"1973, Volume 7, Part i. August CONCHOLOGY SECTION AUCKLAND INSTITUTE & MUSEUM * ?*. v\, ) J i '1 V P 0 I R I E R I.A Vol. 7 Part 1 - August 1973 MODELIA GRANOSA Martyn ' , This turbinid mollusc can be found at and below low tide mark in both North and South Islands, though it most frequently occurs in the south of the South Island and at Chatham Islands where it is very common below low water among kelp and other seaweeds. Collectors beachcombing at Stewart Island usually return with some fine large examples - specimens of 5 inches diameter being sometimes obtained. Large numbers wash up after storms at Mason's Bay. Some of the largest seen have come from Chatham Islands. Many specimens are badly encrusted with coralline growth, but clean shells are pleasingly mottled with pink, brown and white and have a distinctly granulated spiral sculpture. The operculum is heavy, shelly and white with a finely granulated surface and an incised semicircular furrow near the margin i/'i/hile it is generally considered to be a southern shell, brightly coloured Modelia granosa axe found as far north as Gt. Exhibition Bay, but these specimens are very different in appearance from the southern shells. Seldom do they exceed one inch in diameter and the sculpture is much coarser, with large beads placed well apart. At times this shell is not uncommonly Washed up about the Bay of Islands, but live specimens are hard to obtain. An interesting item - from "The Link", February 1973, headed - "Snail Trapping Illegal" - "One of southern Switzerland's most popular weekend diversions, snail trapping, is now illegal. Police in the canton of Valais have been told to watch out for anybody wandering, eyes down, through the fields and woods, and to arrest or summarily fine offenders. The combination of a growing Swiss appetite for the escargot and a marked increase in the number of people taking to the fields to hunt the creatures has threatened' the Swiss snail with extinction. The strappers were selling their catch to restaurants and shops at 5 cents a shell. The ban on this latest of blood sports will last for three years, during which time it is hoped that, unmolested, the snail population will grow to a satisfactory level. Then eating wild escargots will recommence." ^ Mrs Boswell, Wanganui, writes - "I was very interested to read Mr Douglas's write-up on the Poirieria . I have collected these same capsules along our local beaches for a number of years, but still I am not sure just which shell they belong to. I have gone over a lot of them with a strong lens, to try to pick out any tiny juvenile shell that may be encased in them, but as yet have not been able to find any. As for finding an adult Poirieria shell washed up on our beaches - that is unheard of, even in a very dead state. I have got the odd one or two with hermit crabs in them, but they have been shells washed down from the fossil beds. Oft times the capsules have been attached to small pieces '’Of material like dead rush stalks as if they had come from a tidal swamp or estuary." * * . c "A number of years back when I got some dredged debris from one of the local trav/ler boats, I found a complete Ostrea sinuata shell Vvrith a small round hole in the top valve. On prizing the valves apart, I found not an oyster but a small species of Octopus using the shell as a home for her eggs. Each- egg was completely round and contained a perfect.* little Octopus. Therb must have been 100 eggs as well as the mother in that three inch shell." - 2 - , CYPRAEA VITELLUS' IN- NEW ZEALMD : K. Grange Cypraea ( Lyncina ) vitellus , the Pacific Deer Cowrie, is a widespread, common" Indo-pac if ic species. Burgess (1970) gives the distribution, of this species from Africa in the west to Japan ih the north, to Lord Howe Island in the south and to Tahiti in the east. Cy praea vitellus Its distribution has been extended recently to New Zealand, following the discovery of a live specimen taken by Mr W. Palmer during a night dive at 90 feet off the west coast of Tawhiti Rahi, Poor Knights. Subsequent dives around the same depth produced three well-preserved specimens, the largest being 59.0 mm long. The Poor Knights remained the sole known locality of this species in New Zealand (Cernohorsky 'i971 ) apart from a recognisable fragment washed up near vVhangaroa. However, very recently (June 1975) two specimens -have* been found on the mainland', both in only 15 feet of water. Both of these were very freshly dead and could not haVe been washed more than a few feet, or the gloss to the shell would have been lost. The first was at Goat Island