra pidly with age. This been developed and it will be apparent that has been remedied , and the bands used now the coming years wi ll be most interesting. will la t as lo ng as the life of the bird. Perhaps in I 0 years time it may be possible It is probable that many of the birds to write a life histo ry based entirely on banded a chicks in the past may lose proven fact, but o nly much eff ort and the thei r bands before they become sex ually fullest of internati o nal co-o peratio n will mature a nd prepa re to breed . obtain the data required.

BOO/( REVIEW THE EVOLUTION OF LIVING ORGANISMS. A symposium to mark the centenary of Darwin's "Origin of Species" and of the Royal Society of Victoria held in Melbourne, December, J959. Edited by G. W. Leeper, M.Sc.; Melbourne University Press; pp. 1-455; price £6 6s. Od. The title of this book is perha ps misleading. for it is not a general volume on evolutio nary theory, but a number of disconnected contribu­ tio ns, each one of which is itself a study of some facet of evolutio na ry biology. Nor is it a book about evolution for the beginner in the tudy o f natural history. Such books can be obtained from a ny bookstore. and the person seeking a general account of the modern theo ry of evolution should not attempt this work. H owever. this book is an important contri­ bution to evolutiona ry literature. for it presents a series of scholarly essays by Australi an and overseas specialists on a broad spectrum of bio­ logical problems. with special refe rence to the fauna and flora of the A ustralasian region. To any zoologist wish ing to keep abreast of the latest developments and ideas in this rapidly progressing field, the study of these contributions will prove invaluable. Of course. it is to be expected in such a symposium that the level at whi~ h the pap_e rs are written and the nature of their presentallon will vary considerably. As an example. one might contrast the general historical contribution of Sir Gavin de Beer o n " Darwin and Australia"' with the highly specialized '"Effects of C hromo· The Angling Spider ( Dicrostichus magni/icus ) somal Inversions on Size and Relative Viability is remarkable for the way in which it catches its in the Grasshopper Moraba scurra" by White prey. Instead of making a traditional o rb-web. and Andrew. Some of the papers will obviously it merely spins a few loose threads from one be of more general interest than o thers; in branch of a bush to another. These th reads form me ntioning a few. such as Baas-Becking 's '·On a foothold for the spider, which takes u p a t he Origin of Life''. Mayr's " Accident or Design. position on one of them a nd lowers a small the Paradox of Evolution·• and Ride's ·'On the globule of very sticky substance at the end of Evolution of Australian Marsupials,"· we do not a thin silk line. The spider holds the line. discredit the work of others. On the contrary. dangling the globule, and waits for a small in­ many of the specialized contributio ns will stand sect, usually a moth, to come within range. It as basic references for years to come. Indeed, then whirls the thread round and round in an the principal merit of this book lies in the very attempt to hit the insect with the globule. If it diversity of its authors and their viewpoints, and succeeds it hauls in the thread. with the insect the Royal Society of Victoria is to be congratu­ adhering to the globule. wraps the prey in silk. lated in producing this importa nt contribution kills it and feeds o n its body fluids. The photo. to the development of evolutionary thought. by Howard H ughes. shows a female Angling D . F. McM. and H . G. C. Spider. with the top part of its egg-case.

Page 78 Australian Natural History REMA RKABLE GRASSHOPPERS FROM SO UTH AUSTRALIA

Two almost wingless species of gra shoppers of unu ual appearance were recentl y sent to the Australian Museum by Mr. B. F lounders, who collected them in the Whyalla district, South Australia. The fi rst of these, which has been identified as Plran erocem s testudo, was remarkable for its resemblance to a rough-grained. reddish-brown pebble. Thi resemblance wa heightened by the large. shield-like pronotum of the thorax, which covers the entire abdomen. According to M r. Flounders· letter. the insect was living among broken rock wh ich it matched so closely in ize and colour that it wa only visible when it moved. Only one specimen of this gras hopper was received. and Mr. Flounders state that he had not seen one before. Specimen of it m the Museum collection are al o from South Austra lia, and the species is apparently confined to that State. The second species was found on a lichen-covered quartz o utcrop. The two specimens sent arc broad and squat. the larger measuring seven-eighths of an inch in length, a nd resemble pieces of lichen-covered rock. Grey-green wrinkles and excre cences on the thorax and a bdomen are responsible for this appearance. Mr. Flounders had previously seen other similar specimens, always on lichen-covered rocks, and has sugge ted that they might feed on lichens. The species was found to belong to the genus Cratilopus, but it was not possible to determine the species from the available descriptions. Specie of Cratilopus have been recorded from South Aus­ tralia. Sydney and Lord H owe Island. T he two latter localities may be erroneous. a the in ects appear to be desert form . The photo. by H oward Hughes, shows the specimen o f Plranerocems tesw do, It in. long. e nt to the Museum by Mr. Flounder .

" LIFE T HROUGH T HE AGES" ''Life Through the Ages··. a coloured chart teach ing of science, and will be of value to lay showing the progress o f life th rough geological people interested in biological subjects. The time, is available at the Australian Museum. The cha rt. publi shed by the Museum. illustrates the chart ( 34 in. x 24 in.) relies o n illustrations more kinds of life that have existed from the primitive than on wording. and is designed for ha nging in invertebrates of more than 800 million years ago schools so that it may be seen by all children. to the present. and shows the geological periods whether they are studying the biological ciences and their durations. Its p rice is 6s. (6s. 9d. or not. It can al o be used as an aid in the posted ).

September. 1962 Page 79 Leaves of R hacopteris ovata (M cCoy) and Cardiopteris polymorpha Goppert, preserved in a shale of Carboniferous age from New South Wales. PLANTS OF THE PAST

By H . 0. FLETCHER

A STUDY of fossil plants discloses that than o rigina lly supposed. and these also are a ll living pla nts a re the descendants of inva lua bl e in the study of stratigraphic previo usly existing fo rms, of whi ch many cor relatio n. are now extinct. They fo ll ow the same The oldest known fossil plants have been evolutio nary pattern found in the Animal recorded fro m rocks of Proterozoic age Kingdom, and fo r almost two billio n years ( Pre-Carnbrian), whi ch have an undisputed have been ever-changing a nd progre sive in age of from 1.500 to 2 ,000 millio n years. their development througho ut geological These ancient pla nts, representing some of history. the earl iest life, have been recorded from The fl ora of the past is just as importa nt many localities in Australia and in clude a as the fossil fauna in determining the chrono­ vari ety of types with a world-wide distribu­ logical successio n of sedimentary rocks and tion. in the correlatio n of simi lar, but widely The most a bundant and well -known separated, strata. T he general succes io n plants from P roterozoic rocks a re calcareous of plant life through the ages ha been the algae. These are preserved in the form of same in all parts of the worl d. Particul ar structures which have been classed together assemblages of fossil plants and important and named " tromatolites". Defined as "a " index-species" are known to be restricted mineral copy o r ea t of the external fo rm of to separate stratigraphical units and there­ an a lgal colony". they are u ually la minated, fore, when found. indicate the age of the each lamina representing one growth stage rock strata in which they occur. R ecent in the development of the colo ny, while in investigations are proving that fossil plant shape they range from cylindrical, sub­ spores arc fa r more a bundant in species a nd hemi spherical. do me-like and conical to numbers in the rocks of a ll geological ages tubula r and bra nching colo nies. Tn the

Page 80 A usrralia11 Narural Hisrory Proterozoic and early Palaeozoic rocks they seaweed Macrocystis is reputed to exceed in formed reef-life m asses and were widely length the height of the tallest trees. Dia­ distributed. toms occur in both fresh water and the sea. Stromatolitcs have been recorded and and during Tertiary ti me were so abundant described from Lower P roterozoic rocks of that their minute skeletons, impregnated the Paradise Creek area in north-western with sili ca, formed thick deposits in ma ny Q ueensland, and the vari ous types have been parts of the world. These great deposits of compared wi th cosmopolitan genera such what is termed diatomaceous earth a re not known earli er than the Cretaceous period. as Crypto~oon, Greysonia, Archaeozoon and Col/enia. Stromatoli tes deposited by The absence of a ny vascular tissue in the thallophytes prevented the development of a lgae of the genus Co/lenia have also been described from Proterozoic rocks in Western any woody structure and is the reason why A ustra li a which extend for more than 200 this d ivision of plants did not successfully miles between Perth and Yandamooka. Two attain a terrestrial mode of life. further species of the same genus are known from two locali ties in the Northern Terri­ tory and, like the other species, closely The First Land Plants resemble well-known species from rocks of The oldest known land pla nt i a primi­ the same age in North America. Ma ny tive form found in rocks of middle other occurrences of stromatolites have Cambrian age in Siberia. It is thought to been recorded from Proterozoic rocks in have affi nities with the Lycopodiales, a various parts of Australia a nd these include group of plants which includes the livi ng Girvanelfa, an a lga which formed ball-like club-mosses, Lycopodium, and the giant coloni es. scale-trees, Lepidodendron a nd Sigillaria, Many types of Pre-Cambrian a lgae continued into early Palaeozoic time. a nd in the Cambrian a nd Ordovician periods reefs were still formed by them in a ll parts of the world. There appears, however, to be a noticeable decline in their numbers following Protcrozoic time, a nd it has been uggested that possibly the great evolution­ ary trends a mong the algae were already establi shed before the close of this period. Algae which a re very simple in structure and li ve in shallow seas, brackish lakes and freshwater pools have persisted throughout geolo)! ical time to the present day. As some are limestone-making plants, they have assisted in the formation of the great lime- tone deposits of the past. Fossil algae, fung i. bacteria and most other recorded pla nts from the very ancient rocks belong to a division of the plants known as the Thallophyta. The tha ll ophytes are mainly aquatic forms, a nd also include the diatoms and the seaweeds. They are the sim plest a nd most primitive of all plants, and. with few exceptions, there is no differentiation into stem, root and leaf. A great many a re single-cell ed a nd micro­ scopic in size, although the seaweeds have been recorded with a length of 100 ft. and Typical leaves of the G/ossopteris-Gangamop­ with huge trunk-like stems. In fact the teris flora.

