YOLo XLI NO.4 APRIL. 1993 NEW SERIES400

The Conus Concolor Story:

By A. J. da Motta* paredthis new speciesprimarily with C. hyaena, It all beganwhen SowerbyI (1833) illustrated I was so impressedwith the many unusualvarie- in Conchologicallllustrations pt 28, f 20, (also tal forms of this highly polychromaticpopula- reproducedin Thesaurus Conchylorium vol 3, tion, that I thought it was desirableto describe p 4, pi 4 (190) f 83) Conus unicolor, a shell six of its coloredforms separately.One of these, which resemblesC. moreleti (fig 1). Next, Tom- ParatypeNo.3, is solid dark brown color with lin (1937)listed another"C. unicolor" Sowerby somebarely visible spiral lines somewhatresem- (1834), illustrated in Conchological Illustra- bling C.concolor (per Walls).Another, Paratype tions pt 54, f 59 (not C. unicolor, pt 28, f 20) as No.4, could passas C. gilvus. Both are in the being renamedC. concolor (largelist), which is Museumd'Histoire Natural, Geneva.

Fig 2. Conus concolor Sowerby I, 1834 according to Tomlin (1937) resemblanceto the original illustration (seefig. 3). Looking at this figure may help explain why Walls (1979) p 237 illustrated a solid olive- brown, turbinateshell (fig 4) with blue aperture, which he compared with C. gilvus as most similar in generalappearance. Walls (1979) gave Conus concolor a Western Pacific range from the Philippines to New Hebrides.I followed next (1983) with a descrip- Fig 4. Conus concolor SowerbyI, 1834 accordingto Fig I. Conus unicolor Sowerby I, 1833. tion of C. hall; as a shell with a convexly conic Walls, 1979 who has it as Sowerbyi, in Sowerbyii, a differently shapedturgid shell, colored a solid spire,subangulate shoulder, rounded at its edges, 1834,large list. Nomennovum for C. unicolor Sower- by i, 1834. light brown (fig 2). Tomlin added that Kiener, and found in Pasir Putih, Java.Although I com- (1845) p 246, erroneouslyidentified this with Notwithstanding the extraordinary color "C. adansonii Lam." Coomans, et al (1985) variability, the animals in life were all consistent- 48:254) remarkedthat the whereaboutsof this ly the same and described as: "the sole of the second stell is unknown, but reproducedit in animal's foot is the color of smoked glass with Concholocigal Illustrations pt 54. f 59 as the fine longitudinal etchings; the foot, slightly type figure of C. concolor, giving its dimensions fleshier and mottled in places; the upper surface as 42 x 24mm, without revealing the sourceof of the foot tapers off into a dull whitish body; proboscis is flesh-colored with hairlike bands; formthe information. of C. hyaena. This they identified. as a color the eye stalks, pale amber darkening towards the However, Sowerby II (1866), in Thesaurus tip; siphon under- side being white, the upper, Conchylorium. III, pI 9, f 206, illustratedConus (Cont'd on Page 11) concolor as a turbinate, low, concave-spired shell anddescribed it (p 35, sp 307) ashaving an HSN regrets the uneven quality of the reproduc- affinity with C. fasciatus, which bears little tions of shell illustrations with this article. Several Fig 3. Conus concolor Sowerby I, 1841 according to original hand-drawn figures had to undergo substantial *I3A Edif. Ka Yo, 30 Praca Lobo de Avila, Macua. Sowerby II, enlargement. Pa~e2 HAWAIIAN SHELL NEWS April, 1993

'ri'~aitale SItdt ~4 ISSN 0017-8624 THE HMS TRITON AWARD JOHN AND CHERYL TO Editors Emeritus...... Dr. Tom Burch, E.R.Cross, Threeveteran members of the HawaiianMal- FLY AWAY Evelyn Gage Gerisch Interim Editor Stuart Lillico acologicalSociety, including the individual gen- In time, all goodthings must end. The U.S.Air erally regarded as having initiated its actual Associate Editors...... Olive Schoenberg-Dole, Force is about to end the Hawaii assignmentof organization 50 years ago, received engraved George Cook Johnand Cheryl Jacobswho for nearlyfive years Science Advisers. . . Dr. E.Alison Kay, W.O.Cernohorsky glassplaques at the March meeting of the Soci- havebeen pillars of the HawaiianMalacological ety, designatingthem 1992 Triton Award win- Photo Adviser...... Olive Schoenberg-Dole Distribution RayMcKinsey ners.They were Lyman Higa, HSN's long-time Society's operations. Cheryl has been office managersince 1989. International Editor Bill Ernst "Recent Finds" editor (left in photo), Charter John has been a Society Director most of that Text Editors: Beatrice Burch, George Campbell, Bunnie Member Charles A. "Chuck" Allen, whose time. Both have beenactive volunteersat HMS Cook, Dr. Robert Cowie, Trudi Ernst, Lyman Higa, John "Allen papers" evolved into today's HSN, and Jacobs, Dwayne Minton, Wes Thorsson functionsranging from beachclean-up parties to Index Editor RayMcKinsey Wesley Thorsson, the Society's resident elec- shell showsand auctions. tronic and computermastermind, veteran scuba The Jacobs'snew assignmentis to Eglin Air HAWAIIAN MALACOLOGICAL SOCIETY (Founded in 1941) diver, shell-dredgeoperator and holder of most Force Base, near Fort Walton Beach, Florida. P.O. Box 22130 Honolulu,Honolul Hawaii 96823-2130 HMS offices in the past 30 years. They will be leaving Hawaii in mid-July. We The three were among five initial awardees VicePresident President E Dr.RobertCowie hate to seethem go. namedat the Society'sfiftieth-anniversary party Vice President...... Betsy Harrison Gagne last December,but who were not presentto re- Treasurer Recording Secretary...... BobMoffitt ceive their plaques. Recording Secretary...... Vela Beckwith Correspondingr:nr nnn";nn Secretary."""'At.~ ...... Trudi Emst Presentationwas delayedfurther when, in the post-partyclean-up, their awards were mislaid. DIRECTORS Just as mysteriously- and embarrassingly- Ron Beckwith Liz Kane Sid Sneidar George Cook Dick May David Woodman the plaques were discovered in mid-February Bill Ernst Ray McKinsey

right wherethey shouldhave been. COUNSELORS Anothermember, Dr C. M. "Pat" Burgessalso Dr. Allen Allison Dr. Bruce Carlson receivedhis plaqueat a low-key presentationat E.R.Cross Dr. E.Alison Kay Donald Dan his home and the final recipient, Evelyn Gage HMS Office Manager...... Cheryl Jacobs Gerisch,the first editor of Hawaiian Shell News The Society meets at 7:30 p.m. on the first Wednesday of in the 1950's, was scheduledto come to Hono- each month except December at the First United Methodist tIji\ Church, Victoria and Beretania Streets, in Honolulu lulu for the Society'sApril meeting for the pre- I VISITORS ARE WELCOME! sentation.Anyhow, congratulationsPat, Lyman, ! f Hawaiian Shell News is distributed free to members of the Chuck and Wes! Society. Postage is included in membership dues. Sample copies on request Information on back issues availabie from -~ the Society (Alln: Back Issue Mgr.) or from University Micro- TWILA BRATCHER'S Lyman Higa, Chuck Allen and Wes Thorsson. films Internationai 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Michigan PROGRESS 48106-1346 WESTERN SOCIETY OF Members outside the United S1ates are asked to pay their dues in US dollarswith a bankcheque (not a draft)payable Terebra specialistTwila Bratcher of Los An- MALACOLOGISTS to HMS,or an InternationalMoney Order Be sure your name geles is making a slow recovery from the serious and address are included.

