The Giant Clams of Palau

YOLo xxVII NO. 10 OCTOBER, 1979 NEW SERIES NO. 238

THE GIANT CLAMS OF PALAU By JERRY IlESLINGA The family Tridacnidae of the tropical lndo- Pacific includes some of the largest bivalve molluscs ever to inhabit the world's oceans.Long valued for their beautiful shells and edible meat, the giant clams have also given rise to a considerablebody of myth and folklore. What shell collector has not heard of the unwary diver, whose foot was trapped between the valves of a giant clam as the tide rose around him? Fewer, perhaps,know the story of the Pearl of Allah, a legendary fourteen-pound gem produced by a giant clam that is said to have claimed the life of the diver who found it. Despite their romantic appeal and popularity as a symbol of the South Seas,the giant clams remain an enigma to scientists. C. M. Yonge, one of the foremost malacologistsof this century, began inves- tigating giant clams when he led the Great.Barrier Reef Expedition of 1928-9. Since that time, Yonge has made outstanding contributions to our knowledge of the evolution of the tridacnids and the na- ture of their symbiotic relationship with the unicellu- lar brown algae called zooxanthellae. But we are still profoundly ignorant of most aspects of giant clam biology, particularly their growth rates, life The rock islands around Palau are the habitat of the the size and abundanceof Tridacna gigas has de- span, behavior and reproductivehabits. endangered giant clam. Below: Tridacna gigas spawn- clined in the central Pacific, parts of the great Bar- THE MMDC PROJECT ing in captivity for the first time. Photos: Heslinga rier Reef, Indonesia, and the Philippines, probably Today, the Micronesian Mariculture Demon- owing to fishing pressure." Hardy and Hardy stration Center (MMDC) in Palau is the focal point MMDC is one of the very few Pacific laboratories (1969) found that in Palau, "according to reliable of giant clam research in the tropical Pacific. with location and facilities suitable for research on local informants, the number of T. gigas has mark- Situatedon Malakal Isl~d, a short boat ride from a the tridacnids. Funding for Palau's giant clam proj- edly decreasedin the last few years due to over bewildering variety of ~ef and lagoon habitats, the ect has come from several sources, including the fishing for exports of the large shells. Large T. U.S. Sea Grant program, the National Science gigas formerly occurred in much greater numbers Foundation, the Hawaiian Malacological Society, and were even abundantnear Koror. " the East-West Center in Honolulu, and the Peace According to Johannes(1975), "Adult specimens Corps. of the giant clam Tridacna maxima are almost gone One of the MMDC's long-range goals is to de- from some Marshall Island atolls where they were velop the technology necessary for producing labora- extremely abundanttwenty yearsago." tory-reared giant clam seedlings that can be Near Helen Reef, an uninhabited atoll some 400 "planted" on reefs in the natural environment. We miles south of Palau, foreign fishing vessels re- are concerned with laboratory culture of the giant peatedly have been discovered with illegal cargoes clams because there is increasing evidence that of Tridacna meat and ~hells. A survey of the Helen heavy, unregulated harvesting is responsible for a Reef tridacnid population conductedby Bryan and serious decline in tridacnid stocks throughout the McConnel (1975) revealed a drastic decline in Indo-Pacific. The decline is even apparent on some abundance of T. gigas and T. derasa following remote, uninhabited atolls, once thought to be im- these illegal harvests. Helen Reef, they said, looked mune from depredation. like a "graveyard" of empty shells. Approximately CLAM STOCKS DECLINING 95 per cent of the T. gigas and T. derasa encoun- All of the recent studies involving giant clam tered were dead. populations in Micronesia and other parts of the Unfortunately, this trend is continuing, since tropical Pacific present the same disturbing conclu- Pacific atoll communities have neither the personnel sions. Hester and Jones (1974) state that "Already (Coot'd 00 Page 6) Page2 HAWAIIAN SHELL NEWS October, 1979

~at(tatt4H- Sleett 1teett4 ISSN 0017-8624 Editor Emeritus """""""""'" E. R. CROSS Hurricanes and Sea Waves club magazinesallow the publication of new names Editor """"""""" STUART LlLLICO Associate Editors. ELMER LEEHMAN, OLIVE "It was with interest that I read Carl P. Lewis' that mayor may not have been adequately re- SCHOENBERG, GEORGE CAMPBELL article (HSN June 1969) on hurricane Meli which Science Advisor E. ALISON KAY searched,frequently are not adequately described, Science Consultant W. O. CERNOHORSKY strlick Nayau in Fiji, especially his second note illustrated or compared with related forms, and, Editorial Staff. Lyman Higa, Cliff Weaver (HSN July 1979) on the height of the waves - 40 worst of all, frequently are based on privately Corresponding Editors: K. J. Gilchrist, M.O., Fr. AI Lopez S.J., to 50 feet," commentsGordon MacFarlane. owned specimens,not safely housed in a reputable Rick Luther, William E. Old Jr., "While I was in the New Hebrides from 1977 to museum. Peter van Pel, Thora Whitehead 1979, the island of Tanna was strlick by two or "Publication in one of the many available scien- HAWAIIAN MALACOLOGICAL SOCIETY (Founded in 1941) three hurricanes,one of which was similar in many tific journals specializingin Mollusca ensuresthat at P. O. Box 10391 Honolulu, Hawaii 96816 ways to Meli. Hurricane Bob was describedby the least the author's peers have refereed the paper's President """"""""""""" RAY McKINSEY villagers with whom I was staying as a sea hur- Vice President ANDY ADAMS contents, which should weed out most of the poten- Treasurer """"""""'" WES THORSSON ricane, and a New Hebrideanfriend said the waves tial difficulties. Recording Sec'y """'" VAL MILLER were the highest he had ever seen. Corresponding Sec'y OLIVE SCHOENBERG "I strongly urge you to ensure that Hawaiian The Society meets the first Wednesday of "It was January 1978 and, in a moment of mad- Shell News publishes no new namesfor Mollusca, each month at the Hawaii National Guard ness, I let my friend talk me into going down to the whether intentionally in papers purporting to de- headquarters, Diamond Head Road & 22nd Avenue, Honolulu at 7:30 p.m. beach with him to rescuehis canoe. We were just in scribe new taxa, or accidentally when discussing VISITORS WELCOME! time to see a wave that had crossed50 yards of reef other people's proposednew taxa - which is quite Hawaiian Shell News is issued free to and 20 yards of beach smashhis canoe 30 feet up a a common occurrence." members of the Society. Postage rates have been computed and added to membership coconut tree as it rolled up to the cliff edge. The dues. Single copies of any issue, $1.00, post- next day the whole front row of coconut trees was age included. Individual copies of any issue "Language I Can Understand" may be obtained, free of charge, by qualified gone, washedaway in the night. Out of the blue came a letter from Mrs. D. individuals for bona fide research projects. "At the time, I thought it strangethat the waves Members outside the United States are Treagust of Portsmouth, England, aptly summing asked to pay with a banK cheque (not a should have been so high when the wind, although one aspect of HSN's editorial policy - to be under- draft) payableto HMSon a U.S. bank. (Be strong, was nothing in comparison. The eye of the sure your name and address appear on stood. We ask members' indulgence for publishing the cheque.) hurricanewas about 80 miles out at sea. it in full: HMS DUES "However, a hurricane is only a very efficient U.S. addresses, including Hawaii, "I cannot let another issue of HSN arrive without heat pump. The longer it stays at sea without touch- Alaska, Guam, American Samoa, writing to say how much 1 appreciate it. Every issue APO, FPO and all others using ing land the more heat and fuel it extracts from the U.S. Zip Codes $12.00 is so interesting and although it does give me a ocean and the stronger it gets. It sucks up the sea First Class delivery to the above, feeling that 1 know so little it also teaches me a lot plus Canada and Mexico . $15.00* and then rains it down, shifting millions of tons of in language 1 can understand. Non-U.S. addresses water in this process. As ."printed matter" :! , $13.50 "I think the article that made me feel 1 had to "Under the circumstance,there can be no other AirmailAs "letter delivery... mail" ...:.~ $20.50*$16.00 . write and thank you for producing a magazine outcome except the rough seasand high waves that Airmail delivery to Asia, Pacific which gives so much pleasure was "Ten Pounds of Lewis saw in Fiji and I saw in the New Hebrides. and Africa $22.00* Shells From Culion Colony" by Art Weil (HSN (*Recommended) "In my case, there was one very good outcome There is a $1.00 charge for Change of May 1979) about the leper in the Philippines. 1 have Address. of the hurricane. I acquired a fine collection of a great respect for lepers as 1 work for an organiza- Articles of interest to shell collectors are Cypraea cicercula, C. bistrinotata, C. globulus solicited. Contents are not copyrighted. Re- tion concerned with curing leprosy. But it was the publication, with credit ~ HS"N, is invited. and C. margarita, as well as a couple of C. mariae, fact that in such a journal as yours - full of Advertisements are accepted at the rate a couple of C. childreni, and the first C. becki I exciting scientific facts - you never forget that of US$15 per column-inch/issue, payable in had ever seen. There were a few Conus mitratus advance. Discounts are offered for six and shell collectors are people. To give space to such a twelve insertions. Write to the Corresponding and a C. cylindaceus. Secretary for information. story was typical. "Beach collecting that day was a good morning "There must be many of us who feel we know after the night before." some of you and long for a chance to come to one * * * of the Society's meetings! An editorial correction went astray in last month's "My own collection of Indo-Pacific shells was note by Ruth Pratt about the Bishop Museum plan for a Thoughts on New Species mostly amassed (an appropriate word) at Rabaul, display on the ecology of the Hawaiian opihi. It's a Casual discussion with editors of several U.S. East New Britain, Papua New Guinea. There CeUanaspecies. shell club periodicals in recent months has indicated couldn't be a better place to start. 1 have tried to almost 100 per cent approval of the plea to leave specialize in mitres and the Vexillidae, but the A. H. CORNELISON names and descriptions of proposed new species to temptation to save other families as well is too great Hawaii lost one of its old-time shellers with the the established "scientific" journals (see "A Chal- to resist. death in July of Alexander "Smiley" Cornelison. lenge to the Editors." by C. M. Burgess, HSN June "Incidentally, starting a shell collection is one He had been in poor health for several years. Born 1979). If there is serious dissent, HSN invites thing; any suggestions on how to stop?" in Minnesota, he came to Hawaii in 1916. After comment. graduation from the University of Hawaii, he be- Alan Beu, well-known malacologist with the New came a researcher for the Hawaii Sugar Planters Zealand Geological Survey, is one member who was Abbott in Florida Association, where he remained until his retirement quick to voice support. Dr. R. Tucker Abbott has transferred operations to about ten years ago. Cornelison was a frequent "I would like to add my voice most emphatically Melbourne, Florida, which is about midway between snorkeling companion of Dr. C. M. Burgess, Clif- to those agitating against the publication of new Miami and Jacksonville. His address is P. O. Box ton Weaver and Mr. and Mrs. Arch Harrison, all names in club magazines," he wrote. "It is a real 2255, Melbourne FL 32901. American Malacologists, veteran members of HMS. problem in several fields of natural historv when Inc. is also at Melbourne now. Same address. October, 1979 HAWAIIAN SHELL NEWS Page3

