AN EDUCATIONAL PUBLICATION OF THE HAWAIIAN MALACOLOGICAL SOCIETY Special A warcl Votecl For Shell Show Display by PHIL CLOVER The Board of Directors of the Hawaiian "I'm going to visit Japan next year," a friend Malacological Society voted a Special HMS said during my recent visit to Honolulu for the Award for Scientific Excellence to Chris Grace HMS Shell Show. "Where are some good places of Honolulu for his entry in the 1975 Shell to himt for shells?" Show. The trophy was in lieu of the Smithsonian Relatively few non-Japanese shellers have Institution Award, which was not given this had an opportunity to cover Japan well. Thanks to the U.S. Navy, my family and I spent four year. Chris' display, a well-thought-out demonstra- years at a communications base near Tokyo, tion of distortions, melanism and genetic from where we explored many of the beaches changes in cowries, was singled out by the and bays of Eastern Japan, and travelled from' judges for its excellence. It was not eligible for bleak Hokkaido on the north to semitropical the Smithsonian Award, however, since its pri- Okinawa far to the southwest. mary theme was not Hawaiian molluska. Shells were a passport to many Japanese It was a worldwide entry and not a Hawaiian, homes. I met many collectors, exchanged speci- as the precepts require. mens and opinions with them, and even assisted "There is no question that Chris made the one in publication of a book on worldwide single most significant contribution to the Shell shells. So I didn't hesitate to put down my ideas Show," HMS president Olive Schoenberg told of good shelling places in Japan. the board. "This was evident from the public re- (I told my friend, and I repeat it, that my ex- action to his display, as well as the judges' vote." perience was in the early 1960s. Some things In addition to the results listed in HSN last will be different now, of course. But I suspect This shop at Enoshima offered worldwide and month, the Virginia Dennis Prize - a shell that the places that were productive ten or fif- Japanese shells. painting - was awarded to George and Diane teen years ago still have desirable shells if you Donner of Maui for their display of crabbed have time and facilities for hunting them. Read coast, however - Hachinohe, Miyako, Kesen- shells brought up in traps from deep water off Charles Cardin's report on page 11.) numa and Shiogama, for example. I never had Windward Oahu. First off, I would say that the beaches north an opportunity to do that, but suspect that there In the adult novice class, Steve Carr of Hono- of Tokyo are generally a waste of time unless would be some interesting finds in the bustling lulu received a first-place ribbon. you seek cold-water species. Hokkaido weather fish markets. is Siberian most of the year. Some rare cold- As you approach the entrance of Tokyo Bay, water Fulgoraria kaneko, F. elongatus and F. the sea becomes warmer, and shells from the Welcome to 1976 smithi are trawled, however, as well as many Indo-Pacific provinces begin to appear. Tokyo species of the Buccinidae. Bay is guarded by the Boso peninsula {Chiba Officers of the Hawaiian Malacological The northern end of Honshu, Japan's "Main Prefecture I on the east and the Miura penin- Society, and particularly the staff of Hawaiian island," is much the same. It might be worth sula {Yokosuka) on the west. The bay itself is Shell News, extend best wishes for the holiday while to visit some of the fishing ports along the dead from pollution, but it was once productive. season to all 1,480 members. Postal service The very rare Perotrochus beyrichii Hilgen- being what it is, the seasonmay be Easter by the dorf, 1877 was found there. time this arrives, but we are thinking of you! Miura peninsula, lying between Tokyo and This is the last issue of Hawaiian Shell News Sagami bays, is fringed with many good reefs. of the 1975 membership year. The January More than twenty species of Cypraea have been 1976 issue will be mailed only to those whose found there, including C. artufelli Jousseaume, renewals reach the HMS office by about Jan- f876 a subspecies of C. clandestina Linne, uary 5. Late renewals probably won't get their 1767. About ten species each of cones, Primo- January HSN until the February mailing. So if vula, Mitra and Murex are known. Dredging in you haven't already returned your membership Sagami bay off the Miura peninsula used to be renewal form, do it at once. very productive of rare shells, including, as I re- If in doubt about the amount of the 1976 call, Conus tuberculosa Tomlin, 1937. dues, look in the first column of page two. The shore at Atami was rocky but productive. ICont'd on Page 51 Page 2 HAWAIIAN SHELL NEWS December. 