injuries she received from a fall in her Holly- A symposiumon contemporaryresearch on HMS DUES FOR 1993 wood home early this year (HSN March 1993, Mollusca and anotheron malacofaunaof west- Inciudes delivery of HSN p.2). After being hospitalized for nearly two ern Mexico will be featuresof the twenty-sixth . US Zip Code Addresses Buik mail (notforwardable to newaddress) $25.00 months, accordingto word receivedby her Ho- annualmeeting of the WesternSociety of Mala- First class...... 30.00 nolulu friends, in early March Twila was able to cologists at La Jolla, California opening on 27 . Mexico and Canada (Airmail) 31.00 return to her home. She remains invalided, how- June.A specialposter session will deal with pho- . All Other Countries ever, and contact with friends is mainly by tele- tographyof molluscs. Surface...... 33.00 phone. The traditional concludingbanquet includes a Airmaii 36.00 "sure-to-be-entertaining presentation" by Dr. . ASSOCIATE MEMBERSHIP (Family members; Barry Wilson of WesternAustralia, authorof an HMScardbut no HSN) 1.00 That "sputnick urchin" figured in HSN Feb. Articles of interest on molluscan-related topics are solic- important new book on Australian gastropods. ited. Contents are not copyrighted. Republication, with credit 1993, p.9 wasn't identified correctly. It was There will be a shell auctionand reprint sale, to HSN, is Invited. Chondrocidaris gigantea (A. Agassiz, 1863), plus a round of social eve~ts. Any opinions expressed in signed articles in Hawaiian the rough-spined sea urchin. Thanks to the mem- Shell News are thoseof the authors and do not necessarily representpolicies of the HawaiianMaiacological Society bers who set the editor straight. Dr. Dick Oyler and his family of Boise,Idaho Hawaiian Shell News does not intentionally carry onglnai - l plan some travel to American Samoa,Western descriptions of species or genera, and does not wish to be Building the Education Fund Samoa,the Cook Islandsand Tongathis year. cited as authority for new taxa. The Hawaiian Malacological Society is recog- "I would like to communicate with HMS Advertisingis accepted at the rate of US$25 per column- inch per issue, payable In advance Discounts are offered for nized by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service as a membersregarding recommended shelling areas six and twelve insertions. Inclusion of such advertising In non-profit educational organization. Contribu- in those groups," he writes. "Also, what shell HSN, however, does not imply Societyendorsement of the tions in cash or in kind to the HMS Education fauna can I expect?" advertiser or the material offered. Fund or to support Hawaiian Shell News may be His addressis 11136W. Hickory Park Drive, Hawaiian Shell News is printed by Fisher Printing Co of deductible on U.S. income tax returns. Honolulu Boise. ill 83704.or phone(208) 327-0438.

~ Ai( 1847.'t'eJfJ~~cC~pstate ~arl~cC@;ppJeoiat;on/o' c*,~///;/ ,// cC///// cC" Hawa;!'s"'\JnI9ue'

By E.R. Cross* Among them also, obviously, were some.dedi- last (August 7 this year [1847]), a Mrs. Booth Mary Oliphant of Auburn, New York on No- cated collectors of coral, shells, lava and other washere from Branchport[New York]. I showed her the letters and others from missionary vember 13, 1847 addresseda letter to "Dear Hawaiian objectsof interest. friends. Shetook them with her on a little excur- Friend" in the SandwichIslands. I purchasedthe Now back to Mary Oliphant in Auburn on sion andreturned in a week.She told me shewas original of her letter at a 1980auction of Hawaii- November 13, 1847.As we will see,Mary had ana and have tried ever since to learn for whom somegood days and somebad ones,too. a first cousinof Mr. Baldwin. Shewas muchlike him. She said she had written you that the mis- it was intended.To this day I am not sure. "I have receivedall the kind letters sent me, The letter probably was directedto one of the which are highly prized," she started."The day sion won't sendher shells." "up-state" New York missionariesstationed in Mr. Baldwin from your Islands brought us the Later in the letter Mary returnedto the subject of shells. Hawaii at that time, apparentlya friend of the "Should you senda box to us, it might be well Baldwins, the Booths, a Mr. Tinker and other to sendher [Mrs. Booth?] a presentin it," Mary New England Protestantchurch figures promi- AM I BORING YOU? wrote. "I do hope you may be able to send us nent in Hawaii's history of the past 200 years. Mary makesit clearthat Hawaiianshells were By Scott Johnson* one, for almost nothing of this sort is sent now and thesethings are just as much thought of as just as much in demandthen as they are today. KWAJALEIN - In the accompanyingphoto, they havebeen. The coral is more esteemedthan The letter is long and rambling, not all of it a youngNaquetia triquetra percheson the shell the lava. We know you have not many shells dealing with shells,coral and other collectibles. of a Mirapecten rastellum. Is the muricid a therenow." So, beforewe shareMary Oliphant's most inter- borer?There was no evidenceof a hole bored in [Still later] "I was greatly delighted to see esting thoughtsof 150 years ago, let me set the the bivalve when the Naquetia was removed. stagefor her worries, her faith, and her hopes. your cousin as she was also able to hear from Although Mirapecten rastellum is not often you. She is acquainted,she told me, with Mrs. Auburn, New York State,was (and still is) a found alive hereat Kwajalein, empty singleval- Baldwin as severalhave returned to the Islands. small agricultural-industrial community at the ves arenot uncommon.Rarely, however, do they Mr. Tinker madeus somecalls last winter." northern end of Owasco Lake, about 30 miles havedrill holes.Possibly the moreactive pectens I wonder what Mary thought the Sandwich from Syracuse.Eighteen forty-seven was a boom are able to swim away when approachedby a Islands(as Hawaii was then known) were like. I year,before the "bust" and panic of 1857.Mid- molluscan predator.They certainly are capable dle America was becoming the granary of the am sure she never visited us. Anyhow, she was of swimming away from a diver. Severaltimes I worried. world, with newly constructedhigh-speed rail- have scannedahead with my light while on a "From those I seefrom the Islands,I should roads carrying wheat from the Midwest to the night dive and have caught glimpsesof pectens not think you lost too much in personalappear- East Coast ports. Bigger and faster trains fol- swimming to evadethe approachinglight. anceas we had supposed." lowed newly laid rails stretchingrapidly toward The pectens seem to have been eaten by A little later, aboutchildren raisedin Hawaii: the golden west. From New York, ever bigger something more agile than another mollusc, "As far as I can seethose from the Islandsare as "packets,"swift clipper ships,and smallercargo somethingthat can catch and crush them. Many intellectual, as modestand as refined as others, rigs carried freight and passengersat record freshly crushedvalves still have a fragment of speedsto California, China, India - and to the and much more so than many." the other valve attachedat the hinge. SOME- Catholicism was spreadingin Hawaii at that SandwichIslands, an 80-daydash via CapeHorn THING apparentlybroke in to get a scallopdin- time, as in many other parts of the world, and in the fastestof the new clipper ships.One writer ner. But what? Mary - obviously a strong Calvinist - was of the day classifiedAmericans as "a speed-mad, Any ideas? worried. money-drunkmob." *Box 325. APO AP 96555. "Religion seemsto be all that anyonemust Why sendmissionaries to Hawaii? One won- desirein this world," shestated, ending her letter ders. with the lugubriousassurance: "Your friend and Whateverthe reasons,the earliestrecognized companionin tribulations.(signed) Mary Oliph- missionaries were Americans from New En- ant." gland,dour Calvinistsall of them,who landedat That wasn't quite all Mary wanted - or Kailua Bay on the Big Island of Hawaii from the needed.She wrote severalpostscripts. In fact, brig Thaddeuson April 4, 1820.Very soon,one every margin, whereverthere was space,had a suspects,they were picking up shells on the P.S. beaches. In the first, dated November 27, some two By 1847, the time of Mary's letter, 84 men weeks after the letter was started,Mary wrote: and 100women, divided into 12 "companies"or "And if you have any shells we think much of missions,were carrying on their work in Hawaii. them." After threemore P.S.sand apparently just Among them were 52 ordained ministers, 14 beforeshe mailed the letter,still datedNovember teachers,eight physicians, five printers, three 27, sheconcluded: "The box will now be sentin secularagents, one book binder and one farmer. Naquetia triquetra perched atop a Mirapecten rastel- a few days.I wish you would let our friendssend *P.O. Box 1267, Port Angeles, WA 98362. turn. us lava, coral and shells,we prefer the last." Page4 HAWAIIAN SHELL NEWS April, 1993