By ELMER G. LEEHMAN Rare The eminent British malacologist, S. Peter Dance, Rare Plentiful publisheda classic volume in 1969, which he titled Scarce appropriately Rare Shells. In it he listed 50 species Rare that were very highly prized by collectors but so Murex-- - borclayi -. Reeve Plentiful Scarce uncommon as to be found in only few cabinets Murex loebbeckei Kobelt Rare aroundthe world. Murex elongotus Lightfoot Plentiful Time has dealt gently with Rare Shells, which is Murex beoui Fischer & Bernardi Scarce still an extremely useful volume. This list of truly Cymatium ranzoni Bianconi Scarce Busycon coorctotum (Sowerby) Scarce rare molluscs, however, has shrunk significantly in Morum dennisoni (Reeve) Rare the decade that followed its publication. At the Ancilla vemedei Rare most, only seventeen- about one third - can be Mitro deanisoni Reeve Plentiful said to rate as .'rare" today. Mitra sto;nforthi Reeve Scarce Epitoneum scolare Linne Plentiful As W.S. "Skip" Bitler wrote recently, only five HolpCI costoto Swainson Scarce of the cones are still in that category. They are -- Voluta festivo Lamarck Rare Conus lDmberti Souverbie, 1877; C. cerl'us La- V. lyroeforlrlis Photo: Christensen marck, 1822; C. adamsoni Broderip, 1836; C. ex. celsus Sowerby, 1908; and C. milneed_nlsi Jous- The change in the list of rare shells reflects the seaume,1894. recent fantastic discoveries in such out-of-the-way "And who knows?" he continued. "As of March spots as the Solomon Islands. the Andaman Sea. 1979two specimensof the extremely ~e C. cerl'us Punta Engano and Davao in the Philippines. the Coral Sea and several spots off West Africa. It seemsthat every month that passesbrings us rumors of new findings. The list that follows includes the fifty speciesthat Dance considered to be rare in the mid 1960s. Keyed to each name is my estimation of its present status. I lack current information on two bivalves. Perhapssome other membercan enlighten us. Pleurotomaria adansonilllUl Crosse& Fischer Still rare Pleurotomaria quoyalUl Fischer & Bernardi Rare Astraea heliotropium Martyn Only scarce Angaria sphaerula Scarce Tibill maltini Marrat! Plentiful Strombus listeri Gray Plentiful Strombus taurus Reeve Scarce Strombus violacea Swainson Scarce CYPnlea aurontium Gmelin Scarce - --- CYPnleabroderipi Sowerby Rare Murex alabaster Photo: Chapman CyprveaJulio.; Photo:Boswell have been brought up from that treasurehouseof rare shells, the central Philippines - the first in about 200 years." At the same time, among the cones alone, three specieshave dropped right out of the' 'rare" category and now are within the reach of the non- millionaire serious collector, Bitler went on. They include: Conus crocalus Lamarck, 1810;C. Ihomae Ome- lin, 1791;and C. volumina/is Reeves, 1843.

Conus crocatus Photo: SchoenherR VolulII beau; Photo: Richard Page4 HAW AllAN SHELL NEWS October, 1979

RARE SHELLS (Cont.)

By KEITH ZEILINGER

~any Hawaii members of the Hawaiian I was shown two C. chinensis (scarcein Hawaii). Malacological Society are active scuba divers, and two C. tessellata (medium size and very dark), one HMS belongs to the Hawaii Council of Diving live and one dead C. leviathan, two very small C. Oubs (HCDC). On a recent Sunday, the HCDC gaskoini, and a handful of small C. granulata, C. held its annual picnic at Haleiwa on the North Shore sulcidentata, and C. teres. of Oahu (Honolulu). On the schedule was a shell No cones of note, only Conus textile, C. collecting contest. obscurus, C. pel1usus and C. litoglyphus - all HMS does not conduct and does not promote common in the area. One very pretty Terebra di- shelling contestsbut a tremendousnumber of divers midiata was presented. in Hawaii collect shells. Most do not belong to I awarded the $25 prize to a very small and HMS and many, I regret to report, are ignorant of crabbed Phalium umbilicatum - a rare enough find its existence. Nevertheless,as the HMS representa- but no beauty. tive on the HCDC, I was asked to judge the shell Driving home afterward, I tried to total the sev- collecting contest. eral thousand dollars '!'orth of diving equipment, Haleiwa has an extensive hard bottom 50 to 70 scuba air, outboard fuel and beer involved in..that feet deep, well supplied with algae and pocked with shell collecting contest - not to mention the hun- small sand pockets and football-size coral heads. dreds of man-hoursof hard physical labor - and to Seven or eight years ago, the area was shown to be balancethat against the results. Not even one Cyp- the prime habitat of Cypraea rashleighana, as well raea rashleighana! as C. teres, C. chinensis, Conus pertusus, our If you have a "rash" in your collection. cherish miniature C. obscurus, and other minor goodies. it. They are mostly found under fairly large flat coral slabs loosely attached to the bottom. Divers have learned to pop up the slabs with the aid of a small WEST CO~ST CURIO CO. crowbar, searchthe under side (as well as the sand 1940 Maple Ave.. Costa Mesa, Calif. 92627 Strombustaurus Photo: Johnson beneathit) for shells and then, hopefully, to replace "13 miles southofDisneyland". Longest estab- Voluta junonia Shaw Plentiful the slab. lished shell dealer in the U.S.A. More than 2,000 Voluta lyroe/ormis Swainson Scarce But the heavy surf that sweepsacross that area in species stocked regularly. No lists - No mail Voluta beaui Fishcer & Bernardi Scarce winter moves the loosened slabs into piles at the order. Buy or browse - you're always welcome! Voluta kieneri Clench Plentiful Voluta bednalli Brazier Scarce bottom of cliffs and under ledges. Possibly as a COME IN AND SEE US Voluta aulica Sowerby Scarce consequence,the cowries for which Haleiwa once Voluta chrysostomaSwainson Rare was noted are no longer found in abundance. Voluta pulcher Watson Rare With this personal background on the area in Marginella pringlei Tomlin Plentiful 1 Conus thomae Gmelin Scarce mind, I watched with interest as approximately 140 ,-- ---~ Conus cervus Lamarck Rare divers hit the water during the picnic. What would - SHELLS,,~ Conus crocatus Lamarck Scarce they find? Conusgloriamaris Chemnitz Scarce Conus milneedwardsi Jousseaume Rare Quite a few were out to spearfish, and otherswere Conus excelsusSowerby Rare novicesat shell collecting, but I knew that anyone of Your One Stop Conus adamsoni Broderip Rare them would pick up a pretty shell if he sawit. Many, of Marine And Land Conus dusaveli H. Adams Rare course,knew exactly what they were looking for. Thatcheria mirabilis Angas Plentiful I~ SHELL CONNECTION Fimbria sowerbii Reeve ? As the divers and onlookers gathered around the ~:' c BUY. SELL. EXCHANGE Pholandomyacandida ? judging table, someoneshouted, "Did anybody find \';;, HMS-,,-ISGSG~ADI~G Spondylusregius Linne Scarce 'h a 'Rash'?" 1 " For Your Free List Wnte: In the preface to his Rare Shells, Dance wrote: Silence. Not a single Cypraea rashleighana had -- .. . '.'--V" ~-..~ "A book like this is necessarily a very personal been brought up! Flushing, N.Y., 11365, U.S..A. subjectiveaffair. The choice of shells for illustration and the way they are discussedmust be personal or the book would lack sincerity and cohesion. Never- House of Quality and Service theless, I hope that much of what appealedto me appealsto others, too." :HARD M. KURZ. INC. 1575 NORTH 118th STREET When in Atlanta - WAUWATOSA, WI 53226 U.S.A. SEA ATLANTA LenoxSquare Dealer in Fine and Rare Specimen Shells Atlanta, GA30326 of Superiar Quality When in Kansas City SEA CROWN The very best shells, at the very best prices CrownCenter WRITE FOR FREE PRICE KansasCity, Missouri 64108 LIST The finest in sea shells SHELLS BOUGHT, SOLD AND TRADED LARGEST MAIL ORDER SEASHELL DEALER IN THE U.S.A. October, 1979 HAW AllAN SHELL NEWS Page 5