September, 1962 Page 81 which came into existence in late Devonian The mo t advanced genus of the fl ora i and Carboniferou times and became extinct Baragwanathia, represented by the one before the close of the Palaeozoic Era. species B. longifo/ia Lang and Cookson. This meagre record from Siberia, with The plants of this species are bra nched a nd occasional others, is evidence that va cular the stem are densely clothed with slender, plants had grown on land very early in the needle-like, leafy shoots. Kidney-shaped Pa laeozoic, about 800 million year ago, spora ngia (spore cases) which are o nl y and it is po sible that further specimens 2 mm. long arc developed between the larger remain undiscovered in continentel halcs leaves and stem near the tip of the plant. deposited along the banks of ri vers and Although certain features of Baragwanathia estuaries in Cambrian time. are suggt! tivc of the Psilo phyta le . the sim­ plest land plants known. it is now generally La nd plants of Silurian age are the first accepted as being more closely related to in which structura l fea tures are sufficiently the "club-mos es" of the Lycopodiales. preserved to enable a detailed study to be made. and these re mains, limited in number Other plants which form part of the and variety. have been coll ected in variou " Baragwanathia fl ora·· posses p ilo phyta­ countries, incl uding Austra li a. An im port­ lean affinitie . and they include the genera ant flora, later to become world-famou a 1-1 edeia. Y arrcn•ia and Zosterophyllum. The the " Baragwanathia fl ora"'. wa di covered fossil remains con i t mainly of unbranched in 1908 in rocks of Silurian age in Victoria. stems, but in most cases associated Further remains of this flo ra have since been sporangia were also preserved . The remains recorded in T asma nia a nd at Yass in New of seaweed are freq uently found in the South Wa les. Si lurian shales a nd mudstones of Victoria

A branched plant. Baragwanathia longifolia Lang and Cookson, f rom rocks of Upper Silurian age in Vic- toria.

Page 82 Australian Natural History and New South Wales, and specimens found a bundant. They continued to develop at Brunswick, near Melbourne. when viewed througho ut all the succeeding geological under the microscope, show the actual cells ages. and to-day fo rm a la rge part of the of the plant. world tl ora. The true ferns reproduce by There was no considerable evolutionary means of spores which are cast free from progress in the develo pment of plants during the parent plant to generate and care for the 30 million years of Silurian age, and it themselves, whereas the seed-ferns (pterido­ was not until the succeeding Devonian sperms) , although very fern-like in appear­ period that land pla nts increased consider­ ance, differ ma rkedly in that they are a bly in vari ety and complex ity. Recent seed-bearing a nd more complex in their investigations of pla nt spores in Devonian reproduction. The develo pment of the sediments have shown that the fl ora of the pteridosperms in the late Devonian was an early Devonian was far more di ve rsified and important step in the evolution of plants abunda nt than is suggested by the recorded a nd. although they became extinct at the la rger fossil remains of plants. close of the Palaeozoic, they had a lready given ri se to other groups which continued The Devonian fl ora of about 400 million to flourish. years ago readily fall s into two very well ma rked divisions. An earl y fl ora (Lower The trees which dominated the Upper and Middle Devonian) consists mainly of Devoni an forests were the large branching simple herbaceous and rush-like Psilo phy­ scale-trees. Lepidodendron and Protolepido­ tales. while a later fl ora (Upper Devonian) dendron (Lycopodiales) . Trees of Lepido­ is cha racterized by the development of m ore dendron grew to heights of more than 90 progressive and advanced plants. including ft. and, with trunks up to 6 ft. in diameter, seed-bearing forms and the first forest trees, towered above the rest of the fl ora. The some of which were at least I 00 ft. high. to p third of the tree was developed into a cano py by repeated forking into many One of the most important of the branches densely clothed with long. simple, recorded occurrences of Lower Devoni an needle-like leaves which attained a consider­ plants is the "R hynie fl ora" which was a ble length. As the trees

Seple111 ber, 1962 Page 83 in the Me o7oic and Tertiary era . are reprc- tree . Lepidodendron, the eed-bearing entcd at th e prescm day by only a inglc fern and the true fern we re largely imi­ species. Ginkxo hiloba, the Maiden-hair lar to those of the pper Devonian. The Tree. The Ginkgoalcs possessed the general early Carboniferou nora of Au tralia con­ habit of conifers and grew to heights of tained specie of Lepidodendron quite di - more than 75 ft. The trees of Cordaites tinct from L. australe of the Upp.::r also grew to imilar heights, with a tall trunk Devonian. together wi th Ulodendron, the and pira ll y-di posed spreading branches on stem of whi ch are characterized by large which leave of a si mple spatulate type grew lea f- cars, Cyclosrixma (allied to Protolepi­ to a length of about 6 ft. They bore a dodendron) and Stigmaria, a ge nu in whi ch superficial re emblancc to the conifers. but what is now known to be the rhizome or their ccds were arranged in clusters, where­ underground root system of Lepidodendron as in the true conifers they arc arranged in was placed. The true ferns are repre cntcd cones. The remain s of Cordaites have been by genera including Clepsydropsis and Anei­ found in beds of Upper Devonian age at mites, and a gymnosperm. Pitys, which a number of localitic in Australia. grew to a height of nearl y 50 ft. T he late Devonian forests. as they became A group of plant , including the cala- establi shed in all parts of the world, formed marian (scouring rushes). equi etalean a moi t and . hady environment in which (hor e-tail ) and Sphenophylls (creeping or the fir t land vertebrates li ved. The fore t climbing plants), originated during Devonian al o became the home of arachnids (spiders) time. but did not reach thei r maximum de­ and in cct., which at th is time were rapidly velopment until Carboniferous and Per­ developing along a number of evolutionary mi an times. These pla nt are fairly com­ line leading towa rds what was to be a mon in Au tralian rocks and are easily remarkably advanced and complex arach­ rccogni;cd by their vertically ribbed and nid and winged-insect population in the suc­ regul arl y jointed stems. Later in geologi­ ceedi ng Carbontferous and Permian forests. cal hi tory they became extinct. with the exception of the single genus Equisetum There wa no great spectacular change (horse-tail). which survived to the prc cnt in the nora of th e world as it continued into day and is represented by about 24 widely Lower Carboniferous time. and the scale- di stributed species.

A Pre-Cambrian reef of calcareous algae exposed in the G la­ cier ationa l Park, Montana, U.S.A., s ho,~ing concentric lamination.

Fron'l " ll i~ t orical Gco ~ logy," by Carl 0. Dunbar.

