The 37th Murex

By JOHN EARLE Murex insularum (Pilsbry) is the largest of the 10 or more Murex species found in Hawaii. For years, uncharitableexperts have accusedit of being a mere subspeciesof M. to"e/actus Sowerby, but, in a cruel world where the list of our cherished Hawaiian endemicsseems to dwindle yearly, collec- tors can take comfort in the knowledge that mala- cologistsof the statureof Radwin, Rehder, D' Attilio and Kay all pronounce M. insularum a distinct species. Ironically, the name torre/actus itself may now suffer the ignominy of synonymy, which should serve as a warning to other molluscs that would build empiresat the expenseof Hawaiian endemics! Murex (Chicoreus) insularum may be found in two characteristic habitats: among beds of Pinna (penshells)in the sand, and along the top of under- Cypraea mus Linne, 1758have an extremely lim- limited to the distancethat the animal can crawl. water drop-offs. While these habitats certainly look ited geographicrange - the shallow, silt-laden wa- Shown above is a remarkablephoto of a C. mus dramatically dissimilar, from the Murex-eye view ters of the Caribbeanalong the north coast of South mother and her brood of babies. It is the first to be they have an overriding common denominator - America from the Gulf of Uraba to the vicinitY of published, as far as we know. food. Curacao, a spread of less than 300 miles. Cowry HMS member Eva Fox of LaBelle, Honda found Murex insularum prey on bivalves. Since Pinna experts suspectedthat the species lacked a veliger the family at Cabo de Villa, Colombia, in 1973. stagein its development,which would severelylimit The photo was taken by Rudy HaIbrachter. The beds have the biggest concentrationsof bivalves in shells figured were in 12 feet of silty water among Hawaii, it's logical for Murex to be presentthere - its mobilitY. The actual fact appears to be even more dramatic. Cypraea mus are direct developing weeds. Mrs. Fox addedthat many other shells were buried to their digitations in dinner. Similarly, clams - that is, the young are born with shells in place found on eggs which had been deposited on the and other filter feederstend to congregatealong the and ready to fend for themselves. Distribution is under surfaceof bivalve halves. top of subseacliffs where currents and upwellings bring them sustenance.Again, the wolves are not far from the sheep. Murex insularum have frankly boring feeding habits. They don't exactly hotly pursue or deftly What proffiises to be the definitive monograph on South Africa," said Burgessin announcingcomple- outwit an alert prey. Instead, they move at a pon- the world's cowries is ready to go to the printer. The tion of his editorial work. "Two well known HMS derouspace appropriateto capturing a sessileSpon- author is Dr. C. M. Burgess of Honolulu, whose members- Gordon Verhoef of Johannesburgand dylus, slowly bore a hole in the victim's shell, and The Living Cowries (written in the middle 1960s) JamesTobin of Portland, Oregon - are joining me then devour the soft parts. This process can take has been the standard work on the family since it in underwriting the venture." severaldays. appeared in 1970. Shell people will notice certain similarities, as Since bivalves are easy for all but the very most To be known as The Cowries of the World, the well as many contrastswith The Living Cowries. inept divers to capture and bring home, insularum new volume is a completely revised version of the The general format will be the same. Color figures are easy to maintain in an aquarium tank. They earlier work. New photos, some in color and others of the shells, however, will introduce each species, make hardy - if somewhatdull - pets. They are in black and white, are included in the estimated 50 rather than being assembledon pages interspersed long-lived (if you call that living), slow growing additional pages. through the volume. The distribution mapsthat were and seem content to remain in one place. Several An important chapter on the scientific aspects of such an important feature of the earlier book have have been in my aquarium, skillfully imitating cowry life has been contributed by Dr. E. Alison beenbrought up to date and retained. rocks, for years. Kay of the UniversitY of Hawaii. Dr. Kay wrote a "Some of the changes may be less obvious," Dr. E. Alison Kay, in her Hawaiian Marine brief foreword for the 1970 book. said Burgess. "I think 1 have done a better job of (Cont'd on Page 4) "Cowries of the World will be published in (Cont'd on Page 11) Page2 HA W AllAN SHELL NEWS March, 1981