By JULES BERTZ and ANTHONY D'ATTILIO While engaged in research for writing Murex SheDs Department of Marine Invertebrates of the World, specimens were borrowed from various Natural History Museum. San Diego institutions. From the U.S.N.M. specimens of Favar- SAN DIEGO - A newly dead specimen of Favama tia garrettii were obtained which had the soft parts preserved. The radula was extracted and is here illus- garrettii (Pease. 1868) was collected by J. Hertz, Au- trated. gust 18, 1978, intertidally under a rock on the nortbend The rachidian tooth shows its generic relationship to of Laie Bay, Oahu, Hawaii. The specimen is reddish the other species of Favartia with known radulae. The brown throughout. rachidian bears a long, prominent central cusp, flanked Radwin and D'Attilio (1976) described the species by 2 cusps on each side - an outer larger cusp with a as having a white shell with two diffuse red-brown weaker, thinner cusp on its inner margin. The central bands, one on the shoulder and one on the base of the cusp is carried on a strong, prominent and broad base body. A review of the specimens in the San Diego with a solid lateral supporting structure. The lateral Natural History Museum used by Radwin and D' Attilio teeth are simple elongate hooks, with a slight distal showed that they were beach worn, and the waxy white bend. shells may not represent a true shell color for this In researching this species, Pease's reference to the species. Therefore a search of the early literature was original description was found to be in error. The refer- initiated. ence was "Proc. Calif. Acad. vol i, p. 102." Garrett's Garrett* (1857) originally named the species Murex description is in vol 1, p. 114. The incorrect page exigua. The description stated the color as "whitish." reference was repeated in Vokes (1971). It was cor- There was no mention of whether the species' de- rected in the Literature Cited section of the Radwin and scription was based on live or dead-collected speci- Favartia garrettii (Pease, 1868) D'Attilio book, although not in the primary text. mens or the number of specimens used for the original description. The habitat was described as "pure shallow pools on the rocky coasts of Hawaii." The speci- LITERATURE CITED men pictured here, although dead collected, was Broderip, W. J. 1833. Proc. Zool. Soc. London. Part found in like surroundings. II. p. 175. Fair, R. H. 1976. The Murex book: an illustrated Pease (1868) changed the name to Murex garrettii catalogue of Recent (Muricidae, Muricopsinae, since the original name was preoccupied (Murex Ocenebrinae). 1-136 pp., pis. 1-32. exiguus Broderip, 1833). He also corrected the original Garrett, A. 1857. "New species of marine shells of the Garrett name to Murex exiguus so that the gender of Sandwich Islands." Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 1: 114-115. the genus and the species agreed. Pease, W. H. 1868. "Synonymy of marine gastero- Pease stated the following: "Since described. a podae inhabiting Polynesia." Amer. J. Conch. 4: specimen .nearly perfect has been found. .Its color is 103-132. Radwin, G. E. and A. D'Attilio. 1976. Murex shells dusky brown, transverse grooves reddish." This may of the world. Stanford Univ. Press, Stanford, indicate that the Garrett specimens were beach worn. Calif., 1-284 pp., pis. 1-32. Although many muricid species come in a variety of Thomas, W~ S. 1979. "A biography of Andrew Gar- rett, early naturalist of Polynesia: Part 1." The color forms, the evidence to date indicates that F. Nautilus. Vol. 93(1): 15-28. garrettii is a reddish brown shell, with the white form Vokes, E. H. 1971. "Catalogue of the genus Murex still in doubt. Linne (Mollusca: Gastropoda): Muricinae, Ocene- Radwin and D'Attilio's description was influenced brinae." Bull. Amer. Paleo. 61 (268): 1-141. by their use of worn specimens. This is particularly Condensed from The Festivus, the journal of evident in the description of the outer aperturallip, i.e. the San Diego Shell Club "thickened and nonerect; its inner surface is weakly spirally grooved, this imparting to the lip a weakly lirate appearance. " This specimen pictured here shows Live-taken specimensof F. garrettii are compara- a strongly lirate lip with well defined grooving on the tively rare. This one was found by HMS member inner surface. Chris Takahashion the island of Lanai, Hawaii. The specimen pictured here is slightly larger than Photo: Takahashi 4mm. The excellent photographs were taken by David K. Mulliner, Festivus staff photographer, and are a magnification of approximately 20x. The Garrett description states the length as five lines (assumed to mean 5mm). Fair (1976) is the earliest reference we could find in which the species was placed in the genus Faval1ia. Radwin and D'Attilio (1976) came to the same conclu- sion. Radular teeth of Favartia g~ettii. a. Rachidian *Andrew Garrett was an explorer, naturalist, and and lateral teeth. b. View of rachidian, with an- artist who lived and collected in Hawaii for many years. Little has been published about his life and contri- terior portion tilted more towards the viewer than in butions until a recent biography by Thomas (1979). a. c. Lateral view of rachidian tooth. Page6 HAWAIIAN SHELL NEWS October, 1979

