YOLo XX NO.9 SEPTEMBER, 1972 NEW SERIES NO. 153

YOLo XX NO.9
I arrived in Muscat-Oman early in 1969, and
after reading the fine article by E. R. Cross
(HSN September 1969) on the possible location
of Cypraea teuleri, was most anxious to visit
Masira. The island, although barely 200 miles
from Muscat, is very remote and isolated and
could only be visited if permission was obtained
from the Sultan. In January, 1970, I made a
visit and was able to obtain several specimens of
C. teuleri; I was told they came from the
southern end of the island, but had no time to
investigate further.
Since then C. teuleri have been found in considerable quantities, but the actual location,
habitat, etc., has not been recorded and no
specimen complete with animal has been obtained. This, then, was the background for my
visit; I was determined to find and record the
habitat and bring back live specimens for study.
On Monday, November 29,1971,-1 landed at
the RAF base at the northern tip of Masira,
and started out along the western side of the island in a landrover. From information previously obtained I expected to find C. teuleri halfway down the island. We bumped, bounced and
rattled along the only track, more suitable for
camels and donkeys than motor transport. Nineteen miles and 45 minutes later the track came
close to the sea (point B on the mapl. The tide
SEPTEMBER, 1972
was on its way out so I decided to start exploring
the beach. After half an hourI found the first C.
teuleri and what a wonderful feeling that was!
It was lying on sand out of the water in bright
sunlight with its mantle withdrawn. Finding a
cowrie like this was against all known "rules" of
where to look for them and I assumed that it
was a dead specimen. Imagine my surprise on
picking it up to find it alive! My visit was timed
to coincide with a low tide of 2 feet and in the
next three hours I walked 5 miles (to C on the
map) and collected 69 mature specimens.
The habitat appears to be of two distinct
types:
(11 An area, approximately 150 yards out
from the high tide mark, which is flat with fine,
dark sand covered with small 6-inch diam.
hummocks of red sponge-type growths about 3
inches high. There are also tidal pools with a
green frondy seaweed and clumps of loose rubble scattered about. All the C. teuleri were
found out of the water, mantle withdrawn, in
bright sunlight. In all casesthe shells were stationary and only when the tide turned and water
started to cover the shells did I see two specimens with tentacles extended. At no time did I
see a C. teuleri moving.
(21 This was an area of rocky outcrop 50
yards from the high tide mark and approxi-
NEW SERIES NO. 153
mately 3 feet high and 100 meters long (point A
on the map). The rocks were covered with a
layer of fine, dark sand. The c. teuleri were
most plentiful in this area with groups of three
or even four not unusual (seephoto
). Moving
either side of this point, towards B or C. the
number of specimens became less; it would,
therefore, seem that the best collecting area is
confined to this S-mile stretch of beach.
From the slope of the beach along this stretch
it is estimated that, at high tide, the shells would
be in 4 to 8 feeet of water.
During the first hour of collecting, in habitat
1, I was fortunate enough to find a specimen sitting on eggs, another specimen close in attendance. Under normal circumstances these eggs
would not have been disturbed, but as these
were possibly the first to be recorded they were
brought back for study. The eggs, which are
capsular, are in half of an old bivalve, mainly a
single layer but it would appear that a second
layer had been started. The 3Smm x 2Smm
cluster consists of approximately ISO egg
capsules. Each capsule measures between 23mm in diameter and has a slight depression
uppermost in the center. The eggs were a dark
brown but since immersing in spirit have become light brown/orange.
I Cont'd on
Page 3)
September, 1972
HAWAIIAN SHELL NEWS
Page 2
Solomon Islands Typhoons
A somewhat reduced summer-vacation crowd
gathered at the First Methodist Church at 7: 30
p.m. August 2nd for the regular meeting of the
HMS.
Subject of the program was a panel discussion
on the recent massive mortality of oysters in the
West Loch of Pearl Harbor. Participants in the
panel were Paul Kawamoto, Biologist from the
State Fish and Game Commission; ~. Robert
Nakamura, University of Hawaii Department
of Animal Sciences; E. C. Jones, National Marine Fisheries Service; Dr. Henri Minette, Environmental Health Director of the State Department of Health and Dr. Thomas A. Burch,
Vice President of the HMS and Chief of the Research and Statistics Office of the State Health
Department.
~a~atta~ Sleett 1teett4.
Official Publication of the
Hawaiian Malacological Society
(Founded in 1941)
2777 Kalakaua Ave.
Honolulu, Hawaii 96815
Issued monthly and mailed to all regular
members.
Annual
membership
(January
through December) $7.00; $8.00 Foreign Surface; $9.00 Foreign First Class; $15.00 Foreign
Air; $9.50 U.S. Air. Immediate members of a
regular member's family may become an
associate member for $1.00 but will not
receive the HSN.