~a"'atiale Sledt ?teett4 ISSN 0017-8624 Dr. JosephRosewater, Curator of Malacology at issue. Sorry. No offense meant. Katsarashas been a Ednor Emernus E. R. CROSS the Smithsonian Institution - Museum of Natural HMS member for more years than anyone can Ednor STUARTlILUCO History in Washington, D.C., will be the principal remember - "since HSN was a mimeographed AssociateEdnors ELMERLEEHMAN. OUVE SCHOENBERG.GEORGE CAMPBELL scientific judge at the HMS Shell Show in Honolulu sheetedited by the late Karl Greene," as he noted. ScienceAd.lsor E. AUSONKAY on 13, 14 and 15 November 1981, according to This might be a good time to point out the wis- Science Consultant W. O. CERNOHORSKY Show chairmanAndy Butler. dom of having your name - correctly spelled - Ednorlal SIan Lyman Hlga, clln Wea.er, John K. Tucker 'The show is taking on the national and inter- included in one of the standarddirectories of shell- CorrespondingEdnors: Fr. AI Lopez S.J., Don MOGdy.William E. Old Jr.. national characterthat we hoped for," said Butler in ers. Unless you are listed in American Mala- Peter .an ~I, Thora Whnehead making the announcement."We already have had cologists or the Directory of Shell Collectors, the inquiries from half a dozen HMS membersliving on editor has difficulty looking you up and you may HAWAIIAN MALACOLOGICAL SOCIETY (Founded In 1941) the U. S. Mainland and in other parts of the have to be content with a misspelled name. Next Pacific." POBox 10391 Honolulu, Hawaii 96816 time you get a questionnaire,fill it out and send it President MIKEOWENS Rosewater'sparticipation in the judging was ar- in. Vice President KEITHZEIUNGER ranged initially by Dr. Tom Burch, the 1980 HMS Treasurer ...... ROBERTSCHOENING president, during a visit to Washingtonlast year. It RecordingSec'y VI COLLIER While we are apologizing, we will confess to CorrespondingSec'y BUNNIECOOK was confirmed in February after place and dates for another slip. Ian Scott, who reported in HSN Dec. Directors the show were firm. DR. TDM BURCH DAVENDRQUIST He will be assistedin the judging by two Hawaii 1980 on "Mystery Cones From South India," says WilLIAM CHRISTENSEN DR. TDM RICHERT members,to be namedshortly. the photo caption should have read: "C"nus sp. DICKvan HDRN OLIVESCHOENBERG Jack Lord, long-time star of the television series with properties intennediate between those of C. STUARTLIlLiCO WALTSIMMONS figulinus and C. lor"isii." GEORGIANEUMANN CHRISTAKAHASHI "Hawaii 5-0" and a working artist in oils, has The Society meets the first Wednesday of each month at the acceptedan invitation to judge the arts and crafts "The title of the article itself was misleading," First Un~ed Methodist Church, Beretania & Victoria Streets, Scott went on. "What I had intended was to show in Honolulu displays, if his professional schedule permits. He judged the nonscientific exhibits at the very success- that, becauseintennediate specimens were found, C. VISITORS WELCOME! ful 1975 shell show. figulinus and C. loroisii are the same species! In Hawaiian Shell News is issued free to members of the other words, I was solving a mystery instead of Society Postage rates have been computed and added to Butler also has reassuredHMS memberswho had membership dues. Single copies of any issue, $1.00, post- questionedsecurity arrangementsat the llikai Hotel, creating one!" age included Individual copies of any issue may be ob- All the editor can say is, some issues are like tained, free of charge, by qualified individuals for bona fide where the 1981 show will be held. research projects. "We are arranging for a professional overnight that. Sorry! Members outside the United States are asked to pay with a bank cheque (not a draft) payable to HMS on a U.S. bank guard over the Pacific Ballroom," he explained. (Be sure your name and address appear on the cheque) "We have full confidence in the hotel's own secu- Thar It Blows! HMS DUES FOR 1981 rity system, but are taking this step out of deference You see, there's this annual extravaganzain Cali- First Class delivery of HSN in US, to owners of particularly valuable collections. fornia called the Festival of Roseswhich includes a Canada and Mexico (Recommended) $18.00 big parade that a lot of organizationstake part in, By Bulk Mail to U.S Zip Code "As is the custom at most shell shows and other addresses $15.00 and one of them this year was the State of Hawaii As Printed Matter to Canada and displays of the sort, the Society does not accept which had a handsomefellow riding a surfboard or Mexico (4 to 6 weeks) $17.00 financial responsibility for the contents of exhibits, canoeor somethingand blowing on a seashelltrum- Delivery by Air Mail (Recommended) pet like you see in the tourist literature, but some- to Caribbean and Central America (1 week) $22.00 but will make every effort to protect them. Exhibi- to Europe, Med Africa and one who had flunked his course in Marine Inverte- S America (2 weeks) $23.50 tors should handle their own insurance." brates gave this dude a Pink Conch to blow, and to Pacific, Asia, Africa (2 weeks) $25.00 Preparation of the rules of the show is about everybody knows that the Pink Conch (Strombus Delivery by Letter Mail (5 to 10 weeks) $18.50 complete. Copies will be mailed to all HMS mem- gigas) comesfrom Florida, not Hawaii which grows Delivery as Printed Matter the Triton Trumpet (Charonia triton is) instead. (8 to 30 weeks) $17.00 bers in Hawaii, and to all out-of-statemembers who Associate membership (HMS card Next year he gets a slide trombone. but no HSN) $1.00 requestthem. There is a $1.00 charge for Change of Address. HMS On the Move Again Raymond Colardeau Articles of interest to shell collectors are solicited. Con- HMS member Peter B, Homes of Vila, Vanuatu tents are not copyrighted Republication, with credit to HSN, After nearly three years in "temporary" s~ce, is invited. the Hawaiian Malacological Society is moving its (formerly New Hebrides) reports the sudden death Advertisements are accepted at the rate of US$18.00 per meetingsback to the First United Methodist Church, there early in January of Raymond Colardeau, "a colunm-inch/issue, payable in advance. Discounts are of- particularly keen collector of cone shells," Colar- fered for six and twelve insertions in central Honolulu. For the moment the arrange- ment is tentative. A permanentlease is still being deau was known to many HMS memberswho had enjoyed his hospitality while on visits to Vila, negotiated. "I met Raymond shortly after my arrival here The church has been undergoinga major building close on 11 years ago," Homes wrote. "As a rather WELCOME TO HAWAII!! project since HMS moved out in 1978. inexperiencedsheller, I could not have askedfor a HMS membersvisiting Hawaii are invited to con- * * * better mentor. We becameclose friends, tact the Society while in Honolulu. Please keep in Visiting London this year? The British Shell Col- "Raymond was involved in numerouscommunity mind, however, that the Society office is open ir- regularly, and that it does not have a telephone. lectors Club has scheduledits 1981 show for Satur- activities, He was a founding member of the Van- Society officers are listed individually in the tele- day, 25 April, at Napier Hall, Hyde Place, London, uatu Natural Science Society, which had its inau- phone book. If in doubt, ask the Waikiki Aquarium S.W.I. All shellersare invited. gural meeting last November. The society's aim is or the Bishop Museum for names.Better still, write to encourage the spread of knowledge and of to the Society in advance. The Museum's Karl The Game of Names conservationpractices." Greene Shell Room has a good display of both HSN (of all publications!) tripped over the name The Hawaiian Malacological Society joins in ex- Hawaiian and Indo-Pacific species. of Nick Katsaras of Bergenfield, N.J. in a recent tending sympathyand condolences, March, 1981 HAWAIIAN SHELL NEWS Page3 Health Threat

