Fish Bait Conservation

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Cachet: The cachet on this cover shows a cluster of black mussel shells lying open on a sandy seabed, with a coral worm winding its way between them in vivid red. Loose pebbles and shell fragments scatter across the foreground, giving the scene a natural, tide pool feel. The message "Conserve bait. One can't fish without it!" appears in bold text above the illustration, giving the cover a conservation message rather than a purely decorative one. A small silhouette of a bird, likely the Ciskei's national symbol, sits in the lower corner beside the cover's series number. Four stamps fill the top right corner in a block, each illustrated by D. Thorpe and showing a different bait species found along the Ciskei coast, from sandprawn to red-bait. Two Mdantsane postmarks, each featuring a small silhouette of a fisherman casting a line, cancel the stamps.

Info card

FISH BAIT Ciskei's wealth of fish attracts anglers from many parts of southern Africa. This stamp series features four organisms which occur on the Ciskei coast and are commonly used as bait. 11c stamp Callianassa kraussi Sandprawn Sandprawns occur abundantly in estuaries and also in smaller numbers on sheltered beaches. They dig irregular U-shaped tubes in the sand through which they circulate water to provide oxygen. In the process the sandprawn oxygenates the sediment and promotes the decomposition of dead plant-life, and makes it available for other marine animals to feed upon. The sandprawn is pink in colour and has one large and one small nipper. It is readily eaten by fish, the white steenbras blows away the sand to unearth sandprawns. 20c stamp Eunice antennata Coral worm The name "coral worm" is an unfortunate choice, for this animal is seldom found amongst coral but more often under stones or amongst the holdfasts of kelp. There are several different kinds of coral worm. The species illustrated on this stamp can easily be recognized by its antennae, which have a beaded appearance. Coral worms can reach a length of 42 cm. They have massive biting jaws that can administer a painful bite. Although variable in colour, most species have an iridescent shine which can flash green, blue or red. 25c stamp Arenicola loveni Bloodworm Bloodworms are greatly sought after as bait since they are highly attractive to fish. They become thicker than a man's thumb and may attain a length of 40 cm. They are commonest in estuaries, but also occur on open beaches. They burrow deep into the mud, forming U-shaped burrows with a very obvious depression at one end. By circulating water through their burrows they accumulate dead plant-matter and encourage the growth of bacteria and micro-organisms. Bloodworms have haemoglobin in their blood, which gives it a bright red colour, hence their name. 30c stamp Pyura stolonifera Red-bait Red-bait occurs in enormous beds just below the low-tide mark around the coastline of southern Africa. The animal has bright orange-red flesh that is avidly eaten by fish. The flesh, however, is encased in a tough, khaki-black outer tunic. Red-bait is a filter-feeding animal, drawing in water through one of its siphons and pumping it through a basket-like pharynx to trap suspended particles. The waste water is expelled out of the other siphon. The red-bait larva looks very like a tadpole and has many advanced features, including a notochord. Red-bait is therefore more closely related to the vertebrates than to the invertebrates. Once the larva stops swimming around and attaches itself to a rocky substratum, it loses its tail and notochord and is transformed into the stubby adult red-bait. Commemorative cover: Coral worm amongst mussel Three kinds of mussels occur on the Ciskei coast: Choromytilus meridionalis (black mussel), Perna perna (brown mussel), and Aulacomya ater (ribbed mussel). All three species are edible. Mussels form a major link in the marine food chain. (Text compiled with the kind co-operation of Prof. G. M. Branch.)

Additional information

This cover is postmarked on 12 April 1984 in Mdantsane. It carries a set of four Ciskei stamps illustrated by D. Thorpe, each depicting a different bait species found along the Ciskei coast. Red-bait, the largest of the four species shown, begins life as a swimming tadpole-like larva with a notochord, which places it closer to vertebrates than to the invertebrates it is grouped with once it settles onto rock and matures.

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