THE GIANT CLAMS OF PALAU (Cont'd from Page 1) planted on the reefs. To date all of our clam larvae have been reared in stagnant (batch) cultures and fed nor the equipment necessary to effectively deter on phytoplankton occurring naturally in the seawa- poachers. In one recent incident, two Taiwanese ter. Larval survival rates have been low, and bacte- fishing vessels were found with nearly six tons of rial control has been a major problem. We expect giant clam meat harvested illegally from the that refining our understanding of larval nutritional Kayangel area of Palau's northern reef complex requirements and using pure cultures of local phyto- (Hirschberger, 1977). plankton as food will improve larval survival. Cul- LOCAL EXTINCTIONS ture of suitable phytoplankton food species has only The life-history characteristicsof the giant clams recently been attempted in tropical laboratories, and seem to make them particularly vulnerable to un- this necessary prerequisite for clam larval culture regulated harvesting. They grow very slowly, live represents a challenge in itself (Heslinga, 1978). for many years, and suffer tremendous mortality In addition, we recognize a need for improved rates during their larval and juvenile stages "nursery" techniques, that is, methods for handling (Yamaguchi, 1977). All these attributes argue the tiny settled clams until they are large enough to against the ability of isolated clam populations to be planted on natural reefs. We would hope to plant recoverafter massiveharvesting. clams that are large enough to escape predation by Local extinction of Tridacna gigas populations natural enemies, but at present we have insufficient has in fact already occurred on two Micronesian data to determine what this optimal seedling size islands. No living T. gigas specimenscan be found might be. Only experimentation can answer this on the reefs of Guam or Ponape;that they existed question. previously on these islands is proven by the occa- We are particularly pleased about progress made sional excavationof T. gigas shells during dredging with Tridacna squamosa, one of the smaller, more operations. Whether these extinctions were caused common species of giant clams. Laboratory-bred ju- by human interferenceor natural events is unclear. veniles have reached a length of several centimeters What is important to consideris that T. gigas popu- at the age of about six months. We hope that lations are not quickly re-establishedafter decima- analysis of basic processes in T. squamosa will tion. provide knowledge applicable to rearing the other Yamaguchi (1977) and Owen (1977) emphasized tridacnids, particularly T. gigas, which appears to the need for conservationand cultivation measures be the species most threatened by man. to ensure preservationof the giant clams and their "pricele~s aestheticvalue." While biologists aware References ~- Beckvar, N. and G.A. Heslinga. 1978. "Spawning of the status of giant clam stocks in the Pacific U.S. PeaceCorps volunteerNancy Beckvar, a partici- and larval development of giant clam, Tridacna agree that conservationmeasures would be desira- gigas." Micronesian Mariculture Demonstration pant in the tridacnid studies.Right: MMDC biologist ble, they also recognize that there is an insufficient Center technical report. Unpublished. 7 p. Marhence Madranchar. Below: Hatchery-reared T. Bryan, P.G. and D.B. McConnel. 1976. "Status of data base to support any recommendationson. safe squamosaafter one year. Photo: Beckvar giant clam stocks (Tridacnidae) on Helen Reef, levels of harvesting. Clearly then, our immediate efforts to cultivate giant clam seedlingsin the laboratory must be accompaniedby long term investiga- juvenile stage (Wada, 1954; LaBarbera, 1975; tions of life history characteristicsand population Jameson,1976; Beckvar and Heslinga, 1978). dynamics, to provide the kind of data necessaryfor Spawning is induced by the addition of a clam proper management. sperm solution to the water in the clam holding PROGRESSIN LARVAL CULTURE tanks. Mature clams are stimulated by the sperm What progress has been made so far? At the and respond by releasingtheir own sperm and eggs MMDC in Palau we are presently able to induce into the water. The fertilized eggs are collected on a spawningin five of the six clam species(Tridacna fine .nylon sieve and transferredto 2000-liter tanks, gigas, T. maxima, T. squamosa, T. crocea, and where larval development and settlement occur. Hippopus hippopus), and to rear the larvae to the The larvae of the five tridacnid speciesstudied appear to develop in a similar manner, feeding primar- ily on microscopic phytoplankton during a ten-day free-swimmingphase. Shortly after settlement,juvenile clams are "in- fected" by beneficial symbiotic zooxanthellae, which take up residencein the tissue of the protrud- ing mantle lobes (laBarbera, 1975; Jameson,1976). At this point the juvenile clams must be transferred to outdoor flowing seawatertanks, where sunlight favors growth of the zooxanthellae.The clams are able to utilize metabolites releasedby the zooxanthellae; in fact, these algal partners seem to be a critical requirementfor normal growth. Despite some initial successin rearing juvenile giant clams, a number of formidable problems must be solved before clam seedlings can actually be October. 1979 HAW AllAN SHELL NEWS Page7

---~__ccccL Photos: Heslinga A Palauan shows how quickly a giant clam can be References(Cont'd) harvested. Left: The shell in shallow water is discov- Palau, Western Caroline Islands, April 1975." ered by the swimmer who (center) slips his knife inside Mar. Fish. Rev. 38, 15-18. to cut the adductor muscle. Up to 20 pounds of meat Hardy, J.T. and S.A. Hardy. 1969. "Ecology of can then easily be removed, leaving the shell still im- Tridacna in Palau." Pacific Sci. 23, 467-72. Heslinga, G.A. 1978. "Mass rearing of temperate bedded in the coral as a home for reef fish. and tropical phytoplankton speciesin Palau." Micronesian Mariculture Demonstration Center HSN's report on the outlook for the giant clams technical report. Unpublished. 39 p. of the Central Pacific was written by a two-times Hester, F.J. and E.C. Jones. 1974. "A survey of winner of a HMS scholarship. Jerry Heslinga is in giant clams, Tridacnidae, on Helen Reef, a western Pacific atoll." Mar. Fish. Rev. 36, the third year of a Ph.D. program at the University 17-22. of Hawaii and is specializing in the reproductive Hirschberger,W. 1977. "Tridacnid clam population biology of tropical bivalves. He received 'a $500 survey of Palau's Northern Reefs." Micronesian Mariculture Demonstration Center technical re- grant in 1978and $800 in 1979. port. Unpublished. 10 p. Through awards such as those received by Hes- Jameson,S. 1976. "Early life history of the giant linga, the Hawaiian Malacological Society assists clams, Tridacna crocea Lamarck, Tridacna maxima (Roding), and Hippopus hippopus (Lin- and encouragesyounger men and women who seek naeus)." Pacific Sci. 30, 219-33. careers in this field. The funds come from indivi- Johannes,R.E. 1975. "Pollution and degradationof dual gifts, the proceedsof the biennial HMS shell coral reef communities." In FergusonWood and auction, and interest earned by the Society's bank Johannes, eds., Tropical Marine Pollution, Elsevier, Amsterdam. 192 p. account. LaBarbera, M. 1975. "Larval and post-larval devel- All members of the Society, regardlessof place opment of the giant clams Tridacna maxima of residence, are eligible to apply for scholarship (Roding) and Tridacna squamosa Lamarck funds. The call for applicationsfor 1980 is expected (Tridacnidae: Bivalvia)." Malacologia. 15, 69-79. in January. The closing date will be I April 1980, Owen, R.P. 1977. "A conservationprogram for the and awards announced in the June issue of Ha- Trust Territory." Report of the office of the chief waiian SheDNews. conservationist,Koror, Palau. Unpublished. 13 p. Wada, S.K. 1954. "Spawning in the tridacnid Society members worldwide can assist the clams." Jap. Journ. Zool. II, 273-285. scholarshipprogram in two specific ways, according Yamaguchi, M. 1977. "Conservation and cultiva- the HMS treasurer Wes Thorsson, convenor of the tion of giant clams in the tropical Pacific." Bioi. Conserv. II, 13-19. scholarshipcommittee. Yonge, C.M. 1936. "Mode of life, feeding, diges- "We need financial support - either in the form tion and symbiosis with zooxanthellae in the of cash contributions or in donations of shells for Tridacnidae." Scientific Reports, Great Barrier the next auction," he told membersrecently. "And Reef Expedition, 1928-29 1(11), 283-321. Yonge, C.M. 1975. "Giant clams." Scientific word on the program should be spreadamong work- American. 232.96-105. ers in the field of maiacol02V."