SHELLS FOR SALE

Photo: Schoenberg-Dole

The tide at Broome,Western Australia has an more lumps, then many lumps, plus an oc- extremerise-and-fall range of approximately30 casional lonely little terebrid. Curiosity finally feet. (Comparethat with Honolulu harbor's ex- got the best of me. tremerange of aboutthree feet). A few yearsago I touchedone of the lumps of sand.Dry sand I had the remarkableexperience of standingon flaked off, revealing a very aliye Terebra the shorethere and watching the surf line draw rufopunctata. I tried anotherlump, and another. back until it disappearedover the horizon. The samething happened. As we walked seawardbehind the rapidly How about the "naked" T. rufopunctata? I falling tide, the sandwas still damp.Soon, how- followed one acrossthe sand. Sure enough, it ever, as the Indian Ocean sun beat down on it, spat out some"juice" that made its shell sticky. the sanddried and beganto crack. A few inter- Sandadhered as it plowed alongand soonit was tidal creaturesappeared. completelycovered. Another lump was born. I pokedalong the vastbeach, looking for mol- I didn't wait for that Australiantide .to sweep lusc trails and small creaturessuch as olives and back acrossthe flat beach.Presumably, though, Terebrato photograph.I saw an occasionalhole it releasedthose beautiful little Terebra from and a few little lumpsof sand,but nothing worth their sandywrap to enjoy anotherday. stopping to snap. Soon, however, there were Olive Schoenberg-Dole ~~~ Displays At Most Shell Shows

