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THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM MAGAZINE. 



The Palolo Worm- 



By W. W. Thorpe. 



THE Palolo, or Balolo (Eunice viridis) 

 is a ringed sea-worm common to 

 the Fijian, Samoan and Tongali 

 Islands ; it lives in crevices of the coral 

 reefs and interstices of other encrusting 

 growths. 



This worm has an interesting life- 

 history, showing the change of habit 

 ortcn adopted by animals during the 

 breeding season. On the approach of 

 maturity, the eggs and sperm ripen in 

 the female and male respectively, and a 

 curious metamorphosis takes place in 

 the anatomy of the worms themselves. 

 Each sex develops lateral paddle-like 

 l)rocesses and a number of body-eyes, 

 and the animal turns end-for-end in its 

 coral home. The tail-end, now out- 

 wards, revolves violently for some time 

 and then floats off, while the head por- 

 tion remains in the reef. The headless 

 bodies contain the eggs and sperm, 

 which either break through the ab- 

 dominal walls, or exude through the 

 open end, and in their myriads they 

 form a milky substance in the water. 

 These eggs and milt, now set free, 

 coalesce while drifting about, pairing 

 takes place, and a new palolo is born. 

 This in its turn takes up its abode in 

 the coral reef, and awaits its nuptial 

 voyage. The head -ends in the burrow- 

 must not be overlooked. These soon 

 recover from the rupture of the parts, 

 and forthwith begin to grow a new 

 body, and in the fulness of time the 

 same process is repeated. 



According to an observer '" the 

 })alolos rise out of the reefs just before 

 daybreak, first in small numbers, but 

 just about sunrise in such masses that 

 the sea looks more solid than liquid." 

 The natives of the islands evince con- 

 siderable interest in the natural pheno- 

 mena, but their concern is purely gas- 

 tronomical. They marvel not at this 

 provision of nature for the perpetuation 

 of the species, but are quick to turn it 

 to account as provision for the inner 

 man. 



In Fiji the months of October and 

 November have from time immemorial 



been known as the palolo moons. 

 When the appearance of the palolo is 

 imminent, a period like our Easter, 

 governed by the phases of the moon, 

 the natives set out in their canoes with 

 nets and other devices and wait pati- 

 ently for the uprising. Suddenly, one 

 calls out "A palolo! a palolo !" as he 

 draws the much prized worm into his 

 hand net. The cry is taken up, and 

 everybody is on the alert, nor is it a 

 false alarm, for shortly the whole sur- 

 face of the water is a vermicelli-like 

 mass. All efforts are now put forth to 

 obtain a heavy draft of these squirming 

 delicacies. 



The natives work with a will, for the 

 visitation lasts only for about two 

 hours, then twelve months must elapse 

 before nature will be so kind to them 

 again. As the sun rises they dissolve, 

 and by about eight or nine o'clock they 

 have practically disappeared. Those 

 tail ends that escape the nets and arc 

 not immediately eaten by fishes or 

 sea-birds, melt away in the sea. This 

 rapid disappearance led to the former 

 incorrect assumption that they had 

 returned to the reefs, it not being known 

 at that time that the drifting palolo 

 was only a tail end. 



These tail ends are collected in such 

 quantities by the natives, that the 

 canoe gunwales are often awash as they 

 turn shorewards with their wriggling 

 freight. The folk on shore are both 

 delighted and excited on the return of 

 the worming-fleet, and for several days 

 there is a season of festivity. 



It takes some time to cook them all, 

 a job which must be tackled at once, 

 for they rapidly deteriorate. Small 

 parcels are made by wrapping them in 

 bread-fruit leaves. These are placed in 

 the ground ovens and steamed for 

 twelve hours or more, and then eaten. 



The early European navigators refer 

 to these palolo events as times of cere- 

 monial activity amongst the natives, 

 but these old rites are no longer cele- 

 brated. 



