3-VIII-86
Ludmilla Creek, Darwin, NT; intertidal muddy sand & rocks; mangal.
Gary called for me at about 9.30am. Went to Ludmilla Creek near the "Spot-On" Marina at the Creek's mouth - at Race-course (Darwin, NT). Low tide - collected intertidally on rocks, gravelly sand & mangroves - Mainly Avicennia, Rhyzophora, & few of a small species with buttressed trunk base & no pneumatophores & wrapping petiole bases. Oysters on rocks - juveniles all seemed to be Saccostrea echinata - vv few in mangroves. If jeveniles had pipes (& many did) then they were long & thin. High-mid tide level. Muricids boring into t inside mangrove trunks & roots. Collected beach drift. Young dissected (4-VIII-86) - black gills - black sessile anus.
Nightcliff, Darwin, NT;
Went to North Point - did not collect there - photo of part of reef which is protected. Went to reef off W part of Nightcliff - intertidal rocky reef. again all oysters except those om extreme W edge of reef (which were S. cuccullata) seemed to be S. echinata with most juveniles c pipes. However some high up in sheltered area were elevated with lower valve produced into long upstanding scales but not pipes. Collected some beach drift incl. O. tuberculata washed in on coral boulder. We then went to Rapid Creek, drove in from E side to an old crossing - few oysters - juveniles quick growing & flat. - on few high intertidal boulders nothing else alive except some grapsid crabs, fiddler crabs (diversity), Enigmania & some barnacles. - Presumably young 2'' diameter but v flat & thin oyster - gravid - large palps. Gills delicately hinged with black-yellow on tentacles - long rej channel - well mark on R. pall. lobe - heart pale (no touch of brown grey or black) - shell interior sl. iridescent. L pall. lobe eroded[?] by ground, rectum pale (though anal end destroyed). Drove N to Dripstone Caves - nice picnic area - clean wide beach - no reefs. Gary dropped me "home" - processing material- 
Monday 4-VIII-86
Darwin Union Picnic Day?
Gary picked me up about 10am. Drove to Lee Point. Wide sand flat (v little mud). reefs near edge exposed at lowtide - rock of conglomerate - ? laterite - v few salate Avicennia. v rich bivalve fauna. mactrids; tellins (Quadrans Pinguitellina etc); lucinids (Divaricella etc smaller; venerids - Dosinia sp. Tapes.
Fewer gastropods; carnivores - olives[?] mitres; cloitlunds[?]; ?terebellids; Archaeogastropods; v small sp.; filtering types; virtually no trochid grazers; turbinids, ostreids, Marmarostoma 2 spp?
[Rerturned to NARU, worked on oysters, personal activities]
5-VIII-86
[expenses and meetings with colleagues]
Wednesday 6-VIII-86
[phonecalls, boarded chartered boat Alegrias, departed 1pm]
Thursday 7-VIII-86
Arrived off Black Point in Port Essington about 1.30am. Breakfasted about 7.30. Sandy Cathy Richard Gary & I went ashore to visit Ranger (Ted    ). He contacted head office in Darwin by radio - to have permit to collect below LWMS (only) confirmed - but he gave us to understand that neither he nor locals would object to descrete intertidal collecting. Departed for Table Head at 10.15 trying to catch low tide which Cathy calculated will be about 11.45.
Stn 86 Table Head, E side of Port Essington - bombie - Cathy Anne Richard Peter Gary & me. 11°14.8'S, 132°10.5'E. (overall dive 11.55-1300)4-5m (to base of bombie).