Page 84 A ustra/ian atural H istory The Upper Carboniferous fl ora is marked be a seed-bearing (ptcridosperm) plant. in most parts of the world by a great Approximately 26 species have been development of the true-ferns and the seed described , many of which are widely distri­ bearing fern-like plants and also a diminu­ buted. a nd it is the most domina nt of all tion of the Lepidodendron fl ora. In Aus­ Permian pl ants, some sediments being made tralia, the most cha racteristic of the true­ up almost entirely of the matted remains of ferns was Rhacapteris, a genus which did the leaves. Specimens of Clossopteris not extend beyond the Lower Carbonifer­ indica were collected from rocks of Pe rmian ous in the northern hemisphere. Associated age near the Beardmore Glacier in Antarc­ with the R hacopteris fl ora are genera such tica by Captain Scott's party d uring their as Lepidodendron and A sterocalamites, ill-fated jo urney to the South Pole in 19 12. which suggests a Lower Carboniferous age These specimens. with othe r foss il plants. rather than a younger one. Both the Lepi­ were found with the bodies of the polar dodendron and the Rhacopteris fl oras of party at their fina l camp. Australia have very little in common with lt is rarely that the leaves of C/ossopteris the Upper Ca rboniferous fl oras of the arc found attached to the stems on which northern hemisphere, and it has been sug­ they grew, but it is now usua ll y accepted that gested that there is a considerable time-break they grew in circlets and were o riginally between our youngest Carboniferous fl ora connected with stems described in the past and the C/ossopteris flo ra of the succeeding as Vertebraria, a common form in the Permian period. C/ossopteris fl ora. The leaves of Clossop­ The Permian period is characterized by teris a re spatul ate in shape and possess a two very distinct fl oras, one restricted al­ strong mid-vein, which gives off a network most entirely to the northern hemi sphere of secondary vein s. Leaves of the closely and a second fl ora found o nl y in the south­ related genus, Cangamo pteris, differ in that ern hemisphere. In the north the reed-like a mid-vein is a bsent, a nd, although just as Calamites, the giant scale trees ( Lepi­ widely distributed as Clossopteris, they arc dodendron ) a nd other types of plants. which more characteristic of the Lower a nd Middle originated during Carboniferous time, Ji ved Permian rocks. on until near the close of the P ermian. ln The Equiseta les (horse-tails) arc well the southern hemisphere there was a ma rked represented in the Clossopteris fl ora by im­ change fro m the previous Carboniferous portant genera such as Schi-:.oneura and fl ora, and plants such as Clossopteris, Can­ Phyllotheca, the last-named occurring gamopteris, Noeggerathiopis, Phyllotheca abundantly in the form of small leaf­ a nd Schizoneura came into ex istence and whorl s somewhat resembling, superficially. flourished . ft is from the remain s of this the petals of fl owering plants. Schizoneura flora that the important coal-fields of New is a similar type of plant to Calamites, with South Wales, Queensland and Western a jointed stem. but differs in having larger Australia were formed . and broader leaves. The genus Spheno­ The great abundance of plants in the phy!lum , which ranged fro m the Upper C/ossopteris fl ora are virtually restricted Devonia n to early T riassic time, is a climb­ to Australia, South America, South Africa, ing type with slender-jointed stems and Antarctica and peninsular India, continents circlets of wedge-shaped leaves, and has which a re considered by many scientists to been recorded from rocks of L ower Per­ be the surviving remnants of a great south­ mian age in Queensland. Annularia a nd ern land known as Gondwanaland. T his Sphenophyllum had already appeared in land was separated from the Eurasian land the Carboniferous of the northern hemis­ a reas by an east-west Tethys Sea w hich phere and a re two of the few plants occur­ was in existence from early Perm ian to ring in both the northern and C lossopteris J urassic time. fl oras. The most characteri stic genus of the T he Cordaitalcs, distant relations of our southern fl ora was Clossopteris, which had modern pines a nd firs, are represented by seed-like reproductive structures, and it is the petrified trunks of Dadoxylon and usua ll y considered, somewhat doubtfully, to leaves known as Noegr,erathiopsis, both of

Seplember, 1962 P11ge 85 which a re related to the northern genus The true ferns (Filica lcs) a lso form one Cordaites. The conifers (Coniferales) first of the principal elements of the Mcsozoic came into existence during P ermian time, llora. and include genera such as Coniop­ probably derived from the Cordaitales, teris, Cladophlehis and Dictyophy!lum. and in Australi a are represented by genera Osmundites, wi th fern-stems similar to the such as Walkom iella. Beautifully preserved li ving Royal Fern. is fairly common in examples have been collected from rocks of J urassic rocks of Australia . Other ferns. Upper Permia n age at Ulan, New South such as Gleicheni tes, 1-1 ausmannia and Wa les, while a second species, W . crassum, Ruflordia, attained their maximum develop­ is known from J urassic and Lower Cretace­ ment in the earl y Cretaceous period. The ous rocks in Queensland. Coniferales were the ma in trees in the early Mcsozoic fo rests, and some logs of conifer The Mesozoic Era trees found in the Petrified Forest of A ri ­ zona arc 200 ft. long and 10 ft . in diameter The Mesozoic E ra, consiSting of the at the base. fn Australia the coni fers a re T riassic, J urassic and Cretaceous periods. represented by fossil stems. leaves and cone- had a time duration of about 160 mill ion years. In most parts of the world, includ­ ing Australia, the change from Palaeozoic time into the Mesozoic Era was a quiet one with no marked difference in sedimenta­ tion. There was. however, a distinct change in the fl ora, and. apart from an overlapping of certain pla nt genera, the fl ora became dominated by new a nd characteristic types of plants. T he fl ora of the Triassic and J urassic was generally a uniform one, and in most parts of the world was characterized by a n increase in the Coniferalcs. foll owed by a dominance of Cycadophytes and Ginkgoales. The J urassic period is frequently referred to as the Age of Cycads, and the few sparsely scattered living genera of the gro up a rc the direct descendants of forms which overspread the world in early and middle Mesozoic times. In the Cretaceous period, about I 00 million years ago. there was a spectacula r ri se of the fl owering plants (Angiosperms). and ve ry quickly they over­ shadowed the ex isting fl ora in all the con­ tinents of the worl d. A frond of Dicroidi11111 odonto pteroides ( M orris). Thinnfeldia During Triassi.:: time in Austra lia the seeds of various genera. The cycads and fern-like pla nts ( pteridosperms) were well related plants include a number of genera represented by a number of genera, includ­ which a re ma inly restri cted to rocks of ing Dicroidium (originally known as Thinn­ Jurassic and Cretaceous age, while the feldia). a nd species of this genus are found Ginkgoales are represented by the genera in abundance in Triassic a nd Jurassic rocks Ginkgoites and Baiera. of Queensland a nd New South Wales. The In earl y C retaceous time the older Mesa­ typical genus Thinnfe/dia is now known to zoic fl ora began to die out and became re­ be restricted to the northern hemi sphere, placed by the Angiosperms ( fl owering whereas Dicroidium is known only from the plants). This group increased so rapidly southern hemisphere. that by the end of the C retaceous it had

Page 86 Australian Natural History overspread the world. The oldest of the cl a s. wi th the eeds divided into two equal fl owering plants which a ppeared in early part , the leave a rc usua lly netted-veined. Cretaccou time include deciduo u trees, Thro ughout the Tertiary Era there wa such a the magnolia. fig and poplar. By a great increa c and preacl of the middle Cretaceous time the fore ts were Angiosperms, and to-day a pproximately e sentia ll y composed of modern plants and 125,000 living specie have been de cribed . included beeches, birches, map les, oaks, Early in Tertia ry time the ferns and conifer and plane . while shrubs like the laurel. ivy were fa irly abundant. but the cycad had and ho lly were also in existence. dimini hed con iderably in number. T er­ The Angiosperms arc divided into two tiary rocks in Au tralia have yielded an classes. the Monocotylcdons. in which the abunda nt fossil Oo ra consisting largely of pla nt begins li fe with a single leaOct, and i olatcd leaves. many of whi ch bear a very the Dicotyledo ns. in whi ch the plant begin close resemblance to the lea ves of plant life wi th two seedling leaves. The former. living to-day. wi th undivided seed!.. have leave wh ich [F.xcept where stated otherwi!,e, photos in a re parallel- ve ined, whereas in the latte r this artic/2 are by 1·/mmrd Hughes.]

" Mermaid' Pennie :· first discovered in • ew outh Wales in 1959. have now been found to be the foram Discobole/lina biper- jorma.

Late in August. 1961 , it was announced that heated. howe\ cr. the) charred readil). showing P rofe~ o r \ . tephenson. of the Zoolog) Depart­ that carbon was pre ent. and there \\as a mell ment of Queen land ni' ersit). had dredged u p remini cent of si nged hair or horn. This pointed some intere~ting objects in Mo reton Ba). Queens­ to a possible animal o rigin. Microscopicall) land. which he called "mermaid's pennie~ ... there wa no trace of rings of concentric cham­ These " mermaid's pennies" are nat, brown ber\. as one finds in forams like Marginopora, discs compo~ed of sand grains cemented together which is common o n the beaches of coral cays in a regular succession of rings. They var)' in a long the G reat Barrier Reef. diameter from about I in. to 11 in. The disc 1 he "pennies .. are now known to be giant foram , is about one- i\teenth of an inch thid. at it~ outer of a peculiar l..i nd, and are called Discobolellina rim and i., thinner toward its centre: in fact. hiperfora/a. The) were first described in 1958 in there i often a slit or a pair of irregularl y­ a Report of the British Museum of atural H is­ shaped holes towards the centre. tor) on the G reat Ba rrier Reef Expedition of The exiMcnce of the ~e '·pcnnie ·· in ew South 1928-9. The) differed in structure from all pre­ Wales had been known in the Au tralian M useum viou I) known foraminfera to such an extent since t959. when M r~. Jean Ball sent in some that a new genus had to be created for them. half-dozen "sea pennies" from Wooli. on the Professor Stephen~on hopes. by keeping north coast of e'' outh \ ales. and a l..ed for fre~hl ) dredged "mermaid' pennies'' in aquaria. information about them. At the time. the "pen­ to find out something of their life history, ph)sio­ nies" were tested chemically a nd micro.,copicall y log). rate of growth and other livi ng processes. and were found to contain no limy material 1 he result of this research wi ll be awaited wi th cementing the sand grain together. Whe n int erest.

Seplember, 1962 Page 87 Warragamba Dam. from the wall. l'holo.-Melropolilan Water Board.