Giant African snails, Achatina fulica, are being killed by the millions in American Samoa,but many of them remain, according to reports reaching Honolulu. The disease-carryinggarden pests (see HSN Feb. 1981) have caused at least 40 cases of eosinophilic meningitis in Samoaand are blamed for one deaththere. The snail's responsibility for introduction of the serious diseaseto Samoa is the subject of a recent article in the Hawaii Medical Journal. The article says humans most frequently contact the disease by eating raw or improperly cooked snails or freshwater prawns. Dr. JosephE. Alicata of Honolulu, parasitologist emeritus at the Univer- sity of Hawaii, emphasizedthe importanceof proper cooking of molluscs or freshwater prawns, and the washingof vegetablesintended to be eatenraw. Dr. Alicata has studied and written about the role NEW YORK CITY - The American Museum of hibit. To enhancetheir specimensfor display, the of the giant African snail in dispersal of the rat Natural History's holdings of Conus were recently Munyans had arrangedtheir collection in 24 glass- lungworm parasite, Angiostrongylus cantonensis, enriched by the donation of the Thomas and Vir- covered trays with the examples of each species the primary causeof the disease. ginia Munyan Collection, acquired over the past 25 placed in a labeled compartmentwith accompanying The African snail also has caused much loss to years through personal collecting trips to Africa, locality data. Four of their trays (see photo), repre- Samoanvegetable farmers by eating voraciously of Australia, the Solomons, the South Seas and else- senting about one-tenth of the collection, are dis- such crops as lettuce and cabbage. where, as well as through purchase or by exchange. played. The chief of the pest control branch of the Hawaii The collection consists of approximately 2,200 spec- The exhibit demonstrates how the specimens, State Department of Education, Po-yung Lai, and imens representing more than 400 nominal species. after being cataloged, are then added to the Hawaiian entomologist Larry Nakahara visited Some of these were new to the Museum's reference Museum's collection, as explainedin the label copy American Samoalast year to evaluate snail control collection. Furthermore, the Munyan collection is and by a photograph of some dust- and lightproof efforts. At that time, 40 meningitis caseshad been rich in growth series, rare color forms, and unique cabinetshousing the referencecollection. A dummy reported. Lai says the public health iasue is most specimens, such as morphological freaks. cabinet shows sample drawers from the reference important in seekingto control the snail. collection, and the specimen-lots with labels im- For a special exhibit, titled' 'Glories Of The Sea" The African snail is believed to have reached printed with. 'T. and V. Munyan Collection" are for public appeal, a trio each of Conus gloriamaris, American Samoa in 1975. The Government of shown incorporatedinto the systematicarrangement. C. milneedwardsi, and C. bengalensis head the ex- American Samoa(which is under the U.S. Depart- William E. Old Jr. ment of the Interior) has sponsored three major campaignsto reduce the snail population. In 1977, one million snails were collected by hand. In eight weeks last June and July, workers gathered approximately 135 tons, or about 5.4 million snails. Then, in a effort that startedin September,some 21 were used to eating raw molluscs in Korea and were OUCH! million snails were gatheredup, for which the gov- unfamiliar with the dangerof contamination.) By TOM RICHERT, M.D, ernmentpaid US$59,OOOin bounty. All who ate the raw snails became seriously ill, "Ear squeeze" is a common OCCUlTencein scuba In their recommendations,Lai and Nakaharasug- with meningitis symptoms. One man died after diving. Your basic instruction course leading to gestedthat releaseof Euglandina rosea, a predator spending two weeks in a respirator. The other 14 certification taught you how to "clear" your ears snail well known in Hawaii, be discontinuedfor the were evacuatedto South Korea where they eventu- both descendingand ascending.The processshould time being. Release of another predator snail, ally recovered. be automaticwith every scubadiver. Gonaxis quadrilateris, should be continued, they Raw or improperly cooked freshwater prawns or Nevertheless, "ear squeeze" does happen. The said. snails serve as intermediate hosts for the rat lung most common cause is plain carelessness.Call it Biologists blame Euglanlina, brought to Hawaii worm, a new parasitic disease of man in Samoa. pride, "macho" or just foolishness,but there it is. from Rorida to control Achatina fulica, for wreak- The diseasehas previously been reported from the An uncomplicated middle ear squeeze usually ing havoc on Hawaii's native Achatinella tree Caroline Islands, Cook Islands, Hawaii, New takes care of itself if given half a chance.However, snails. They fear it also will destroy Samoa's eight Caledonia, New Hebrides, Philippines, Society Is- the bruised ear membranesare susceptibleto infec- lands, Sumatra, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam - speciesof endemicsnails. tion, so you must be alert for secondaryproblems. Samoa's known death from meningitis occurred all of which have experiencedinvasions of Achatina If you notice some hearing loss, or tendernessin when two boatloadsof Korean fishermen docked at fulica. the ear or "ringing" that does not clear up in 48 Pago Pago. Someonebrought them a large basketof Condensedfrom an article by Harry Whitten, hours - better see a doctor. In the meantime,don't giant African snails. Of the 25 to 30 men in the two Honolulu Star-Bulletin Staff Writer dive! Severe problems often result from too early crews, about half ate the snails raw. (The fishermen on natural science. return to the water. Page4 HAW AllAN SHELL NEWS March, 1981

MUREX (Cont'd from Page 1) Shells (1979) gives the depth range for the species as 40 to 160 meters. On one notorious occasion, however, they were found in shallower water, and therein lies The Tale of the Lost Makua Colony. The protagonistin this sagais a man we will call John Dough, a mighty sheller and a dominant figure in HMS during the early days of scuba diving. Senior memberswill vividly rememberthe sight of silver-manedDough striding purposefully toward the ocean, wearing triple scuba tanks and, somewhat incongruously, ballet tights for warmth and protec- tiop against coral scratches.John was an old lion, but his claws were still sharp. Over his shoulder he carried a pickaxe for rearrangingthe oceanfloor. In 1965, John found a large congregationof M. insularum at the top of a small drop-off in 40-foot depth off Makua, near the westernmost end of Oahu. From subsequentobservations of this species' behaviourI suspectthat they were preparing to wor- ship Venus. At any rate, John collected the entire lot of 36. Shortly thereafter,HSN published a photo - c,c"..,.- ,-- ~ Photo: Earle of him with his loot, smiling as smugly as a cat Murex insulanlm (Pilsbry) with three dozencanaries. )ohn wrote of returning to the sceneof the crime the following months. In his words: "Sure enough, Collectors then were not paragons of maturity. from tlIe large number of eggs and tlIe different there was a very lonely Number 37. or course, I They did not, as we do now, get their greatest stages of development, as evidenced by tlIe spec- did!" pleasurefrom the good fortune of their companions. trum from light fresh eggs to dark well-developed foor John. In the months that followed, a moun- They did not - as we surely do - delight in eggs, they had been at it for some time. tain of opprobrium was heaped on his head in a self-effacement.Nor did they suffer our acute em- An eager, trusting neophyte, I told my com- series of letters to the editor of HSN, John saw barrassmenton discovering that our finds clearly panions about tlIis phenomenon. That very afternoon himself transformed (in print) from a respected outclassedthose of our buddies. one of tlIem recharged his scuba tanks and returned collector to a scapegoatfor all the ecological sins of Finally, Walter o. Cemohorsky wrote a letter to to Makua, descending on tlIe colony like a hungry shellers everywhere. He must have felt dazed and HSN that quieted the controversy. His point was vulture. As he struggled ashore with a bulging even betrayed. After all, he was only following the basically that John was not alone in his shelling goodie bag, he met tlIe otllers outward bound for the ethos of the day, and with what should have been practices, and that the actions of one man can not same colony! rel;ognized as laudable efficiency and enviable re- drive a speciesto extinction. Cemohorskywas right, sults. of course. We now know that the M. insulDrum Every year since tlIen I have made a sad pilgrim- In retrospect,John perhapscan get some consola- center of population lies well below sane scuba age to tlIat ledge off Makua. It has long since ceased to be tlIe Promised Land it was in tlIe I %Os tion from the thought that he single-handedlyand depths. unwittingly inducedthe birth of the modern ecologi- Murex insulDrum, however, seems to lack an and early 1970s. Yet for me as for many oilier cal emphasisof the HMS. efficient dispersal mechanism. Local colonies can scuba-diving shellers, that is where it all began. As I researchedthe correspondenceon this an- be wiped out by overcollecting.Therein lies Chapter Last year, as I swam along Makua Memory Lane, cient controversy, I perceived a previously unsus- 2 of my Makua Murex Maunderings. past such landmarks as tlIe Burgess Rubble Pile, pected undercurrent. While many of John's critics While diving along the drop-off where John found Richert's Raped Reef, Calabrese's Tessellata Terri- wore a pious air, their passionbetrayed an elemental his bonanza, I discovered in 1971 a group of tory and Arch's Acre, I came upon tlIe rock under greed and primitive jealousy. John was demon- approximately 10 M. insulDrum laying eggs. They which I found my first Cypraea tessellata. Its edges strably a mightier sheller than the whole pack of his were clusteredtogether, covering the undersideof a were rounded smootll from having been turned by eagerly yipping detractors - who couldn't stand it! flat rock with their vase-shapeegg capsules.Judging countless generations of eager divers. Nearby I noted what appeared to be a fist-size chunk of rock flapping frantically. Swimming to it, I rescued a large Spondylus from tlIe grip of tlIe largest and most debauched M. insularum I have ever seen. Truly, it was the last of tlIe Makuans.