PUBLICATION COMMITTEE
Editor
E. R. CROSS
Tech. Advisor
DR. E. ALISON KAY
Ed. Assistants
IBBY HARRISON, RUTH
FAIR, STU LILLICO, ELMER LEEHMAN
The Society meets the first Wednesday of
each month at 1st United Methodist Church,
1020 S. Beretania Street, Honolulu, Hawaii,
at 7:30 p.m. Visitors welcome!
HMS OFFICERS
President
Elmer G. Leehman
Vice President
Thomas Burch
Treasurer
George Cook
Recording Secretary
Harriet Howe
Corresponding Secretary
Ibby Harrison
""""~'
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The above elected officers and the following HMS members make up the Board of
Directors with HMS President Elmer Leehman serving as Chairman of the Board;
elected by the members: Fran Wright,
Charles Wolfe and Jim Fair; serving automatically as immediate past president, Neal
Seamon; serving automatically as Editor of
the HSN, E. R. Cross; appointed by HMS
President with the advice and consent of
HMS officers, Dr. Thomas Richert, Stu Lillico, Ruth Fair and Ron McOmber with Una
May Young as chairman of the Junior Division of HMS.
Items of interest to shell collectors are
solicited for publication in the Shell News.
Deadline is lOth of the monthly preceding
date of publication. Address 01 contributions,
comments, suggestions, and other correspondence, including information and payments
for ads to The Hawaii Malacological Society,
2777 Kalakaua Avenue, Honolulu,
Hawaii
96815. Advertisements are accepted at the
rate of $10.00 per column inch per issue.
For special six or twelve time rate write
The Editor.
This month your editors are devoting almost
the entire issue of the Hawaiian Shell News to
one of the most popular of all collectors' species,
the Cypraea.
It is very gratifying to note that the lead article, on Cypraea teuleri was the result of a research article which appeared in the September,
1969 HSN. In the future, we hope that other
articles will lead to further discoveries of the
home of rare shells.
Regarding Dr. Schilder's collection, now on
display at the Museum fur Naturkunde at the
Humboldt-Universitat
in East Berlin, Dr.
Marie Schilder informs us that foreign visitors
may stay either in East Berlin for the time of the
visit to the museum, but will need a visa, in advance (Aufenthalts-Erlaubnis) from the German Democratic Republic or you may stay in
West Berlin and get a certificate for crossing
(Tages-Passierschein)without prior application.
For collectors anticipating European travel, this
museum collection would seem to be a "must".
California
CollectingRestricted
As of March 1, 1972, the California Administrative Code has prohibited the taking of any
invertibrates from tidal pools or other areas
between the high tide mark and 1,000 feet
beyond the low tide mark without written permission from the Department of Fish and
Game. (Sec. 51, Title 14). Permits are issued
primarily .for scientific collecting. The regulation is enforced by Fish and Game wardens and
a $500 fine or 6 months in jailor both can be
levied against violators. The state of Oregon has
a similar relrulation.
by ELMER G, LEEHMAN
Friends of lain Gower of the British Solomon
Islands will be sad to hear that two typhoons
caused extensive damage, early this year, to his
property and buildings. One of the storms carried winds nearing 200 mph and the eye passed
directly over Paruru Plantation. About the
only structure surviving unscathed was his
new home. Fortunately he and his family were
not injured, as were many other residents.
The storms washed hundreds of shells up on
the beaches. many of them live. lain found
Golden cowries, Conus floccatus, C. bullatus
and C, tegatus, as well as numerous other rare
species afterwards. He also collected a number
of brightly colored Murex anatomicus which is
a first, from what we can learn. These were in
red, pink, orange, yellow and purple and are
very similar to our Murex pete. The fronds on
the M, anatomicus are more blunt and less lacy
and the specimensdo not have the line of fronds
found on top of the body of the average M. pete.
Thus far, no Conus gtoriamaris have been
found, which is surprising to many people.
lain reports that the entire bottom of Marau
Sound is upsidedown, since the storms made the
water "boil". Huge coral heads were tossed
about like matches and all sorts of debris was
uncovered.
While we are all distressed to hear of the
damage, the situation might be described as:
"tis an ill wind which blows no good", since
Gower was able to obtain so many fine rare
shells, which must be some panacea to the damage.
The name Franz Alfred Schilder is synonymous with cowries. Since 1911 the late Professor Dr. Schilder has authored some 415 papers
on the cowry. We recently received from his
widow Dr. Marie Schilder a publication, Archiv
fur Molluskenkunde,
Arch. Moll. Nummer
1/4, Frankfurt a. M., outlining chronologically
the published works of Dr. Alfred Schilder. Also
received was a brief paper by Dr. Marie Schilder titled Die Typen der von F. A. Schilder
nach 1958 benannten Cypraecea, Arch. Moll,
Nummer 1/4, p. 19-20, listing the location of
type species authored by Dr. F. A. Schilder. In
her letter to the HSN Dr. Marie Schilder wrote,
"The Schilder collection of Cypraeacea (Cypraea, Ovula, Trivia, Erato) is now preserved
in a special room in the Museum fur Naturkunde an der Humboldt-Universitat su Berlin.