The Biology of Warragamha Dam (Lake Burragorang) By V. H. JOLLY Biologist, Metropolitan Water Board, Sydney p RtMLTlVE ma n camped in the vicinity manding ome 300 million gallon of water of stream , lake and water-holes, where a day. he could quench hi thir t and hunt the With the ternfic increase in population . game which also came to seek water. A engineering ingenuity has been called upon he became more civilized he learnt to con­ to sati fy demands for water by building serve water by building tanks a nd da mming huge dams, holding reservoirs of water in tream . Citi es grew up on sites chosen for natural basins, and constructing tunnels. varying reasons, such as being suitable for cana l and pipe-lines to carry thi water to fo rtification, having easy access to transport distant cities. Six reservoirs now supply routes, or being near productive soil or rich the water for Sydney, the largest of which mineral deposits. Pro bably no thought was is La ke Burragorang. containing nearly half given to supplie of potable water other a billion gallons of water. held in rocky tha n that nece sary for immediate needs. vall ey by the recently- built Warragamba Little could the original in habitants of Syd­ Dam. Such bodies of water, despite their ney, drawing their modest requirements from artificial o rigin . develop the fl ora and fauna the T ank Stream. have foreseen a city de- characteri ti c of lakes.

Page 88 Aus1ralian ll/ural H istory Animals, whether they are terrestrial, ma rine or freshwater, are dependent on plants, a nd plants deri ve benefit from thei r association with animals. Communities therefore develop composed of three main groups of organisms, recognised as pro­ ducers, consumers and decomposers. These a re linked together in what is termed a food-chain . In lakes, where an almost closed com­ munity exists, the interdependence of plants and animals is clearly defined. The pro­ ducers a re the algae living in the open waters and the rooted pla nts growing around the shores. These are grazed by animals in the water, mostly microscopi c in size. but including, also, some insect larvae, molluscs Vol vox, o ne of the '·Green Algae,'' rolls through and fi sh. The plant-eating animals a re the the water like a ball. It is compo ed of hundreds primary consumers, and they are preyed of sma ll cell s joined together in a net. Eighty upon by the 5econdary consumers, which times natural size. include carnivorous insect larvae, fish, birds P hoto.-M. A. Chapman. and man. The decomposers are worms and insect larvae which break down detritus by La ke Burragorang has only reached its passing it through their alimentary tract in full area (29 sq. miles) and top level (max. order to obtain food , and the bacteria a nd depth, 343 ft.) within the last few months, fungi , which convert organic matter into but the stored water has been gradually salts that are utilised by plants. The food­ building up for over three years and already chain is thus completed and the only loss contains most of the groups of plants and to the community is that of insects which animals common to reservoirs and lakes the may fl y away and fi sh removed by man and world over. birds. Life In The Limnetic Zone Three zones, litto ral, limnetic and abys­ sal, provide different habitats in a lake. The limnetic zone is the home of the Some organisms a re confined to these by " drifters", which are at the mercy of the environmental factors, but others are able wind and currents, although many are to pass through them at will in search of capable of some movement. Plankton is a their requirements. general term covering this form of life, and it comprises phytoplankton (plants) and Lakes vary tremendously in the number zooplankton (animals). of animals they contain, and may be classed as rich or poor, according to the crops of Phytoplankton.-The phytoplankton has plankton or of fish they produce. While a has been found to contain some 35 genera productive lake is desirable from a fi sher­ belonging to the five classes of algae­ man's point of view, it is undesirable for Chlorophyceae, Chrysophyceae, Bacillario­ city water supplies. This is not because the phyceae, Myxophyceae and Dinophyceae. life in the water is actually harmful to man, The number of species is unknown, but since natural waters do not contain patho­ may exceed 100. Diatoms (Bacillariophy­ gens, but because some organisms when ceae) are usually varied and numerous in abundant create unpleasant tastes and lakes, but in Burragorang they are rare odours and may cause engineering proble ms except in some isolated headwaters. Those by blocking filters and meters. Therefore, most commonly found belong to the genus while to an engineer the paramount objec­ Melosira, which is a colonial diatom with tive is to produce as much water as cheaply cells joined end to end. The Chlorophyceae, as possible, the chemical and biological often referred to as "Green Algae", are well aspects cannot be neglected. represented by desmids such as Staurastrum ,

September, 1962 Page 89 Cosmarium, Closterium and Micrasterias. example of ymbiosis. Dozens of small T hese are easil y recognized by their charac­ green plants known as ;.oochlorel/ae live teristic shapes, resembling stars, butterflies, within the body cavity of this little pear­ bananas, etc., and by the fact that each cell shaped a nimal, utilising the by-products it is composed of two like halves joined by a gives off in respiration. They provide, in little bridge. Volvox, another "Green return, oxygen which they give off during Alga", is common at certain seasons of the the process of photosynthesis. Unusual year and when seen alive is most attractive. visito rs. appearing on two occasio ns, have Jt is composed of hundreds of small cells, been the medusae of the polyp Craspeda­ joined together in a net forming a round custa sowerbyi. These minute jelly-fi sh, ba ll, which ro ll s through the water propell ed about the size of a sixpence, appear to by its miniature oars. The Dinoflagellates dance in the water as they undulate their have a sc ulptured appeara nce, greeni sh­ sil very white umbrella . brown colo ur a nd transversely inserted The Entomostraca are the mo t commo n fl agell ae. T wo well-known genera are components of the zoopl ankto n. They are common- the barrel-shaped Peridinium and represented by the copepods, which the three-pro nged Ceratium. Dinobryon, a resemble minute shrimps. and the cladocera, colonia l member of the Chrysophyceae. commo nl y but unjustl y refe rred to as water golden brown in colo ur. is composed of a fl ea . because they move thro ugh the water number of fl ask-sha ped cells. Lt makes with jumpy movements. Fo ur species of sp~c t ac ul a r appeara nces. dominates the copepods are present: two species, Cala­ plankton for a week o r two a nd then may moecia ampulla and Boeckel/a fluvialis, a re co mpletely disappear. These seasona l Calanoids, and Mesocyclops leuckarti a nd fluctuatio ns of members of the plankton Eucyclops viridis belo ng to the Cyclo poids. a re quite common and help to make plank­ Calanoid are recognized by having o ne to n studies full of excitement, since it is like egg-sac and tai l spines of equal length. while watching the changing seaso ns in a ga rden. the Cyclopo icl s have two egg-sacs a nd tail Zoopla nkto n.- Aitho ugh the ;.ooplank­ spines which are unequa l in length. ton is rich it is not as varied as the phyto­ Four species of cladocera occur spas­ plankton. The o nly protozoa commonly modica lly in great numbers-Bosmina found is a ciliate which provides an unusual meriodiona/ is, C erioda phnia quadr angula,

A medusa (jell y-fish ) of the polyp Craspedacusta SOll"erbyi. These jell y-fish. about the size o f a sixpence. have been seen only twice in Warragamba D am . Photo.-Metropolitan Water Board.

Page 90 A ustrafian Natural History Daphnia carinata and Daphnia galeata. The food . The interesting Chaoborus larvae are occurrence of D. carinata is interesting, frequently collected during deep plankton since it is a pond rather than a lake type, tows. T hese young midges have two gas­ and occurs only when the water is rich and filled, kidney-shaped chambers, situated fore turbid. It is also found in all kinds of and aft, which act as hydrostatic organ ponds and puddles and in deep, still holes ena bling the animal to alter its position in in ri vers like the Murray, where it is so the water. variable in size a nd shape that it is often hard to recognize as the same species. The The Littoral Zone cosmopolitan species. D. galeata, develops In Burragorang there is as yet almost no in La ke Burragorang such an extravagant development of littoral life, because chang­ elongation of the tail spine and head that ing water levels have prevented the establish­ ., ment of aquatic plants, and, in addition, the ma rgi ns are for the greater part steep rock walls. Shore collections have so fa r yielded little but shrimps and a few insect larvae belonging to the Tricho ptera ( caddis fli es) which li ve in cases made by themsel ves from sand grains, bark, or grass stems.

The Abyssal Zone T he dark waters of the a byssal contain little life, for it is a non- productive zone. Insect imagos such as Chironomids pass through on their way to the surface a nd fi sh may penetrate to feed . Lake Burragorang, a lthough it has heavy deposits of silt in some places, is too young for a true bottom fauna to have developed, a nd the only \ animals collected have been some worms belonging to the Family Naididae and the larvae of two Chironomid species. These A cladocera. Daphnia ga/eaw. notable for the elongation of its midges are a ble to survive in conditions low tai l a nd head spines. F orty times in oxygen because of the haemoglobin natural size. present in their blood, the red colour of Photo.-M. A . Chapman. whi ch has caused the na me of " blood worms" to be applied to them. 1t 1s surpnsmg to find it so closely related to the northern hemisphere species. Dispersal A number of species of rotifers appear ft may be wondered how in such a short at va rious times, the most common being time a newly-formed lake can become K erat ell a cochlearis and As planchna popul ated with such a wide range of priodonta. Rotifer are sometimes referred organi sms, most of which do not live in the to as the wheel a nimacules because of a rivers which fl ow into it. This is largely due circle of cilia, the movement of which creates to the capacity of freshwater organisms to currents that sweep food into thei r mouths, produce, in response to a change in the givi ng them the appearance of a rotary environment, such as the drying-up of the mower. water, vari ous types of "spores", cysts and The Entomostraca spend only pa rt of resting eggs, which contain food reserves their time in the limnetic zone, for they have a nd are protected by a coat so resistant that negative reaction to strong light, and move they ca n survi ve for years. These are so deep down in the water during daylight but light that they are carried as dust by the return to the surface waters at night to graze wind or borne on the feet of birds and on the phytopla nkton which provides their animals. As soon as they become wet they