Coral bombie in silty sand on rise - general depth about 8m. I dived with Richard - entered water about 12.15 - out at about 1pm - very turbid - sides of bombie a wall of bivalve mouths- mostly Isognomon (!isognomon) & fewer I. daemanicus c few Dendostrea folium - some Hyotissa sp - few Spondylus, v few Chama sp. - many Arca, Barbatia ?helblingii. Many Septifer bilocularis, v few Pinna deltodes; few Pteria? saltata on grey gorgonian; few P. ?chinensis on red & on grey gorgonian. Electroma zebra on hydroid v v few Pinctada ? albina sugillata but might be Pinctada sp; few Lithophaga ?teres in living coral (peaks not ridges - green). 1 small Lithophaga sp on dead gorgonian base. ave D. folium released spawn in narcotic (MgCl2) - fawn colour - motile. Worked on specimens during afternoon. Richard - Peter (with Don & Jane) went on board a prawn trawler which trawled for prawns overnight at near entrance to Port Essington. 11°08'S 132°06'E CP#87.
Friday 8-viii-86
CP#87
Richard & Peter returned at about 9am. Trawling had produced few prawns & really very little live material - although Richard later said that he had not kept sea pens & some other groups of molluscs collected - variety of nudibranchs including Arminea. bivalves: Paphia - live; Circinae -; Cardiids; Amusium pleuronectes; Corbula (2 spp?); Myodara dead only; nassariids N. concinnus ?; 2 naticids; screw shells Turritella terebra?; Cultellins dead only; 1 small dead trochid - umbouiine; Dentalium - 1 alive. - The only oysters taken were dead "mystery ostreids" ?O. trapezina? - chalky - wide lip - straight commissure - very strong denticles (A&P) to about 1/2 way to V margin - young with external scaly ribs. dead Trisidos tortuosa.
CP#88 Victoria, Port Essington.
Rex Richard Peter Gary Cathy Anne & Jane & Dan & me left about 10am. -dropped Cathy off at Table Head (CP#89 see over) 1. The rest of us went down to the site of Victoria. I l looked at the ruins (Government House, Married Quarters, Kiln, Store) on E side of peninsula & then went down to mangal below - Avicennia (flowering) - Rhizophora. Collected oysters on S side of old jetty near base of Cut Road. seemed to be both Saccostrea echinata (-darker -grow larger - scaled when young to about 10cm, some with fine tubecules (pipes)) & S. ?commercialis smaller lighter sharper edges which are more upstanding - stronger ribs. - both species at same tidal level. often on same rocks with C ?commercialis sometimes on C. echinata). neither species on N side of point - more exposed to waves &/or sun? no trace of ellobiids no Isognomon ephippium. Other bivalves etc; Asaphis - many; Gafrarium - many; Septifer - many. Also Littorina scabra; Thais aculeata ? kieneri?; Morula margariticala? granulata!; dead Syrinx seen; Melongina; Nerita lineata & albicilla? & cortata?; ? N. planospira; Cerithidea; Telescopium; Pinctada albina; Acmea saccharina. On beach: Cardita; dead Diodora; Anadara granosa; Linella cinereus; Anadara sp.; ?Turbo arruense? petholatus? Anadara pusilla? Plicatula essingtonensis; Vanikoro.
CP#89 Table Head, Port Essington NT. Cathy Johnson.
Cathy found: Saccostrea cuccullata; tectus pyramis; Trochus hanleyanus; Planaxis sulcatus; Chama sp; various drupes.
Processed specimens in afternoon. Only one Pinna deltodes from Stn#86 contained shrimps. Barbecue in evening on beach with crew of trawler - great success - ate barbecued Amusium pleuronectes - delicious. also squid (?Loligo chinensis) - very good.
CP#90 Saturday 9-VIII-86
Departed Black Point area about 8.30 for Orontes Reef. Dived on Orontes Reef (12.10-13.15) (W end - 18m (17m) fine sandy silt with lots of shell fragments) at about 12 noon. I dived with Richard again - covered little ground but very thoroughly - ground very flat where we were - elsewhere rising & c ledges apparently to about 2m (breaking water - presumably at LWS). Most attractive area - low visibility (<2m) but great abundance & diversity of gorgonians. Richard (& I) collected a variety of nudibranchs & a great number & diversity dead shells but few living ones except for Hyotissa sp which formed clumps attaching to one another - a few Chama sp & fewer Spondylus sp. One Stavelia horrida was taken (? by Cathy) in shallower water (about 15m). Dead Placuma sp (pink) found & P. placenta, dead Lioconcha, Pita, Trisidos semitarta couple of cardiid spp.
