Has Its Charm
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VOL. XXXV NO.1 JANUARY. 1987 NEW SERIES 325 TREE SNAILERS! IT'S TIME TO UNITE Has Its Charm ByRON KNIGHT LORENGAU, MANUS ISLAND, PAPUA NEW By TWILA BRATCHER GUINEA - We amateur specialists in terrestrial Unspoiled Rowley Shoals lies in the easternmost molluscs are subject to some special handicaps. Not Indian Ocean, about 180 miles west of Broome, only are we scattered around the world and fre- Western Australia. The occasionalcharter boats that visit the area have been doing so only recently, and quently isolated in the much larger body of marine foreign fishing fleets are not permitted there. shell enthusiasts, but we suffer from a seeming shor- The only important scientific work on Rowley tage of literature. Many of us have nowhere to turn Shoalswas done by groups from the Western Aus- tralian Museum in Perth. for advice, assistance and comparative material. I was a participant in a recent privately organized Professionals interested in the pulmonates have trip to the Rowley Shoals. Lynn Funkhouser, the easier access to literature, of course, but they face group leader, is an accomplished professional a more subtle handicap. That is their wide separa- underwater photographer and president of the tion from the enthusiasts in the field who tradi- Chicago Shell Club. Others were JeanetteRidley, underwater photographer from Seattle; Philip and tionally supply the scientists with the specimens, Heidrun Faulconer, underwaterphotographers from data and puzzlers that are the feed stock of the San Diego, John and Mary Poble, underwater technical literature. All of us - scientists and photographersfrom Nebraska, my sister Billee Dil- amateurs, professionals and beginners - are the worth Brown, a docent at Scripps Aquarium in La McNally's Trophies Photo: Schoenberg Jolla, and myself. losers in this arrangement. It seems to me that it is time for the land-snail Day I. SYDNEY. The nonstop flight from Los people of the world to unite! Angeles to Sydney takes about 15'h hours. We spent two hours in the Sydney International Airport, Some basic questions need to be answered. Fo. mostly in clearing Customsand Immigration, before one, how many of us are seriously interested in the transferring to the domestic terminal for another pulmonates? How widely are we scattered? What two-and-a-half-hourflight to Perth. Dan McNally tells me he continuesto have good luck diving off the northeasterncomer of Oahu and problems have we in common, and where do our When I finished the arrival formalities in Perth, I along the North Shore. Among recent goodieswas a heard myself being paged. Dr. Fred Wells and Shir- interests diverge? Could we support a regular news- 5¥4-inch tiger cowry from 30 feet in the Kuilima- letter? How many of us plan - or already have ley Slack-Smith, heads of Perth's two shell groups Kahuku stretch of coast. The difficulty is in getting [both of whom work at the Western Australian there. Heavy surf makes shore dives impractical written - papers on the land snails? Are we in a Museum] had come to take me to my hotel, where I most of the year, and the nearestsmall-boat ramp is position to share literature? checkedin about noon. miles away. I would be willing to do the ground work in My sister Billee, a last-minute participant in our Another HMS member, George Stender, reports Rowley Shoals expedition, couldn't book on my finding a specimenof Mitra turgida Reeve under a setting up some sort of a mutual-interest group. flight. She left Los Angeles about an hour-and-a- coral head on rubble in only two feet of water at Being in such an isolated (although snail-rich) area, half ahead of me, but arrived at our hotel in Perth Fort KamehamehaReef, late in October. Although nearly II hours later. however, I would not be in a position to run an the species is known throughout the Indo-West organization after it is set up. Ideally, a group of Pacific from East Africa to Polynesia, it is ex- Day 2. PERTH. The free Red Clipper bus that tremely rare in Hawaii, where it is usually found in enthusiasts living in one community would serve as circles the Perth business district took us to the beach drift, according to Kay's Hawaiian Marine officers, but the club rules would have to be worked Western Australian Museum of Natural History, Shells. out by all interested in the project. where we met the staff and looked over the Terebra Stender also found what he describes as a collection. They gave us a list of the shells collected "giant" live Conus nussatella Linne on gravel in Any Hawaiian Malacological Society members (or on their own Rowley Shoals expedition. Many were eight feet of water on the same reef earlier in Oc- interested nonmembers) who wish to participate in new records for Western Australian shores. We plan tober. I don't have the actual measurement.The