40 
Fig. 2. Relationship between body length and head 
length in Carapus homei. Straight lines have been 
fitted by inspection, considering the late tenuis and 
definitive forms as discrete growth stanzas. 
burg (1961:479) found similar material in the 
stomachs of Hawaiian specimens. 
Neither Strasburg nor I found any food in 
the stomachs of the Carapus recovered from the 
pillow starfish. The specimens from Guam all 
appeared emaciated, leading one to wonder if 
Culcita could be an abnormal host which is 
frequently though accidentally invaded and from 
which there is no escape. If this is so, perhaps 
the distinctive melanophore pattern of C. mour- 
lani is merely part of a starvation syndrome and 
the "species” mourlani is nothing more than 
those individuals of C. homei that chance to 
enter the wrong host. The simple experiments 
necessary to confirm or reject this hypothesis 
have yet to be performed. 
All of the Carapus homei with tenuis larvae 
in their stomachs were collected from November 
through February, when the larvae are assuming 
the inquiline habit. Eight out of 15 specimens 
collected November 25 had fed on tenuis larvae. 
Apparently there is intense competition for 
hosts at that time and any larva that enters an 
occupied host may be eaten. The presence of an 
adult in another’s stomach indicates that even 
the later stages are subject to this hazard. 
Since the larva is longer than the adult, stom- 
achs containing larvae were greatly distended. 
The head usually appeared to be in a more ad- 
vanced stage of digestion, indicating that con- 
sumption of the larva requires a considerable 
period of time. One specimen had 29 mm of the 
tail of the larva still protruding from its mouth. 
PACIFIC SCIENCE, Vol. XVIII, January 1964 j 
The presence of shrimp in the stomachs of C. 
homei is further evidence that this species leaves 
the host to feed. 
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 
I deeply appreciate the aid received from 
students at the College of Guam and from Mr. 
Bert Bronson, who first introduced me to noc- 
turnal studies of the reefs. Mr. George Arita, of 
the University of Hawaii, kindly prepared the 
histological sections of the material from the 
stomach of Encheliophis. Mrs. Elizabeth Jen- 
nings typed the manuscript, and Dr. Barry Muir 
critically reviewed the paper and made numerous 
helpful suggestions. 
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