Paci Fic Nature Notes

Written for "PIM" by Charles Barrett, FRZS

The “Valo” Of Tonga

THERE is a strange creature to be found occasionally in these islands,” writes Mr. J. H. Young, of Nukua lofa. Tonga. “It is of the species of the lobster and the crayfish, I should think.

The native Tongan name for it is valo; but that conveys nothing. It is about 10 inches long and one inch and a half thick when mature, and its flesh is like that of the lobster (the true lobster found in UK waters) and the crayfish of these Pacific waters. It is equipped with two ‘antennae’ with which it evidently gets its food: they are like arms and are three-jointed, and the shoulder from which they branch is just behind the head. The furthest joint away from the valo’s body is like a folding pocket-comb, folding into a sheath, and the teeth are about half an inch long, with extremely sharp points, like needles.

“To eat, valos are a delicacy. They should be boiled in white wine, but with what other ingredients I am unaware.

They live in burrows in the sand, between high and low water mark; not dry sana, but sand that is water-logged. Tne egress from the valo’s retreat is a round hole which is plastered, beneath the aperture, to keep the sand from falling in. The burrow runs for several feet and has off shoots from the main stem.

“The valo is most difficult to catch, being seldom found outside its burrow.

To dig for it with a spade is merely to emulate Sisyphus. The only method I have heard of is for three or four men, with iron crowbais, to describe a circie a few feet round the outlet, and thrust the crowbars into the soft sand, gradually drawing towards the centre, with the ob ject oi disturbing the burrow, but not de stroying it completely; thus forcing the valo to the outlet. But there mav be a simpler method than that.

“H you or readers of your nature notes can add anything about this interesting creature, the imormation would be wel come.”

Had a specimen been sent to me, I could readily have identified the valo. giving its scientific title. Evidently it is a squilla, or mantis-shrimp—one of the larger species. The “antennae” described bv my correspondent aciuaily are the second pair of thpracic appendages, modified as prehensile limbs; tne terminal joint of each is armed with long teeth which can close against pits in tne margin of the preceding joint—clasp-knife fashion. The popular name for remarkable crusta ceans, of couise, refers to the resemblance their second maxillipeds bear to the fore limbs of a praying mands, and the fact that they are held and used much in the mantis manner.

It was a French naturalist of the six teenth century who described the first known species, Squilla mantis, the specific name because, as he ex plained, the long-armed marine creature lesembled the “soothsayer” or mantis in sect found in the south of France. Had old Rondolet seen some of the b-g man tids of the tropics, he would, perhaps, have regarded the “preguediou,” or pray ing insect of his own country, as rather a poor representative of the mantis clan.

Habits Of Mantis-Shrimps

THERE are about 70 species of mantis shrimps; and the most of them are burrowing animals: all are extremely active and difficult to capture. Generally, they are of a “retiring disposition,” spend ing much time in their burrows. Some, however, wander far from home in search of prey; and may be taken in nets and

trawls in fairly deep water. Others, again, prefer to get food without hunting for it: covered in sand, the eye-tips excepted, they lie in wait at the entrances to their burrows, which are deep and fairly ex tensive. The least sign of danger sends the “ant-lions of the sea,” as these crus taceans have been termed, darting to the ends of their retreats.

A certain professor, who greatly desired specimens of the elusive mantis-shrimps, after many failures, devised a plan much less elaborate than that described by Mr, Young, but not always effective. At the mouth of a burrow, he held a trowel in one hand and a tempting bait in the other, waiting patiently for the tenant to appear. The professor was no novice at capturing crustaceans; but, with all his speed and skill, often he was too slow for a frightened mantis-shrimp darting down its burrow; while often, the trowel mutilated a fine specimen instead of going beneath it.

Professor Brooks, who relates his ex periences in his report on the crustaceans collected during the voyage of the “Chal lenger,” closely observed the habits of the lurking mantis-shrimp, which exca vates its deep, almost vertical cylindrical burrows in the sand of the ocean beacn, where it is exposed to the full force of the ocean swell. Its prey includes small crustaceans, little fishes, and other small animals. When one comes within range, the shrimp darts out of its burrow, seizes

it in its raptorial claw, and darts back ward, taking the victim with it to the bottom of the burrow. Not content with one victim, it may return to the burrow mouth, and lurk there for another. Two may suffice for a meal, which is enjoyed in safety far below the surface of the beach.

Some of the largest mantis-shrimps I have seen were swimming in very shallow water near a Dunk Island beach. There were dozens of them, well away from their burrows; but I failed to make a capture, even with the assistance of “The Beach comber.” We were wading across to an islet where the “matchbox bean” flour ishes; and where, doubtless, many mantis shrimps were at home.

“Lost” Bird Found

Naturalists the world over, or at least all the ornithologists, must have rejoiced over the discovery of living specimens of Notornis, New Zealand’s flightless rail, long regarded as a “lost” bird, and represented, until this grand find, by only four specimens, one being preserved in the Otago Museum.

I have always been keenly interested in flightless birds, whether extinct or, hap pily, still among the living forms. And the re-discovery of Notornis revives hope that some other “lost” species may still survive in remote, unexplored, or seldom visited parts of their range.

Maori sealers were the original dis coverers of Notornis—away back in 1849.

The skin of this specimen became a treasure of the British Museum (Natural History), having been presented to the institution by Dr. Gideon Mantell. About a year before the capture of a living ex-