Marine Life Society of
South Australia Inc.
Newsletter
October 2008 No. 359
“understanding,
enjoying & caring for our oceans”
Next Meeting
The next General Meeting will be held on Tuesday the 21st October.
This will be held at
the Adventure
Blue clubrooms
on the Patawalonga frontage at 8.00pm. Please enter via the stairs at the side
of the building. If you cannot find us on the night then phone me on 0407395566 and I will give you directions.
Our speaker will be
member Chris Hall who will be talking about his recent visit to Lord Howe
Island. Shame we will be unable to use his underwater
shots in the 2010 calendar!
CONTENTS
1000s
of Physalia washed ashore at Port MacDonnell recently (Steve Reynolds)
The Amazing Adventures of Gavin, a Leafy Seadragon
– Educator’s Resource Pack – Launch (Philip Hall)
CAPTAIN SWIGGS (& some of the ships associated with him and his family) (Part 3) (Steve
Reynolds)
Our 2009 calendar is now available. Please contact
Philip Hall on 08 82704463.
1000s of Physalia washed ashore at
Port MacDonnell recently
by Steve Reynolds
Joan Lockwood
(of Port MacDonnell?) recently told me that she walks along the beach most
mornings, as long as it’s not raining. “I take my camera with me just in case I
should find something interesting” she added.
On 9th
August this year (2008), Joan sent a copy of the following photograph to our
Society seeking identification of the subject: -
Joan
Lockwood’s photo
Philip Hall, our President, believed
that it was a photo of a Portuguese Man o’ War (or Man of War) but sought
reassurance from David Muirhead and myself.
I responded by saying, “Yes, it seems to be a Portuguese man o’ war, Physalia physalis, but (Graham) Edgar (in his book titled “Australian Marine Life – The Plants and Animals of Temperate Waters”) says that the southern Australian bluebottle is considered by some to be different (a different species called Physalia utriculus).”
(The two species are
discussed on page 125 of Graham Edgar’s book “Australian Marine Life”.)
I added that
(according to Edgar), “The Portuguese one has several large tentacles of about
equal size. The Southern one has a single prominent ‘fishing’ tentacle that is
usually a darker blue than the thinner tentacles nearby. The sting is said to
be less virulent than that of the northern Australian and overseas animals.”
Just two
days later, Joan sent me the photograph below.
Joan
Lockwood’s 2nd
photo
Joan
reported that she had been out walking in the morning of 11th
August when she discovered that there was thousands of Portuguese man o’
war/Bluebottles washed up on the shore. “Looks like it has
a seahorse head”, she said adding, “and the photo doesn't do it justice.”
I was now
more than just remotely interested in the subject. I wanted to find out more
about the Portuguese Man o’ War, Physalia physalis and the Bluebottle,
Physalia utriculus.
In
order to find out more about them, I started to dig through many of my (and
MLSSA’s) reference books looking for more details. I managed
to locate lots of references to the two species in the books that I found.
Chapter 4 of “Marine Invertebrates of Southern Australia –Part 1” (edited by SA
Shepherd and IM Thomas), for example, discusses Cnidaria, including hydroids.
Surprisingly perhaps, these two species are hydroids, not jellyfish.
Page 123
of “Marine Invertebrates” says that they belong to the Class Hydrozoa, of which there are eight orders. These two
species belong to the Order Siphonophora.
Page 124
explains that they are of the Sub-order Cystonectae. Physalia physalis is
described in detail on pages 124-5.
The book
“Injuries to Man From Marine Invertebrates in the
Australian Region” by Cleland and Southcott discusses Physalia
species from page 28 onwards.
I
was mainly looking for pictures similar to the photos provided by Joan
Lockwood. I also found some details in “Australian Seashores” by Isobel
Bennett, especially on pages 165-6.
I found some
details in The Reader’s Digest’s “Australia’s Dangerous Creatures”, especially
on page 240. I found more details again in “Australia’s Underwater Wilderness”
by Roland Hughes (pages 72-4). The photo on page 74 certainly resembles Joan’s
two photos.
“The Reader’s
Digest Book of the Great Barrier Reef” has some details, including some on page
135. I also found a page on the Portuguese Man of War in my “Wildlife Fact
File” (Card 1, Group 6).
A further search
through my private library revealed that both “Animals Without
Backbones” (Volume 1) by Ralph Buchsbaum and “The Fringe
of the Sea” by Isobel Bennett included some details regarding Physalia.
Page 37 of “The
Fringe of the Sea” by Isobel Bennett explains how the Portuguese “Man-of-War”
is “blown shore-wards” and “strewn along the ocean beaches”. The creature
is then described in detail, from its tentacles to its nematocysts. There are
some photos of the creature on pages 34-6. Physalia
utriculus is mentioned on page 38 as being
“The Pacific form” and having “a smaller float and fewer and shorter fishing
tentacles that its Atlantic relative” and “is usually
regarded as a separate species”.
Whilst visiting Nuriootpa in the Barossa Valley, I picked up a copy of
“Danger In The Sea” by Alec Fraser-Brunner because it
too had some details regarding Physalia.
The following photos are
featured on P 24 of “Danger In The Sea”: -
Photos of
Physalia taken from “Danger In The Sea”
Popperfoto provided the top photo, whilst the late Walter Deas, who died in 2008, provided the bottom one. Walt’s
photo features a “float of the Portuguese Man-of-war, Physalia
physalis, washed up on
the shore”.