Seplember. 1962 Page 91 A dinoftagellate. Peridinium. (centre). with a rotifer. Kerarella, above and below it. Photo.-A Crispe.

germinate or hatch, and, if they find them­ norma ll y return to the ea, ei ther to feed selves in a suitable situa tion, rapidly repro­ or breed . La ke Burragorang contain many duce ; la kes and ponds can therefore be eels which will be fo rced to die there with­ quickly populated. out spawning unless they slip down the Such easy mean of dispersal are largely spillway during a fl ood. Innumerable tiny confined to planktonic forms. However, eels, known a elvers. have been seen trying in ects can move from place to place in their to ascend trickle of water at the da m wall, adult pha e and deposit their egg in or but whether a ny actually get over i doubt­ near the water. a nd molluscs may be moved ful , and o the lake may never be by streams or birds' feet. Fishes can come re-popula ted. by way of influent or effluent streams, and ft is recognized that it takes up to eight there are cases on record of small fi shes years for a new reservoir to reach equili­ caught in a waterspout being returned in brium, and therefore some of the intere ting downpour. of rain . When a reservoir i plants and animal now pre ent in Lake formed by damming a stream some fi shes Burragora ng may disappear as the environ­ may be trapped above the da m wall. This ment change . On the other hand. however, creates a problem for those fi shes which exciting new species may still appear.

Page 92 A usrralian Narural H isrory Colonies of h ydroids. Hydractinia epicon­ cha. li ving o n nails. Parcanassa jonasi. Upper and lower sur­ faces of the snails· shells are shown. ( Magnified five times ). Phot o.-Peter W otff and l sob ~l Bennett.

Hydroids on Marine Snails

On estuarine Oats with beds of Eel-grass a characteristic of species of the hydroid family (Zostera) in places uch as Sydney H arbour, H ydractiniidae that they arc very often found as Tuggera h Lakes. Pittwater. a nd Botany and Gun­ associates of other animals. and, while sotne namatta Ba ys. there is a mall carnivorous snail , species may be found free-livi ng in the sea. many Parcrmassa jonasi. about I cm. in length. which are found only on one particular shell. fi sh o r can be collected in large numbers. It is usually other animal. one of these is in any way fo und either on the fronds of the Zostera or parasitic. but the degree of symbiosis or com­ gl iding over the muddy sand of the shall ow mcnsalism apparently varies with different host pools left on the Oats by the receding tide. a nimals. For example. it is d ifficult to ee just In Middle H arbour. Sydney, where hundreds how the hydroid woul d benefit the snail Par­ of these shells were collected within the space canassa, but, in the ea e of the hermit crabs in of half an hour, it was recently found that at Japan, it is definitely stated that the hydroid least 90 per cent. of the snails collected were colo ny overgrow the shell to such an extent covered by what appeared to the naked eye a that the hermi t crab's living space i constantly a fine, white, fuzzy growth of some sort. Under enlarged, with the result that it doe not have to the m icroscope this was revealed as a colony of keep seeking bigger shells as it grows. tiny, delicate hydroids. Specimens were ent to Another interesting fact is that on Zostera the British Museum to check the identification beds of the estuaries of Cape Province and atal, of the species, which appears to be H ydractinia South Africa. an identical association is found­ epiconcha. that of a Nassariid snail with colonies of another There are several rather extraordinary things species of Hydractinia. about this discovery. I n the fir st pl ace it is When the Middle Harbour snails were fed strange. considering the numbers pre ent in tiny pieces of cho pped-up worms from the same M iddle H arbour, that this genus does not appear mud-flats, it wa een that the hydroids imme­ to have ever been recorded from Australian diately turned, with the tentacles rapidly ex­ waters before. To date, the only member of the panding. in the directio n of a fl oating particle of family described from Aust ralia li ves on the worm. and within seconds this was engulfed by shell of a snail from Barrier Reef waters-in­ o ne of them. cidentall y. a carnivorous snail belonging to the Snails were collected in January. February. same family as Parcanassa. March and April of 1962. and during all t his But the exciting part is that Hydractinia period the h ydroid colonies bore both feedin~ epiconcha is a well-known J apanese species which and reproductive zooids •.../ SOB EL JJENNETT, lives on shells occupied by hermit crabs. lt is Department of Zoology, University of Sydney.

September, 1962 Pa~?e 93 The young larvae which hatch fro m them are active, elo ngate creatures with well - developed legs a nd long mandibles. A there are no gi ll s, the larva must swim to the surface periodically to renew its a ir supply. This it does by breaking the surface film with the tip of the abdo men, o n which a re situated a pair of respirato ry o penings, the spiracles. These lead to the complex system of air-tubes (tracheae) which carry the air to a ll parts of the body. The larvae feed o n small water animals, including in­ sects, snails, worms and tadpoles. The prey is grabbed with the mandibles, each of which has a ho ll ow channel connecti ng with the mo uth. Thro ugh this a digestive fluid. con­ A hydrophilid water beetle. Hydrous lwipa_l pus. common in eastern Australi a: length. I± 111. taining enzymes, is pumped into the body of the victim. T his breaks down a nd lique­ fi es the interna l parts of the animal. which a re then sucked back through the ma ndi­ WATER bula r channels. When the larva has grown to full size it leaves the water and ma kes a BEETLES ho llow chamber in the bank where it enters the pupa stage, which may last two to By OA VIO K. McALPI NE four weeks. The pupal skin then splits a nd the adult beetl e emerges. T he adult i B ECAUSE of the extraordinary number a lso carni voro us, but chews its food with of beetle species and their vari ed habits, the ma ndible a nd digests it internally. it is not surprising that numero us kinds Ji ve The details of the life cycle differ in in water fo r the greater pa rt of their li ves. other water beetles. even in some o ther Most of these li ve in freshwater la ke . dytiscid species. The larvae of gyrinids a nd streams and po nds, a very few living in some hydrophilids have a fringe of tracheal bracki sh o r sa lt water. At least nine fa mi­ gills a lo ng each ide of the a bdo men by lies of beetl es consist la rgely of aq uati c means of which they o bta in oxygen d is­ species, but of the e only three are fa milia r solved in the water. Co nsequently. they to the genera l o bserver. These a rc the fa mi­ do no t need to go to the surface for breath ­ lies Dyti scidae ( typical water beetles), ing. G yrinid la rvae arc principall y carni ­ Gyrinidae (whirligig beetles) and Hydro­ voro us and probably feed in a simila r ma n­ philidae (a va riety of diffe rent kinds, many ner to Dytiscus. The la rvae. as we ll as the not aquatic). These are a ll more o r less adults. of hydroph il ids are predo minantly smooth, streamlined, oval beetles. The vegetable feeders and live o n aquatic algae. gyrin ids are easil y distinguished by their T hey are less acti ve and slower swimmers lo ng fo re-legs which contrast with the sho rt, tha n the carni voro us fo rm . fl attened . pacldle-like middle a nd hind pa irs Adul t water beetles all need to o btain of legs. The dyti cids and hyd ro philids have ai r at the surface and cannot li ve in­ the hind legs lo nger tha n the other two definitely if denied access to the surface. Air pairs. but while the latter have very ho rt, is sto red unde r the ha rd wing-covers o r cl ubbed a ntennae, no longer than the pa lpi elytra which cover the a bdomen. o that a (the jointed mouth appendages) , the fo rmer considerable period can be spent below­ have lo nger, thread-li ke antennae. several days in o ne species. lt is not known how those species whi ch live below surface Life Cycle ice o btain their air. A ir in the "sto rage T he life cycle of the beetle Dytiscus may tank" below the elytra can pass directly be taken as that of a typical water beetle. thro ugh the spiracles on the abdomen which The eggs a re laid in slits in water pla nts. are also concealed under the elytra.

Page 94 Australian Natural Historv ln contrast to the dytiscids and hyd ro­ certain aquatic bugs such as back-swimmers philids which only come to the surface to (Notonectidae) and water-skaters (Gerri­ renew their air supp ly, the adult gyrinids dae), avoid being swept downstream by the spend most of their time fl oating on the same kind of reactions. It should be surface, where they often congregate in realised that menotaxis is not an unvarying numbers. If pursued they may dive to reaction of the e insects, but ta kes place the bottom but often prefer to skate swiftly when the behaviour is not influenced by along the surface. The gyrating or whirling other factor , uch as the presence of a path they follow when swimming has potential enemy. given them the na me of "whirligig" beetle . A phenomenon related to menotaxis i At other times, however, they swim slowly the attracti on to light of night-flyi ng insects, so as merely to keep pace with the current. among which we may number the water An adaptation to the fl oating way of li fe beetles. This reaction, called phototaxis, of the gyrinid is to be seen in the eyes. consists of maintaining the ource of light Each eye is completely divided into separa te directly in front of the insect so that it upper and lower ections, giving the effect of flies stra ight towards it. At time the source four eyes. The two lower sections are used for vision below the surface. while the upper division a rc o placed a to serve for vision in the a ir when the insect i fl oating. The numerous facets of wh ich the eyes are composed differ structurally in the upper and lower sections, the lower o nes being apparently adapted for viewing near o bjects, the upper aerial ones for more dis­ tant objects.