~ Page8 HAWAIIAN SHELL NEWS October. 1979 Odostomia to Boonea: In Defense of Important Name Changes RECENT FINDS By LYMAN WGA By MORRIS K. JACOBSON It was a good month for Andy Butler. Off Ewa Cypraea angioyorum NEW YORK - In an extremely important recent Beach (Honolulu), at the end of an otherwise By DR. GUGLIELMO BIRAGHI paper, Dr. Robert Robertson of the Academy of uneventful dive in 65 feet of water he spotted two Conus spiceri within 20 feet of the anchor line. ROME - I must speak up for Erronea an. Natural Sciences of Philadelphia reports the results Relatively few C. spiceri have been found this year gioyorum, which I describedin a recent issue of La of his investigation of the spermatophores of several - less than half a dozen, I believe. So Andy was Conchiglia and the validity of which was called into species of the "Odostomia" ("Spermatophores of doing somethingright. On a visit to Kona, on the Big Island of Hawaii, question - politely but authoritatively - by Dr. Six Eastern North American Pyramidellid Gas- Andy came into possessionof what must be a world C.M. Burgess(HSN June 1979). tropods and Their Systematic Significance (With the record Tonna melanostoma. It measured 28.4cm New Genus Boonea). ,. Biological Bulletin 155(2): (The Standard Catalog lists 21.87 as the biggest Here are the facts: 360-382. October 1978.) specimenregistered.) That's Dana Rudin holding the I. While Dr. Burgessadmittedly had a chanceto prize. Dr. Robertson points out that previous classifica- examineone specimen(of the new C. angioyorum), tions of almost all pyramidellids, especially those of I basedmy diagnosison up to a few dozen. the genus Odostomia. were based on shell features 2. In spite of differences in dimensions, weights alone. These turned out to be confusing and unreli- and apparent ages, all these specimenswere con- able bases for species and genus determinations. His stant enoughin their conchologicalcharacteristics - studies indicated that the spermatophores proved to coloring, dentition and spire, plus general' 'looks' , be a more useful character. - to be clearly distinguishable from pyriformis, A most important discovery is that the European subviridis and other known cowry species.This was genus Odostomia differs decidedly from the species true both individually and collectively. assigned to that genus in America. The differences appear in the protoconchs, opercula. mantle-organ 3. Burgess suggeststhat agioyorum is but a ju- coloration, and the morphology of the sexual appa- venile pyriformis. Yet no one has ever brought back ratus. Hence the two groups of species cannot be an adult pyriformis from "somewhere in South assigned to the same genus, i.e. they are not con- India or Sri Lanka,'. the locality of angioyorum. generic. 4. The few juvenile pyriformis I have seen - For this reason the genus Boonea is proposed for apparently younger than the youngest angioyorum three American species. named for Constance Boone in my collection - already had darker and longer of Texas. corresponding secretary of the AMU, who columellar teeth than any of the latter. provided Dr. Robertson with much valuable pre- * * * served and alive odostomioid material. Richard Campbell, a U.S. Navy diver, returnedto 5. Granted that "embryonal transverse banding is On the basis of his very convincing results, Dr. Honolulu recently from the Rabaul area, where he nearly covered in the adult cowry of all species," as was doing some recreational wreck diving. On a Robertson proposes the following changes in the night dive with two Australian friends and one Navy Burgess declared. But that rule has many excep- nomenclature of these local pyramidellids: buddy, he found a live Cypraea valentia. The spot tions, including pyriformis itself. Were the rule Odostomia seminuda (C. B. Adams. 1839) becomes was close to where Jim Beasley bagged several of incontrovertible, pyriformis could be considered a Boonea seminuda. Synonyms include "0." wil- the rare cowries late last year. juvenile form of some other species. The shell was in 110 feet of water, on red lisi Bartsch, 1909, and "0." toyatani Henderson sponge, he reports. The animal was not preserved & Bartsch, 1914. but was orangeand yellow. Campbell is being trans- I am well aware that Dr. Burgess' position is Odostomia bisuturalis (Say, 1822) becomes Boonea ferred soon to Guam. earnestly inspired by the wish to not see current bisuturalis. Synonyms include "0." trijldo (Tot- * * * cypraeid taxonomy further complicated. If all con- .ten, 1834) and "0." exigua (Couthouy, 1838). Mrs. Moras Marinoni, of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, chologists withdrew into their shells, however, and OdOftomia impressa (Say, 1822) becomes Boonea writes to say she and her husbandhave found three no longer dared to extend their tentacles beyond the specimensof Cypraea pulchra in the Red Sea at operculum, much fruitful malacological speculation impressa. Synonyms include "0. (Menestho)" Yanbu. This may not be an actual range extension, beauforti Jacot, 1921. but the .speciesis not usually found in that part of would automatically be brought to a standstill. It is interesting to see that, in spite of the new the Red Sea. I'm told. I feel that the Schilders knew better. discoveries necessitating some important name changes, Dr. Robertson observes (p.. 379): "Allow- ing for some shell variation (such as in B. bisuturalis), they (the spermatophores) confirm the conchological characterizations of the species." and "Spermatophores support the idea that 'Odostomia' trifida is synonymous with B. suturalis, and that this latter species is usually distinct from B. impressa. . . ." The other three pyramidellids included in the study are: Fargoa dianthophila (Wells & Wells, 1961) formerly "Odostomia" dianthophila; Fargoa Enjoy the pleasure of shell collecting. Join a shelling cruise in the Philippines - bushiana Bartsch, 1909, formerly "Odostomia" reservations for 1980 now accepted. dux Dall & Bartsch, 1906; Fargoa bartschi Please send your inquiry to: CARFEL SEASHELL MUSEUM (Winkley, 1909) formerly "Odostomia" modesta 1786 A. Mabini St., (Stimpson, 1851). Malate, Manila, Philippines from New York Shell Club Notes Tel. 58-33-24 October, 1979 HAWAIIAN SHELL NEWS Page9

SHELLS FOR SALE

Would you like to own a shell from a famous collection? We have many fine to gem common species still available from Crawford Cate or Marguerite Stix Collections. No catalogues! Send us $10 and your preferred species. De- pending on availability we will send you a pack- age containing from one to five specimens - first requests get original Cate or Stix data slips -later get xerox copies. Satisfaction Guaran- teed. /

22762 Pacific Coast Highway Malibu. California 90265 Phone 213 /456-2551

24 Karat Gold Plated Florida sandollars, sea horses and starfish (I '-2") $4.95 each. 24 Karat gold plated preci- ous wentletraps. $12.95. Dealer and Jobber discounts. Robert Lee Galvin and Company Box 15695. Dept. HSN Sarasota, Florida 33579 Fig. 1. Strombus ochroglottisAbbott, 1960from Elat and (Fig. 2)fr.om Mauritius. Fig. 3. Strombus mutabilis Swainson, 1821from Jeddah. By HENK K. MIENIS However, in the case that this locality record is ""I'!elD "aul"ea Shell.. "PIli. ~td. RABAUl - PO BOX 1187 - PH 92 - 1018 JERUSALEM - In his monograph concerning reliable then we have the interesting situation that S. PAPUA NEW GUINEA the genus Strombus, Abbott (1960) described a ochroglottis is known from at least three widely -'S IARmT SHBl ~ peculiar form of Strombus mutabilis Swainson, separated localities: Mauritius, Elat and Manila Bay. WIDE RANGE OF 1821 from Mauritius as a new subspecies, S. If this is true indeed, then it has a much wider lAND & SEA SHfllS A VAIlA8lf Rhy w,..~"", distribution than was anticipated. I,~ M) mldabilis ochroglottis Abbott, 1960. As differen- - WRITE FOR FRE£ UST- tiating charactershe mentioned: a. an almost pure In order to learn more about the distribution of S, white columella; b. an aperture tainted with ochroglottis, we ask our fellow collectors to check chrome-yellow deep inside; c. central portion of the their samples of S, mutabilis for the possible pres- columella smooth; and d. generally more coarsely ence of S. ochroglottis, Please send any additional noduled shells. information to: Henk K. Mienis, Zoological Finds of specimenswhich agreedcompletely with Museum, Mollusc Collection, Hebrew University of those from Mauritius near Bat, Gulf of Aqaba, Red Jerusalem, Israel. Sea, led Mienis (1971) to raise Abbott's taxon to References Abbott, R.T., 1960. "The genus Strombus in the specific rank. Both forms seemto live there sympat- Indo-Pacific." Indo-Pacific Mollusca, I (2): rically, the former being quite common, and the 33-146. latter quite rare. Mienis, H.K., 1971. "Revision of Strombus (Canarium) mutabilis ochroglottis Abbott (Gas- A revision of the Strombidae in the late Arthur tropoda: Strombidae)." Arch. Moll., 101 (5-6): C1JZal de qne~ ~Hterpri"~ Blok collection, now in the mollusc collection of the 301-304. 946 Ralph Avenue. Brooklyn New Yo,k 11236. USA Phone Area (212) 485-3550 Hebrew University here, revealed to our surprise a MONTILLA ENTERPRISE Outst~ding quality and personal service on mixed sample of S. mutabilis and S. ochroglottis ~ worldwide specimen shells. Rarities are our from Manila Bay, Philippines. This sample once 59 Maria Clara, Quezon City 3008 Murex' "' specialty. Free price list on request. Philippines ph.,lopte,us formed part of the old Carl Biilow collection, so Specimen Shells of the Philippines - Free Ust - Shell & Seed Necklaces - Monkey Pod & there exists always a possibility that two or more Wooden Ware - Black Coral Bracelets & Ear- samples from different localities have been mixed rings - Fibercraft - Artificial Flowers - Shell up in the past. Craft - Windchimes - Puka Shells.