1975 ~a«.taitale Sleett 1te«A4- REEFCOMBINGS Editor Emeritus E. R. CROSS If all goes well, a detailed index of the con- founded in 1931 and "dedicated to the study of Editor STUART LlLLlCO the morphology, shells, systematics, ecology, life Associate Editor RUTH FAIR tents of Hawaiian Shell News for 1975 will be Science Advisor E. ALISON KAY distributed to all 1975 members soon after the histories, geographic distribution and many Science Consultant other aspects of the Phylum Mollusca" - is WALTER O. CERNOHORSKY first of the year. The "all" that must go well is Editorial Staff! the sale of enough advertising in the index to looking for new members. It's a great and useful Elmer G. Leehman, Lyman Higa, Beatrice Burch, Charles Wolfe cover the basic cost. organization, and HSN is quick to support the Corresponding Editors: The 1974 Index was successful within limits. drive. Many HMS members already belong to Dr. J. C. Astary, A. G. Hamlyn-Harris, Fr. AI Lopez S.J., Rick Luther, William E. About 300 copies were sold for one dollar each. AMU, of course. Others who take their hobby Old Jr., Peter van Pel, Thora Whitehead HMS Director George Cummings, who did the seriously would be wise to sign up. Annual dues HAWAIIAN MALACOLOGICAL SOCIETY work last year, is preparing the 1975 index. If are seven dollars in the Western Hemisphere, (Founded in 1941) P. O. Box 10391 Honolulu, Hawaii 96816 mechanical and financial hurdles can be $8.50 elsewhere, plus an entrance fee of $1.50 The Society meets the first Wednesday of cleared, the Society hopes to issue a cumulative in either case. each month at the First United Methodist index for 1970-1971-1972-1973. More on that Make your check payable to the American Church, 1020 S. Beretania St., Honolulu at Malacological Union, and mail it to Mrs. Hollis 7:30 p.m. later. VISITORS WELCOME! + + + Boone, Recording Secretary, 3706 Rice Boule- Hawaiian Shell News is issued free to mem- bers of the Society. Postage rates have been During a recentvisit to Hawaii to participate vard, Houston, Texas 77005. Or ask her for '" computed and added to membership dues. more information on the AMU. Single copies of any issue, $1.00, postage in the HMS Shell Show (where one of his shells included. Individual copies of any issue may received the worldwide Shell of the Show + + + be obtained, free of charge, by qualified individuals for bona fide research projects. ribbon I Lawrence Thomas of Morro Bay, Cali- During his state visit to the United States the HMS DUES FOR1976 fornia reported a discouraging development in Emperor of Japan, an accomplished scholar of U.S. addresses, including Hawaii, Alaska, Guam, American Samoa, South Africa. The owners of certain trawling marine biology and a renowned shell collector, APO, FPO and all others using paid a formal visit to the Smithsonian Insti- U.S. Zip Codes $12.00 vessels there, he said, have issued an absolute Airmail delivery to the above, prohibition against taking any shells from a tution '- Museum of Natural History in plus Canada and Mexico $15.00 Non-U.S. addresses trawl net. All must be dumped back into the Washingson, D.C., reports the National Capital As "printed matter" $13.50 ocean. A skipper or any member of a crew Shell Club Newsletter with ill-disguised pride. As "Ietter mail" (recommended) $16.00 Airmail delivery $20.00 caught trying to salvage shells or to sell them on Several NCSC members were involved in the Articles of interest to shell collectors are arrival in port is summarily fired. visit. solicited. "He met with Dr. Joseph Rosewater, Advertisements are accepted at the rate The reason is not conservation, as one might of US$15 per column-inch! issue. Discounts expect, but business efficiency. For several Curator, Division of Mollusks, and Dr. are offered for six and twelve insertions. Write to the Corresponding Secretary for years, sales of deep-water shells occasionally Frederick Bayer, Curator of Invertebrate Zoo- information. brought up in the trawl nets have been a logy at the Museum of Natural History," the cherished source of extra income for crew mem- Newsletter goes on. HMS November Meeting bers, as well as the only source of a number of "One attraction was the Mikadotrochus, An estimated eighty-five Hawaii members of rare species. According to Thomas, however, commonly known as the Emperor's slit shell. This deepwater specimen is found off Japan. He the Society, plus a handful of visitors from the ships and crews were spending more time look- was also shown some rare, delicate Neopilina Mainland, participated in the HMS annual gen- ing for shells than for shrimps and prawns - from the deepest trenches of the ocean, and eral meeting on November 5.