SLIM PICKINGS IN FLORIDA'S CALICO SCALLOPS DONALD DAN ' QUALITYSPECIMEN SHELLS TALLAHASSEE - Since 1970, Florida's among suchcharacteristics as temperature,Gulf 2620 Lou Anne Coun . West Friendship, MD 21794 calico scallop, Argopecten gibbus (Linne, Streamposition, and the reproductivecycle of (410) 442-1242/1942 Inquiries Welcome - No Lists 1758), has had its ups and downs. Of the the calico scallop. Landward movementof the estimated 400-plus scallop species, A. gibbus Gulf Stream brings colder nutrient-rich water CHARLES CARDIN was once one of the three most common varieties which induces spawning and produces more SPECIMEN SHELLS found in the market. In 1984 a harvest of 39.3 scallops. 5500 MOUNTAIN VISTA #1322 million pounds was valued at $75 million, a Spawningfor the calico scallop typically oc- LAS VEGAS, NV 89120 (702) 451-7291 record. curs twice a year,once between March and June Since then, the industry has been forced to and a secondtime usually betweenJuly and De- .Free Lists. Buy. Sell. Trade . Consignment Sales shut down due to a lack of scallops. This unpre- cember.Without a successfulautumn spawn, the . Dealers Send for Wholesale Lists dictable fluctuation has created hardship for pro- number of scallops that die during the winter .Ask about my shell data base for IBM compatible comput- cessing plants, fishermen and industry workers, may leave too small a population to support a ers. More than 5,000 shells now listed with full information. Bimonthly updates available. Instant access to current shell according to the Jacksonville (FL) Shell Club's commercialfishery. price information and much more. Shell-o-Gram. In December 1988 scallopersbegan to find . Shell Vava'u, Tonga. Seven day luxury tour Hosted by Biologists have been collecting production Tom Rice and Charles Cardin Limited space. Don't wait large numbersof dead scallopsin their catches. Call or write for information. and reproductive data on the calico scallop since Within a month, mortality was close to 100per- the mid-1980s. Florida Sea Grant researchers cent. Examination showed that a parasitic Norman Blake and Kendall Carder are using re- Haplosporidianof unknown specieshad taken mote sensing techniques to predict scallop avail- over the digestivetract of the scallopsand virtu- ability for commercial harvest. Satellite imagery ally starvedthem to death. gives water temperature, chlorophyll content and Blake's researchwas cut short by high mor- other reproduction-linked information. tality on the Canaveralscallop beds in January, Overall, the research indicates a relationship 1989. Oliva rubrolabiata Fischer, 1902 is foW1d in both pale (center) and normal forms in Vanuatu. , By Mike Hart* experiences,as well as stunningscenery and the home of two sought-aftershells. The first, Oliva peopleof the remoteBanks and Torresislands. rubrolabiata H. Fischer,1902, is apparentlyen- When Ron van Prehn, skipper of the yacht The some eighty isles of Vanuatu ("Our demic to Vanuatu.The second,Cypraea catho- Bakaal, was shipwreckedoff Hui Island in the Land") are strung like a Y across the South licorum Schilder& Schilder,1938, has a slightly Torresgroup of Northern Vanuatuin 1983,shell Pacific between12 and 21 degreessouth and 166 wider WestPacific range. collecting was probably the last thing on his to 171degrees east - a stretchof 800 kilometers Oliva rubrolabiata is restrictedto the south- mind. But when, two years later, he nursedhis (500 miles). Port Vila, the capital, is on the ern Solomons,Vanuatu and nearbyNew Caledo- crippled yacht back to New Zealandby way of central island of Efate. Its nearest~eighborsare nia, accordingto Petuchand Sargent'sAtlas of the Torres,Banks and southernSolomon islands, Fiji 800 km to the east,the Solomon group the the Living Olive Shellsof the World (1986).Its he brought with him an extensiveknowledge of same distance to the northwest, and New size is relatively constant at about 40 mm. A local olive shells,as well as a considerablecol- Caledonia400 km to the southwest.The Torres typical dorsum is dark gray with reddish over- lection. A professionalphotographer, Ron was group, most northerly of the Vanuatuchain, is tonesand numerousblack spiral bands.The lip able to capture on film many of his unusual 100km from SantaCruz Island, southernmostof and the columellaare bright orange;the aperture interior is paler. *32 Oakland Avenue, Papatoetoe. Auckland, N.Z. the Solomons. The considerabledistance of the latter islands Petuchand Sargentdescribe a separatelight- from Port Vila and the fragmentedgeography er-color form with a higher spire than the type mean that the northernmostislands are visited and a paler pattern.In the shellsbrought back to infrequently exceptby copra boats,a few inter- New Zealandby Ron van Prehnwere intergrades island tradersand an occasionalyacht en route of dark and light forms, althoughthe paler spec- to or from the Solomons. imens were extremely uncommon.Appreciable Some of the the Banks Islandswere seenby differencesin spire heightsdid not appearto be the Quiros expedition in 1608. (There is uncer- relatedto colors. tainty as to how many islands Quiros and his Oliva rubrolabiata, with its limited rangeand companyactually saw.)Capt. James Cook's sur- obvious beauty,is much soughtafter by serious vey of the New Hebrides (today's Vanuatu) collectors,many of whom consider it to be the missedthem andthey werenot namedas a group rarest of the olives. Petuch and Sargent,how- until 1789 when Capt. William Bligh honored ever, regardedit as "relatively common in its CaptainCook's botanist,Sir JosephBanks. The range." In van Prehn's experience,the shell is largestislands are Gaua (Santa Maria) andVanua relatively common only in one very small area. Lava, both volcanic in origin. Other areas within its apparentrange had no The Torres Islands didn't get on the charts shells at all, he reported. until 1860 when Capt. J. Erskine, commanding Most specimenswere brought in by children HMS Havannah, named them for Quiros' sec- of the village of Vetu Boso on VanuaLava in the ond-in-command.Today, the ten larger and sev- Banksgroup. They free dived for them in five to eral small islandsof the Banksand Torres groups 10 metersof water from canoesoff their village. form a single administrativedistrict of Vanuatu. The fact that O. rubrolabiata are found only on If modem Vanuatu is notable for anything black volcanic sandfurther limits their distribu- beyond its recent political history, it is as the tion since most of the Torres islandsand many in the Banks group have white sand beaches. They are not found intertidally. The animals are active at night, presumably feeding. They remain at least partly buried in the sand by day. Van Prehn reports that O. tricolour Lamarck, 1811, O. vidua Roding, 1798, and O. cameola Gmelin, 1791 in all color forms were found. 1\'10 years is a long time to be stranded in the Torres Islands. During his stay van Prehn was able to visit many villages in northern Vanuatu and the southern Solomons, where shells play an important part in the local culture and traditions. Consequently, he had a good opportunity to note where species are found. The olivids are gener- ally widespread, he learned, but O. rubrolabiata was not evident in most areas. Nowhere in the southern Solomons did he come upon live spec- imens, seeming to confmn the theory that O. rubrolabiata exists only in scattered pockets within its supposed range. Shell divers of Vetu Boso Village on Vanua Lava island in the Banks group. Photos from Hart In summary, it seems reasonable to say that, although O. rubrolabiata occurs in reasonable numbers, it is confined to a few isolated islands Publication Notices: of central Melanesia. Its status as a Very Special Shell is justified. THE CHITONS OF PUERTO RICO (Los Quitones de Puerto Rico; Guia Para la Identificacion de Organismos Marinos Wanted: the very rare book Zoology of New de Puerto Rico) by Cedar I. Garcia Rios., York, by James E.de Kay, 1843-1844, Part V, University of Puerto Rico Sea Grant Pro- Mollusca, pp.217 and 40 hand-colored pI, and gram.UPR-El-33. 1988.46pages, in Span- Part VI Crustacea, 70 pp. and 13 hand-colored ish. Ten pages of black-and-white plates. Folio. In exchange, cone shells from the Caribbean. illustrations.Price not stated. For more information, write: Peter Reichert, Goetzbachweg 14,6920 Sinsheim, Germany. As the title reflects, Los Quitonesde Puerto Rico is about chitons (quitones in Spanish)of ****** the island Commonwealthof Puerto Rico. The Another new HMS member is Jose Ramon illustrations consist of two hand-drawn pages Gutierrez Sanchez of Malaga, Spain. He is inter- and eight pagesof photographs.The bibliogra- phy starts with R. Tucker Abbott's American ested in exchanging worldwide and Mediterra- Seashells (1954), and concludes with nean shells, whether common or rare. He has a G.T. Watters' article from The Nautilus 95(4) great many Mediterranean specimens, he adds. (1981).This little book could be quite useful for The full address is % Juan Cortes Cortes 2(7oF, identifying Caribbeanchitons. The glossaryof- 29010 Malaga, Spain. fers plain-language explanations of technical terms. Even those not fluent in Spanishcould benefit from this informative publication. Copiesmay be obtainedby calling or writing 1"1 SHELLETTERS Centrode EducacionMarina SeaGrant, Estacion , I .