40, Lane 105, Liao-ning St., Taipei, Taiwan (Tel. 7510680) RARE SHELLS. Buy, Sell, Trade. Page 10 HAW AllAN SHELL NEWS October, 1979 A Giant Va/uta kawamurai Another Look

By CHERYL RICHARDSON

Have you ever asked yourself what is a species, and what constitutes a subspecies? I did! The answer was given to me one day in English I could understand. Let me share this with you. Consider Species X, which involves a geographi- cal separation into two populations. That separation remains for a period of time. We now have Popula- tion A and Population B of Species X, separated by a barrier. If conditions differ on the two sides of the barrier, then A and B may evolve separately. Then, if the barrier is removed, one of three things can happen: I. If populations A and B have changed very little, the two come back together and interbreed freely as Species X. Nothing happened. 2. If, while separate, A and B have evolved somewhat differently, when the barrier is removed there may be some interbreeding but the two populations will remain distinct. 3. If the evolution has gone far enough, when the barrier is removed the populations will not interbreed. A and B will have become distinct species. There is another kind of speciation. Species Y, with a very wide range, interbreeds throughout that range. But specimens at the opposite ends of that range cannot interbreed. Nevertheless, the entire range belongs to Species Y. An example is a species of sea gull that circles the top of the globe. At one end of the range the What appears to be a record-size Yo/uta Being a relatively new species,V. kawamurai is gulls are black, at the midpoint they are gray, and at kawamurai Habe, 1975 has recently been acquired not listed in the Standard Catalog of Shells size the far end, white. One taxonomist might describe by HMS member Dr. Leonell Strong Jr. of Norton, records. three taxa, based on the observable differences. Virginia. Trawled from deep water of the Arafura Strong's shell is shown with a normal-size speci- Probably he would call them subspecies. But an- Sea, between Australia and Indonesia, it measures men. other taxonomist could decide that the differences l12mm and is in gem condition. E.G.L. were minor and merely describe the three as forms or variations, which have no status in nomenclature. Which interpretation is correct? Either, depending TAG SHELLS on whether you are a splitter or a lumper. Unless World Wide Specimen Shells there is clear proof that Populaaons A, Band/or C From Cypraea annulus to aurantium, from Murex cornucervi to loebbeckei; and from Voluta do (or do not) interbreed, the decision is a subjec- vespertilio to perplicata. WE HA VE GOT or get tive one. The important thing is that the ICZN rules 122 Waialeale St., Honolulu, HI %825 THEM ALL. on nomenclature be strictly followed by whoever Hawaiian Specimen Shells Ask for your free price list NOW. P. O. Box 13, Hampton, Vic. 3188- Australia describes the taxa involved. Phone 395-3581or 623-8918 If you are an amateur field collector and you have compiled what you believe is evidence of a new species (or subspecies or form or variation), it is important that you put your data at the disposal of a truly qualified scientist who is prepared to study it thoroughly and write a paper that meets the ICZN criteria.

~ ', JamarEnterprises .,;-.,.- P.O. Box JOE2702/ MARTINEZNapa, CA 94558

Dealer of rore and commonfirst quality shell specimens Buy. Sell,Trade Worldwide. FREE PRICE LIST SatisfactionGUalanteed October, 1979 HAWAIIAN SHELL NEWS Page 11

THE ACID TREATMENT

By F. HINKLE in the limited time available. Also, to stay within the KUW AlT - I have just returned from a holiday 20-kilogram baggage allowance! Decisions, deci- at Ifaty, a small community in Tulear Province of sions. And, if you can imagine it, my wife wanted Malagasy (Madagascar). Here are some notes on to take things back, too! shelling (and life) there. We had stopped overnight at Reunion on the The shoreline around Ifaty is coarse sand with flight on Malagasy. It was a blank for shells. The rock outcrops that may at one time have been wave sea was rough and the weather rainy. Anyhow, we benches. At high tide, much of the shore line be- had been there previously - on our honeymoon. tween Tulear and Ifaty is a narrow strip of man- We passed through the Seychelles, but had only grove (below). enough time to pick up a sample of the coco-Jesse, From the low water line to the reef breakers the famous coconut. (about one mile) the bottom is mixed sand, flat rock Despite the problems of shell cleaning and weight and grey mud into which in spots I sank to my allowance, I brought back specimens of 27 cowry knees. The mud has a fine grassy growth about six species, plus half a hundred representatives of other inches high but thinly spaced. The closer you get to families. I list them here: the reef, the thinner the mud. Cypraea caputselpentis, C. histrio, C. viteUus, A new Zahamotel hotel has been erected at Ifaty C. tigris, C. isabella, C. lynx, C. onyx, C. moneta, since a cyclone devastated the coast in December C. annulus (the smallest I've ever seen, 18.6 to 7mm), C. ziczac, C. felina, C. arabica (67mm), C. My article on shell treating (HSN Aug. 1979) has 1978. It has its charms. After collecting shells for mappa (69.7mm pink base, orange teeth), C. talpa, brought a good deal of response,some from mem- three hours, one is a bit tired and ready to walk C. SCUITa,C. argus, C. poraria, C. helvola, C. bers who have been fooled by "doctored" shells, back to the hotel, sit in the shade of a bamboo staphylaea, C. nucleus, C. cicercula, C. kieneri, C. carneola, C. lamarckii, C. erosa, C. teres and some from others who had been able to detect the umbrella and drink a beer while waiting for lunch. C. caurica. fakery, and a bit from friends simply thanking me It's quite a treat to watch the ring-tailed lemurs play Ovula ovum, Charonia triton is tritonis, Cyp- for the warning. It is my understandingthat there on and around the tables, begging bits of food from raecassisTufa, Cassiscornuta, Chicoreus ramosus, has been a substantialincrease in rejections of im- the diners. Lambis lambis, L. truncata truncata, L. chiragra The luncheon menu includes a boiled shrimp en- chiragra, L. C. arthritica, L. crocata crocata, L. ported shells by dealers and returns to overseas scorpius indomaris, Strombus aurisdianae, S. suppliersas a consequence. tree, pate, and fresh langoustes delivered by the marginatus marginatus, S. lentiginosus, S. gw- Another example of outright fakery came to my fisherman one hour before meal time daily. berulis gibberulis, Oliva tigrina form fallax, O. Home, by the way, was in Tulear with my wife's bulbosa, O. episcopalis, O. tremulina, O. elegans, attention recently. Figured here is a cone that was Halpa major, H. harpa, H. amouretta crassa, sold in the Central Philippines as "the new conus sister and family. The house was full of relatives Pleuroploca trapezium, Terebra dimidiata, Mitra from Davao." Actually, it is only an acid-dipped most of the time, anxious to see my wife and me papalis, Malea pomum, Conus violaceus, C. specimenof the common Conus sowerbyi Sowerby, after a four-year absence. figulinus, C. f. chytreus, C. tessulatus, C. varius, My wife and I met while working at the NASA C. striatus, C. gubernator, C. nussatella, C. be- 1857! tulinus, C. suratensis, C. miles, C. maldivus, C. A few months ago the same people sold an acid- tracking station in Tananarive. On another tour, I geographus, C. episcopus, C. archiepiscopus, C. dippedConus sulcatus as anotherrare new species. served on Roi-Namor in 'Micronesia. Now we are at textile, C. t. scriptus, C. ebraeus, C. rattus, Nerita textilis, N. undata, N. polito, N. plicata, N. al- Kuwait, the Island of Smiles (or the Big Red Island, Sharppractices are not limited to the Cebu area. I biciUa, Terabralia palustris, Littorina undulata, have received repcrts of renewed shell "baking" in depending on your point of view). This has the Pyrene flava, Zeuxis olivaceus, Fasciolaria Western Australia, where bogus "golden forms" of advantage that we are within reach of Malagasy for trapezium, Vasum turbinellus, Phasianella the beautiful Zoi/a cowries are being produced in vacations. aethiopica, and Polinices simiae. the oven! During our four weeks at Tulear, we made seven And, of course, there was the inevitable shoebox It is safe to say that current high prices for shells forays for my favorite pastime - shell collecting. of shells that defy identification. SometimesI think are responsible for the rash of trickery, which is My biggest problem was trying to clean specimens molluscsdo it intentionally! deeply to be deplored. So, again, we suggest ex- treme care in acquiring valuable shells. Your best defense against loss is to deal only with someone you know you cantrust. Elmer G. Leehman

The shell collection of the late Helene M Schartelof Reading, Pennsylvaniato be sold on consignmentby tbe Brandyberry Museum, Pleasewrite to this addressfor lists. There are over thirty thousandpieces to this extensivecollection of worldwide speciesfrom common to rare Brandyberry Museum 24 Surfside Rd" Apt, 3 Lynn, MA 01902 Yea Der Enterprise Co., Ltd. P. O. Box 456, Kaohsiung, Taiwan Fine and Rare SpecimenShells Cut mother-of-pearl,Decorative shells, Sharkjaws, Shark teeth and Shell craft. Write for free lists Tel. 2814438 . 2114438 RAt~il ~nti WhnlA""IA Page 12 HAWAllAN SHELL NEWS October, 1979

