On the organism discolouring the waters of Port Jackson
Abstract
I have visited various parts of the harbour, with the view of ascertaining the probable effects of the Peridinium -which is the cause of the discolouration of the water-on fish and other organisms. The effect on the shore fauna has been very destructive; I find that the oysters, mussels, and other bivalves have been nearly all destroyed. At all the places I have visited, from Hunter's Hill, on the Parramatta River, down to Watson's Bay, the bivalves are killed, and at Little Sirius Cove the limpets and periwinkles are lying about with the animals still in the shells, mostly in a state of putrefaction; the stench from the bed of mussels is almost unbearable. During my examination of the shore I searched carefully for fish, but failed to find any dead ones, nor could I gain any information of any having been seen floating about in a dead or dying condition. The effect on the other kinds of life besides the mollusca has been very destructive, and there seems to be almost a total absence of the usual forms which live under stones, such as worms, ascidians, starfish, polyzoa and zoophytes-all seem to have suffered more or less. The question as to how this vast destruction of shore life has
