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PACIFIC SCIENCE, Vol. XVIII, October 1964 
A anchorage 
Fig. 10. Map of Nik.un.au [Nukunau]. 
and that they were eating everything except 
large Muraenidae and the uncommon, enormous 
Promicrops lanceolatus. However, they said that 
they were taking a risk, and that any specimen 
of Lutianus bohar, Epinephelus fuscoguttatus, or 
Cephalopholis mineatus could be poisonous. 
Nikunau 
Nikunau is -a reef island in the southern Gil- 
berts with a population in 1958 of 2,011 and a 
land area of about 7 square miles. Although the 
average annual rainfall om Nikunau is the same 
as Onotoa’s, 44 inches, and differs only by a few 
inches from several other islands, it appears to 
be a much drier island and is subject to severe 
droughts. Poisonous fish have been known on 
Nikunau for a very long time. 
The toxic area is on the western or lee side of 
the island (see Fig. 10), and stretches along the 
fringing reef from the village of Tabutoa in the 
north to the village of Manriki in the south. 
Between these two villages is the village of 
Rungata, the Government Station and main an- 
chorage. There is a boat passage through the 
fringing reef in front of the village. The reef 
flat is alga-covered and there are luxuriant corals 
in the deeper water. 
A vessel is said to have been wrecked on the 
reef by Rungata village at some time in the past, 
and the poisoning dates from that wreck. The 
Nikunau people say that the poisoning began at 
Rungata, but spread north and south along the 
reef. After a while it began to recede and the 
reefs near Manriki and Tabutoa have always 
produced fewer toxic fish than those in the cen- 
ter by Rungata. At one time very many species 
were toxic, but by January, 1962, all species, 
except large Muraenidae, were being eaten; the 
occasional large specimen of Lutianus ho bar may 
still cause mild poisoning. 
In 1955 the Sacred Hearts Mission ship, "St. 
Teretia II,” driven on to the reef by a very local 
westerly current and wind, was wrecked op- 
posite Rungata village. However, this accident 
appears to have made no difference to- the tox- 
icity of the reef. 
Onotoa 
Onotoa is a lagoon island in the southern Gil- 
berts with a land area of 5.21 square miles and 
a population in 1958 of 1,542 people. It is an- 
other dry island subject to drought and having 
an average annual rainfall of 44 inches. Poison- 
ous fish have been known on Onotoa for many 
years. The toxic reef is in northwest Onotoa, is 
known as Aontebeba ( see Fig. 11), and is con- 
siderably smaller than other toxic areas in the 
Gilbert Islands. There are three anchorages out- 
side the lagoon on Onotoa, and the toxic reef 
lies just to the north of the northernmost an- 
chorage. A ship is said to have been wrecked on 
Aontebeba during, a southwesterly gale, and the 
poisoning dates from that time. It has not been 
possible to discover when this wreck took place; 
it was, however, a very long time ago. 
Onotoans say that at one time very many 
species of fish were toxic on Aontebeba, but 
that their numbers have declined and the reef 
has been considered to be dear of toxic fish 
for some years. However, Onotoans still will not 
eat large Muraenidae caught there and admit, 
though somewhat reluctantly, that the occasional 
large Lutianus bohar is still found to be mildly 
poisonous. 
Tamana 
Tamana is a very tiny reef island in the south- 
ern Gilberts; the land area is a mere 2 square 