Old Iniquity was a shapeless, degenerate lump festooned with invertebrates, seaweed and even some juicy bivalves dangling tantalizingly out of reach - surely tlIe ultimate insult to an old Murex. And did I takeit? or course,I did!

(Sheath your pens! My motives were pure. After a brief spell in my home aquarium, where he per- formed for science, the patriarch was returned to a deep, secure colony of M. insularum.) March. 1981 HAWAIIAN SHELL NEWS Page5

When HSN ran a page of photos and descriptions (to the one figured in USN Dec. 1980). It was Georgia, has taken issue. In his opinion the shell is of shells that had defied identification (HSN Dec. trawled at 80 fathoms off Balicasag Island, Phil- HalJHl ventricosa Lamarck, 1816. Dunlap points tc ippines and is 61mm long. It alTived with a label an article in HSN December 1979 to bolster his 1980) we expecteda responsefrom members. And ~vinl! its name as Colllbraria sowerllyi. No author argument. we were not disappointed. Identities have been pro- was given." The "unknown'. An. posed for most of the "strangers," plus a number 'The only problem," he goes on, "is that I have garia species discussed not been able to trace such a taxon anywhere. Can by Edgar Cuaton and figured in earlier issues. anyone help both Gurr and me?" figured in HSN July Ted Gurr's colubrarid trawled by a Taiwanesefish- Just to keep the ball bouncing, E. Garbini, in 1980 (D) was indeed a ing boat off Western Australia (A) is ColllbrariIJ Pallanza, Italy, reports that he has two specimens new species, according fantom; Garrard, accord- "exactly the same." They were found at Mombasa, to Donald Dan. He iden- Kenya, in East Africa. He is quite sure they are C. tified it as Angaria ric- ing to HMS member lIIGCulosaGmelin. tJanj Kosuge, 1979. Graham Saunders of Are there any further nominations? The shell was named McLean, Virginia. At USN Corresponding Editor Thora Whitehead in for HMS member Victor Brisbane suggests that D Dan, of Manila, who least, that is the name the shells figured (B) on happens to be Donald's used by many dealers, he page seven of USN Oct. brother! says. But he doesn't 1980 are Murex de- An unidentified muricid (E) from Ascension Is. land in the South Atlantic was figured in HS!' guarantee his identifi- IIUdatUSPerry. Northern Queensland, where the October 1980, along with some comment on ho" cation. two were found, is very hard the shell would be to clean. There was a ple~ A second opinion far north for this species, for help in putting a name on the specimens. comes from Phil Cran- she admits. It is com- Roland Houan, of Belgium, something of a spe. monly trawled in South- cialist in the Muricidae, dall, who believes the ern Queensland and offers the nameHomalo- shell is a specimen of northern New South cantha melanomathos Colllbrtlritl love",ii (Re- Wales, where it also is (Gmelin). He says he has two specimenshimself. eve). He sent a reprint of an article in The VenIer found littorally in some localities. "I think we may ac- for I January 1966 by William K. Emerson and Roland Houart, in Belgium, concurs in the cept Ascension Island as Anthony d' Attilio to back the argument. Whiteheaddiagnosis. a geographicextension," Writing from Rome, however, Enrico Rornagna That long-stemmedmuricid from Puerto Rico (C) he adds. Manoja reports a shell that is "absolutely identical (see USN October 1980, page nine, lower right) Jerry Harasewych at may be Murex IIIOtllCilJaGmelin. Bruce Crystal of the Philadelphia Longmont, Colorado wrote that he has a specimen Academy of Natural Sci- "brought up from deep water in a fish trap in the ence goes along with Virgin Islands." Cora Staples of Butner, North that. Carolina, has two specimens.Both offer the same "I thought long and hard about the specimens identification. from Ascension Island that you sent," he wrote But wait! Roland Houart, of Brussels, believes "They are without doubt H. melanomathosGmelin that the shell is Siratus "I've never heard of them from Ascension be. al1iclllotus (Reeve). fore. They are the largest I've ever seen or hean Writing from Philadel- about. One of the reasons it took me so long (tc phia, Murex expert Jerry respond) is that neither the Delaware Museum 01 Harasewych says nearly Natural History, the Academy of Natural Scienceil1 the same thing. Elmer Philadelphia, nor the Smithsonianhas a specimen. Leehman had sent sev- "The Ascension shells may be a separatespecies eral muricids to him for in a couple of million years, but not yet." identification. "The Puerto Rican shell falls within the A TEST FOR BAKES range of what I have SEATTLE - While on Kwajalein in 1954 I ac. been calling Siratus quired a very red-gold Cyproeamaculifero Schilder. lIodatus Reeve," Hara- sewych responded. "I In addition, I have two melanistic cowries from have seen close to a Keppel Bay, Queensland. thousand specimens of After reading the articles in recent issuesof Ha- this group. There is quite a bit of intergrading among S. formoslls, S. lIocm- waiian Shell News on "baked fakes," I examined t8S (or S. aI1iclllotus) and S. caiUeti. the three shells minutely. While the dorsum of all On the same page of that provocative USN Dec. three have abnormalcoloring, the basesare normal. 1980, Galen Lyn of Taiwan reported difficulty in (Parenthetically, the Winter 1979-80 issue of 01 identifying a shell brought in by coral fishing boats Sea and Shore figures a ' 'golden" tiger cOWf) working off the northeasterncoast of Taiwan. Rich- ard Sedlak in Fort Lauderdale,Florida suggeststhat owned by Bob Setliff. It appearsto have a norma Lyn's specimen "appears for all practical purposes base.) to be a distortedAfer CUlllillgii (Reeve)." "At a length of 6.5mm (as reported by Lyn) it If someone could get together a number of un. certainly is tiny, but it might be some form of A. treated cowries with abnormal dorsal color fol CUlllillgii - or, to be wishful, a new species," said examination. and if it appearedthat a normal bast Sedlak. "I would like to see one of those some time to study it." color was constant, then it might be possible tc Going back a bit further, USN October 1980 establisha rule for separatingthe genuinespecimens figured what was describedas a record specimenof from the fakes. Baking must surely discolor the HaIpG lllajor Roeding, 1798. This beautiful giant whole shell. was collected by HMS member Maurice Maurel of Mauritius, who has it in his collection. I am speakinghere only of cowries, of course. A: Harpa specialist John K. Dunlap, of Atlanta, for other genera. who knows? W. E. Rice Page6 HAWAIIAN SHELL NEWS March, 1981