Menotaxis Many water beetl e share with numerous other insects a tendency to swim or move so as to maintain urrounding o bject in the same position in their fi eld of vi ion. Such movements are termed menotaxis. We may express thi differently by aying t hat the e in eels may tri ve to ma intain a con- tant rather than a cha nging visual pattern. A a n example we may take a dyti c id water I beetle which i swimming in a glas con­ tainer, a round which a seri es of black a nd white ve rtical stripes a re rotated . The I beetl e swims round and ro und remai ning The larva of a dytiscid water beetle. opposite the a me stripe, so to maintain a n Photo.-G. C. Cluuon. unchanging pattern before its eyes. fn a running stream the e reactions are of value of light may be approached at an angle o to the insect. fo r it tends to keep the same that the in cct pirals round the light as urroundings in view a nd swims so a to it approache it. resist being wept away by the current to an unsuitable environment. ln gyrinids Capacity for Learning whirling about on the surface of the water the reactions a re undoubtedly more com­ Experiments have shown water beetles to pl ex. Though they must have a con tantly have moderately developed powers of learn­ changing view of their environment it has ing and memory. Dytiseids have been been shown that they still maintain their taught to associate certain a rtificial scents position by recognition of the surroundi ng with suitable or unsuitable foods. In these pattern. ot only water beetles. but a l o experiments they were not a ttracted to the

September, J 962 Page 95 scent associated with di tasteful food but tennae are held in contact w ith the surface readily attracted to the cent associated with during wimming. they probably pick up good food. even after the food was removed . a variety of different urface vibrations and Such learning can be retained for several may be used in preventing collisions when days. a ft er which the ''lessons'' arc soon the beetles a re wimming together. forgotten. G yrinid beetles have been trained Because of the ease with which water to respond to waves on the surface of the beetl es can be kept ali ve in an aqua rium water produced by a tuning fork when these they a re very suitable ubject fo r behavio ur were as ociated with food . The stimuli are tudie . Altho ugh much ha been written apparently detected by pecial en e o rgan o n the subject in cientific jo urnals there i on the a ntennae of the beetle. These organs, still much than can be fo und o ut by o ne called Jo hnsto n's organ, a re particuarly who i willing to watch and experiment with well developed in gyrinid and, a the a n- the e fascinating insects.

Privet Hawk-Moth Caterpillar

The caterpillar of the Australian Privet H awk-moth. Photo.-Howard Hughes.

By L. CouRTNEY-HAINE been introduced into Australia, appears to be The large green caterpilla rs of the Au tralian erroneous, the author apparently confusing it with Privet Hawk-moth ( Psilogramm a m eneplrron the indigenous privet-feeding specie . casuarinae Walker) are a common sight on l n addition to the common a nd variegated hedge during the summer and autumn. When privets. caterpillar of P. m enephron casuarinae fully grown they a re from 4 in. to 5 in. long. feed on introduced garden lilac. pink bignonia, adorned with obliq ue yellow and lilac lateral tecoma and American claret ash (Fraxinius). The stripes and. like other members of the famil y only native food-plant yet discovered is Note/ea Sphingidae. have a serrated tail-horn. Should the longifolia, a shrub with bluish-green leaves. It animal be in any way alarmed a sphinx-like atti­ ha been ob erved that those caterpillars w hich tude is adopted. and it i from thi habit that feed on common privet rarely attain the moth the famil y name is derived. stage. for just as they are fully fed. and about Although caterpillars of the Australian Privet to go down to the surface oil to pupate, a H awk-moth superficially re emble those of the virus disease kills them. European P rivet H awk-moth (Sphinx ligustri The moths are crepuscular and nocturnal, and Linnaeus) the moths themselves are distinctly are attracted to various garden fl owers. among different. The latter has brownish fo rewings, which petunias and honeysuckle are greatly fav­ rose-coloured hindwings a nd a rose-banded abdo­ oured. The females, somewhat larger than men; the former is mainly grey, the forewings male . may have a wing span of 4 in. or more, marked with black and the hindwings an overall and when a larmed a re capable of producing an hade of brown. The view expressed by the audible sq ueaky-ra ping sound, which is quite late M r. K . C. Mc Keown. in his " Australian startling and is no doubt some protectio n against Insects", that the European Privet Hawk-moth had enemies.

Page 96 Australian Natural H istory RABBIT-BARED BANDICOOTS OR BILBIES

Uy A. E. NEWS0:\1E Biologist, Northern Territory Administration

A BBIT-EAR ED Ba nd icoots are delight­ R ful medium- ized ma r upia l with bluish­ grey fur, oft en with a pinkish tinge. a nd with long car . T wo of the described pccies, Thy/acomys /agoris and T . minor , have ~ a il s with the proximal part black, the dt tal white. T. /euceum :, i described a having a pure white tail. All these a re very odd cha racteris tic for a ba ndicoot. but, even more trange. these animal live in burrows. So a berrant is thi s genus compared to other bandicoots that it is thought tha t it must have diverged from the ma in Peramc­ The Rabbit-eared Bandicoot Tlr ylacomys lagotis. lid stem a long time ago. Bilbie have an Photo.-Au~tralian Ne"s and In formation Bureau . entirely inland distribution and a rc charac­ teri tic of the Eyrean fauna. If they have T . /euceurus is known from one skin only. alway been inhabita nt of the arid a reas. ent to Oldfield Thoma at the British then we can argue that a rid or emi-a rid Museum from an unknown locality in South condition must have been a feature of the A u tra lia about 1880. lts di tinguishing Au trali an climate for a very long time, feature i it pure white tail. While no !retching well back into the Tertia ry. further specimen of thi species i o btai ned, T. /agoris. the large t of the three named its tatus must remain in doubt. specie . had the wide t distribution. lt is The most pre sing problem confronting known from we tern Queensland. central an a nimal living in the arid regions a re how a nd we tern ew South Wale , north-west to o bta in sufficient water, how to esca pe Victori a. central and northern South Aus­ expo ure to excess heat, and how to dis i­ tralia, central-western Australia a nd the patc excess heat. The Bilbie is ~e p ~ rte d as drier parts of the Northern T erritory. It eating mice and insects. l ts chtef ttem of is now reported extinct in New South Wales, diet in Central Au tralia has been found to Victoria and South Australia. Recent be termites. In the absence of free water records of its occurrence come from Birds­ (which occurs only after rains), the Bilbie vill e. Queen land, the Blackstone Ranges in prc umably o bta ins sufficient water f~o m central-eastern Weste rn Austra lia, W ood­ this food. lt is entirely nocturna l a nd ltves stock. near Marble Bar in Western Au tra­ in the micro-climate of a burrow from three lia, and from some 36 localitie in the to ix feet deep during the day, thus escap­ Northern Te rritory. where a recent study ing the intense olar radiati on. In fact, has shown its distribution to be confined to the Bilbie is ill-equipped to withstand an the Mulga ( A cacia aneuria) and Spinifex intense heat load . It has no sweat glands (Triodia species) ecosystem. and it does not pant. Its only mechani sm T . minor is very simila r to T . lagoris o f losing heat is by physical means: a ided morphologically, but i smaller. It is known by vaso-dilation in its v~ry l ? n~ thtn ear!. from C harlotte W aters a nd Barrow Creek and in its muzzle. Capttve Btlbtes suffered in the Northern T errito ry and from the from heat prostrati on after only I 0 minutes' Lake Eyre basin. No specimen of this small exposure to temperatures above 100· F. in species has been taken since the .1930s. the Alice Springs district.

September, 1962 Page 97 In common with many Australian mam­ any background to a nswer the question of mal . very little is known about the ecology why it is apparently extinct in ome areas of Bilbie . A study of T. lagotis in Central and disappearing in others. Au tralia at present under way is aimed at The u ual explanations for this disappear­ elucidating a few a pcct of how thi species ance are competition for burrowing space li ves. The species is parsely distributed. from rabbits and predation by foxes, and Only four localities where it occurs arc o me people claim that marsupials as a known in an a rea 50 mile long and 30 group are on the wane. anyhow. There arc mile wide-an area extensively travelled al o uch factors as long-te rm fluctuations by the author. Two other recorded sight­ in the numbers of a nima l . ing of the specie a re known in ide this a rea. Compared with the comments of Since the Bilbie and some other of these Baldwin Spencer during the H orn Expedi­ "declining" marsupials survive in unin­ tion to Central Australia in 1894. the pecies ha bited and undisturbed areas too isolated seem to be les common now than then. or too arid to permit pastoral activity. more H e recorded that ''its burrows abound". and more people a re coming to think the l t would appea r that the pecics is dis­ ex planati on fo r the disappearance of some appearing all over Australia . Many people of the smaller species of marsupials is have tried to explain this, but not enough linked wi th land use. It i hoped the i known of the specie ' ecology to provide present study may help answer this problem .