A REVIEW OF THE TRIVIIDAE, by Craw- ford Neill Cate. 126 pp. San Diego: Society of Natural History Memoir 10. Crawford N. Cate, living now in active retirement near San Diego, is one of the world's few special- ists in the Triviidae, a family closely related to the always popular cowries. A long-time member of the Hawaiian Malacological Society, as well as of other shell clubs and societies around the world, he has been a regular contributor to HSN, the Veliger and Venus for many years. The Cate collection of marine shells and malacological literature has been famed. Following retirement as a telecommunicationsen- gineer, Cate undertook to write a series of mono- graphs on three cypraeaceanfamilies - the Ovuli- dae, Eratoidae and Triviidae. The third and sup- posedly final volume, on the triviids, has made its appearance. The purpose, Care has written in his introduction, "is to bring together under one cover the pertinent I text relating to the combined Holocene species,and to illustrate them, whenever possible, with photo- graphsof the type specimensor their nearestequiva- I ~ lents. It is hoped that this will assist future students ' ! Photo: Ninomiya of the group in identifying their specimens;at the very least it should provide a base from which By TAIZO NINOMIYA Madagascar,while the C. spirogloxusare from Eilat future researchmay proceed." For some time I have been confusedby the strong in the Red Sea. He observes that none of the early workers in similarity of Conus maldiJlus Hwass, 1792 and After extensivestudy and comparison,I am con- malacology seem to have treated the Triviidae in Conus spirogloxus Deshayes, 1863. In an effort to vinced that C. spirogloxus is a synonym of C. separatemonographs - "usually a relatively few understandthem better, I made a study of 100 spec- maldivus. Both species are highly variable with species were tacked on at the end of a compre- imens of each species, twelve of which are shown many shells being virtually identical. I suspectthat a hensivereview of the Cypraea." The Schilderspub- in the accompanyingfigure. In the upper row are juvenile was used as the type specimen of Conus lished a "helpful list" of some 212 triviid species six specimensof C. maldiJlus; the lower six are C. spirogloxus, but have no doubt these two are the names encounteredin their studies but little revi- spirogloxus. The similarities are obvious and strik- same species. The variation in the spires is most sionary work was done. The present work, then, is ing. The C. maldiJlus were collected in South fascinating. probably the first comprehensive review of the Triviidae. DOUBLE WIN AT HMS SHELL SHOW Cate lists six triviid generathat he considersto be Scott Johnson, graduatestudent at the University examples of normal specimens.Stanfield, formerly valid (two of them are new taxa), seven subgenera, of Hawaii specializing in the nudibranchs,and two- stationed in Honolulu with the U.S. Army, had and 138 valid species, of which 41 are new to times winner of HMS scholarshipawards, took the returned to Hawaii from Germany to participate. science. Synonymy accounts for approximately an- prestigiousSmithsonian Institution Award at the 1979 The Burch A ward for the best educational/Scien- HMS Shell Show in Honolulu late in September. other 115 speciesnames. tific display devoted to a single theme other than His prize-winning display featuredecological data taxonomy went to a joint effort by Herb Hirota and In the course of his introductory remarks, Cate and photos of nearly 50 speciesof nudibranchsfound Stan Jazwinski. Their subject was the Hawaiian offers somegeneralizations worth quoting here. in Hawaiian waters. The Smithsonian Award is terebrids. "Except for limited dorsal spotting in a very few given for "notable contributions to scientific knowl- Judgesfor the Burch Award were Dr. and Mrs. edge of Hawaiian mollusca." Tom Burch, who establishedthe prize in memory of species,shell pigmentationin triviids nearly always The Hawaiian Malacological Society is one of John Q. Burch, renowned mollusc researcher, consists of a single solid color, without design or only two clubs in the United States off~ing the editor, and book and shell dealer. pattern," he says. "The adult shell is nearly always SmithsonianAwarJ. The fourth special award of the show - the E.R. Johnsonstarred in a double feature by taking the Cross Prize for membersof the HMS Junior Shell more or less covered with transverse,upraised ribs Best-Shell-in-the-Show award - for an eye- Oub - was shared by 12-year-old Monique Ar- . . . The longitudinal dorsal medial furrow, although popping, live-taken Tonna melanostoma that nette, for her display on poison cones of Hawaii, present in most Triviidae, is never seen in Cyp- substantially exceeded the previously recognized and Benjamin Kam, with an array of Hawaiian cow- raeacea." world record in size. ries. "The shell was in absolutely beautiful condi- The full list of award winners will be publishedin At another point, Cate remarks: "Due to a nearly tion," HMS president Ray McKinsey remarked. the Novemberissue of Hawaiian Shell News. total lack of live material, it will be necessaryat In the case next to Johnson's winner was Andy This year's HMS Shell Show was held in the least for now to ignore the anatomy of the Triviidae Butler's equally impressive T. melanostoma (see exhibit area of the Ala Moana Center, in downtown "Recent Finds," page eight), slightly exceeding it Honolulu. until further collections of living animal can be in size, but showing traces of its "beach" condi- "My feeling is that this year's show involved madeavailable." tion. young members of HMS much more than past Perhaps here is a project for Society members The duPont award for the outstanding exhibit shows have done," remarkedShow Chairman Andy aroundthe world. went to Bernard Stanfield for his "Fabulous Adams. "There was less emphasison rare and valu- Freaks," a stunning display of melanistic and ros- able shells, and more on the scientific aspects of S.L. trate cowries from New Hebrides.t02ether with 2em maiacolo2V." October. 1979 HAWAllAN SHELL NEWS Page 13

RABAUL - I havelived on the islandof New HMS members were invited to write on the Britain, Papua New Guinea for the last five years. topic: "My First Shell and What it Did to Me." This area has many beautiful shells. They are read- Winners were announced last month and will HMS member Cesare Corsini, Via Forze Annate ily obtainable from the local market, and from the 260 - 20152 Milano, Italy, reports that he has receive endemic Hawaiian shells as prizes. Two moce are published here. Others will fol- shell shop, or are yours for the finding if you bother spare shells from the MeditelTaneanand worldwide low as space p~its. Nearly two dozen members to look. for exchange. He is mainly interested in the cow- wrote about their first brush with malacology. ries, cones, murex, volute and pecten families. Obviously, the experience was one to remember. For quite some time my husband and I resisted "Please list your not-too-common disposables in , the shell sellers at the market. We only admired those families, and let me know what species you ANDOVER, MA. - After five days of marriage, their shells from a distance; they were just part of prefer in return," he concluded. "In any case, I'll my husbandand I arrived on Sanibel Island, Aocida the colourful scene. Of cou~e, we saw many people looking, handling and buying shells, including some give you a reply." in September, 1967. Little did I realize that I was of our friends, but we just couldn't understandtheir about to help rekindle the passion that Ed had tl}- interest. We hardly knew the difference between a A new member of the Society, Arthur Cochrane, ward the sea and especially its shells. Or perhapsit cone and a cowrie! c/o P. O. Mossman, North ~eensland 4873, Aus- was shell collecting that he had on his mind when tralia, has hastened to avail himself of the ex- he planned for a week-long honeymoon on one of Two years ago we joined an Eastercharter trip to changescolumn. the world's most famous shelling beaches. the Trobriand island of Kiriwina in the Milne Bay "1 have been collecting for many years - shore, area. I could go into raptures about this beautiful, I remember how, on the first day, we sU-Olled, reef, diving and dredging - along the east coast of unspoilt place. Here the people, and especially the hand-in-hand, along beacheslined with palm trees Australia, and 1 have shells for exchange from children, were keen to sell shells to visitors. on one side and washed by gentle waves on the common to rare. Now 1 am bringing my collection Everywhere we went we were offered shells. How other side. Ed would occasionally bend to pick up down to a pair of each species, allowing many for could I resist the p.leading brown eyes of these an interesting shell or two. People we met on the exchange such as volutes, cowries, cones, murex beautiful children? beach were very friendly and willing to show what and others." they had in their collecting buckets. Some of the We had been asked to bring back shells for . . . shells were quite pretty, others were full of holes friends. But which ones to buy? We didn't know Have you a gem Marex bedll""i? Lillian E. and were the same color as the sun-drenchedbeach anything about shells. Schwarz, 51 Laurel Avenue, Livingston, NJ 07039, itself, almost white. And then it happened- I saw my "first shell", will exchangefor equal value any of the following a semi-juvenileLambis c1li18g18.The delicate pink gem shells: Oliva burchoram, gold O. illclVSsata, As the w~k progressed,we s~med to gel moce aperture and beautifully patterned brown-and-cream CYPNIeamas and a Marex "ellastalas. involved in collecting shells. Ed just happenedto have a bucket in the trunk of the car. Then, another back were unbelievably lovely. I wondered at the marvel of its beauty. EinarS. WaldunJr. has a new address- 3190 day, he found an air mattressand two face masks SkinnerMill Road(11-5), AugustaGA 30909- and snorkels so we could collect --§and dollars ~in Next came a perfect StrombllS epidrolllw. Then a neck-deepwater, just off the beach. small boy wanted to sell me a beautiful golden and asks other malacologists in Geocgia and N