-, I~ VANUATU ~~~t:;J"--- 'T"' PostalCUR, RecintoUniversitario de Humacao, A1LANTA, GA Humacao,Puerto Rico 00661. Tel. (809) 850- , .~ I need help with my collection of Hawaiian 0710 '" 1 .~ -~.,Q.-~:;:1 Liz Kane t= I Cypraea and Conus! If any members could please write to me with lists or other information on these two families, I would be very apprecia- Copies of Schriften zur Malakozoologie, a WELCOME TO HAWAII relatively new shell publication that is still little tive. known outsideEurope, reached Hawaii recently. Overseas members of the Hawaiian DorranceLee Davis R.N., It is published by Haus der Natur - Cismar MalacologicalSociety who plan to visit Hawaii 145 15th St. #824 (MalakologischesMuseum) of Gromitz-Clamar, are encouragedto inform the Corresponding Atlanta, GA 30361 Germanywith Dr. Vollrath Weisein charge. Secretaryof the Society in advance.Meetings Note: The most completelist is in Hawaiian IssueNo.5 includespapers dealing with a new are on the first Wednesday of each month. speciesof Helicidae from the CanaryIslands, a Marine Shells, Reef and Shore Fauna of Ha- numberof Cypraearevisions proposed by Felix Visitors are welcome.The Societyoffice is open waii Section 4: Mollusca (1979), by E. Alison Lorenz(see "Cowries: The Old, the New, andthe irregularly and has no telephone,so that last- Kay. Bishop Museum Press,Honolulu. A more Synonyms," HSN October 1992, p.3), and minute contact usually requires reaching in- recentand somewhathandier volume for the be- studiesof fossil molluscs.There is a useful list dividual members at home. The Waikiki ginner is Shells of Hawai'i, by E. Alison Kay of new books,mostly publishedin Europe,deal- ing with malacology. Aquarium and the Malacology Departmentof and Olive Schoenberg-Dole(1991). University The address is Hinter dem Kloster 42, 0- W- the Bishop Museumcan furnish names. of Hawaii Press. 2433 Gromitz-Cismar. Germany. April, 1993 HAWAllAN SHELL NEWS Page7 WElL'S CONCHYLORUM Conus adamsonii in New Caledonia INSTRUCTORUM XII: Trading By Dartyl Potter* By Arthur Weil* BRISBANE - The QueenslandMuseum's Basically, there are three ways to acquire malacologydepartment specialises in land snails seashells:collect them yourself, buy them, and and bivalves. It is not noted for an extensive tradefor them.Other lessbasic ways areinherit- collection of marine gastropods.It does, how- ing them, stealingthem, making a list for Santa ever, contain the occasionalrare shell. As luck Claus, and raising them in your own aquarium. would have it, there is one specimenof Conus This time we'll talk about trades. adamsonii Broderip, 1836(see HSN December 1991and August 1992).Interestingly, it falls just Trading probably has more pitfalls than outsidethe distribution and normal sizerange as buying. Peopletend to over-estimatethe value of quotedby Mike Hart (1992). what they offer and underestimatewhat YOU Unfortunately,I had missedHart's earlier ar- have. ticle which, he had hoped,would stimulatecom- I never ttade. What I do is, I give and I get. ment from collectors and malacologistson the When you try to matchvalues closely, no one distribution, size, shape,etc. of this handsome is everhappy. And a badtrade is not worth losing but relatively rare species. The Queensland Museum specimen came a friend over.If you're the kind who decidesthat originally from the Baker collectionvia the Col- you are sendingout $30 worth of shellsand you liver collection. The locality, New Caledonia,is darned well want not a penny less than that in recordedin Baker's original catalogue.The lilac- exchange,don't do it. patternedshell is 48 mm in height, which may Just give and get. be unusual for specimens from the western Collect a conservative supply of local Pacific. According to Hart (1992), most whatevers. I live 700 miles from the nearest specimensare between 30 and45 mm exceptfor beach.But nearby streamshave somebeautiful those from the Marquesaswhich tend to range Queensland Museum specimen of (:onus adamsonii bivalves found nowhereelse. They are not rare from 42 to 51 mm. from New Caledonia. Estival (1981) does not record C. adamsonii shells,but peoplein Australiaor Hawaii can't get from New Caledonia.Walls (1978) previously them. Dealersgenerally don't list them. So I use said it was "definitely recorded"from the Great them to tradefor whateverthey havein Australia treasure. Everyone goes home happy. If you Barrier Reef and "also extending" to New or Hawaii. I haven't the slightest idea of their trade through the mail, either know who you're Caledonia.The Barrier Reef record is termed value. trading with or approachthe trade with the idea doubtful by Marsh and Rippingdale(1974). There seemsto be little reason,however, to Any place you live has local mollusks. Some that evenif you get nothing, you could afford the doubt its occurrencein New Caledonia.This is are on trees,some in streams,some on beaches. loss. Funny thing is: when people trade, they What is commonto you may be rarefor someone a small range extension,considering that it is usually want to make sure the trading partneris recordedfrom the Society,Tuamotu, Marquesas, else. happy. Most of us value our reputationshigher Tubuai, Cook and Solomon Islands and My field is Epitoniidae (wentlettaps).Of the than the trade. We tend to slip in something American Samoa.These islands represent a vast known species,I have a pretty good assortment. extra. We want peopleto like us. The occasional region of the central and westernPacific and the Someare rare. But of the onesI don't have,some bad buy gets known and spokenabout. speciesis rarely found in any case. are common in their own area,so commonthat Just to give you an idea of how dealing and *Queensland Museum, Brisbane, Australia. dealers won't bother with them. I still need tradingget interspersed,a few yearsago I bought someoneto go to the beach,pick up a few, and a group of mixed shells from the Philippines. References send them in exchange for my bivalves, my Among them was a map cowry with somereally autographedpicture, or my wife. Estival, J.C. (1981). Cone Shells of New Caledonia and strangemarkings on it. I took it to a shell show Vanuatu. Societe Nouvelle des Editions du Pacifique; If you're going to ttade one specific shell for and showedit to Donald Dan, who knows shells Papeete,Tahiti. anotherspecific shell, throw the price list out the Hart, M. (1992)."Further notes on Conusadamsonii Broderip, and has a reputation Abe Lincoln would have 1836." Hawaiian Shell News; Vol. XL, No.8; Honolulu. window. Otherwise,you're just going to brood admired. He said the magic words: "Wanna Marsh, J.A. & Rippingdale,D.H. (1974). Cone Shells of the about who got the best of the trade. A shell's trade?" I got a Conus dusaveli for the cowry. I World. JacarandaPress; Brisbane. value is really not a number but what it means Walls, J.G. (1978). Cone shells: a synopsis of the living was happy.Dan had a customerfor my shell so Conidae. T.F.H. Publications:New Jersey,U.S.A. to you. he was happy. I'm still happy. That's a good If you're in a club, one thing you can do is trade. This is the logo of the have a trade night. Everyone brings his extras In its way, trading shells is like trading QueenslandMuseum and things he'd like to get rid of. Rememberthe baseballcards: three Sparky Andersonsfor one that shouldhave run on traders'maxim: one man'sjunk is anotherman's JohnnyBench. Try to tell the otherguy what you Page2 of the March issue. *5662 Delhi Pike, Cincinnati, OR 45238 haveand what you "might" be in the marketfor. Sorry! Human error. Get him to make the offer. BACK ISSUESOF HSN On anotherlevel, shells get to be part of the The Hawaiian Malacological Society stocks family. With some you would just hate to part. HSN back issues from 1960. Some, however, are in xerographic form. For information on avail- In my case,my will clearly divides my money ability and charges, write HMS, Attn: Back Issue andproperty - with one exception.I've decided Manager, P.O. Box 22130, Honolulu, HI 96823- to take my shell collection with me. Given eter- 2130, or University Microfilms International, 300 nity, I might just completemy Eps and the book North Zeeb Road, Ann ArbOr, MI 48106-1346. llOOllt them LAW SOUGHT TO CURB PALEONTOLOGY All collecting of fossils on public landsin the United Stateswould be illegal undera bill intro- duced in the Senate last year by Sen. Max Baucusof Montana.Senate Bill 1307awaits ac- tion by the Senatebefore being transmitted to the Houseof Representatives. "Public lands" includethe National Park Sys- tem (more than 80 million acres), national forests, defense installations, seashoresand many rivers. Such a law would "create an intolerable restrictionon fossil collecting, affectingthose of us here in Hawaii who study fossil specimens along with our marine shells," points out HMS memberJohn Jacobs."The presentwording of the Baucus bill does not differentiate between bonafide scientific studyand casual gathering of fossils." The attemptto "protect" fossils apparentlyis a result of discoveryon an Indian reservationin --- ,- Montana of an almost complete skeletonof an ;",,"", c'"' C Photo: Keith Coburn extinct Tyrannosaurusrex, for which the owner

