PALATJ — BAYER AND HARRY-ROFEN 501 



are more abundant along deep channels or in the protected lagoons 

 than on the seaward reefs. 



EEL-GRASS ENVIRONMENT 



A conspicuous feature of the Palau lagoon is the great extent of 

 sandy bottom covered with eel-grass {Enhalus acoroides and some re- 

 lated species) . It is a distinctive and complex habitat. The most ex- 

 pansive eel-grass beds lie near Peleliu, to the south of Koror, al- 

 though the west coast of Babelthuap also has some fine ones. We 

 made two trips to Peleliu to survey the grass beds there, but on both 

 occasions we found poor conditions due to the stage of the tide. The 

 water was so murky and full of plant debris that collecting was un- 

 pleasant and photography impossible. 



Among the animal inhabitants, fishes are particularly abundant and 

 thrive in the eel-grass environment. Sharks, jacks, barracudas, and 

 other predaceous fishes constantly search the eel-grass beds for prey. 

 Food is not easy to find here, even in the midst of plenty, for the eel- 

 grass forms the home of many highly specialized fishes that blend with 

 their background in both form and color. Some of them, such as the 

 pipefishes (Syngnathidae) and certain wrasses (Cheilio), are elongate 

 in outline and green in color, so perfectly camouflaged that sharp eyes 

 are needed to separate them from the grass in which they live. Others, 

 such as the parrotfish (/Scarlchthys), spinefish (Siganus), and some 

 snappers (Lethrinus), are not shaped like the grass blades but are so 

 much like it in color that they are virtually invisible. The filefishes 

 (Monacanthus) , blennies (Petroscirtes) , and dragonets {C allionymus) 

 go a step farther in having their bodies covered with waving filaments 

 and hairlike growths that resemble the hydroids and other epiphytes 

 covering the eel-grass blades. 



The Palauan boys pointed out some peculiar little black-and-yellow 

 fishes that were swimming about a water-logged branch half buried 

 in the sand and hidden by grass and warned us that they were very 

 dangerous. When we insisted upon catching them, Sumang Y. and 

 Eikrik must have regretted pointing them out to us. The fish were 

 small catfish (Plotosus anguillaris) with barbed pectoral and dorsal 

 spines that are venomous and can inflict a nasty wound. They were 

 swimming in a curious manner, very close together and wiggling vigor- 

 ously, in a compact school that moved slowly forward like a dark 

 cloud. It was simple to frighten them into the range of a large dip- 

 net, and each fish captured caused our sturdy Palauans to wince in 

 anticipation of the painful punctures to come when we pulled them 

 out of the nets, and later, when we placed them in containers of for- 

 malin. A month or so later, when we were in Japan to consult with 

 biologists who had worked in Palau before the war, we encountered this 



