From the depths

On the occasion of the World Wildlife Fund's 50th anniversary, the folks at Maltapost have issued a four-stamp set featuring the remarkable Chimaera monstrosa L., 1758.

Chimaera monstrosa L., 1758 on a Maltapost 2011 issue

Known in Maltese as Fenek il-Baħar (lit. sea rabbit), this is a cartilaginous fish, closely related to sharks, commonest at depths of between 500 and 800 metres in the Mediterranean and the East Atlantic. Populations are threatened by the fishing industry and may soon be categorized as 'vulnerable' under IUCN criteria.

Scales in stone

From the 12th of this December to the 16th of January 2011, Heritage Malta is organizing an exhibition on fossil fish from the Maltese Islands at the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) in Mdina.

Such remains are of high importance, both palaeontologically and historically, being featured in several scientific publications including palaeoecological studies and new taxonomic descriptions. Most are also extremely rare, with fragile bones that do not fossilize easily.

To whet appetites, here's a taster of what the NMNH collection of fossil fish includes:

Stereodon melitensis Owen, 1864

Myliobates sp.

Holocentrum melitense Woodward, 1887

Brocktorff's Maltese fossils

Sir William Reid, Governor of Malta from 1851 to 1858, was a military official and amateur scientist whose interests eventually led him towards a study of meteorology and hurricanes. In a bid to encourage interest in the geology of the Maltese Islands, he published a book containing a few lithographs of fossils commissioned from an artist known only as 'Brocktorff' (Zammit Maempel, 2007).

This book remains very rare in libraries. In addition the well-known echinoids, Brocktorff illustrates remains of crustaceans (a crab), cartilaginous fish (the famous glossopetrae), and bony fish. The following are a some of the illustrated specimens, a few of which are in the National Museum of Natural History, Mdina.

'Schizaster Parkinsoni, Defrance' [*]

'Schizaster Desori, Wright' [**]

'Found at Casal -Luca-Krendi in the Year 1854' [***]

'Found near Casal Luca in the Year 1855'

'Shark's Tooth, with Stony Zoantharia - found near St. Thomas Tower, Malta' [****]

[*] Schizaster parkinsoni (Defrance, 1835)
[**] Schizaster desori Wright, 1855
[***] in contemporary Maltese: Casal Luca = Ħal-Luqa; Krendi = Qrendi
[****] St. Thomas' Tower, Marsaskala

References:

Reid, W., 1857. Maltese fossils lithographed for distribution with the view to encourage further investigation into the geology of the island. Malta: Valletta.
Zammit Maempel, G., 2007. Illustrators and their illustrations of Maltese fossils and Geology. Malta: Publishers' Enterprises Group Ltd.

Sharks in Malta Part III - Close encounters of the third kind

Today I was surprised that virtually all of the Google searches leading to this blog consisted of the same three keywords: 'shark in Malta'. I attributed this sudden interest to some sensational news item about which I hadn't heard anything so far - and sure enough, one glance at the Times of Malta web portal explained everything.

Without further ado, here's the link to the relevant news item and the accompanying video. Non-Maltese speakers will be disappointed, though!

Sharks in Malta Part II - A killer reputation

The vast majority of sharks and rays frequenting Maltese waters are innocuous to humans, and even the largest of them is a timid filter-feeder - this is the legally protected basking shark - Cetorhinus maximus (Gunnerus, 1765).

The species after larger prey, such as the great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias Smith, 1838), may attack humans on occasion, and such one-off cases are so easy to sensationalize that the shark is now perceived as dangerous and fear-inspiring. Coupled with overfishing and pollution, this reputation has had grave consequences for shark populations around the world - both species mentioned above are considered as vulnerable by the IUCN.

The following photographs are some archival finds documenting well-publicised shark catches in Malta throughout the years. Hopefully, awareness and education about the true nature of sharks will help keep such actions restricted to a few old pictures.