C 1 ..I; 1 . I ' h h ... h S 1 S Za b . he h .., , of the ranch was paid $5,000. It subsequently 0 O'JU vmtas me t e s ore OJ t e u u ea at m oanga, m t sout ern Phlllppmes, WIth f ' d b 'h . h ' ." . ." .1 1 nd h 11 d ' h iff bl was con Iscate y Ie" dera I mars ha Is. Now . elr c aractenstlc awnIng-strIpe sal s, seer u an outrigger, t ese cra s are a e to run ., . . awayfrom an ordinary power boat in a steadywind, severalgroups claIm ownershIp,amId estimates Vinta crewswithout equipmentcollect all mannerof marine life from depthsdown to a hundred that the prize is worth up to $20 million. feet or more,In slightly larger craft, they can handle tangle nets and other deeper-watergear. "Too many Americansconfuse paleontology Shellwholesalers from Manila and Cebutake most of the valuableshells brought into Zamboanga, with archeology," commentsthe newsletter of but the vima skipperusually keepsa small stockon hand in casea visitor askswhat he ca/4ghttoday. the PaleontologicalResearch Institute at Ithaca, Thephoto is from a hotel window. NY. "Education of the public about the dif- ferencebetween fossils and artifactsis a must."

G~!1~e C(??kZ;1JtO~%et~(tj~ 0/~ Off/~::}l~I by T .C. Lan The most beautiful shell book ever published!! * U.S.A.,Canada & Europeancountries: $195 per copy sentby registered air-surfacemail. (Orderwith paymentonly.) * SouthAmerican, African & Asian countries:$185 plus actualregistered air mail postage.(Please ask before sending payment.) ** Order from: T.C.Lan, P.O.Box 34-35,Taipei, Taiwan FAX: 886-2-7510680 April, 1993 HAWAllAN SHELL NEWS Page9 Speaking of Books

THE CLASSIC SHELLS OF THE geous, with lavish color, a good selection of Distribution of World Seashellsof Rarity WORLD. Written and published by T.C. beautiful specimensand a minimum of technical and Beauty is handled by TakashellCo. Inc., data, all on large-format (11'/2 by 13 inch) P.O. Box 14, Kashiwara, Osaka 582, Japan. Lan. Taipei. 1993. 224 pp. More than 200 pages.The subjectscome from the collectionsof Someshell clubs may enjoy discounts. color plates,index by families, 8 pp of com- Lan himself and about a dozennotable "beauti- The color reproductionand binding of both ful shell" people around the world whom he the above volumes are excellent. They can be mentson shells illustrated. acknowledgesin his foreword. displayedwith pride. T.C. Lan is a frequent visitor to the United S.L. Until about 250 years ago, when Linneaus States,Australia, SoutheastAsia and Japan.He began systematizing species, shells were was in Honolulu last year to participate in the THE EDGE OF THE FOSSIL SEA, by cherishedfor their beauty.Scientific interesthas Hawaiian Malacological Society's semicenten- Dr. EdwardJ. Petuch.1992. Sanibel Island, increasedthrough the years, however, and in nial shell show and auction. At that time he recentdecades this hasmade collecting beautiful spoke enthusiastically(and with completejus- FL: Bailey-MatthewsShell Museum.80 pp. shells somehowindecent. tice, as the finished product shows) about his incl. foreword, index, bibliography,lists of The bestevidence of this shift of view perhaps soon-to-appearbook. It is a volume you can shells by area, numerous black & white has been the paucity of new books showing show skeptical friends when they ask why you illus. $12.95. seashellsas things of beauty. Where were the collect shells. successorsto The Shell: Five Hundred Million The review copy containedno indication of Many readers will feel that the author's Years of Inspired Design, by Hugh and Mar- price or where to order copies. guerite Stix and Tucker Abbott (1968), for ex- artwork is the highlight of Dr. Ed Petuch'sex- The currentrevival of "beautiful-shell"books tendedessay on the history of the fossil pits long ample? The field has been dominated by seemsto have been inspired - or at least an- exploited by Florida landowners,builders and monographson molluscanfamilies or shellsof a ticipated - by the revised and enlargededition shell collectors. Petuch'srepresentations of the certainregion (often well illustrated,granted, but of World Seashellsof Rarity and Beauty that once-living molluscs and other marine life of far from beautiful). appearedlate in 1991(see Walter Sage'sreview, southernFlorida's middle Pleistocenereefs and The drought appearsto have beenbroken by HSN Feb. 1993,p.8). Basedon the famouscol- shallow seasare excellent.Petuch obviously is the recent releaseof two coffee-tablevolumes. lection of RyosukeKawamura of Japan,it, too, well acquaintedwith the period into which he is The first, The Classic Shells of the World by is a dazzlingdisplay, with perhapsa greaterem- generouslyintroducing us. dealerT.C. Lan of Taiwan, is unabashedlygor- This enlightening book reveals Pleistocene phasison rarity than in the Lan work. Florida as having been a living, vibrant place, About a decade ago Ryosuke Kawamura fuller of now-extinctmolluscs than we caneasily donatedhis fabulous private collection (at that imagine today.Most of it is now buried beneath time, the largestand finest in Japan)to the Na- concreteand asphalt, but fossilsremain available tional ScienceMuseum in Tokyo. Subsequently, to resourcefulscientists and shell collectors.Ob- the museumand the Malacological Society of viously, Petuchqualifies for both designations. Publication of this attractive soft-cover Japan cosponsoredan exhibition in 1983 that volume- the Bailey-MatthewsShell Museum's attracted the late emperor, himself a marine second- was supportedby a grant from Albert biologist and a shell collector. The first edition and Mary Bridell of Sanibel.Copies are avail- of World Seashellswas publishedat that time. able from the Shell Museumpostage free. At age 95, Kawamura continues (at last reports)to add shellsto makehis donatedcollec- tion "more comprehensive."His enthusiasmin- SIPUT DAN KERANG INDONESIA spired three of Japan's most respected (Indonesian Shells), by Bunjamin Dharma. malacologists, Dr. Akihiko Matsukuma, Dr. Takashi Okutani and Dr. TadashigeHabe, to 1988. Jakarta. PT. Sarana Graha. 111 pages, revise and enlargethe first edition. 35 full-page color plates. In their foreword to the new edition, the three scientistsoffer a thought for all who enjoy the Although written in Indonesian,this book is beautyof even commonshells: not as dauntingas the title suggests.The text - chapter titles include "Klassifikasi" and "Shells have attracted interest and ad- "Biologi" - takesup only the first 30 pages.It miration from olden times becauseof their is illustrated with reasonablyself-explanatory color and elaborate shape and sculpture. chartsand drawings. The color platesthat fill the Books illustrating beautiful shells and of- rest of the book are lovely, and the shells are fering scientific identifications have been identified by their Latin names.Descriptions are in English as well as Indonesian.The photo- publishedin both the West and the Orient graphsalone make this book worth perusing. for the past century. . . But some species Available from n. Tawakal VI/12 A, Jakarta that once were rare have becomecommon 11440,Indonesia. Phone 593435. today.Collecting has beenintensified even Liz Kane into remotelands and to greatdepths. And, at the same time, many once common species are becoming rare because of habitatdestruction, whether by naturaldis- asteror by humanpollution. Thereforethis volume focuses on the beauty of shells, ratherthan on rarity or commonness." AFLOAT AND ASHORE SHELLS FOR SALE IN THE MARQUESAS