By ELMER G. LEEBMAN 2 Rare Specimens From Brazil Waters HMS member Cid Derry was in Dakar, Senegal on a shell buying trip last year. At the fishing docks, he came upon an Arab trawler on its way home from South America. Derry was offered - and quickly accepted - two unfamiliar volutes which, he was infonned, had come from deep water off Brazil. Derry was unable to identify the two shells posi- tively, so eventually he sent them to the Brazilian shell authority and HMS member, Dr. Eliezer de CarvalhoRios. Dr. Rios recognizedthe first as the extremely rare Voluta (Zidonia) palliata Kaiser, 1977. A deep- water (220 to 980m) South America volute. V. pailiata has a dark orange aperture and a 12mm Photo: Chapman band of dark orange at the lip, blending to a pale A dwarf form of Voluta abyssicola Adams & orange within. The exterior is a soft beige with 16 Reeve, 1850 has been found off South Africa, ac- paler dots scatteredat random. The entire specimen cording to Helene Boswell in Pretoria. Although is covered with a fine transparent glaze through small, the new shell is fully adult. It appearsocca- which the unusually shiny white protoconch pro- sionally along with regular specimens. trudes a little over one millimeter. It is shown on the Figured (above) is a normal V. abyssicola and the left in both photosbelow. dwarf form. Trawled alive in 300 fathoms off Photo: Ninomiya Rios identified the secondshell as Voluta (Odon- Tom Nielsen of Yeppoon, Queensland, Patron of Agulhas Bank, on the Indian Ocean side of the tocymbiola) pescalia Clench & Turner, 1964, an- the Keppel Bay Shell Club and a long-time member Capeof Good Hope, the dwarf measures52mm. other rare South American deep-water species. of HMS, some time ago found what appeared to be a new form of Voluta magnifica Gabauer, 1802. He sent the specimen to Australia's famed volute authority, the late Frank Abbottsmith, who had it under study at the time of his death. Recently, Nielsen trawled another live specimen in the Capricorn Channel from 73 fathoms. He kept the animal alive and eventually sent it to HMS member Taizo Ninomiya in Tokyo, who planned to do animal studies to compare the stranger with reg- ular V, magnifica. The shell (above) is much more slender in profile and its spire differs from conven- tional specimens.

The Useful Scallop Of all the thousands of shells in the sea, the scallop with its flaring striations and gently curved shapehas lent itself most often to man's creations, ~~~~~ ~-- - both artistic and utilitarian. V. palliala V. pescalia approx. O.5x Photos: Derry When the earliest craftsmen learned to fire clay and make pottery, they patterned many containers after the scallop. Millennia later artists working in a House of Quality and Service more refined medium, crystal, used the samegrace- ful outline to create objects of great beauty and value. :HARD M. KURZ. INC. As a religious symbol the scallop accompanied Christianity as it spreadacross the earth. Pilgrims to 1575 NORTH 118th STREET the grave of St. Jamesin Spain proudly wore it as a WAUWATOSA, WI 53226 U.S.A. sort of bumper sticker to proclaim that they had Dealer in Fine and Rare Specimen Shells made the pious journey, and the saint was rarely of Superior Quality shown in medieval art without a pecten shell at- tachedto his staff. The very best shells, at the very best prices The shell also was reproducedon many heraldic arms of English families to honor an ancestorwho WRITE FOR FREE PRICE LIST had participatedin the Crusades.Armorers found its SHELLS BOUGHT, SOLD AND TRADED shape ideal as a gilt embellishmenton swords and daggers. LARGEST MAIL ORDER SEASHELL DEALER IN THE U.S.A. From the Shell Desk Diary for 1974 March. 1981 HAW AllAN SHELL NEWS Page 7

A VARIABLE SPECIES Voluta arousiacus Lightfoot, 1786 appearsto be endemic to South India, Sri Lanka and perhaps some of the nearby island groups of the Indian Ocean. At least three variations of the shell are known. As is frequently the case with the volutes, species names have been offered for the variations. The standardauthority on this family, Weaver and duP- ont's Living Volutes, does not recognize these "splits" which it lists simply as forms or variations. Specimensfound in Sri Lanka waters are creamy white with brilliant orange banding and markings. The spire is tall and graceful, and the shoulder has prominent tubercles. Shells from Indian waters have blood-red mark- ings. The tuberclesare not so heavy. Another form from India has no tuberclesat all. (This difference is true among vmations in some other volute species,also.)

Voluta mitraeformis Lamarck, 1811 is one of the Shown above is a "normal" specimen(left) of V. more common Australian volutes. Relatively few mitraeformis, together with two representativesof collectors, however, are aware of the wide range of the golden variation, one of the rarest of color colors in which it appears. Some of the color forms forms. They are from the collection of Tony are extremely rare. Gabelish. Variations in color are a consistent factor in many ChristopherOates of South Australia found a pure families of Australian shells, so the range in this black specimen of this species, as well as a pure volute species is not remarkable. white one. AFTER THE STORM "_WW~Wffiffi&ffiffiffi"ffi_--"=W"W& Few live specimensof Vo/uta coni/ormis Cox, V. arousiacus Photo: Chapman 1871 are collected. Only occasionallyis a beach or fresh-deadshell brought in. IN A SHARK NET "I found (the figured) V. coni/ormis on the PERTH - Some months ago I had a call from a morning spring tide at Broome, WesternAustralia in shark fisherman who had caught a Voluta nodipli- May 1980," writes Merv Cooper of Mt. Hawth- cata in his net. As previously arranged, he sent the orne, W.A. "It was in a small pothole in the reef, living shell up to Perth in an ice box and I took it to approximately 12 inches deep. the Waterman Research Station, where it was kept "The whole reef was surroundedby sand bars. for over a month. And as the tide was already coming in, I didn't A number of photos were taken before the have a chanceto check the area further. Thirty feet museum removed the soft parts and returned the of water doesn't come in slowly at Broome! shell to me. "As the area had been batteredby five cyclones To my knowledge, the photo (below) was the first that season,I feel that the volute had been brought ever taken of a living V. nomplicata. in from deep water." Trevor Sutcliffe

Publication note: CARD CATALOGUE OF WORLD-WIDE SHELLS. Pack No. 25 - Muricidae Part V. Sally Diana Kaicher, Ed. St. Petersburg, FL. $8 plus postage. The latest in a long-running series of shell iden- tification cards, Pack 25 brings to nearly 400 the number of muricids alone figured. Ms. Kaicher hopes to issue new packs on the Terebridae and ., Naticidae - "and perhapsthe Epitoniidae" - dur- V. coniformis Photo: C. Bryce ing 1981. V. nodiplicata Photo: Sutcliffe Page8 HAWAIIAN SHELL NEWS March. 1981