The top photo
features “A Bluebottle, Physalia utriculus,
floating in a rock pool” with “A long, black tentacle.
. .extended downwards”. The caption for the photo adds that “The bright blue
bladder is a single, modified ‘person’, below which may be seen other persons
(whether polyps or medusae is not certain) modified for swimming and feeding”.
These two
species of Physalia are discussed on pages 30-1 of “Danger In
The Sea”, and some more details follow on pages 34 and 47.
According to
“Danger In The Sea”, the plural of Portuguese
Man-of-war is Portuguese Men-of-war. The book also explains that Physalia
physalis “is not a
single animal but a colony of the hydroids called siphonophores.
Both polyps and medusae are modified in various ways
to do specialized jobs and are all coordinated to behave together like a single
organism. The whole is kept at the surface of the sea by a gas-filled float. .
. Below this there are polyps concerned with feeding and others with
reproduction and swimming, while fifteen or more coiled tentacles bearing vast
numbers of stinging cells can be extended downwards to a depth of 100 feet or
more.”
It goes
on to say that “another species, P.utriculus,
common in the Indo-Pacific region northwards to Japan and Hawaii, has a float
more like a flask and is accordingly called the ‘Bluebottle’ when washed up on
Australian beaches.”
The book
goes on to explain how “The young of the Blanket Octopus actually use pieces of
Portuguese Man-of-war tentacle as defence and to kill their prey.” This
behaviour is explained in detail on page 47. The book also says that there are
some small fish called Nomeus
that swim amongst the tentacles of Portuguese Man-of-war
as a defence against predatory fish.
I may not
have made it too clear, up to now, that Physalia will give anything that comes
into contact with their tentacles a nasty sting. They can also sink below the
surface by adjusting the amount of gas in the float.
Mild contact with the
tentacles may cause the victim distress, intense pain and even death within
minutes. “Danger In The Sea” says that, “The chance of
survival after an extensive contact seems to be very small.” So please avoid
making contact with any creature that resembles a Portuguese Man-of-war
or Bluebottle.
The Amazing Adventures of
Gavin, a Leafy Seadragon – Educator’s Resource Pack – Launch
by Philip Hall
All pictures by Philip Hall
The rebuilt Star of the Sea Marine Discovery
Centre was the venue for the launch of the Educator’s Pack that has been
created to accompany the DVD charting the adventures of Gavin which was
released two years ago. Margaret and I were fortunate enough to receive
invitations to this event. It was superbly organised and made full use of the
new facilities. The launch was made by the Minister for Environment and
Conservation, the Hon Jay Weatherill. Several packs have been made available to
MLSSA for our library and to add to each of the JOT’s kits at the Norwood
Education Centre.
The Minister Launching
the Pack
Whilst there, I noted the MLSSA sponsored fish
swimming along the entrance wall.
Margaret and I then toured the new classrooms and
the refurbished older ones. The whole Centre has been revitalized and will be
appreciated by all who visit it.
The main teaching area
Fishing and Fish care
Looking into the marine
fish tanks area
The old entrance area and
passageway is now another large teaching area
A study group at work
Computer and study area
CAPTAIN SWIGGS (& some of the ships associated with him and his family)
by Steve Reynolds (Part 3)
A Freemason
Swiggs was a
Freemason and he assisted in the formation of the first Masonic Lodge at Port
Adelaide. According to the book “Walk Round Corners” by John Couper-Smartt, “The Port Adelaide freemasons held their
first meetings in a purpose-built room in White Horse Cellar Inn.”
The White Horse
Cellar Inn on Port Adelaide’s ‘Black Diamond Corner’ had been opened by George Coppin, the actor, on 17th
March 1851 (St Patrick’s Day). He may have named the inn after the famous
coaching inn mentioned by Charles Dickens, the White Horse Cellar in
Piccadilly, London.
The inn’s
foundation stone was laid on 14th
October 1850, to commemorate the opening of the ‘New Port’ on 14th
October 1840, ten years to the day.
The inn
had many facilities, including a ‘Masonic Hall’, which was ‘upstairs’.
Meetings, dinners, balls and concerts were apparently held in this ‘Masonic
Hall’. George Coppin was himself a freemason.
The White Horse Cellar
Inn underwent a few changes and was later known as the “Central Buildings”. The
condition of the Central Buildings deteriorated for many years but they were
recently renovated, as shown in the photo below: -
The recently renovated
“Central Buildings”
(which were the location of the White Horse Cellar Inn)
(taken by Steve Reynolds 2007)
In “Walk Round Corners”, John Couper-Smartt said
that, “The Port Adelaide freemasons . . . later established a Masonic Hall on
St Vincent Street. A larger temple became necessary . . . (and the present
Masonic Temple located at 142 Commercial Road) was opened . . . in 1928.”)
(On New Year’s Day in 1874, a ‘tub race’ was held
on the Port Adelaide River during the Port Adelaide Regatta. The race was held
between two boys using ordinary labourer’s shovels to paddle over a course from
Queen’s Wharf to Levi’s Wharf and back. This race was won by an A.Swiggs, believed by the author to be (Thomas) Albert
Swiggs, the third son of Captain Thomas Swiggs. He (Albert) would have been 14
years old at the time.)
A Councillor
Captain
Swiggs served on the Birkenhead Council*
as a councillor from 1881 to 1882.
*(Birkenhead was a District Council in its own right from
1877 to 1886).
(To be continued)