HMS vice presidentand program committee Shell Drawings by MATHILDE DUFFY chair Betsy HarrisonGagne scheduled herself as . Accuratedrawings of rareand common speakerat the Society'sFebruary meeting to give worldwideshells (color or blackand white) a substantial turnout of members a vicarious .Single shell/many views/groupings cruise through the Marquesas Islands in the .Abstract shell patterns and designs SouthPacific. .Commissions drawn .Logo designs/cards/suggestions The Marquesas,an isolated group of mostly .Send for informationand r~sum~ "high" islands at the northeasternextremity of " I 107Poplar Street, Watertown, MA02172 USA French Polynesia,have flora, fauna and human L' ,," "'" (617)926-9106 problems that soundedfamiliar to the visitors from Hawaii. In fact, archeologistsconjecture that Hawaii originally was settled by voyagers from the Marquesassome 1,500years ago. The waters around the Marquesasare cooler WORLD'S MOST BEAUTIFUL TREE SNAIL: than Hawaii's and consequentlyhave never sup- FLORIDA LIGUUS portedfringing coral reefs,Betsy explained.The Write me for a free price list. ARCHIE L. JONES sea floor drops quickly. Of volcanic origin, the 8025 S. W. 62 Court mountainsare cut by deep, steepvalleys where UNDERWATER IN RUSSIA Miami, Florida 33143 USA her party found ohia-lehua treeswith character- istic red flowers and lobelias dangling precari- An unexpected but welcome guest at the ously from cliff faces,reminiscent of the Koolau March meeting of the Society was Valeri B. House of Quality and Service -' M. The very best shells, Rangebehind Honolulu. Darkin, a marine biologist and scuba diving in- sttuctor from Vladivostock in the Russian Far at the very best prices The islandsof Nuku-Hiva (site of the princi- East. His American itinerary includes several WRITE FOR FREE PRICE LIST pal airport), Eiao and Fatu-Hiva are plaguedby u.S. coastal communities. feral sheep ("wooly maggots," Betsy termed 1575 NORTH 118th STREET In response to members' questions, he told of WAUWATOSA, WI 53226 U.S.A. them). The islands,however, still supportmany his (and his associates') efforts to conduct a life- endemicplants, insectsand land snails that are aboard dive boat-charter service in Peter the being severely impacted by introduced plants Great Bay, off the Sea of Japan. The operators suchas pine treesand Lucaena, along with goats, appear to be independent of the Russian govern- horses,sheep and pigs disturbing the vegetation ment. cover. In a cruise out of Vladivostok lasting five to The dichotomy of Eiao Island and Hatutaa, 12 days, Darkin explained, at least 20 mostly barely visible on the horizon, is stark, com- steep-sided offshore islands and three wrecks are mentedBetsy. On Eiao, sheephave grazedthe within reach, plus "wall diving" to 130 feet. land bareto the red soil. When it rains"the island Water temperatures in summer range from 60 to bleeds," she said. But foreign herbivoreshave 70 degrees Fahrenheit (15 to 20 C), and there is never been introducedto Hatutaa.The island is little tidal current. greenwith nativevegetation. Booby birds and an His organization operates two dive boats. The endemicground-nesting dove nest safely. larger is a 96-foot former ocean-going rescue craft, custom rerigged for diving and with ac- Additional travel included visits to Ua-Pou, commodation for up to 12 persons. Photos with its high spires,her favorite, andto Hiva-Oa, shown by Darkin of dive boats and underwater the burial place of artist Paul Gauguin. life were very impressive. The Marquesascruise was no vacationjaunt, SL saidBetsy in her openingremarks. It wasa plant- and-insect-collectingexpedition for the Bernice P. Bishop Museum of Honolulu, assistedby a PERSONALAD generousyacht owner-skipper,Ed Carnsof Ho- nolulu. Several Hawaii scientists volunteered Use USN Personal Ads for non-commercial their services,along with French workers from transactions. The charge is three dollars for 25 the Fatu Hiva Biological Expedition,which was words, plus name and address. One time only! in the field at the sametime. Dealers, please use display ads. Ask for a rate card. And the shells?Plant and insect collecting left little time for them,she said. She did manageone ****** oceandip to find a Chicoreussteeriae, Cypraea CYPRAEA FULTON] for sale. 73 mm. Gem cassis Tufa and a Lambis crocata pilsbryi (a condition, outstanding colour. See USN April giant endemicform). And shetrod a Nuku-Hiva 1992. Colour photos available. First offer of U.S. beachcomposed almost entirely of cerithiidsand $3,000 o.n.o. secures this magnificent shell. tiny Heliacus variengatus. Elizabeth Kinloch, 16, Scottish Firs, Foanhope, Dwayne Minton Hereford HR1 4NW, England. April, 1993 HAWAllAN SHELL NEWS Page 11

Taxonomic Acrobatics (Cont'd from Page 1) progressivelydarkening almost to black towards the tip." However, soon after, I was able to obtain a copy of Kohn's (1978)The Conidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda) of India and also had an oppor- tunity to examinethe holotype of C. hyaena, in the Museum d'Histoire Natural, Geneva.This led to further in-depth research,detailed in a 1985paper, which provided irrefutableevidence that: (a) C. hyaena doesnot occur in India and the speciesmistaken for it is C. mutabilis Reeve, 1844; (b) the holotype of C. halli matchesthat of C. hyaena so closely, the Java population should be correctly changedto that of being the original hyaena; halli to become a synonym west Pacific treated by Walls (1979) is a still thereof. The conclusion that mutabilis cannot unrecognizednew species. possibly be hyaena is substantiatedby its much Or, so it seemed! wider shoulders and noticeably constricting A few weeksago, Gabriella Raybaudi sent me body-whorl towardsits basalend; its consistent a copy of Acta Conchyliorum # 3,1992, which brown patternof longitudinal flammuleswithout carried an article, co-authoredby Rockel and any of the many variationsseen in C. halli (now Korn, proclaiming that "discovery of the C. hyaena), and the different animal in life, specimenon which the original illustration in described by Kohn as: "sole of foot grayish C.I. pt 54, f 59 [fig 2 herein] had most probably brown, streakedwith dark gray; sides of foot beenbased (Kohn, pers.comm., ! 991) suggested also grayish brown, but more brown than [the] a revision of the hypothesis.. ," that C. concolor sole. Dorsum of siphon black distally, lighter is a distinct species (or a color form of C. proximally; sides black at tip, gray proximally. hyaena).The authorsthen declaredthat the new Tentaclesopaque white with gray dorsalstreak." statusshould henceforth be Conus hyaena con- color SowerbyI, 1841! She suggestedthat if I agreedwith her views, Fig 6. Outlinesof Conus mutabilis, C. hyaena and C. concolor I write an article to expressspecifically her main concernthat the revision of a taxo:n,which she Since all of their argumentsrest on the char- considersa nomendubium, should not havebeen acter-comparisonof three completely separate completed and published in such a hasty and populations, we reproduce the data they fur- irregular mannerand the Rockel & Kom should nishedfor the readersreview (table 1). not have designateda different lectotype(fig 5) Missing was any comparisonon colorationof without providing any relevantdata of its actual the shell or of the animals in life which Kohn source,except to mention that it was still "in and I gavepreviously. In any event,after perusal preparationby Kohn," and, additionally, that it of the data, what will appear to be most even differs in shapeand size from the original astonishingto the readeris that all threepopula- lectotypefigure! tions, with the first two claimed to be totally Literature Cited conspecific,actually have nothing in common! Fig 5. Lectotype of Conus unicolor Sowerby I, 1841 Coomans,et at. Basteria vol 49(6). Most surprisingof all is that the morphometric according to Rockel & Kom (1992). da Motta, 1983.Publicacoes Ocassionais da SociedadePor- measurements,the prime purposeof which is to tuguesa da Malacologia, No.2. As the position stood at this point, one was da Motta, 1985.Publicacoes Ocassionais da SociedadePor- prove positive similarity becauseof conspecific tuguesa da Malacologia, No.5. relationship,are all unmatchable!Perhaps a con- surely entitled to considerthat: (a) there are es- Kiener, 1845.Coquille Vivant tablished differencesbetween the two popula- Kohn, 1978.The Conidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda) of India. figuration of the three populations(table 2) will ROCkel& Kom, 1992.Acta Conchylorium No.3 show why the numbersare irreconcilable. tions and the one in India is indubitably Conus SowerbyI, 1833.Conchologicallllustrations pts 28 & 54. mutabilis; the other in Java,C. hyaena; (b) the SowerbyII, 1866.Thesaurus Conchylorium, vol 3. Lately, there has been a spate of published Tomlin, 1937.Catalogue of Recent and Fossil Cones articlesserving no purposeother than to demote two aredistinct and separatespecies, congeneric Walls, 1979.Cone Shells - A Synopsisof the Living Con- but not conspecific,and (c) the populationin the idae the statusof alreadyestablished valid speciesto subspecificlevel. The biological significanceof such taxonomic revisions was not explained. Therefore,in addition to G. Raybaudi'sprotest, one well may ask: if distinct zoogeographical populations which are allopatric, with clearly visible differencesin shell shape,shell pattern, its maximum population shell size, animal coloration in life, radula, operculumand lastly, but not the least, morphometry, can still be regarded as conspecific, then what indeed is there left to qualify a distinct species? By Dwayne Minton