NEWS OF NEW SPECIES By JOHN K. TUCKER The present report announcesproposed taxa for severalpopular groups of mollusks. The descriptions herein are condensedfrom the original descriptions. Cernohorsky (1980. Rec. Auckland Mus. 16:109-169) described Austromitra minutenodosa from the Great Australian Bight, 33°05'S & l28°40'E in 75 meters. The small (up to 4.5mm length), elongate-ovate shell has whorls that are sculptured with moderately large, rounded nodules that are connectedto each other by axial ribs. The body whorl has 4 spiral rows of nodules. The aper- ture, which is about equal in height to the spire, is smooth within. The columella has three strong ob- lique folds. Coloration is white to creamy white. No other known austromitrid resemblesthe new species.It was comparedto Vexillum (Costellarill) nodospiculum Cemohorskywhich has only 2 sutural rows of noduleson the penultimatewhorl. Cernohorsky (1980, Rec. Auckland Mus. 16:105-108) described Peculator bacatus (Voluto- Photo: Higa mitridae) and Boreotrophon shirleyi (Muricidae). HSN's "Recent Finds" editor, Lyman Higa, got this photo in Maunalua Bay, Honolulu a couple of days The small shell (up to 6.4mm in length) of P. after Christmas. He was scuba diving for fish and shells with Kimo Kalahiki and Tommy Vinhasa when they bactltus is biconic with the width 46-47% of the encountered a 20-foot-plus whale shark, Rhinocodon typus Smith, "the world's largest fISh." Kimo and length. The whorls are sculptured with moderately Tommy swam with the huge animal for several minutes, but got the feeling they were being ignored. The large, round nodules which are both axially and whale shark is an occasional visitor to Hawaii. spirally aligned. The penultimatewhorl has 3 spiral rows of nodulesand the body whorl has 6-7 rows of Island, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand in 200-260 shell is solid, ovately fusiform and composed of 8.5 nodules. The aperture is slightly longer than the fathoms. whorls. The sculpture consists of a few distant axial spire. The outer lip is thickened and simple while The following new taxa published in Studia ribs of which there are 9 on the body and penulti- the columella has 4 moderately thin folds. The Marina Slnica (SMS) and Oceanologia et Limo mate whorls. The narrow, semiovate aperture makes siphonal fasciole has 2-3 strong oblique cords; the nologia (OLS) were listed by Jacobson(Feb. 1980, up a little less than 2/3 of the shell height. The siphonal canal is straight; and there is no siphonal New York Shell Club Notes). They are listed here columella is straight with 4 strong anterior plaits notch. The shell is uniformly white to cream. for HSN readersas well. followed by 5 minor ones and a toothlike projection The type locality is east of Wood Point, Great In SMS: Teredo schizodern/ll Li (August, 1965); on the parietal wall below the suture. The siphonal Australian Bight, South Australia, in 158 meters. Glossodoris xishahensis Lin (August, 1965); Octo- canal is short. The shell is creamy yellow with The species most closely resemblesP. clathurella pus nanhaiensis, O. strilatus, and O. guandogensis spiral chestnut lines present on the axial ribs but not (Tate) from the Miocene of Victoria. Dong (Dec., 1976); Anapella retroconvex Zhuang visible in between. The holotype measures 64.0mm The shell of B. shirleyi is moderatein size (up to (August, 1976); Gouldia micronodulosa, G. subtri. long x 25.5mm wide. 52mm long) and elongate-ovate.Whorls are convex gona, Pariglypta compressa, Katelysia eugibba, Petuch & Harasewych (1980, The Nautilus but are distinctly tabulate at the sutures which are and Dosinia truncata Zhung (June, 1964); Cym- 94( 1):6-7) described Distorsio (Rhysema) kul%i. The impressed. The shell is sculptured with angulate bulia tricavermosa, Pneumodermopsismacrocotyla, shell, which reaches at least 56mm in length, has a axial ribs which become irregular and. less promi- and Abranchaea chinensis Zhang, (June, 1964). spire angle of 45 to 50 degrees. The first 4 post- nently angulate and slightly arcuate on the body Zhang also proposedChicoreus orientalis as a new nuclear whorls are conical. Starting with the fifth whorl. The aperture is longer than the spire. The namefor Chicoreus sinensis (Reevenon Gmelin). whorl, there is a swollen bulge with the parietal columella is weakly S-shape and has an angular In OLS: Cylindrobulla xishaensis Lin (January, shield 180 degrees in apposition. This arrangement thickening on top of the siphonal fasciole. The 1978);Gigantonotum album and Oscaniussishaen. is repeated every 270 degrees. siphonal canal is only moderately long, open, and lis Lin & Tschang. The sculpture of beads and ribs at the intersection moderatelyrecurved. The shell has a chalky texture Bouchet (1979, The Veliger 22(1):49-50) de- of spiral cords and axial ribs is pronounced. The and is uniformly white. The aperture is glossy in scribed Lyria kuniene from west of Isle of Pines, spiral sculpture is made up of one major cord at the texture and is white. The type locality is near Motiti southern New Caledonia, in 390-395 meters. The suture, one at the sharply angled shoulder, five below the shoulder, and four or five on the siphonal canal. The color is golden brown with darker brown bands at the shoulder and suture. The type locality is off Balicasag, Bohol Island, Philippines in 120 to 150 meters.

Ponder, W. F., and R. U. Gooding. 1978. "Four new eulimid gastropods associated with shallow- water diadematidechinoids in the WesternPacific." Pacific Science 32(2) : 157-181 Containsdescriptions of new genusPulicocochlea (Family Eulimidae) and new speciesP. calamaris (type of the genus, type locality off Waikiki Beach, Oahu, but also found elsewherein the Pacific), 2 non-Hawaiian species, and P. faba new species (type of new subgenusPseudoretusa, and only in- cluded species; type locality Kapapa Island, Kane- ohe Bay, Oahu, but also found elsewhere in Pa- cific). These mollusks are ectoparasitesof sea ur- chins of the family Diadematidae. Waren, Anders. 1980. "Revision of the genera Thyca, Stili fer, Scalenostoma, Mucronalia and Echineulima (Mollusca, Prosobranchia, Eulimi- dae)." Zoologica Scripta 9:187-210. Contains description of new speciesThyca (Bes- somia) hawaiiensis. (:"rl rhri.t"n."n March, 1981 HAWAIIAN SHELL NEWS Page9