Interested malacologists who wish to visit the
collection are always welcome. Inquiries and
schedule of visit should be submitted to Dr. sc.
Rudolf Kilias Museum fur Naturkunde an der
Humboldt-Universitat, Zoologisches Museum,
DDR-IO4 Berlin, Invalidenstr 43.
CYPRAEA TEULERI
fCont'd from Page II
From the time the first C. teuleri was found
until leaving the beach nearly three hours later,
I saw over 200 specimens of which 12 were immature. On immature specimens, the pattern is
spread across the back of the shell, and is a light
brown zig-zag marking. The 69 mature specimens collected can be graded into the following
sizes:
Under 4Omm
17
-
41-50mm- 49
51-53mm- 3
The C. teuleri appears to have three main
dorsum patterns: fa I Very dark specimens with
a well defined central blotch. fbl Light specimens with the pattern spread evenly over the
whole dorsum and tc} specimens with a light
background and a single dark lightning flash
marking down the center of the dorsum. Of the
69 specimens collected there were 30 type (aI,
34 type (b) and 5 type fc).
On some C. teuleri seenprevious to this trip I
had noticed the dorsum markings had a cloudy
appearance and some slight staining and spotting. This was thought to be due to inexperienced cleaning by the collecting fishermen.
However, this appearance was noticed on six
live specimens and could perhaps be due to sand
trapped under the mantle which dulls and spots
the nacre.
Although I did not see a mantle fully extended it was possible to see a part of it before it
was withdrawn into the shell. The mantle appears to be a light yellow or lemon color; it was
not possible to ascertain if the mantle had filaments.
During the expedition I also found C. caurica, C. turdus winckworthi, immature C. arabica and C. felina tabula, Conus musicus,
Murex spinosus and Ancilla castanea. The c.
turdus were found side by side with C. teuleri
and also were sitting in the sun with the shell
fully exposed. It was noticeable that all the cow-
()"'~N
"'AlHLAiIJ>/
fl-"
I
J
,.,.I
ries in Masira were much larger than their
counterparts in Muscat. For instance, the average comparative sizes of several Cypraea are:
Muscat
Masira
C. turdus winckworthi
35mm
50mm
C. telina tabula
21mm
26mm
C. caurica
45mm
55mm
One immediate conclusion that is apparent
from my visit is that the C. teuleri has hitherto
been a rare shell due not to its scarcity but to the
very isolated nature of its location. It is still,
without doubt, a most beautiful shell that will
always be much sought after to add grace and
beauty to any comprehensive Cypraea collection.
AU photos by FRED LUTHER
P. B. Homes, British Residency, Vila, New
Hebrides is interested in exchanging Terebra
and Mitra, worldwide. Mr. Homes is the Vice
President of the Vila Malacological Society.
A longtime member, Don Hiatt, Box 2268,
Agana, Guam 96910 would like to exchange for
Conidae, Cypraedae, Mitridae and Olividae.
Mr. Roland Houart, Grand' Route 8, 3330
Ezemaal, Neerwinden 1, Belgium would like to
exchange shells, especially for those from Ha.
waii and the Pacific area.
Mr. & Mrs. Carlos Leobrera want to ex.
change Philippine shells for worldwide shells in
quantity. Will only consider top quality specimen shells. Please send your list of shells avail.
able for exchange to 1116-A-Mabini St.,
Ermita, Manila D.406, Philippines.
HAWAIIAN SHELL NEWS
Page 4
-,
~
~
~
7tnI4
by LESTER ROHRLACH
.. '
Brian Parkinson was on a recent tour through
New Britain and the British ScJlomon Islands
and sent me pictures of that tantalizing species,
Cypraea valentia (Perry I which he had been
able to photograph. The unverified story behind
these pictures is that a Mr. R. Taylor purchased
this specimen at the Rabaul market from a
native in September, 1971, for the sum of one
dollar!
The specimen was found dead and obviously
the native had no idea of its value. Most sellers
of shells at this market have a fair idea of values
of many specieswhich are rather scarce, such as
C. aurantium, C. guttata and Conus gloriamaris.
From experience learned regarding shells sold
at the Rabaul market in New Britain I would be
prepared to say this C. valentia was almost certainly collected from near Rabaul or the surrounding Islands. If it is quite true that $1 was
paid for it, then it would hardly be likely tha~ it
had been traded from very far away. I find this
possible extension of its range to be most interesting. I have heard along the "grape-vine" that
lain Gower of Guadalcanal, had recently collected a portion of a specimen, from his area.
Of lesser interest, I would mention in passing that I have a C. guttata Gmel. which was
very recently collected on Tuam reef off Umboi
Island in the Siassi Islands off the West end of
New Britain, found during August 1971 in
about five feet of water by a native. It was also
dead, but so recently alive that only a small
amount of dullness between the teeth at the
aperture and some ultra fine scratchings, mainly
on the base, were present to give away its status.
