Philippines - Deep Sea Tangle Netting - Report 2 from Siargao Since the last time I wrote, we haven't been able to put many nets down, because of rough weather out beyond the reef. Inside the lagoon, the sea was like glass but there have been a few passing typhoons, and that brings big waves just where we put the nets down. There have also been a few fiestas and a couple of funerals, so Ali Mang has had evening appointments, and early morning hangovers. So have I. (We put two nets out at dusk and collect them at dawn - this has nothing to do with mollusc ecology, but everything to do with the local fishermen, who will 'salvage' any net they see lying about). Several times, we've had nothing at all, just bare rocks and rubble. Trying to find the right spot is very difficult. But with the GPS position finder, we can at least mark the most productive areas - we still have to find them by trial and error. We have found a couple now, at about 90 metres, and hopefully, the substrate will continue on deeper. We found - Cymatiums - 2 more testitudinaria, and several very nice moniliferum, all in first class shape. What is the real difference between gutturnium and monilifera ? These all have a very pale mouth, and periostraca with tufts on each shoulder nodule. Angaria (sphaerula or vicdani - see questions under DEEP SEA IDENTITIES), but small - 19-30mm with spines Phenacovolva 25mm (tokioi, I think) Fusinus 90mm - beautiful and quite strange (see also questions under DEEP SEA IDENTITIES) Turrids - a couple of very small ones, not illustrated in any book (as usual) Xenophora cerea, a carrier shell, but damaged spire Strombus bulla 64 & 65mm- 2 very clean specimens, with very long 'horns' and pink tinged spires Bufonaria nobilis 94mm - nice big one, but dead. Nautilus pompilius 153mm - small, but live, the first I've seen. Unfortunately it was pretty moribund by the time we got it, and failed to revive - I wanted to see it perform in the sea. Latirus - kanda, paetelianus, or constrictus ? - 5 specimens ranging from 16 to 32mm, and from dark orange to light yellow, two with white base - does anyone know the differences between these three? A little tiny thing, which I thought was a three-horned brachiopod, but which turns out to be a pteropod, Cavolinia uncinata Limas - degenerate, lazy, sessile symbionts (much like me, really) - (see also questions under DEEP SEA IDENTITIES) Haustellum haustellum form kurodai - in same net as common form - if these things don't get together and crossbreed over that distance, how come kurodai's a form and not a species ? It's very very different. Murex sp - exquisite, the first good looking one from here - 21mm, and most like a small rubiginosus. (see also questions under DEEP SEA IDENTITIES) Murex nigrispinosus - 6 small ones, 38-67mm all but largest in same catch. Pectens - 1 imbutus - upper valve only - 24mm - 1 varians - lower valve only - 19mm - 1 sinensis ? but not quite - complete 15mm Annachlamys - another, almost identical to the first, but dead. But both have the umbones displaced to left of centre - unlike picture in Abbott & Dance As yet, no cones, except a small very dead and eroded one, unrecognisable, and half a Conus scalptus, so maybe there's something down there. No cowries, and no latiaxis yet, dammit. A curacha (dancing crab) - delicious in Zamboanga restaurants, but this one was too small to eat - but maybe there are some other Zamboanga type fauna about A small lobster - about the size of a tiger prawn A small wobbegong shark - Ali Mang prepared it for our breakfast, and I can report with some confidence that it was scientifically interesting, but gastronomically as repulsive as it looked. A disappointing haul, altogether, which makes me suspect the clever little so-and-sos are avoiding the nets like the plague (see also letter SNAIL BRAINS). But, down in Balut Island, they have a hundred tangle nets out every day - we have just two. All the shells are new to me from here - I haven't even seen any of them washed up on the out islands or reefs - but we're still not getting own deep enough for the real deep sea stuff. I am adding a bonus to Ali Mang's wage if he guarantees over 150 cadupas (Philippine fathoms) down - that's about 220 metres We're solving the technical problems one by one, but I've sought professional advice. I took Ali Mang, to Cebu and Punta Engano on Mactan Island, to meet Rudy, who was one of the first, if not the first, tangle netters in the Philippines, about twenty years ago. (He rediscovered Conus thomae, down by Davao). But he was drunk already when we met him, at 10am, so we didn't get much sense out of him. However, he gave me a strange Strombus, which is not in any of the books. It was Ali Mang's first ever visit to the big city, quite amusing in itself, (tall buildings, elevators, hamburgers, escalators, even cars, were all new) but he doesn't speak a word of English, so I had to take two local girls along, as 'interpreters'. It was like taking three kids to the zoo. Ali Mang acquitted himself well, but the girls got themselves lost in the first shopping mall where we stopped for breakfast - good (almost Western) eggs and bacon - a welcome change from wobbegong. I let them go for a bit, then organised the security guards to find them. The guards rounded them up in the knickers department at machine gun point, and they promised not to get lost again. Please excuse the number of following letters - it may look as if I'm trying to hog the airwaves, but I only get a chance to communicate every three weeks or so. Richard Parker, Siargao, Philippines Please reply to [log in to unmask] with copy to Conch-L ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com