252 THE SEAS 



production of the coral, growing out of it, and they call it 

 " Nmatamata " or the "Glistener"; it appears in that 

 locality in June and July. 



There is also a closely allied form, the Atlantic Palolo 

 (Eunice fucata) (Plate 93), whose habits are very similar. 

 The swarms of this worm have been studied for nine years 

 at Tortugas and they always appeared within three days 

 of the time of the moon's last quarter between June 29th 

 and July 28th. The sexual portions begin to rise to the 

 surface at least two hours before sunrise ; by sunrise they 

 are present in countless numbers and when the first rays 

 of the sun strike the water they break up and discharge 

 the eggs. The dying bodies sink to the bottom where they 

 are eagerly devoured by waiting fish and by three hours 

 after sunrise none are to be seen. 



At Amboina in the Malay Archipelago there is a similar 

 worm, the " Wawo," which swarms on the second and third 

 nights after the full moon of March and April. 



The Japanese can also boast a Palolo ; they call it 

 " Bachi " (Ceratocephale osawai). In this case it is the 

 front end of the worm which becomes modified and breaks 

 off. The swarming occurs during the nights immediately 

 after new and full moon in October and November and the 

 fishermen catch them by means of lights to which the 

 worms are attracted ; they use them then as bait. 



It is hard to understand what can be the cause of these 

 curious phenomena. It has been thought that the stimulus 

 for spawning might be found in the state of the tides. 

 Experiments have shown however, that probably the tide 

 can have no influence, for worms placed in floating tanks 

 spawn naturally at the usual times, and in this case the 

 worms could have had no means of telling the state of 

 tide either by the pressure of the water or the speed of its 

 movement. 