Quite mature but perhaps on the small side of
avera~e, at 44mm length.
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by LYMAN HIGA
George Hirsch and father, Pete, had good
luck recently off Waianae in 70' depth. They
brought up a dead Strombus hawaiensis, a live
Conus circumactis, a C. acutangulus and
three Cypraea tessellata.
,Tom Fair, diving off Waikiki, collected a
fresh-dead and lovely specimen of Cypraea
rashleighana, his first.
A two-week diving vacation on the North
Shore of Oahu paid off handsomely for divers
Jack Uyemura, Keo Matsuda, Andy Shimazu
and Francis Shitabata. Each brought back at
least one Charonia tritonis, and each found a
pair of Cypraea tigris during both weeks they
were diving.
Ed Note: Our "Little Stranger" cone in the
May, 1972 issue has brought excellent corroborative response from two well-known collectors. Thora P. Whitehead writes:
"I think that the shells may belong to the species Conus testudinarius Hwass in Bruguiere,
1792. I have received similar shells from various
tropical Western Atlantic regions, though these
have mostly arrived labelled C. ranunculus, H.
in B. which is also a name that has been used for
this species.
"Conus testudinarius H. in B. appears to
show a wide variation in color and pattern depending on locality; some of the most attractive
specimens I have seencome from Curacao in the
Netherlands West Indies. . . . I believe that I
have read that this species also occurs on the
West African Coast."
And from Dr. Alan J. Kohn, this note:
"The 'little stranger' in the May, 1972 issue is
the species I and others have referred to as
Conus testudinarius Hwass. At present, this is
the best name, although there is a possibility
that the species is synonymous with C.
ermineus Born. This will have to be studied on
the West African coast, however, where both
forms occur. As this indicates, the speciesoccurs
on both sides of the subtropical and tropical
North Atlantic. On the western side, its range
according to John Holeman is from Palm Beach
to Surinam. Mr. Schelling's interesting specimens seemto be the first recorded from the Gulf
of Mexico."
AUSTRALIA
Lance Moore Marine Specimens Pty., Ltd.
27A George St., Sydney, NSW, 2000, Australia
Free catalogue on request. All specimens cannot be listed, our stock too comprehensive. Ask
for
VOIlr
"want!!".
September, 1972
SHELLS FOR SALE
SPECIMEN SHELLS WANTED
I want to buy rare Conus, Murex, Voluta
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[ will pay good prices. Only live collected perfect
specimens considered.
SIMON De MARCO, World's Largest Dealer, P.O. Box 1664, Fort Myers, Florida 33902,
U.S.A.
WESTERN AUSTRALIA
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SHELL DEALER
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56 Wroxton St., Midland-,W. Australia 6056
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September, 1972
HA WAllAN SHELL NEWS
Whereis the-collection now?
Follow-up
Dear Editor:
It's interesting and rather sad, to read the
recent comments in HSN about the fate of private collections once they pass into the hands of
museums. Perhaps these remarks are justified in
a few cases,but the majority of museums are not
dark, dusty buildings with dungeons into which
curators gleefully pour ill-fated collections and
then forget about them.
On the contrary, there seemsto be more active
research than ever being carried out in these institutions all over the world; more concern
about the proper curation of museum collections; and more active, and friendly, participation and co-operation with collectors outside the
by WILLIAM
E. OLD
American Museum of Natural History
New York City
Two specimens of Cypraea guttata Gmelin
have been taken in Queensland waters, according to correspondence received from Ross Martin of Kogarah, New South Wales. Mr. Martin's
specimen was taken in November 1969, by
prawn trawlers in 120 fathoms of water off
Cape Moreton, Queensland.
"This shell, to the best of my knowledge, is
the first one to be found in Australian waters,"
he wrote me.
Mr. Martin's specimen, which was submitted
to me for examination, measures 50.7mm in
length and 31mm in width. It is somewhat subadult, with the spire uncallused. The teeth are
not fully developed and do not extend-across the
inner lip (seephotoof apertural view). The shell
was collected dead but it retains most of the
original glaze.
A second specimen, which was stated to measure 57mm in length, was collected alive in the
same area in September 1970. This one was reported by Ed Thorogood in the Keppel Bay
Tidings published by the Keppel Bay (Queensland I Shell Club later that year.
Photos courtesy of the American Museum of
Natural History.
professional sphere.
Most collectors, at some stage, need the advice of museum personnel on identification
problems, distributional data, variation within
the species, etc. They may come personally for
this, or seek it by mail, or go to a paper written
by a curator or museum research worker. In
other words the person in the museum is considered the specialist in such matters. But how can
he be unless he has the large collections necessary for such studies? And how can these collections be amassed other than through purchase,
donation or collection by expedition? Purchase
is generally out through sheer lack of finance.
Expeditions are costly affairs which allow those
on them to but scratch the conchological surface
of anyone area. So donation is often the only
really effective way to build these collections.