NOTES A

ABORIGI~AL STONE IMPLE tENTS RESEA RCH

Mr. Perc} Gres~e r . o f Bathursl. has presented M f'>. There\e Belleau Kemp. former!} of to the Mu\eum a collection of more tha n 5.000 Harvard Universit}, U ..A.. a nd now living in stone implements "hich he collected on over I 00 Sydney. has begun \\Orl.. on the typology of the cam p ~ i te'> o f the Aborigine in western ew Abori ginal stone implements of T asmania. he Sout h Wales and weMern Qu een~la nd during the i'> mal..ing an intemi\ e examination of the Austra­ past 48 years. As many of the localities were lian Mmeum·s collection a\ the initial part o f not previou ly represented in the Mu\eum's col­ thi research. lection. nor. in fact. in an} museum·~. Mr. Gresser\ collection adds con iderably to the range of types and their distr ibut ion~ in this SWAI:\' REEFS EXI'EDITIO~ M useum's Sllldy material. lt contains many new d b tributional records of pecialized tone T he Au tralian Museum wi ll '>e nd an expedition implement'>. including the Bondi a nd pirri points. to the Swain Reefs in October to mal..e compre­ geometrical microlith . tu/a ad zes and the Burren hensive coll ections of the marine fauna of thi adze slug. juan knife. M ore/la poli hing Mone. large. practically unl..nown area o f the Great cylcons. axe'>. kni' es and chi els with ground edge. Barrier Reef. The ydney firm of Oavid Jones. nake fabricators and o thers. There i a parti­ Ltd., is financing the expeditio n. which will in­ c ularly fin e series of implements from a number c lude five M u,eum scien tists and a number of o r camp '> tie tn the Condobolin district of ew other collector'>. mo~t of whom arc speciali'>ts in outh Wales. and Bouli a and H ughenden in sl..in-diving and marine photograph}. l t is planned Queensla nd. The geometrical microliths in th: to pend at least two weeks in the wains. u ~i n g coll ection constilllte an amazing range of types. one o f the coral cay known to exist there a ~ a varying from tiny. perfectly made specimens a base. Collecting will be done on the reefs a nd b\ quarter o f an inch long to other up to two dredging and trawling in the deeper water. with inche long. Very li u le i known about the dis­ the aid of several mall boats. The expedition tributions o f tone-implement types in Queens­ " ill use a "ide variet} of collecting techniques. land, a nd Mr. Gre ser· lifelo ng hobb}. the resul•s with the aim of making the collections as com­ of which he has given so generously to cience. plete as possible in the time available and cover­ will fill -i n many o f the blanks in this respect. ing all groups o f marine animal .

Page 98 Allftralian Natural H istor_,. A con temporary view of the pa rt o f Syd ney near w he re John Roac h. "the rasca ll y bird- t uffer." li ved . From D c l e s~ert's .. Voya ge~ d ans les Deux O ceans:· 1844. PhoiO.- Mitchell Lobrary. Sydne)'.

JOHN ROACH AND THE BUDGERIGAR

IJy TOM IREOALE and G. J> . WHITLEY

HE as embling the archives of the in Sydney and a lso old stuffed bi rds. bei ng W Au tralian Mu- cum. an earl y refer­ a taxidermist of note. Our tra n ~ lat i o n i a ence was fo und to a bird called Budgcrry. fo llows :- nowaday we ll-known as the Budgerigar. A ma n named Roach, \~ h o has a great reputa­ The reference a ppeared in a book published tion as a bird-stufTer , a nd w ho receive nume rou in Pa ris in 1847, entitled " Souvenirs d ' un orders from Euro pe. keeps a curio-shop in Voyage a Sydney ( ouvelle-Ho llande ) fa it H unter treet. worth \ o f a ttracting the a ttention pendant r anm!e 18 45 ". written by ugene of stra nj!ers. parti;:ula rl\ tho e "ho. m a l.. inJ! o nl y a ~h o rt sta} in S}dne}, haven"t the time to go into Delessert. The na me Dele sert was fa milia r, the surroundinJ! bushland. At Roac h·s. one ca n as E ugcne· father. Bcnjamin Dele e rt, ha ve the pleasure of seeing all at once a selec­ purcha sed the fa mous La marck shell col­ tion of the anima ls found in ew South lection. but the name of the bird wa not, o W ale ... we decided to in ve tigate closer, little Out the parral..eet "hich is the ti niest. rarest. and consequent)} the favourite. i the o ne call ed imagining the trouble before u . budgerr}. It is the size of a cana r\. clear leaf­ The reference was abo ut a bird-dealer a nd green in colour and striped " ith black o n the back. 'o thinJ! is more a musing tha n to hear it a very early employee of the Austra lia n c hatter a nd ask for a piece of b read. lt is a bi rd Museum called Roach, who had an avia ry w h ich can be taught wi thout too muc h trouble.

Septemhc r. 1962 Page 99 John Roach, "The Rascally Bird- tuffer" T he Roach mentioned by Dele sert as a taxidermist a nd li sted as John W. Roach in early Sydney di rectoric was almo t certainl y the John Roach who arrived as a convict aboard the "Aurora" late in 1833. In the Parli amentary Archives. Sydney. a letter fro m E. Dcas Thomson to the Colonial Sec­ retary. dated Council Chamber. Syd ney, May 2. 1834. reads:- ir, T he Prisoner named in the margin {John Roach, per '"Aurora'') having been employed ince 16th J anuan la t. in pre erving the Bird a nd other uriosities in the Museum, I have to reque t that Hi E\cellcnq the Governor '"ill be pleased to ~anction his being allowed at the rate of l/9 a Day in lieu of Rations and Clothing, to commence from the above date. I have al o to rcquc 1 that H is Excellency ~"i ll authorise an allowance for the same period at the rate of £10 per annum to William Gal\'in the messenger of this Office. who has had charge of the Museum for near! three year . I have been under the nccessit} of purchasing from time to time various articles for the pre er­ vation of the Birds. for which I "ill ubmit an The earlie t picture of the budgerigar-from account for His Excellenq ·s approval. '·Naturalist's Miscellany:· by Shaw and odder, 1 would also take the liberty of suggesting 1805. that the In titution be call ed the " Australian Mu eum1' '. and placed under the management of Tru tees. to be nominated by H is Excellenq the Governor; and that another Prisoner of the The Auditor General C rown. be empl oyed under their direction to &c. &c. &c. collect Birds. and other Curiosities,- Roach being retained to et them up. and place them in Sir, the Cases. in which he appear to be expert. In repl} to your Letter of the 29th Ultimo, 1t wi ll be necessary that during the winter r have the honour to inform you that on enquiry months a Fire should be constantl y kept in the of the Colonial ecretary, he informs me that the room a ppro priated to the Museum. I beg there­ prisoner named in the margin (John Roach) fore that the necessa ry orders may be given to altached to the Au tralian Museum. was ordered the contractor to supplv the usual quantity for to be upplied with ration during his ab ence one fire during that period. at Moreton Bay. namely from the 19th May to the 23rd uJt • inclusive but not with any clothing. Such of the Bird Skins left by the late Curator2• as were in ufficient state of preservation. have I have &c. been set up and it will be neces a ry to purchase (Signed) E. Deas Thorn on cases to pl ace them in. for which 1 have to reque t that H i Excellency will authorise an Cle rk of the Council. advance of £20 to be hereafter accounted for. Along with other convict , Roach. " the I have, &c. man from the Museum ", was attached. o nly E. Deas Thorn on the day before it set out, to Major T. Clk: Col L. Mitchelrs expedition into inland outh­ Although a humble convict, John R oach eastern Austra li a in 1835-1 836. (Havard, was evidently a keen ornithologist and taxi­ 1936. " Journal and Proceedings of the dermist for hi s times and, presumably. Royal Australian H istorical Society". 22 wo uld have been tru ted with firearms, for (2), pp. 107, 110, 114 and 115). As "Col­ he was employed to collect and preserve lector of Birds", he was is ued, wi th the specimens at ls. 9d. a day. A fu rther letter rest of the men, with new "grey trou er fro m E. Deas Thomson. dated September 6. and a red woollen shirt. the latter article. 1834. i a follows:- when crossed by white brace , givi ng the