Bay, Leigh, the second near Tutukaka. The Tutukaka specimen was found outside an Octopus lair, so it seems very likely that they are living in this area. The nearest occurence of Lync ina vitellus to New Zealand^ is,_inp^upensland_ and/.als in Sydney' Harbour where the' 'more ' squat sub-species Lync ina vitellus orcina - is, found. The shell varies in size and is ornamented with circular white spots on a brown background. The outer lip has vertical striations, cream in colour, which extend up the sides of the shell, while the inner lip shows oblique striations of the same colour. In juvenile specimens the white spots and cream lines are indistinct and there "are darker brown bands running across the shell, giving it . the -appearance.. of a very large C. carneola . Such a juvenile specimen has been found at A5 feet at the Poor Knights and measured 65 mm in length. : The base of the shell is cream and the aperture orna- mented with mmerous cream teeth with brown interstices. The New Zealand specimens seem to conform to the general trend of cowries in that the largest members of the Genus become bigger further from the equator. Burgess (1970) gives the size range as 26 - 79 nun and the size of the New Zealand specimens is 40 - 65 mm, lying near the larger members Powell (1967) gives no description of the New Zealand animal, but Burgess (1970) says the animal has a mottled grey mantle with numerous long, bright yellow papillae, occurring in small clumps. The foot, tentacles and proboscis are grey. This species is believed to be a sponge feeder although as yet, nothing is known about its habits in New Zealand. However, the fact that L. vitellus is a colourful and hence conspicuous species, living well within the limit of S.C.U.B.A. divers, means that it will continue to be of interest to many collectors and, with luck, will become as well established on the mainland as it is at the Poor Knights Ref eimces Burgess C.M. (1970) The Living Cowries, Barnes, USA. Cernohorsky W.O. (1971) Fossil & Recent Cypraeacea of New Zealand with Descriptions of New Species. Rec Auck. Inst . Mus . 8:103 - 129. Powell A.W.B. (1967) New Zealand Molluscan Systematics with Descriptions of New Species, Part 6, Rec .Auck. Inst . Mus . 6(3): 185 - 196. Mr & Mrs Max Hancock have dredged, in Deep v/ater Cove, Bay of ^ Islands, a specimen of the Turrid Tnohiotoma brevicordata ^ This is an extra limital species in New Zealand. It is commonly found between tides amohg the reefs in Fiji auad other Pacific areas. * A sinistral Paryphantal Ever heard of one? Those present at a recent meeting of the Section saw a fine example of Paryphanta busbyi collected by Mr N. Douglas on the roadside, Mangamuka Gorge. -4- A FIELD TRIP TO THE NEW HEBRIDES L. Price The New Hebrides - a new Condominium, under, joint admin- istration by France and Britain - comprise approximately 80 islands, lying between 12° and 20° S.Lat., and 165° sn.d I70 E.Long. They extend some 550 miles northwest to southeast, from the northernmost island, Hiu, in the Torres Group, to the southernmost, Aneityum. The main centre of business, Vila, on the island of Efate, is about 1200 miles to the north of Auckland, New Zealand. All are "high" islands, of volcanic origin - indeed, there are several continually active volcanoes scattered throughout and, as may be expected, earth tremors are of frequent occurrence. The mountainous interiors are covered in dense tropical rain forest, while much" of the “coastal lowlands are devoted to coconut plantations - often in combination with the grazing of beef cattle. The largest island of the Group, Espiritu Santo, is I5OO square miles in area and also contains the two highest mountains, Mt. Tambwemasana, 6195 Dt. and Santo Peak, 55^6 ft. Over the past ten years, I have had the privilege of conducting an annual field trip to parts of eastern Australia and various Island Groups of the South Pacific, During these excursions, I have concentrated on collecting living specimens of land and freshwater molluscs for ultimate research by Dr. Alan Solem, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago. Thus, late in 1972, I spent a period of three months in the New Hebrides - this being the tenth contribut- ion to the series. On September 22, I boarded a French Airlines DCS for the 3-hour flight to Tontouta Airport, New Caledonia. After a short pause, and a change to a French Caravelle, in just one more hour I had arrived in the New Hebrides. In the heart of Vila, I booked into Hotel Vate, which was to be my base while visiting several of the larger islands during the course of my collecting.