By A. J. dB MOTTA A COLLECTORS GUIDE TO SEASHEL1.S BANGKOK - Judging from my recent mail, OF THE WORLD. By JeromeM. Eisenberg.Con- there is widespread uncertainty regarding two spe- sulting Editor: William E. Old Jr. 239 pp. New cies of cones- Conus colubrinus Lamarck, 1810, York: McGraw Hill. $25.95. and C. crocatus Lamarck, 1810. Walls' Cone Shells (1978) treats them as conspecific. Most Reviewed by ELMER G. LEEHMAN collectors, I believe, disagree. It was with most pleasantsurprise that I reviewed The confusion undoubtedly is compounded by this new work by Jerome Eisenberg. A Collectors disagreementover the interpretation of Lamarck's Guide to Seashellsor the World is one of the most descriptionsand type figures. attractive and most comprehensive shell books I In discussingC. colubrinus, Walls writes: have yet seen. "This (colubrinus) is the specieswhich has long This is a great reft'rence book for every sheller. been called C. crocatus Lamarck. However, La- whether beginner or advancedcollector. It offers a marck's description and placementof that name, as well as Kiener's figure of the type, leave little doubt great many vivid color illustrations and excellent that C. crocatus is based on a bright orange speci- data on all species, habitat location, normal sizes, men of C. ermineus . . . I have seen orange era and a rarity rating that makessense. When a species mineus which resemble closely Kiener's figure of has a wide range of pattern or color, severalvariants the (crocatus) type. "COIIUScolubrillUS as describedby Lamarck and are shown. figured by Kiener is certainly (crocatus) and not the The 158 full-color plates (an unbelievableamount axially blotched variant of C. pellllaceus for which of color in a volume retailing for $25!) include the namecolubrinus has been variably used." about 4,000 specimens,carefully selectedfor typical During my visit to European museumslast year -~~~-~~-~-~~-~-~ color, pattern and variation. In addition, there are (see HSN Aug. 1980), I was able to examine and Photos: da Motta 145 black-and-whitedrawings. The accuracyof the photograph some of Lamarck's type specimensin Above: The holotype of Conus crocatus in the color is reassuring.Indexing is excellent. the Museum d'Histoire Naturelle at Geneva. As Museum d' Histoire Naturelle at Geneva. Below: Data are presentedon the same page as the fig- previously reported, the type specimen of C. colu- Specimensof Conus colubrinus in the Dautzenberg ures, greatly easing usage. Popular as well as cor- brillus was found to have been wrongly labelled Collection, Brussels. rect scientific namesare given. "rubiginosus." (The same error had occurredat the In his introduction, Eisenberg offers an easy-to- Dautzenbergcollection in Brussels,incidentally.) read guide to classification, nomenclature,form and COIIUScolubrinus is a distinctly patterned shell, life habits of molluscs, with suggestionsfor begin- which impressed Lamarck as being snakelike, ning collectors. One chapter is devoted to a sys- whereasC. rubigillosus has a distinct russet color tematic listing of all the shell families. As a test, and tenting patternof its own. this reviewer checkedout severalunidentified shells I believe this mix-up of specimens is largely he had set aside for study and was able to classify responsiblefor the confusion over identity. them quickly and easily. Observethe morphologicalcharacteristics: C. crocatus C. colubrinus A few errors and dubious species names have crept into the book. Fig. 2 on Plate 13, for instance, Spire: pyramidal concave Shoulder: roundedand subangulate actually is a specimenof Pleurotomaria lIra_chit, of which many times the stated three specimensare sloping known. The shell in Fig. 8, Plate 95 shows an Sides: straight and slightly operculum, although the caption says it was dead tapering convex collected; an explanationof the contradiction would Color: cinnamon russetbrown be helpful. And most of the caption for Fig. 15, Pattern: scatteredwhite wormlike Plate 141 has disappeared. tentings markings Is it reasonableto supposethat Lamarck erred in Among the cones, I noted several doubtful treating two of his very outstanding shells as dif- names. There is no point on commentingon them ferent species? specifically. Cone taxonomy is in a state of confu- sion - even chaos.In any event, they do not detract from the value of this thoroughly commend- able work. It is amazing that Eisenberg has been able to gather togetherso many shells, large and small, rare and common, for photographyand analysis. To the author and the consulting editor, I offer my personal . 'Well Done." Anyone working on a generalcollec- tion must have A Collectors Guide. * * * HMS Members: Nonmembers will receive a complimentary copy of Hawaiian Shell News(with a membership application) if you send the Corresponding Secretary their full name and address. Page 10 HAWAIIAN SHELL NEWS March, 1981

ASIA SHELL SHOP WHEN IS A RECORD P. O. BOX 59619 TAIPEI TAIWAN, REPUBLIC OF CHINA NOT A RECORD? TEL: (02) 3940707 Nairobi, Kenya Our Business: Specimen shells, Commercial shells, Editor, HSN: Shell-craft, Shark teeth & jaw, Coral products. I had always understood that world record mea- surements had to be properly certified by two quali- fied persons and acknowledged by Robert Wagner !~ ~erry's 'I," (editor of The Standard Catalog of Shelb). In SHELLSHELTER }. recent issues of Hawaiian Shell News, I have noted WORLD WIDE SHELLS- several references to "record" size shells with no Specimen Quality '-, - . indication who had measured them or whether the FROMCOMMON TO ULTRARARE NO LISTS - PLEASE SEND FOR WANTS "records" were accepted by Wagner. 411 No.Harbor Blvd, Fullerton,CA 92632 USA I feel that claims to records should be reported to TELEPHONE,714-992-1030 The subject, gentlemen, is shells. Tom Chamberlain, VISIT US - WE'RE UNIQUE one authority and not published until confirmed by on the Hawaiian isle of Kauai, created this necklace him. from cowries. Neat, what? A. B. B. Thompson LARGEST COWRIES? Veteran HMS memberBob Wagner, the generally LAUSANNE - Here is a list of the largest cow- acknowledged keeper of maximum-size records, ries known to me. All except those indicated are in probably would be the first to deprecateloose use of my own collection. the expression"record size." In fact, in a personal mm note to the editor of HSN, he suggestedswitching Cypraeahirasei 32.4 AsianShell Shop to somesuch phraseas "largest recorded." Without caputophidii 38.6 reticulatum 31.6 doubt there are larger shells than those listed in the carneola crassa 46.2 Standard Catalog, They have not been reported, caurica caurica 51.4 out of ignorance of or indifference to the system, caurica blaesa 50.3 cervinetta 118.9 or, perhaps,modesty. chinensis whitworthi 42.5 Wagner suggeststhat sizes "may be established chinensis violacea 41.6 and verified by any professionalmaIacologist," but cribrariafallax 31.0 at another point in the Standard Catalog he adds erroneserrones 39.4 DREDGE FOR SHELLS errones bimaculata 38.0 "or shell club officer." So it seems that he is DOWN TO 2,000 fEET erronescoerulescens 40.1 from theJA~1HfNA VII willing to trust the averagededicated sheller with a errones coxi 34.7 c. ; ; set of calipers. erronesproba 38.6 Coast Gu.rIfLiC~n$ed ~kipper; eburnea mara 26.9 c.JOM SCURCH ,;, "Verified information," Wagner concludes, felinafabula 30.5 New Caledonia P. O. BOX JO9,;rliILUAii!i"f 9&1'3'4 pW!(SOS) 261.1559 should be forwarded by the owner of the sheli to gracilis notata 26.3 him. His addressis Robert J. L. Wagner, R.D.I, hirundo neglecta 19.4 Box 21, Marathon, Rorida, U.S.A. 33149. hirundo cameroni 19.5 DOV PELED kieneri depriesteri 19.7 6, Hazalafim St., Haifa, 34-739, Israel HSN has been pretty relaxed in reporting' 'record kieneri schneideri 17.8 sizes," and perhapsit is time to tighten up. In the leucodon 91.0 ? The original specialist for Red Sea Shells. One of limacina facifer 33.1 future, we will endeavorto make it clear that mea- the largest choices of worldwide shells. Exchange nucleus sturangi 27.2 Barbey offers for rare and uncommon shells welcomed. surementshave been made by the shell owner only pyrum maculosa 18.7 New 1980 Price List on Request. (unless another measurer is named) and we will staphyleafortis 26.7 avoid calling a specimenthe "biggest known" un- stolida brevidentata 30.2 less there is assurancethat Wagner has acceptedit ziczac ziczac 12.3 OSTINI est. 1 967 ziczac undata 12.5 Vis San Godenzo 141 - 00189 ROMA - ITALY Ef) as such. 1) Price list free on requesf ziczac vittata 10.0 2) Extensive price list of mediterranean and Frankly, the editor is not inclined to take size ziczac misella 10.7 worldwide shells at U.S$3.00 (refundable with first order) 3) The book (GUIDA ALLE CONCHIGLIE MEDITERRANEE) claims too seriously. But it's sort of fun to know In addition, I have a specimen of Afrivoluta illustrating more than 500 species with full coloured photo- pringlei that measures130.5mm. graphs at US$25.00 (surface mail expenses included) how the competitionis doing! 4) Dredged marine material from Italian coasts. Gilbert Ernst March, 1981 HAWAIIAN SHELL NEWS Page 11