Page 100 Australian Natural History men somewhat of a military appear- A little ea rlier. in 1845, there was a John a nce. Otherwi e. Mitchell 's book tell u W. Roach at 32 Hunter-street, li ted as an little directly a bout Roach. ( Mitchell. .. Ornolhogi t'' in Low's ·'Sydney Directory'' 1838. "Three Expedition into the Inte rior of that year'4 and in 184 7 as J ohn William of Ea tern Australia", vol. 2, pp. 2. 22. 25 Roach at the same addres as a taxidermi t and 30 I). ( Low's ..S ydney Directory.'' 184 7). Again. He wa appa rently not paid for hi ser­ in 185 1, there wa a John William "Roche'' vices-convict were con idered to be pri­ at the Rainbow Tavern, Pitt-street north vi leged to give freely of their labour and and King- treet east ( Ford's " Sydney Com­ sha re all the considera ble dan!!ers a nd dis­ m ~ rcial Directory". 1851 : "Sydney Morning comfo rt of a long expedition i~to unknown Hera ld ". August 26, 1961, p. 12). Doubt­ country as part of thei r rehabili tation. les all these references concern our ma n. In the accounting for Mitchell's expedi ­ whose priva te resid ence might easily have tion in Sydney in December. 1836. the col­ been in Hunter-street in those day . lection wa handed to Dr. George Bennetl. T here was a story that a Mr. Roach. of the cu todian of the A ustralian Mu eum. Petty' Hotel. gave a coll ection of insect while J ohn Roach, who was " still in servi­ to the Governor, who placed it in a round­ tude·· had the um of £5 deposited in the hou e (or watch-tower), perhaps the one in Saving Ba nk for hi benefit until he became C umberla nd-street, in the charge of W. S. free or obtained hi ticket-of-l eave. Wall. Thi seems unlikely in view of the Surgeon Stapleton, in his MS. Jo urnal. foregoing facts. In 1836, the proprietor wa speaks of Roach as the "rascally bi rd­ ''T homas Petty. late of Pulteney Hotel" tuffer·· and the ··rasca lly protegee of Mr. (''Sydney Gazette" newspape r, July 9. McLeay" during Mitchell"s expedition to 1836. p. 3), which was in Bent- treet. the Darling and Murray Ri vers. In 183 7, according to George Bennett"s According to W. W . Froggatt' "Au - .. Catalogue'', John Roach was back at the tralia n Insects" (1907, p. 4 12): " The Au tralian Museum as " Collector and Pre­ Austra li an Museum, Sydney, was fo unded erver of Specimens·· and in that year, hi in 1836 and incorporated by Act of Coun­ ti cket-of-leave being due, he was granted cil in 1853. The first collection of insects "an a nnual sa la ry as a servant of the I nsti­ was made by Mr. Roach of Petty's Hotel tution'' on Bennett" s recommendation. about 1835, who presented it to the Govern­ (Australian Museum letter book, i, 1837. p. ment ; they were exhibited in the ' Round 2 1 : sa lary £5 a month. ibid., p. 32.) R oach House· near Circula r Quay, where they were continued as such into the 1840's. perhaps placed in cha rge of W. S. Wall. afterward later3 , sha ring hi s ti tle with W. S. Wa ll. the fir t Curator of the Australian Museum ... also known a "Collector a nd Preserver of The la t we can trace of J. W. Roach Specimens", if not being replaced by Wa ll . is an addres at the German Club, Wynyard Thi probably led to rivalry or friction, for Square. Sydney (" Sydney Directory''. 1858. on September 8, 1846, a letter from Lynd, p. 195). where he was a steward and pro­ Hon. Secretary of the Austra lian Museum prietor of the club ("Sydney Directory". ( Au tralian Museum letter book, i, p. 68), 186 1). reported to the Colonial Secretary that John Roach had removed the foetus of a dugong or ''Sea Pig'' from the Moreton Bay Budgerry or Budgerigar steamer. con igned to Wall as Curator of After this hi storical circumlocation we the Australia n Museum by Pilot H exton. come now to Delessert's early use of the stationed at Moreton Bay. Roach had rep­ na me Budgerry for one of R oach ·s birds. resented himself as the C urator and took now known as Budgerigar ( Melopsittacus the foetus from the ship. surely one of the undulatus) . oddest thefts in Sydney's lengthy catalogue of crime! The specimen was subseq uently Psittacus undulatus first appeared in lite­ recovered by Wall, and the matter placed rature in 1805, when Shaw and Nodder in the Law Officer's hands for Roach' due (''Naturalist's Miscella ny", 16. pi. 673) punishment. figu red the bird from New Holland wi th a

St!ptem ber, 1962 Page 10 1 made-up vernacular of U ndulated Pa rrot. Betcherygah. Boodge ree-ga r. Their specimen appa rently was a straggler Budgee. Budgie (ne"spa per article and toward the coast near Pa rramatta or 'ulj!ar speech) . Sydney, a it is an inland-living bird. A Jn 1960 Mr. Gilbert handed u two addi­ late a the 1830' not much wa known tion to hi li t: Budeere G a r- from •· Bu h about the pecie , so Gould, before he came Wa ndering of a a t~ra li t. by an old Bu h­ to A u tralia , is ued a plate of it. ma n··, i.e., H. W. Wheelwright. 1865. p. C ha rles Barrett stated that one wa "shot 167 (also in the first edition of 186 1)-a nd out Rose Hill ( Parramatta) way in 1804". Budgercegah. Budjcrigar, W ebster's Dic­ but d id not give the ource of th i informa­ tiona ry, 1928 editi on. tion. T he specimen may be the one in the Web&ter. in the supplement to his 1902 Linnean Society of L ondon. as Latha m dictionary. prefaced 1900 . page 30. gave ( 1824) reported one in that coll ection and vari ous other spellings. of which Budgcrec­ o nly two others. one in the collection of gah was preferred in Brown's " Wo rds". Genera l Davi . the other in Mr. Har rison's. A u t i n ~ a nd Sanford gave Budgerager and Gould met with the species on the Liver­ Bugirigar from Western A ustrali a in 1855. pool Plains in Ma rch. 1839. but before tear the top of the list of more than 20 that. in the British Cyclopaed ia of atura l variant &pelting of budgerigar should come H i!.to ry:; . is ucd before June. 183 7. furn­ Delcs~crt's budgerry for Roach's bird. ished the following information (Vol. 3. p. 4 14 ) : ''The pecie to whi ch we a llude ot for nothing do we refer to ·'natural i ~ the waved or undulated one (Nanodes hi story" as the s t~d y of a nimal and pla nt . und ularus). lt is a pretty little bird. about The naturali st must be a histo rian a well , ~eve n inches in length. of which the tail a nd find he must follow up every clue when occupies ha lf. The genera l colour a rc tudying his subject. We little thought. when greeni sh, ye ll ow. and brown, with blue on we read a paragraph or two in Delcssert. the middle feathers of the tail. whi ch a re that we hould be led so far astray. very much produced : and there i a . mall I 1 his ap pears to be the earliest reference to pa tch of blue on each cheek. This hand­ the name "Austra lia n Museum··. T he collection wa~ then housed in the Council C hamber, Mac­ some little bird is very common in New quarie trcet. now Parliament H ouse. Ho lla nd and Van Dicmen's Land, a nd 21 h i ~ would h ave been Will iam Holmcs, no appear as oft en upon the ground as on doubt. cc W hitlq. " Austra lia n Mu cum M aga- trees''. 7inc", March . 1961. p. 306. 3 Tcgg's " . S. Wales Pocket Almanac and The late Percv A . Gilbert wrote a note Remembranccr for 1840". p. l.:l t : 184 1. p. 168: on ''The Vernacul a r of M elopsittacus undu­ 1842. pp. 153-4. fatus, Shaw'' in 1941 6 and gave a chrono­ ' ec abo Jo hn A s l.. ew. 1857. "A Voyage to Australia and ew Zealand by a Steerage Pas­ logical summary of the na mes which (apart <,e nger". p. 197 : " In Hunter Street there is a from Enuli h vernacula rs) were:- Museum o f awral History. This place has a shop front. and th(; \\ indow contaim beautiful 184 7. Betshiregah. Leichhardt. <,pecimcns of presen ed animals". 1848. Betcherr}gah. Gould (should be 1840) , s fn three \Oiumcs. London : \ . S. Orr & Co .. nati' e name. Li,·erpool Plain . "here Gould was Amen Corner. Paternoster Ro". I 35. 1836, in March. 18397• J une 1837. Edi;ed b} Charles F . Partington 1849. Bidgerigung. turt. [from Article>! by Authors Eminent in their Par­ ticular Departments. 1850. 13ougirigard. 1-l u\IC\. 6 Gilbert. 1941. ''Proceedings of the Royal 1870. Budgeri gar. accepted m odern ~pe l ling , Zoolo!!ical Society of C'-' South Wales. 1940-4 1". C'asscll's " Household Guide··. p. 44. 1889. Budjerigar. e" ton. D ictionary o f Bi rds, 7 M isled by Morrb';, "Austral Engli h" (p. 1893 . 6 1), Gilbert dated Gould 's na me f rom 1848, Budgerr)gar of standard '-'Orks and placing it second to Leichhardt's. but Gould 's ched-lists. comes fi rst. having been i;,sued in 1840. Budgerygah. s Austin, 1855. Jcurnal of A sistant-Surve}or R. Bud11erigah . Austin ... e\pedition to e\plore the interior of Buderigar in an A merican publicatio n. Western Australia. mall folio. Pert h. \Vc ~ t crn Budgereegah . Au tralia. 1855. A noendix. W . A . an ford to 1896, 13eaureganl. C'-'tOn. 1896 ( Diet. Bird . R obert Austin. p. 49 (includes undulated j!ra<,s p. 59). parral..cet or bugirigar) .

Pa1:e 102 AusJralian , a/ural H isJory NEW SOUTH WALES ABORIGINAL PLACE NAMES AND EUPHONIOUS WORDS~ WITH THEIR MEANINGS

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