364 I N A G U A 



at best an uncongenial task. I can patiently count the scales 

 of a fish, or enumerate the location and position of its spines 

 and rays; but the characters which determine the nomencla- 

 ture of sea worms are so technical and vague as to cause me 

 invariably to throw up my untaxonomic hands in despair. 



Events undersea, like certain forms of trouble, generally 

 occur in bunches. The galaxy of worms which had collected 

 in front of my light were the forerunners of a considerable 

 mass. Possibly the continued burning of the light attracted 

 them, possibly the behavior of the worms already there, but 

 whatever it was they came swarming from all sides. They were 

 followed quickly by the scarlet bodies of the squirrel-fish and 

 the big-eyes which made the most of the unexpected provender. 

 The worms did not flee but seemed intent on nothing but their 

 interminable whirling about each other's bodies. I am con- 

 vinced that they were in the throes of their reproductive cycle, 

 for I noted that certain individuals were giving off exceed- 

 ingly faint emanations, somewhat like smoke, which must have 

 been either unfertilized ova or male sperm. When a newly ad- 

 vanced worm hit these miniature clouds it went into a blind 

 frenzy which made its previous activity seem mild. 



Minute after minute the horde of gyrating worms increased 

 in number. Unable to stand the sensation of their squirming 

 against my bare flesh and alarmed at the activity of fishes that 

 I had stirred up, for the squirrel-fish were followed by larger 

 and more active forms, including the huge bulk of a beautifully 

 barred Nassau grouper, I turned off the light and climbed 

 hurriedly up the line. I quickly ducked out of the helmet and 

 flopped over the raihng into the bottom of the boat. 



When I checked my watch I found that I had been under 

 for sixty-seven minutes. The wind had picked up again and 

 the boat was pitching and plunging at its anchor. I realized that 

 I was tired and satiated with the black depths of the ocean. 