Next, I learned that David Hunt had collected a beachspecimen of Conus sp. 193 at St. Lucia. What kind of a cone was this? Could it be Conus daucus? Many who had examined Hislop's shell had not recognizedit as such. The answer came unexpectedly. Much later, I was in touch with a scuba diver in Paris who had collected at Martinique. He showed me specimens of Conus sp. 193 and Conus sp. 195. Also - more significantly - he had intergrades between those shells and the normal Conus daucus! The series is shown in the figure with this report. In the upper row is a normal Conus daucus with a spiral row of tiny brown squares above a lighter band at the mid-area, then a Conus daucus specimen with somewhatdarker maculationsand a few white patches.Finally comesConus sp. 193. In the bottom row is lilac Conus daucus with a few brown maculations, followed by a specimen with darker coloring, and finally a specimen of Conus sp. 195. All the shells were collected at Martinique. There is no doubt in my mind anymore. All those By DANKER VINK It is true that the Martinique cones are mor- specimens of Lozet's are Conus daucus Hwass, WASSENAAR (Holland) - J.B. Lozet in 1975 phologically very close to Conus daucus. It also is 1792. published a beautiful color plate of four rare Carib- true that the color schemeof daucus is quite vari- References bean conesin La Conchiglia (1). Magnificent spec- able. Frequently there are brown dots or tiny 1. Lozet. 1975. "Caribbean Cones," La Conchig- imens, all found in 30 meters of water at Mar- squaresaround the mid area. Plain shells often have lia 7 (79/80):20. 2. Lozet. 1977. Coquillages des Antilles. Les Edi- tinique, they had resisted all attempts at classifica- a lighter sub-centralband. tions du Pacifique, Tahiti. tion. Conus sp. 193, however, has a distinctly white They were listed simply as Conus sp. I, II, III band below the middle of the body whorl, and and IV. maculationsat the top and bottom of the body whorl Some were brick red with three more or less are also clearly white. Specimensof Conus daucus zigzag white bands. Others had beautiful lilac, which are yellowish or pale violet are well known. brown or purplish colors with dark brown and white But never are these so completely covered with patches. large dark brown maculations (like some of Conus I approachedJ .J. van Mol of the Universire Libre sp. 195) as to become completely unidentifiable as of Brussels (who had just rediscovered Conus C. daucus. mageUanicusHwass, 1792 among Lozet's material) I started a search to find out more about these PHIL BELLIN House No 681, Kiyuna, Futenma, Okinawa, Japan for an opinion on the unidentified shells. These elusive "Lozet" cones. I considereda scuba-diving The only full-time diver-dealer on Okinawa. Buy, sell or "superbes specimensde Conus," he wrote back, visit to Martinique, but realized that in a short visit trade. Wholesale and retail, "sont des variations interessantesdu daucus." I probably would not be successful.In my hunt for Also slides of hundreds of worldwide shells, U.S. 50c apiece. Too many to list. State your wants. Shots of live Lozet himself, however, apparently was not con- detailed information I undertook an extensive letter Okinawan shells available. vinced. In his 1977 booklet Coquillages des Antil- writing campaign. Eventually, HMS member Cod- Excellentstock of shells alwayson hand les (2) he rerxesentedthe shells as Conus sp. 193 man Hislop in Florida sent me a photo of a shell and Conus sp. 195, the first being the brick-and- from a spoil bank at St. Vincent that I recognizedas white specimen, and the second the lilac and dark Conus sp. 193. brown. The form of these cones, wrote Lozet, is "One can read some of the factors of daucus, very close to that of Conus daucus. The coloring, perhap'sjuliae, and even centurio, in the reddish however, is far out. cone," Hislop wrote.

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By TWILA BRATCHER to become less coarsely sculptured in later whorls. While dredging at the Honolulu side of Pearl Some specimens have many tiny fulvous dots; Harbor Entrancein 1969, E. R. Cross brought up an others have few, scarcelynoticeable ones. unusualTerebra from about 300 meters. Terebra elliscrossi should be comparedwith sev- After thoroughly researchingit, I concluded it to eral o\her Indo-Pacific species.Terebra waikikiensis be a new species.It was so extremely different from Pilsbry, 1920, an endemic Hawaiian species,is also any previously describedthat I decidedto publish it. shiny white with pairs of small fulvous dots, but it I submitted a manuscript then reconsidered and has a turreted outline and is smaller, to 35mm. The withdrew it for two reasons:it was a unique speci- dots, always in pairs, are placed at regular intervals. men, and it had no protoconch. Terebra elliscrossi has a concave outline with con- For quite a few years it rested with some other vex subsuturalband, is larger, to 82.9mm, and the unidentified Terebra, the only one of its kind as far dots, paired or individual, are scatteredat random. as I knew. Then, within a short period, I received Terebra insalli Bratcher & Burch, 1967, bears others of the same speciesfrom several sourcesand some resemblanceto T. elliscrossi but has a small- from different areas. One was from New Guinea, er, more slender beige shell without the fulvous two were from Guadalcanal,in the Solomons, and dots. Terebra triseriata Gray, 1834, has a much one was froin Okinawa. more slender shell, and that of T. cumingii De- When I visited the Solomons,Brian Bailey kindly shayes, 1834, has more numerous and shorter let me have several to donate to museumsas para- whorls, neither showing the fulvous dots. Terebra types. While I was rewriting the manuscript to in- amanda, also without dots, is longer whorled and clude the additional specimensand localities, I dis- has a wider apical angle. coveredanother among the terebrids sent me by the Terebra floridana Dall, 1889, a western Atlantic Smithsonian Institution for identification. This one species,has a shell remarkably similar to that of T. was from Madagascar. elliscrossi, except that it has more numerous and A full ten years after Cross' discovery in July shorter whorls with no dots, and is beige instead of 1969, the specieswas finally published in The Vel- white. iger 22 (1):65. The following is from the original manuscript: BecauseE. R. Cross was the instructor of my first course in underwater safety and is a longtime T. elliscrossi friend, becauseof his years as editor of Hawaiian Photo: Bratcher SheD News, and because he discovered the first sculpture, and a double subsuturalband. specimenof this new species,I now take pleasurein DESCRIPTION OF HOLOTYPE: Shell size naming it in his honor. medium, color white with small round fulvous dots, Terebra elliscrossi Bratcher, 1979 usually in pairs, scattered at random; outline of DIAGNOSIS: A medium to large sized white whorls slightly concave with double convex sub- Terebra with small fulvous dots, cancellate sutural band, anterior one being smaller; protoconch missing, but protoconch of paratype having 3'h. slightly convex embryonic whorls; sculptureof early whorls of teleoconchconsisting of narrow subsutural band with small nodes, followed by slightly curved axial ribs; spiral sculpture developing about 3rd whorl; posterior end of ribs swelling into nodes, forming second subsutural band about 5th whorl; sculpture of later whorls cancellate, with spiral and axial cords of about equal strength, forming small nodes at intersections, axial cords beginning at Ellis R. Cross nodes of anterior band; double band occupying about half of whorl; cancellatesculpture continuing NATAL SHELL SOCIETY on body whorl to row of slightly enlargednodes at periphery; spiral cords continuing anterior to DURBAN - At a special general meeting in periphery, axial sculpture becoming obsolete; aper- August, the Natal Group of the South African ture quadrate, columella recurved, with moderate ConchologicalSociety unanimouslydecided to form parietal callus and scarcely visible plication, a society of their own, to be known as the Natal siphonal fasciole striate, with moderatekeel. Shell Society. DIMENSIONS: Holotype 42.0 x 7.2mm. Paratypes This society welcomes contact with any shell from 21.4 x 5.4mm to 82.9 x 13.1mm. group, club or society with the views of exchanging DISCUSSION: Some individuals of this species information and ideas. Anyone desiring contact with have finer sculpture, and the intersectionsof axial them can do so by writing to S.B.D. NEVILL, Flat and spiral sculpture may be less likely to form No.8, Sonning, 355 Innes Road, Morningside, T. waikikiensis nodesat the intersections.The larger specimenstend DURBAN 4001, SOUTH AFRICA