SS/CP#91
At 7pm picked up by Aqua Sam -  Gary Rex Cathy Anne & me - trawled quite close to Orontes Reef - to west of it - starting at about 8pm (?20m: try net & pair trawls). Trawled variety of fish & prawns.
Amussium pleuronectes (mostly med size - smaller & larger dead); Placuna placenta; Placuna - pink & ribbed; Circinae; Paphia; Dosinia 2spp; V large tellin or lucinid (broken); Laternula (dead); Corbula; Pinna; inflated lucinid; cardiid; cuttlefish; squid Loligo chinensis?; octopus pale medium size; Pteria bernhardti (saltata?) on gorgonian; mytilid in byssal bag with v fine mud.; Myadora; Cultellus & siliquariid? (dead); naticid (2 tone); cone (maculated); nassariid; Bailes & egg case; large Syrinx. At long last found 4 specimens of what I take to be my mystery oyster. ?Ostrea sp. with v wide lip - straight commissure chalky deposits strong AD & PD chomata. attach to flat dead substrates eg pieces of urchins test, shell pieces etc. Dentalium slender (ribbed anteriorly). Sea pens 2 spp; transparent free tunicates; ophiuroids - small; starfish - Astropecten?; holothurians 2 spp; biscuit urchins. Prawns - mainly banana prawns (some just moulted) & Tiger prawns (more valuable); all sorts of portunids; spider crabs; pebble crabs.
Sunday 10-VIII-86
Catches of prawns - bananas & tigers & leaders (& few others including Endeavour which had not been kept) had been moderate. The crew had been very kind to us - supper of fried squid, prawns, oysters (echinata from up Port Essington somewhere) oysters Kilpatrick salad & all. Then the engineer had baked us a cake. The Aqua Sam is owned by a Darwin business man. 
S-S/CP#92
Richard & Peter went diving on Orontes Reef in early morning (about 7.30am) (0.7.50->0900->40ft) with Richard bounce diving deeper. Pinctada albina; Isognomon; Pteria saltata; Chlamys acroporicola; Gastrochaema; Lithophaga teres.
S-S/CP#93
Anne & Jane, Gary & Peter, Richard & I went diving on Orontes Reef at about 1210-13.15. Current fairly strong - hit bottom at 11-12m. worked uphill & to a higher plateau at about 9m & down cliff (drop off). Again - rich -> very rich in gorgonians in mud & on rocky reef. Large colonies of gorgonians of a variety of spp & also of sponges (a minute amount of Halophilla seen). Many oysters - mostly Hyotissa sp but also few Dendostrea folium on Hyotissa & Alectryonella plicatula on hard corals. Fewer Pteriids on gorgonians - all found were Pteria saltata. Pinna deltodes on dead coral reef. Many Isognomon particularly on drop-off also fair number of Spondylus (one c very long processes) & Chama sp. Pholads in lithothamnion. Murex; Chama ?lazarus; Chama ?iostoma (orange & red); Spondylus; Hyotissa sp (2pm passage, folded & plain); Hyotissa ?hyotis 1pmp - dark folded; pinnothaerid crab -> Hyotissa ? hyotis 1 pmp - pale-flat; (wandering male) Dendostrea folium on Pteria on gorgonian; Alectryonella but not (on variety of corals) fingerprint pattern on 1 valve at least Pinna deltodes with commensal shrimp (orange - equal claws).
S.S/CP#94 (same as CJ86-19 see below) S.S/CP#95 (same as CJ86-20 see below). Had intended to do a night dive with Richard Garry & Peter but weather blew up, boat swing out & tide rose so that there was about 18m below the boat - too deep for Richard to follow the anchor rope down (he had done 2 dives earlier - one of them a bounce dive to 90') a Rex was unfilling to take diving boat out, considering the difficulty of tying up to the Alegrias again - so we aborted. & Alegrias motored to Black Point area for night. Cathy had gone over to the Aqua Sam again for the night's trawling. Stn CJ 86-19 11°4.5'S-11°6'S, 132°4'E-132°4.5'E, 10/11-VIII-1986, 15-22, 1030-0300. CJ 86-20 11-viii-1986 11°4.5'E-132°4'E; 15m; 0830; deeper in mud. 
