Composition and Nutritive Value of Palolo 
(Palola siciliemis Grube)^ 
Carey D. Miller and Florence Pen^ 
Palolo is the Polynesian name of an annelid 
worm, which rises to the surface of the sea 
from the coral reefs of a number of tropical 
islands in the Pacific Ocean. For generations 
the native people have been able to predict 
the day and approximate hour in October and 
in November, which is their spring, when this 
swarming will take place. Sometimes it is 
November and December, or even later, as 
the time of the risings, both dates and hours, 
differs for the various locations and the 
phases of the moon. 
According to Dr. Olga Hartman (1958), 
the annelid is designated Palola siciliensis 
(Grube) 1840, { = Palola viridis Gray, 1847). 
(In the past, the names Eunice viridis, Eunice 
siciliensis, and Palolo viridis have also been 
used.) 
PALOLO IN THE SoUTH PACIFIC 
The areas in the South Pacific Ocean where 
the palolo has been observed and where the 
natives have long used it as food have been 
reported by a number of scientists. Burrows 
(1955: 154) lists the following from the evi- 
dence which he has collected: "Fiji; Western 
Samoa; American Samoa; Tonga; Rarotonga 
(Cook Group), but not in the northern atolls; 
New Hebrides, but not in the three southern 
islands; Solomons, in a number of places.” 
The famous navigator, Mr. Harold Gatty,^ 
who with Wiley Post flew around the world 
in 1931, and who collected the sample which 
we analyzed, was mainly interested in the 
"remarkable periodicity” of the rise. His in- 
1 Published with the approval of the Director of the 
Hawaii Agricultural Experiment Station as Technical 
Paper 413. 
2 Department of Foods and Nutrition, University 
of Hawaii Agricultural Experiment Station. Manuscript 
received February 4, 1958. 
^ Mr. Gatty died in Fiji, August 30, 1957. 
vestigations covered Samoa, the Fiji group, 
the New Hebrides, and the Solomons. In Fiji 
the worm is called "mbalolo,” and in a letter 
dated January 21, 1954, Suva, Mr. Gatty 
wrote as follows: 
From records over many years, there has 
been no deviation on the date of its two risings 
per year. If the last quarter of the moon is 
after the 15th of October, it will rise then and 
again on the last quarter of the moon in No- 
vember, but if the last quarter of the moon is 
early in November, it will rise then and again 
on the last quarter of the moon in December. 
The rising is most exact on those days but 
only between the hours of four and eight a.m. 
The rising is usually continued on the next 
two succeeding mornings. 
They (palolo) rise everywhere on and in- 
side the reefs but are very few in numbers 
where they are in proximity to fresh or brack- 
ish water. The quantities that rise have to be 
seen to be believed. For instance, throughout 
the Fiji group there are actually many thou- 
sands of tons rising at the same instant. One 
can remain stationary either wading in shal- 
low water, or anchored with a small boat in 
deeper water, and not fail to scoop up many 
pounds from any one spot. 
In conversation with the senior author, Mr. 
Gatty stated in October, 1954, that the palolo 
rose not merely in thousands of tons, but, he 
estimated, in hundreds of thousands of tons. 
COLLECTION OF PALOLO 
Stair (1897: 142) describes collection of the 
palolo in November, 1843, near his residence 
on Upolu, Samoa, as follows: 
"The worms are caught in small funnel 
shaped baskets, beautifully made, with han- 
dles about the centre. These baskets are skill- 
fully glided over the surface of the ocean, and 
the worms emptied out as required into 
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