Finally, once a specimen is lodged in a
museum collection, it is there for all time. Its
"Home" can be mentioned in the literature and
100 years hence it will still be accessibleto any
one who wishes to refer to it. The saddest thing
about personal collections is the fact that, after
so many years of pleasure to the owner gained in
amassing them, they can be so quickly dispersed
on the owner's death. Surely it would be better
to know that your collection would finally reside
in some museum where it would immediately
become available to all, and become another
valuable tool for the research worker. A large
part of our collections came to us through people
who were proud to donate them. And we are
proud to know that these people thought of us
this way.
Phillip H. Colman, Dept. of Malacology
Australian Museum, Sydney
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Page 5
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CHANNELLED WHELK
Lovely, little channelled whelk
I hold your bare shell in my hand,
It late housed a hemlit crab
Who left his faint tracks in the sand.
Each whorl, each knob, each criss-cross vein
Defined by God's creative art
Is clearly etched; the vivid stain
Of gold foretells the artist's part.
Your architecture shows such skill,
Your egg-shell structure is 80 fine,
My mind with keen delight you fill,
Contentment and deep peace are mine.
My eye rejoices as I trace
The tiny staircase up which you went;
A creature with a gliding grace
Repeated this in your descent.
Your shape which swells just like a pear
Then winds in gentle spiral theme
To pointed apex is most fair Neptune's crown jewel, you do seem.
Rachel Paxon Hayes
HAWAIIAN SHELL NEWS
Page 6
September, 1972
NOVICE NOOK
by ELMER G. LEEHMAN
by RUT
HFAIR
Q: If each female mollusk lays so many eggs,
why aren't there more shells and why are some
species so scarce?
A: The life cycle of a mollusk, from egg to
adult, is fraught with danger. Let's consider an
hypothetical "average" cowry, for instance:
The female lays an egg mass of capsules containing perhaps 1,000 eggs. With luck, 95 percent or 950 of these will hatch into living
veligers - the first, free-swimming stage of the
In his book, "The Living Cowries", Dr. Pat
Burgess comments: "This beautiful species
(Cypraea tigris Linne.! is probably the best
known of all the cowries. It is so variable that it
can truly be said that no two are alike."
Shown in the accompanying picture is an odd
specimen. It might appropriately be called "The
tiger cowrie whose mother was frightened by a
cassis". It is quite similar in shape to a helmet
shell.
This shell was collected by a Navy diver from
15 feet in coral rubble in Subic Bay, Philippine
Islands during June of 1968. It is now in the
collection of Mr. Ted Bryant of Makakilo, Hawaii.
animal (see HSN Dec. 1971).
These veligers rise or swim to the planktonic
layer of the ocean where they immediately be.
come prey for planktonic feeders, other planktonic animals, heat, cold, etc. The rate of attrition at this stage can be as much as 50 percent.
This leaves us with, say 450 veligers who survive long enough to build a bit of shell heavy
enough to cause them to sink to the bottom.
Now, another tricky situation arises. Habitat
is NOT where a mollusk prefers to live. . . it is a
set of conditions which MUST prevail in order
that the mollusk can survive. There must be the
proper food available, the "right" type of sand
(for sand-dwellersj, the right rocks, coral, other
bottom conditions or the animal simply cannot
live. Therefore, of the veligers which sink to the
bottom, only a small portion winland, purely by
accident, in a set of conditions which constitute
its habitat. Those who do not find the right
habitat perish, accounting for about another 60
to 70 percent. At this stage, your loss can reduce
the original 1,000 to about 100 young, tender
animals.
And, being young, tender and vulnerable,
they immediately become tasty prey for other
predators. . . fish, other mollusks, crabs and so
forth. This predation continues while the
juveniles are growing, further reducing the
population so that eventually, if two or three of
the original hatching survive to be mature
adults, capable of laying or fertilizing eggs, they
are very lucky.
We have not taken into account a major
predator, either. . . Man. This adds to the dangers of reducing the specimens even further.
Remember, these figures are necessarily arbitrary and not completely accurate. The rate of
loss anywhere along the line can be greater or
smaller, but the end result is about the same. If
a shell is "common", such as Cypraea
caputserpentis, there are greater numbers to
begin with, but the same death rate keeps th!!m
more or less constant. However, if a shell is
"rare" and a large number of the species are
collected, even as fully mature adults, \here is a
much greater danger of reducing the critical
density of the number of that speciesand bringing it close to extinction. These animals must
maintain at least a minimum population in order to insure the chances of male and female
meeting and mating.
These are the reasonswe continue to plead for
conservative collecting, for not collecting juveniles of the species, for not collecting egg-laying
females and for turning back the rocks to their
original position when you have looked under
them. It's up to you, as shell collectors, to help
protect habitat and insure the continuation of
the molluscan fauna from year to year.