Honolulu's Waikiki Aquarium, third oldest in the United States, is undergoing a $3.3 million renovation that will make it an "aquarium for the twenty-first century," according to Dr. Bruce Carlson, its Director and a Counselor of the Hawaiian Malacological Society. He discussed the ongoing changes and future plans for the Aquarium at the March HMS meeting. The Waikiki Aquarium has been a world leader in study of the nautilus. It was among the first to secure and exhibit live specimens, and startled the experts when it successfully hatched nautilus eggs borne by captive animals. Since then the genus has become something of a specialty at the Aquarium. That work will con- tinue, Carlson assured HMS members. The Society and the Waikiki Aquarium have strong ties. For nearly two decades prior to 1972 the Society met monthly at the Aquarium, until attendance outgrew the space available. For many years the Aquarium was the HMS official address and its Director long has been associated with the Society. Money for the current reconstruction comes from a 1988 appropriation by the Hawaii State Legislature and from private fund-raising efforts Tom Kelly photo courtesy Waikiki Aquarium by the Aquarium itself and its friends. Demolitionof the Waikiki Aquarium's old shark tank has been completed; the new "Hunters of the Reef' display The interior of the main aquarium building taking its place will be four times larger, The photo looks out from what used to be the behind-the-scene staff work area, Construction of the new exhibit will be under way by mid-April, has been gutted. The four public galleries await

new carpeting, aquarium facades, and modem said. "It is important to know the world that you I'M GLAD YOU ASKED THAT

interactive labels. Gallery One is focused on live in and its animals." marine communities of the South Pacific be- As one important step in fulfilling the educa- I notice Hawaiian Shell News frequently cause, explained Carlson, "that's where our tion mission, state-of-the-art audio-video equip- uses the spellin~ mollu,sc, but a~ other times it's

h b ' 11 d . h S v .. mollusk. What tS the difference. O.S.

Hawaiian fauna came from." Staghom corals are ment as een m~ta,e m t e e~ tStO~S Essentially, the choice between mollusc and

being cultivated for life in a "typical South Theater. The AquarIum s volunteer guIde staff IS mollusk is a matter of taste or personal prefer-

Pacific reef." being expanded. The latter for several years have ence. Most dictionaries are equivocal on the

Gallery Two will showcase Hawaiian reef and been supervising the Edge of the Reef exhibit s~lling. On the H~N edit.or:s desk, ~eb.s;ter's shore communities as a comparison with the where reef organisms can be examined close- Nmth New CollegIate. DIctionary lIsts mol- South Pacific habitat in Gallery One. lusk or mollusc." In ItS Explanatory Notes, and even handled. Webster says that when the main entry is fol-

The diversity of marine life is to be displayed "We will continue to fund the Blue Water lowed by the word or, then another spelling, the in Gallery ~ee. It will feature sea creatures Marine Program [of the Hawaii school system] two spellings are equal variants; "Both are stan- with specialized adaptations such as sea horses, for high school students " Carlson emphasizes dard, and either may be used according to per-

" ' " ' sonal preference." The Random House Dic-

angler fishes and harlequin shrimps. Another as well as our popular MahImahI (dorado, or tionary of the English Language similarly lists

feature is a new 40,OOO-gallonshark tank, featur- dolphin fish) 'nursery'. And, hopefully, we will mollusk first, then "also mollusc." a "common

ing Hawaiian species. produce more award-winning educational films variant spelling."

Outside, the Hawaiian monk seal pool is for BBC, PBS and NGS Explorer. On the other hand, the Manu~l ?f Style p~- being extensively renovated, with new coconut "When will the renovation be completed? pared,by the U.S. ~overnment Pnntmg ~ffice m

WashIngton, D.C. lIsts mollusk only. ThIS means trees and rocks on its border. For visitors, an "The contracts call for the last workmen to be that all U.S. Government docuements - and underwater window is in the plans. Regrettably, out of here by the end of July 1993. A few weeks anything dependent on government money - Carlson admitted, some 90-year-old palms had after that, look for completely new, first-class will be spelled with a k - and no arguments,

xh . b ' . th ' ' d . I d d please. e I ItS WI more InteractIve ISp ays an a - to be sacrificed. They are being replaced by H W F I ' D . t .

. . . . ower s IC Ionary 0 f M 0 d ern E ng- younger- and safer- trees. Nearby, a small vanced technology to help VISItOrs to see and lish Usage second edition has no reference to garden of native Hawaiian plants already is learn." mollusc/mollusk. Follett's Modern American prospering. Usage is equally silent. Despite the extensive physical changes, the If you would like to help by becoming an Hawaiian. Shel~ News, how~ver, has an iron-

Exhibit S p onsor cont t Dr B C I clad rule,for I~S wnters; use wh~chever form you

Aquarium will not change its mission, Carlson . . , . ' ac . ruce ar son, prefer. EIther IS acceptable, subject to the unpre- assured the Society. WaIklkI AquarIum, Honolulu, HI 96815 or dictable whims of the editor. He prefers mollusc

"Education is still our primary purpose," he phone (808) 923-9741 for details. himself. S.L.