SS/CP#96
Black Point-> Coral Bay Monday 11-VIII-86.
 Processed during morning. Had intended to collect intertidally on small island at S end of Coral Bay but a Ranger from the Conservation Commission - stationed at Cape Don - arrived and stayed - Rex ? - very interested in marine field - he is in charge of marine reserve (or potential reserve) at Cape Don & is also responsible for matters concerning the deer - licenced shooting ($10,000?) & poaching - particularly from the sea. So we changed our plans & went diving off this same island at low wter - about 1pm. Richard & I soon separated because of the very low & increasingly poor visibility - so we arranged to surface at 2.35. I went well offshore to E of island sand - brown algae - very little red - very small amount of Caulerpa scalpelliformis seen in sound - no seagrasses - lot of dead bivalves - around holes excavaed presumably by crustaceans - clumps of pearlshell (Pinctada albina) numerous Placuna ? rosea. Inshore more coral with abundant coral on reef projecting N from island - Turbinaria is most abundant - varies between well developed to just surviving - more than one species. Massive corals (Porites, faviids etc) form larger -> large bombies. Abundant Alectryonella or O. _______ in corals but peculiarly not many in Porites - 1 large Hyotissa hyotis seen - few Hyotissa sp than at Orontes - abundant Dendostrea (apparently). Pinnids abundant - Pinna bicolor  out in sandy silt very well buried - fragile fast growing tops to shells - inshore among rocks & corals v. abundant & large P. deltodes (all those dissected contained 2 shrimp - while only 1 of P. bicolor contained them. Anne found Stavelia horrida. After getting rid of gear swam shore to look at intertidal oysters abundant Saccostrea cuccullata above barnacles & few but generally large S. echinata below & at lower end of barnacle zone. Other animals from subtidal - Abalone - ? Haliotis crebrisculpta - green & white tentacles - deep pink rim to epipodium - foot relatively small - Plicatula ? essingtonensis v. common flat -> ribbed as they detach from substrate often on living or dead Placuna. Spondylus sp & Chama lazarus -> large - other Chama spp small (intertidal Chama seen but not collected - in or above S. echinata zone). Pteriids on gorgonians - oysters on pteriids. Cathy & Richard went across to Aqua Sam for nights trawling (see later).
SS/CP#97
At about 8pm Peter, Gary & I went for night dive to W of island 5-2m - about 50 minutes (8.10-9.00pm). - lots of hermit crabs out up on gorganians. Caught leafy pipefish on gorgonian (photo) & also found large seaweed crab on top of ledge - many fish asleep. - "Happy Moments" was asleep on aside! - corals "out" - particularly fungiids. Water turbid - much of it was due to small planktonic larval crustaceans (? prawns) - collected green Tectus pyramis - Astralium stellare. Plenty of crinoids seen - all out & fishing - those with brown & fawn cross straition on arms were sensitive to light. 
Tuesday 12-VIII-86 SS/CP#98
Anne Gary Peter Rex & Sandy went over to point to E of anchorage - I stayed on board Alegrias to process material (10.10-11.40, 3-5m) (large tide pool intertidally).
