700 ECTOPARASITES OF NAUTILUS. 



away by being suspended from the overhanging stems of the cocoa-nut palms which 

 fringe the beach, and consequently they are a conspicuous feature in the shore scenery. 

 The best of them are employed for surface-fishing during the south-east season; for 

 this purpose they are attached to large bamboo floats which are held in position by 

 anchors made by enclosing heavy stones in a rattan cage. When once they are placed 

 in position these anchors are never moved and frequently my dredges brought up lengths 

 of former rattan cables which had become water-logged. In the course of time these 

 anchor ropes become coated with Hydroids and also serve as a resting-place for Annelid 

 worms (especially one handsome species called Amphinome rostrata). Sometimes grape-like 

 bunches of Cephalopod eggs are found attached to them. Thinking that Nautilus might 

 use them for this purpose I once requested the Rev. W. J. Chambers of the Wesleyan 

 Mission to use his influence to induce certain natives to allow me to haul up two or 

 three of their anchors, but the result was negative. 



The opening of the fishing season, when the natives go out in their white canoes to 

 lay their anchors and set their traps, is a joyous occasion and is heralded by the blowing 

 of Triton conchs. 



The squid egg-clusters referred to above are called " a mo a tauka " and I made 

 special inquiries of the natives to ascertain whether they were acquainted with "a mo 

 a pal-a-lialia." They replied No with emphasis ("pata-na") as if incredulous of their 

 existence. This was sufficient to convince me that the eggs of Nautilus are not deposited 

 in obvious bunches or in ordinary situations. 



When living Nautili are confined in a vessel of water, numbers of small Crustacea 

 issue from the mantle cavity in which the gills lie and also from the funnel by the 

 pumping action of which the shell is driven backwards when the animal is swimming 

 freely. These ectoparasites apparently live upon the slime which is secreted from the 

 mucous surface of the body, and, on leaving their host, swim about actively in the 

 water and also cling tenaciously by means of a peculiar suctorial apparatus to the sides 

 of the vessel 1 . 



In the month of February (1895) I gladly accepted an invitation from Mr Parkinson 

 to accompany him on a short recruiting voyage to New Ireland and New Hanover in a 

 small 50-ton fore-and-aft schooner called the Mayflower. 



There was the possibility that a locality might be found where Nautilus could be 

 investigated in shallower water than in Blanche Bay. But these countries are too wild 

 and no reliable information could be obtained. The journey was, however, interesting 

 in itself as providing a glimpse of native systems with quite a different code from 

 that by which the inhabitants of New Britain are bound, notwithstanding the fact that 

 the islands form part of one and the same compact archipelago. The distances are too 

 great for small canoes to traverse so that there is practically no regular communi- 

 cation between New Britain and the larger islands except the Duke of York Island. 

 Moreover the natives are suspicious not only of the white man but of their own colour. 

 Between New Ireland and New Hanover there is a labyrinth of islands and 



1 They are named Anchicaligus nautili by Mr Stebbing, Part v. pp. 667 and 668. For an account of 

 Crustacean ectoparasites of other Cephalopods see Wierzejski, A., " Ueber Schrnarotzerkrebse von Cephalopoden," 

 Zeitschr. wiss. Zoo!., Bd. 29, 1S77, p. 562. 