SHELLS FOR SALE
SHELLS FOR SALE
I have 2 Golden Cowries for sale, for particulars, please reply early, M. Shamim, G.P .0. Box
1282, Suva, Fiji.
REMINDER
FORMOSA SHELLS
CHU-SHAN CHIANG
P. O. Box 332, Tainan, Taiwan (Formosa I
Wholesale & Retail, Fine and Rare Seashells.
Write for Free Price List.
Membership renewal notices will be enclosed
in this issue. If you wish to insure an uninterrupted flow of the Hawaiian Shell News, send in
your 1973 dues early.
Back issues of the HSN, from 1960 to date,
are available and are filled with articles and
photographs of interest to all collectors. For
further information on costs, write the Secretary
of the HMS.
SOURCE FOR RED SEA SPECIMEN
AND COMMERCIAL SHELLS
DOV PELED
Hazalafim 6, Haifa, 34-739. Israel
Buys, sellsand exchangesshells.Price list on
reauest.
Photos:E. R. Cross
CARFEL SHELL EXPORT
1116 A. Mabini St. Ermita
Manila D-406, Philippines
We specialize in quality Philippine specimen,
ornamental, commercial shells and handicrafts.
Also Indo Pacific shell collection containing
more than 1,000 pcs of shells. Free list upon request.
RARITIES
The following are in stock and available.Inquiries invited. Conus auricomus Hwass, c.
bullatus L., C. floccatus Sowerby,C. gloriamaris Chemnitz, Cypraea barclayi Reeve,C.
cruikshanki Kilburn, C. gutatta Gmelin and
Mitra %onataMarryat.
The Morrison Galleries
5101 OceanBlvd., SiestaKey
Sarasota,Fla. 33581 (8131 924-2557
HA WAllAN SHELL NEWS
September, 1972
Page 7
by ROBER T DELLAR
What are the common cowries of Hawaii?
How do they compare with "scarcity lists" in
other parts of the world?
In an effort to provide at least a partial answer to these questions, I recently compiled
some comparative lists of cowries found in Hawaiian waters. To no one's surprise, Cypraea
caputserpentis, turned out to be the most
plentiful. This appears to be the case throughout
the world, wherever cowries are found. So in the
matter of C. caputserpentis, at least, Hawaii is
typical.
But with some other species, the picture is
quite different. World-wide, C. eglantina is
comparatively common. Here in Hawaii it is
virtually unknown. Only one live specimen has
been found, to my knowledge. And even more
striking is C. moneta, which may well be more
plentiful, world-wide, than even C. caputserpentis. The Money Cowrie is found in very
limited numbers on our reefs.
In compiling my scarcity lists, I took Dr. C.
M. Burgess' The Living Cowries as my guide.
Burgess uses a scarcity rating ranging from 1 to
10; the higher the number, the rarer the shell.
This number is based on world-wide distribution and availability. Few collectors, as far as I
know, quarrel with Dr. Burgess' findings.
For comparison, I compiled a list of cowries
found around Oahu, and rated their scarcity on
the basis of my own collecting experience and
that of other Scuba divers and active HMS
members with whom I am in contact. I found
substantial agreement on the list, despite occasional quibbling over details.
The following list should be regarded as tentative only. Needless to say, it is subject to
change in accordance with Nature's whims. For
example, I feel that there has been a significant
increase in the numbers of C. moneta found
here in the past year, just as there has been a
steady decline in c. tigris. Perhaps my tables
already are in need of adjustment.
Non-Hawaii readers should be reminded that
this scarcity list is based on comparatively small
numbers of specimens. Shells are not as plentiful
here as in some other parts of the world (although we have, I suspect, a disproportionately
large number of shell collectors I. My ratings,
therefore, may not be based on the highest statistical standards. A strong element of intuition
is involved.
IIMS members who have shelled extensively
in Hawaiian waters may have different intuitions. If so, I would welcome their comments.
My local scale runs as follows: 1 to 5, common cowries, found regularly but in decreasing
numbers as the rating rises; 6 and 7, cowries
found infrequently and regarded as scarce; 8
and 9, cowriesthat are rare locally and seldom
found; and 10,shellsthat are known to occur in
Hawaii but almost never found.
The rating is basedon findings of mature,
live-taken specimens,fully identified.
World-wide
Hawaii
arabica
2
8
beckii
7
9
caputserpentis
I
1
carneola
3
7
cernica
7
9
childreni
7
10
chinensis
4
7
cicercula
5
10
eglantina
3
10
erosa
2
6
fimbriata
3
3
gaskoini
7
8
gracilis
3
10
granulata
6
5
helvola
2
1
isabella
2
1
labrolineata
5
9
leviathan
6
5
lynx
3
8
maculifera
2
2
mariae
7
10
mauiensis
0
10
mauritiana
4
4
moneta
1
7
nucleus
4
8
ostergaardi
9
10
poraria
3
5
rashleighana
8
9
schilderorum
5
4
scurra
6
6
semiplota
8
10
sulcidentata
6
3
talpa
4
7
teres
4
4
tessellata
7
7
tigris
1
6
tigris over 5"
1
8
vitellus
2
7
The abovephoto of Cypraea friendi, forma
contraria wassent by Frank A. Jonesof Western Australia. It wastaken alive in a lobsterpot
in 90 fathoms of water at WedgeIsland, Western Australia. It measures 78.2mm long x
40.6mm high. The color is a creamy white.
flecked with rust-brown spots. Photo: Neville
r:nlpman.