SS/CP#99
Trawing on Aqua Sam. Cathy & Richard brought home more oysters - but these tended to be folded - almost like shallow-water Dendostrea. (they had had some trouble with nets & very poor catches - they found whole but dead Laternula - live Dentalium (same as before))
SS/CP#100
Shore (intertidal) collecting on island to E of "Gunner's Quoin" on map (ie at S end of Coral Reef & to NW of Anchorage). Intertidal oysters. Saccostrea cuccullata - large generally spaced but abundant - young ones not abundant but evident. S. echinata overlap lower part of S. cuccullata zone - mostly large & presumably old on E side of island - but on S side more young ones - (the older ones were often on pedicels of rock - the fine sandstone - hard on the surface at least (even though softer below surface) - was eroded except under oysters - as at Shark Bay Salt. Overlapping both oyster zones was the barnacle (Tetraclita?) zone & overlapping the S. echinata zone was the intertidal chamid zone. No echinata on prop roots of Rhizophora & only a couple of S. cuccullata but both were on rocks among & at same level as prop roots - Rhizophora were growing even on rock & coarse rubble - (only one (perhaps a few more) Avicennia seen). Lower chamids, Spondylids, corals exposed at low tide. On sand banks along S side of island - v v abundant Gafrarium - most long dead - few alive & exposed. Also 2 double valves of Tellina ?linguafelis. Abundant Trochus hanleyanus - some Australium stellare intertidally on E side - most[?] c hermit crabs. 
SS/CP#101
Anne Gary Cathy Richard went night diving on point to E of anchorage sampled in morning (SS/CP#98) - dissappointing - low visibility & nothing much out. 
Wednesday 13-VIII-86 SS/CP#102
Cathy Rex Gary & I went over to Point sampled yesterday (SS/CP#98 & 101). Rex & Cathy did fish poisoning station. Garry collected. I tried to find oysters - only O. tuberculata & T. folium c S. cuccullata & possibly S. echinata intertidally. - NB all O. tuberculata were facing up ie vertically with Dorsal side down on coral colonies - none were horizontally oriented as are those of Abrollos & were found on Turbinaria. Some were found on dead coral. No Alectryonella found - or at least recognised. No Hyotissa of either species found. Dead bailers, small live Syrinx, live cerithiids abundant & leaving trails  - many live Beguina in coral crevisces. saw one crinoid - black & one long-spined sea urchin (? Diadema). "Forests" of long Sargassium (similar to that at Ningaloo Reef Tract) were patchy new bottom of slope - probably about 0.5->1m below LWS. - above this coral was short - in places dominated by Acropora (tabular) while below it tended to form small bombies - strands of Sargassium were about 2->2.5m long. What I took to be D. folium were on dead coral or on shells of O. tuberculata.
SS/CP#103
Orontes Reef 14-11m.
Cathy Anne Pert Gary & I dived in very calm water on Orontes Reef. - in at about 11.30am out at 12.15pm. started dive at about 14m from [?] finised at 1mm next to 'Alegrias' . At first we tried to keep together but conditions became impossible - I lost my chisel & diving knife - Peter & I found ourselves separated from rest - (though we met up with them later) - We ascended to surface to check - Rex on tender & Richard on ship told us that we were only about 5m from rest but we couldn't see them -visibility varied from zero to about 3m so we descended & went on with predetermined plan to move towards ship uphill however bottom was very flat & only gently sloping - not any reef - & only pm few clumps seen - uprooted gorgonians & such inidicated that the area had been trawled - so I didn't get any large Hyotissa as I had hoped - I wanted to take them back alive - but got some juveniles on shells of Malleus albus which was reasonably common though perhaps uprooted - & lying flat on substrate - I collected dead bivalves from fish hole excavations & also from larger depressions which might have been caused by rays or by trawl. Collected a multi-multi-armed crinoid for Anne - greyish - well expanded on exposed situation on end of gorgonian - clung to it while I carried it for quite a while. Also now a variety of prehensile types - dark variously tipped - striped with cream ->orange. Plenty of holothurians which bury & have long branched tentacles protuding. Plenty of solitary buried anemones with flat disc about 2'' in diameter. Left for Darwin after tranferring gear from tender[?] 5cm flat - accumulation of clotted algal bloom similar to those we used to get at Kendrew.
Thursday 14-VIII-86
[Arrived Darwin and examined Ostrea sp...]
Ostrea sp ? trapezina
Friday 15-VIII-86
[worked on specimens, met with colleagues]
Saturday 16-VIII-86
[worked on specimens, departed Darwin-arrived Perth]