Alopias vulpinus (Bonnaterre, 1788) - off Gozo, 2000

Isurus oxyrhincus Rafinesque, 1810 - 10km off Ġnejna, 2005


Hexanchus griseus (Bonnaterre, 1778) - off Marsaxlokk (2008?)


Carcharodon carcharias Smith, 1838 - off Filfla, 1987

References:

Fergusson, I., Compagno, L. J. V. & Marks, M., 2005. Carcharodon carcharias. In: IUCN Red List of Threatened Species Version 2010.1. [WWW Document, url - www.iucnredlist.org; last accessed 03.VI.2010]

Fowler, S. L., 2005. Cetorhinus maximus. In: IUCN Red List of Threatened Species Version 2010.1. [WWW Document, url - www.iucnredlist.org; last accessed 03.VI.2010]

Sharks in Malta Part I - 'L-Ilsna ta' San Pawl'

The Sicilian Agostino Scilla was one of the first Europeans (together with Nicholas Steno in Denmark) to systematically study fossils and extract information about them empirically, as opposed to his contemporaries' tendency to attribute fossils to supernatural forces or a slew of mythical creatures.

Frontispiece of Agostino Scilla's 'La Vana Speculazione', 1670 - note the variety of fossils on the lower right

Both Scilla and Steno arrived to conclusions that were beginning to shape the science of geology as it is known today, in particular the then-controversial notion that fossils are derived from once-living organisms.

Interestingly, some of the fossils which both chose to illustrate in their works were obtained from Malta. These fossils are the famous glossopetrae (tongue stones), or, more accurately, fossil shark teeth, which during the Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque periods were considered to be a miraculous cure for a variety of ailments (Zammit Maempel, 1975; 1989). Malta was the centre of a lucrative business in these shark teeth and it is not hard to see how specimens could have come in Scilla and Steno's possession.

Carcharocles megalodon (Agassiz, 1843) teeth from the C2 Phosphorite Conglomerate, Malta

Most of these glossopetrae belong to the extinct Carcharocles megalodon (Agassiz, 1843), one of the largest fish ever to exist on Earth. An approximation of its size (in grey and red) compared to the modern (and morphologically similar) great white shark, Carcharodon carcharias (L., 1758) (in green) can be seen below.

The local name for these particular fossils is 'Ilsien San Pawl' (= St. Paul's Tongue) due to the belief that they formed inside the rocks while St. Paul was shipwrecked on Malta in the year 60 A. D. (Acts of the Apostles, 28: 2-7). During this episode, St. Paul shrugged off a snake which attacked him and threw it into an open fire, symbolically ridding the islands of poisonous 'vermin'.

'St. Paul's Shipwreck', by Stefano Erardi, 1683 - note the snake falling out of the main figure's hands into the fire

Carcharocles teeth from the collection of Sir Hans Sloane are also the oldest Maltese fossils in the British Museum (cf. Galea Bonavia, 2003).

References:

Galea Bonavia, C., 2003. Carcharocles megalodon (Agassiz) (Lamnidae: Neoselachae): A historical note. The Central Mediterranean Naturalist, 4 (1): 105.

Scilla, A., 1670. La vana speculazione disingannata dal senso: lettera responsiva circa i corpi marini, che petrificati si trovano in varii luoghi terrestri. Napoli: Colicchia.

Sloane, H., undated. Se la Virtu’ alessifarmaca della Terra, Glossopetre conchiti, Achini ed altre pietre figurate che si cavano dalle Rocche di Malta, sia innata o Miraculosa. Unpublished manuscript, Sloane Collection – British Library MS no. 763.

Zammit Maempel, G., 1975. Fossil sharks' teeth: a medieval safeguard against poisoning. Melita Historica, 6: 391-406.

Zammit Maempel, G., 1989. The Folklore of Maltese fossils. Papers in Mediterranean Social Studies, 1: 1-29.