Vicetia O'Gorman:Cossman
The photos (right I of the fossil precursor of
the present-day Cypraea, were sent to HSN by
Mr. Codman Hislop, who received them from
Denise Valero of the Musee International de
Malacologie of Nice, France. Collected in the
Aquitaine basin of France (Brittanyl, it probably came from the Tertiary era, between ten
and 70 million years ago.
It would be interesting to know the exact
function of the knobs on the shell, since presentday cowries are ovoid.
Vicetia O'Gormani Cossman is the possible
precursor of present-day Cypraea. Although no
measurements were received. it appears to be
larger than present-day cowries. Photo:
courtesy Musee International de Malacolo.v;ie.
Page 8
HA WAllAN SHELL NEWS
by JOHN F'. O'MALLEY
continue up and over the margins. The teeth are
Cypraea nebrites is an abundant cowrie in
white and very coarse. The labial teeth extend
the Red Sea near Jeddah. Every collecting trip
across the base a short way and continue as a
produces a large nwnber.
C. nebrites are found in water one foot to 15
brown streak across the base. The aperture is
feet deep, inside the reef or on the reef, under
quite straight.
rocks and coral slabs. The bottom may be hard
C. nebrites'dorsum is covered with whitish,
rather small but variable spots. Some - usually
reef or it may have sandy patches.
the larger spots - are blue with a white ring
When one C. nebrites is found, others are
around them. The dorsal line is brownish tan,
sure to be nearby, hiding in holes and on the
bottom of the slab. As many as ten have been
with a greenish tint.
collected under one rock. Their mantle is usualAnimal Characteristics
ly retracted, making them much easier to see. 1
have found many depositing eggs, always in a
Mantle: Has a patchy pattern consisting of
hole or depression, and two shells are always
browns, grays and dirty white.
Rresent. The size usually ranges from about 25
Papillae: Numerous and of dendritic form, so
to 32mm in length and 14 to 18mm in width.
heavily branched that they appear fuzzy,
All adults are heavily callused around the'
adding greatly to the over-all size of the shell
when
the mantle is up. Papillae colors varimargin.
The shell color varies from dark brown (alously brown, brown-black, and black and
white - all topped with reddish-brown.
most black I to a very light tan, with a greenish
tint. The young are dark, and the older speciBody: Creamy rather than gray.
Foot: Tan on the crawling section, whereas the
mens light tan.
Two dark-brown spots - one on each side top edge is blotchy dark brown. A few white
mark the middle of the marginal callus. This is
specks can also be seen.
more pronounced in the older shells. The spots
Eyes: Black on gray stalks.
Proboscis: Outstanding. Bright salmon-red with
appear to originate in the dark dorsal band of
a round, blunt end. From 7 to Ilmm long.
the juveniles. Personally, I have seen only a few
Tentacles: Reddish gray, darker at the base and
C. nebrites without these markings. The large
prominent spots do not extend to the base. The
lighter at the tapered tips.
Siphons: Transparent gray with small white
dark band across the dorswn of the very young
specks or dashes here and there. The edge is
is covered as it gets older, as the spots are deposencircled with small gray to dirty white filaited.
ments. The siphon extends from 8 to 22mm in
The base of the shell has an over-all light tan
color. Manv brown dashes cross the base and
While on a trip to Taveuni, which is the third
largest island in the Fiji group, my friend and
constant shelling companion, Talei Connell
came across Cypraea contaminata which has
never before been recorded from Fiji.
She found not one, but two, side by side on
one rock. Talei was snorkelling and turned over
a coral slab under which she found what she
thought were two C. hirundo (fairly common in
that areal. She was tempted to put them back,
but she thought they looked a little different and
decided to keep them. She then found C.
hirundo and these made her realize that what
she had found previously was not that species
after all. C. hirundo has a greyish-white mantle,
almost transparent, and the first two cowries she
found had a salmon-pink look about the mantle.
She also noticed then that the markings were
really quite different.
As soon as her reefing trip was over, she put
thl' t\\O shl'lls into methylated spirits to preserve the animal, which is the next best thing to
actually being able to show the animal alive to
large specimens.
an expert. Our Fiji expert, Walter Cemohorsky,
is at the Auckland Museum now so anything
new has to be posted on to him for identification.
You can imagine my excitement when I
looked at them I knew they were not a variation
of C. hirundo and that I had seen them before.
