426 
PACIFIC SCIENCE, VoL XVIII, October 1964 
. Ireef reported to extend 
2 miles further west 
KURI A 
bl ; boat landing 
, , , 
KURIA and ARANUKA 
^4. + +++ ♦ ++*+ 
+ rock - 
"■ 7 to 10 fathoms, 
ARANUKA 
, , 173 °| 30 - , , , 
Fig. 6. Map of Kuria and Arunuka [Aranuka] 
(£N 
15' 
Bike, to the south of the passage. A ship remem- 
bered as ”Te Tambou” sank in this area some 
60 years ago and is blamed for the start of the 
poisoning. An occasional extra-large specimen 
of Lutianus bohar or Epinephelus fuscoguttatus 
are the only species to have caused poisoning 
here for many years. 
Although these two areas are so close to- 
gether, the islanders maintain that there has 
always been a stretch of reef between them 
which has been free of toxic fish. 
Before the war large Caranx spp., which were 
often caught by ships’ crews in the deeper water 
off the passages, were said to have been espe- 
cially poisonous. During World War II many 
ships were anchored in both these passages, but 
there does not seem to have been any increase in 
the toxicity. 
In 1961 details were collected from different 
old men, including the island magistrate, who 
swore that eels had never been toxic on Abe- 
mama. This is contrary to the information col- 
lected in 1958, when the author was told that 
large eels were poisonous in both toxic areas. It 
is possible that the small and comparatively 
wealthy population of Abemama is not forced to 
fish for eels in these localities, and that they and 
the new settlers have forgotten the last time 
someone was poisoned. 
Kuria 
Kuria is a reef island, 5 square miles in land 
area, in the central Gilberts, with a population 
of 541 in 1958; the annual average rainfall is 
55 inches. There are two islets, joined and sur- 
rounded by extensive reefs. Toxic fish have not 
been reported from Kuria. 
Arunuka 
Arunuka is a lagoon island in the central Gil- 
berts, with an annual average rainfall of 53 
inches. The lagoon is full of coral heads and is 
not navigable except by launches. Ships must 
anchor by the entrance to the lagoon on the west 
side of the island. (See Fig. 6.) 
The population of Arunuka, .a mere 571 in 
1958, is very small for the size of the island, 
which is nearly 6 square miles in land area. 
Many of these people are settlers from the over- 
populated southern islands. These settlers do not 
