also say through eating poisonous seaTieeds. Some ascribe the toxicity to a 

 weed which grows on the reef rocks. There is no agreement on these points 

 and these beliefs appear to be without any foundation. 



(5) Relationship of toxicity to spawning 



Completely unknown 



(6) Seasonal toxicity 



There is no seasonal Tariatlon with such species as the akamasu and the 

 mora/ eels. Nothing is known regarding other species. 



(7) Effect of cooking 



Eating the fish rav7 is said to produce a comparatively milder degree of 

 poisoning. 



(8) Differences in toxicity from island to island 



The akamasu is said to be safe to eat at Tap, Truk, and Palau, where it 

 is the most hi^ly prized of foodflsh. The fishermen say that fish taken In- 

 side the harbor are safe while those taken outside the harbor are dangerous. 

 Administrative Officer Kurushima said that at Palau, Tap, Ponape, Truk, and 

 Kusaie there are no poisonous fish, and that Jaluit has the greatest number pf 

 poisonous species. 



I began my work with the above' facts as a general basis, however, these 

 were all reports picked up at random ftrom various persona and their origins 

 were unknown. 



According to Matsuo's report, of all the South Sea Islands Jaluit has the 

 greatest abundance of poisonous fish. Out of about 180 species occurring in 

 the waters around Jaluit approximately 36, or one in five, are poisonous. It 

 is not known, however, why these fishes contain poison. 



The majority of cases of poisoning result from absorption of poison through 

 the digestive organs. The ^/raptoms are in general like those produced by bal- 

 loonflsh poisoning in Japan. These symptoms vary in severity, but in serious 

 oases there is sensory and locomotory paralysis and death often results. Ihe 

 symptoms produced in dogs, cats, and pigs are milder than those seen in humans, 

 and in chickens they are even less severe, it is said. 



2. Ecology and Distribution of Poisonotis Fishes 



Poisonous fii^es generally live in aohools. They are not found in coastal 

 waters where there is no seaweed on the bottom, and they do not occur far from 

 the coast. South of the governmeat pier along the coast of South Garapan 

 there is a great deal of weed resembling akamo. and north of the Nank7 Fishing 

 Company's pier along the coast of Pontamuchau there is a profuse growth of a 

 seaweed resembling the aoea . The bottom is almost all covered with broken 

 fragments of coral and is white so that it reflects the light and makes the 

 water appear a beautiful blue colore There are coral ridges here and there 

 irtiich have a considerable growth of weed. The fish assemble around these 

 places and eat . No other type of food is apparent in these areas. 

 As for the distribution of the fish, large individuals of such large species 



192 