this effort are invited to write me at P. O. Box 108 to see if we can add any species. speciesis rather rare in Hawaii. Perhapsa dozen are Lorengau, Manus, Papua New Guinea. reportedin a year. Day 3: We visited the Art Museum and toured * * * Give me your ideas. In return, I will keep every- Perth. After lunch, a member of one of the shell one informed of developments. clubs arrived with a Cypraea marginata in exchange Not exactly a new find, two specimens of for shells we had taken to the club meeting last Mikadotrochus beyrichii (Hilgendolt) were collected I do ask each of you to enclose US$5 with your night. The rest of our group arrived in Perth just in last year in approximately 115 meters of water in letter, to help defray the inevitable cost of postage. SagamiBay, Japan.The pair were among more than Later, Dr. Wells drove us to a joint meeting of 13 live specimensobserved from the Japanesesub- Naturally, I will be fully accountable for its expen- the Western Australia Shell Club and the Mala- mersible Shinkai 2000 on a sandy bottom among diture. cological Society of Australia, Western Division. I rocks in a rapid current, says a report by Y. Kanie, showedour program on the Red Sea and Egypt and A. Sugiura and K. Egawa in Venus. Since M. * * * identified Terebra for someof the members. beyrichii is sensitiveto light, they concludethat it is Hawaiian Shell News will be happy to receive and pub- (Cont'd on Page 9) not a bathyal inhabitant as was previously believed. lish regular reportson this project. Page 2 HAW AllAN SHELL NEWS January, 1987 ~ a«I;aUaIeS Ieett ~4 ISSN 0017-8624 Veteran membersof the Hawaiian Malacological November (1986) AMU News. The work covers all Editor Emeritus E. R. CROSS published North American terrestrial and aquatic Editors STUARTLILLICO. Society were pleasantlysurprised by the recent news OR. TOM BURCH that a rare and costly volume, Banks' Florilegium, molluscs found out to a depth of 200 meters off- AssociateEditors ELMERLEEHMAN, OLIVE SCHOENBERG had been acquired by the University of Hawaii Li- shore. ScienceAdvisor OR. E. ALISONKAY brary as a memorial to JessicaRea, Society Presi- A grant from the Shell Oil Co. to the American Science Consultant W. O. CERNOHORSKY Editorial Staff LYMANHI GA. JIM ROHRBACH. dent in the early 1960s. By happy chance, it was Fisheries Society will cover publication costs. Both WALTERSAGE, OOROTHY WENOT the two millionth volume accessionedby the library. hardbound and softbound editions are expected to be Editorial Assistants GEORGECAMPBELL, BUNNIECOOK, OR. CARLCHRISTENSEN Mrs. Rea came to Hawaii in 1930 to teach at the available in a few months. Proceeds, after distribu- CorrespondingEditors MARGEBRADNER, DONALD DAN, School for the Deaf and Blind, and later in Hono- tion costs are met, are to be shared by the American FR. AL LOPEZS.J., HENKK MIENIS,PETER van PEL. lulu public schools. Possessinga great interest in Fisheries Society and the AMU. AURORARICHAROS. THORA WHITEHEAD Index Editor RAY McKINSEY Other sections of a national "common names" biology, she became active in botany and malacol- Back Issues Manager BUNNIECOOK ogy, and eventually was a trustee of Hawaii's Lyon list are being prepared by groups involved in de- HAWAIIAN MALACOLOGICAL SOCIETY Arboretum Association. Her son, Charles Pedric capod Crustacea, coelenterates, amphipods, brya- (Founded in 1941) Rea, who made the presentationof the book, is a zoans, echinoderms and aquatic insects. P.o Box 10391 Honolulu, Hawaii 96816 graduate of the University of Hawaii. He was re- Dr. Donna D. Turgeon, U.S. National Fisheries President WESLEYTHORSSON Vice President STUARTLILLICO sponsible for establishment of the Jessica Rea Service (F/MI2) Washington, D.C. 20235, has full Treasurer BARBARAKUEMPER Memorial Library Fund in the University of Hawaii information on the subject. RecordingSec'y RAYMcKINSEY Foundation,which bought the new work. Acting Corr. Sec'y .. DOROTHYWENDT Banks' FIorilegium consistsof 738 botanical en- Office Manager HELYNTOBEN Have You Ever Been Stung? gravings recording the plants collected by Joseph Directors Dr. Alan J. Kohn, professor of zoology at the Banks and Daniel Carl Solander on Captain James GEORGECOOK JIM ROHRBACH University of Washington in Seattle and former INGABORGSHIELOS Cook's first round-the-world voyage of exploration OLIVESCHOENBERG president of the American Malacological Union, is Honorary Directors from 1768 to mi. The actual engravings were widely recognized for his expertise in cones. In E. R. CROSS DONAlD DAN BRUCECARLSON made by Sydney Parkinson. The work is being pub- addition to his many other duties, he is compiling The Society currently meets the first Wednesday of each lished for the first time. Production started in 1980 month in Honolulu. information on Conus stings of people. The last list VISITORS WELCOME! and will be completedin 1988.