1922] MADRAS PEARL FISHERIES 87 



Leaving Tuticorin on the morning of May 17th, we proceeded 

 to a position south-west of Mela Onbadu Par, where we spent the 

 whole of the available time in taking numerous hauls of the dredge 

 in 9% to 10 fathoms. My intention had been to select a locality 

 which was a known chank bed in order to experiment with the 

 dredge. I had accordingly requested Captain Carlyon to arrange 

 to be taken to a suitable bank, the consequence being that the 

 pilotage of the steamer was entrusted to a Parmandadai, who was, 

 I understand, informed of my wish in the matter. The results 

 showed that he deliberately placed the ship where I am absolutely 

 convinced no chank bed exists. 



This action, accidental or intentional, barred my way to 

 demonstrate, as I had wished, the utility of the dredge in fishing 

 for chanks. Fortunately one of the pearl banks fished in February 

 1905, on the Ceylon side, adjoins a chank bed, and having the 

 use of the dredging steamer " Violet " at that time, I was able to 

 satisfy myself by actual experiment that the dredge is an efficient 

 implement for successful chank fishing. 



The bottom where the Parmandadai took the '' Margarita " was 

 quite unlike that of any of the undoubted chank beds we had 

 previously visited, while the depth of water, almost ten fathoms, 

 was greater than that upon typical chank beds. 



The ground was extremely rich in life ; elongated cylindrical 

 actinians of two species were abundant embedded in the sand, 

 together with large numbers of an elongated Molgulid, which 

 appears to live upright with the aboral extremity implanted in the 

 sand. A small Flabellum sp. was plentiful on the surface together 

 with a drab and grey Pennatula and many Virgularia juncea; 

 arborescent rosy tipped Pennatulids were also characteristic, 

 while several specimens of a hollow-stemmed coarsely-branched 

 Alcyonarian (Solenocaulon) were taken. The latter were pink 

 and white in colour and were accompanied in each case by a pair 

 of small crabs and a pair of small Galatheids similarly coloured 

 and obviously commensals ; with some was a small commensal 

 pink Gobioid sheltering in the hollow stem.* Some colonies 

 were more uniformly suffused pink than others and on these the 

 commensals were more uniformly tinted pink. On one colony, 

 where white colouring largely prevailed, and where the margins of 



* Described in the Jul. Bombay Nat. Hist. Society, September 1922, as a new 

 species, Pleurosicya annandalei, Hornell and Fowler. 