I thought they were probably in my overseas
cowry collection. I dashed home, had a look
through, and sure enough, they were identical to
the C. contaminata I had gotten from the Solomons from lain Gower some time back. Talei's
pair were in perfect condition, one being perhaps slightly more juvenile and with not quite
the dorsal blotch that the other one had, but
they were both very nice specimens.
I sent them off to Walter Cernohorsky and in
short time had his confirmation that the shells
were C. contanimata, a range extension for this
species.
I think every time a shell collector goes shelling, he or she hopes to "find a new one" .. . well,
September, 1972
by STU LILLICO
A new Hawaiian record for Deep Sea Frustration, Cowry Division was set on Labor Day
by two Honolulu Scuba divers, Ted Burzynski
of Schofield Barracks, and Mrs. Sandy Young
of Kaneohe.
Burzynski and Mrs. Young were searching
for shells at about 80 feet off the Leeward Coast
of Oahu. With their air running low, but with
one Cypraea tesselata, one C. gaskoini and
one Strom bus hawaiensis already in their
goodie bags, they spotted two more C. tesselata
far back in a hole in the reef wall. Unable to
reach them easily, Ted shed his air tank and
regulator, and free-swam into the "puka".
"I got my hands on the 'Tessies' and began to
back out, when I saw a four-foot eel in a hole in
the roof," Burzynski reported. "Right next to
him was what I thought was a C. rashleighana.
"I jabbed at the eel with my crowbar, just in
casehe felt mean, and while he was getting out
of the way I picked up the shell. Then I finished
backing out and took the regulator that Sandy
was holding for me."
Heading for shore about 400 yards away, the
two divers thought for a moment they had
brushed against each other inadvertantly. Looking around them, they discovered that a goodsize shark had passed between them and was
circling for another run.
"I thought it was about 10 feet long; Sandy
swears it was at least 14," said Burzynski. "It
was bigger than I was, anyhow."
The shark stayed with them clear into shore,
never actually attacking but never leaving them
alone. The two swam along the bottom, back to
back, and had to buddy-breathe when one air
tank ran out.
Think you've heard everything? Not yet.
Ted discovered when he got ashore that the
last shell was a C. ostergaardi, only the fourth
or fifth live-taken specimen on record. Understandably excited, he rushed it home and put it
into a handy aquarium while he phoned his
friends.
In the middle of a conversation, he turned to
the tank in time to see a fish take the C. ostergaardi in its jaws, crack it into several pieces,
and eat the animal.
Ted has the fragments as a memento of an
exciting day.
Ed note: Although this is a Tragi-Comic story,
it brings to mind some interesting speculations.
Could this be the reason why Cypraea ostergaardi is almost never found, either alive or as a
beach specimen?
this time it wasn't a new one to the world, but
"new to Fiji" was good enough, and I am sure
that it will certainly remain in Talei's memory
as one of the days you always hope for.
~
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I Conus moluccensis
Kuster, 1838, Tonga
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Photo:
J.A. Fair!
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Photo:
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To use these illustrations, cut carefully along the dashed lines. Perhaps a bit of extra trimming
may be necessary. Then carefully mount the illustration on a standard 3 x 5 inch file card.
Additional data about shells of this species in your collection, sizes, etc., may be entered on
the back of the file card.
HAWAIIAN SHELL NEWS
September, 1972
SHELLS FOR SALE
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all families worldwide - state
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HAWAII
Supplement 7-72
SHELLS FOR SALE
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T AIW AN COWRIES
. . Cypraeajoyceae, c. guttata, c. langfordi,
c. hirasei, C. teramachii, and c. midwayensis
available.
Larry Gotuaco, 21 Galaxy Street
Makati. Rizal, Philippines
w4r iEurt4 .&4nppr
BUCKINGHAM
SQUAR)';
1252-B SOUTH HAVANA STREET
AURORA, COLORADO 80010
Fine natural specimens
Display Stands
Member of HMS
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WANTED
SEA BEANS
POLISHED OR UNPOLISHED
CONTACT
H. J. STRINGER, JR.
1180 South Ocean Boulevard
Boca Raton, Florida 33432
DEALEROF THE MONTH
TREVOR
J. CASTLE -
Flindersian Shell Traders
Trevor J. Castle, of Flindersian Shell Traders, commenced collecting in Australia when he was
eight years old and has continued ever since. A few years ago he moved to South Australia to be a
plumber, but he entered the diving business and formed his own company to collect abalone
commercially along with South Australian mollusks. He became a serious shell dealer about four
years ago. He carries a large inventory of all kinds of shells.
Castle has put together an outstanding personal shell collection, mostly from the productive South
Australian waters. He recently found a new Murex which is awaiting identification. He uses the
boat set-up (left) for dredging.
Castle specializes in Murex and Haliotis and is interested in obtaining all rare specimensof thest'
species. He studied at the Adelaide University under Prof. Ivor Thomas and obtained a technical
knowled/le of marine biolollY. His re/lular advertisement appears elsewhere.