BURGESS (Cont'd from Page 1) placing the infomlation on shells next to the figures. The index will be much easierto use, also. "Most of the speciesof cowry describedsince I finished The Living Cowries are, of course, in- cluded, either as valid speciesor as synonyms. In caseswhere I have put the new shells - and a few of the older ones, too - into synonymy, I have tried to make clear why I did so. My cut-off date on new specieswas the end of January 1981. "The earlier volume asked shellers to send me corrections, new information and photos to clarify points under discussion. I heard from several thousandpersons, from whom I gained a great deal. Wheneverpossible, I have credited these people for C. optimus approx. 0.8 their contribution. Inevitably, however, there was a C. bougei 1.5x great deal of repetition. I tried to name the one who By J. C. ESTIVAL communicatedfirst." NOUMEA, N.C. - Conus bougei Sowerby, fused with C. cabritii Bernaroi. 1858. An important addition to the book has been a 1907 is one of the approximately 87 cone shells I have personally collected all three speciesnear series of color shots of living cowry animals. The found in New Caledonia waters (HSN July 1980). Noumea. photos are from collectors allover the world. Another is C. optimus Sowerby, 1913, obviously a A key to the separationof C. optimus, C. bougei "Other important help came from Ray Summers closely related species. Both are sometimes con- andC. cabritii follows: in California, from David Arnette and Wes Thorssen here in Honolulu, and many others," Burgess went on. "Stuart Lillico, editor of Hawaiian Shell News, and Dr. H. L. Arnold, of Honolulu, worked long and hard with me on the manuscript. I can't begin to name all the others who assistedin one way or another. "I am particularly grateful for the professional guidance by Dr. Kay. Her participation has given the finished book basic scientific quality that it might have lacked otherwise. Dr. Kay's introductory chapter on the natural history of the cowry is easily the most thorough yet readableI have ever seen." Burgess offers no new shell descriptions in his book, although he has included at least two new species that are due for publication before The Cowries of the World appears.One specieswill be reassigned. "With a certain amount of humility, I have had to revise my opinions on a number of species, on the validity of which I have renderedjudgment in the past 10 or 12 years," he concluded. "Several that I wrote about in 1965 as 'good' specieshad to accept synonymy. At the same time, I now accept a numberthat I previously doubted. C. cabritii approx. 1.3x Photos: Estival "These decisions are largely the result of recent anatomical studies. Photos of living animals, with their mantles fully extended, have brought us radi- cally altered opinions on the validity of many spe- Thirty-seven speciesof Cypraea have been identified from the barrier reef that lies along the southwest- cies." ern coast of Madagascar(Malagasy) in the vicinity of Tulear. The following list was compiled at the No publication date has been set. Burgess hopes University of Malagasy'smarine biology station at Tulear. See HSN Feb. 1981for my list of cones. the volume will be on sale by the end of 1981. Cypraeaannulus Linne diluculum (Reeve) nucleus Linne arabica Linne erosa Linne onyx Linne S.L. argus Linne felina Gmelin oweni Sowerby asellus Linne fimbriata Gmelin punctata Linne broderipi Sowerby(2) helvola Linne scurra Gmelin caputserpentisLinne histrio Gmelin staphylea Linne Back Issues carneola Linne isabella Linne stolida Linne caurica Linne kieneri Hidalgo talpa Linne The Hawaiian Malacological Society maintains a chinensis Gmelin lamarckii Gray testudinaria Linne modest stock of back issues of Hawaiian Shell cicercula Linne lynx Linne tigris Linne News. Copies of most issues back to 1960 are citrina Gray mappa Linne vitellus Linne available, although some are in xerox form. Write cribraria Linne mauritiana Linne to the CorrespondingSecretary for information. depressaGray moneta Linne FRED R. HINKLR Page 12 HAWAIIAN SHELL NEWS March, 1981 HMS HEARS ABOUT ~ . BISMARCK SEA \~~' --~ARINE &. LAND \ l~~' ~; .,; BUY. SELL. EXCHANGE, The myriad delights of shelling in the Hansa Bay ..\ HMS- ISGS GRADING, AND ..' FORYOUR FREE LIST WRITE: , region of the northern coast of Papua New Guinea Richard Goldber~'s WorldWide Specimen Shells ~ were spread before members of the Society at the 49-77 Fresh Meadow Lane F1ushln~,N.Y.11365 February meeting. Veteran HMS members Olive U.S.A. Schoenbergof Honolulu, Twila Bratcher and Billee Mabry of California spent nearly one month on the shores of the Bismarck Sea last year, with their headquartersin the Madang area - and lived to talk about it. The three flew from Honolulu nonstop to Port Moresby, then changedplanes for Madang, arriving triumphant but groggy after 18 hours irr the air. They found the climate healthy, the food good and Yea Der Enterprise Co., Ltd. the locals friendly. Among the latter were HMS P. O. Box 456, Kaohsiung, Taiwan members Graham Sanders, who teaches school in Fine and Rare SpecimenShells Madang, Dr. Ben Tursch at the Belgian marine biol- Cut mother-of-pearl,Decorative shells, Shark jaws, Shark teeth and Shell craft. ogy station on Laing Island, and Sue and John Beck Write for free lists at NagadaVillage Resort- all HMS members. Tel. 2814438 . 2114438 Mrs. Schoenberg'sslides showed people, scenery Retail and Wholesale and shells, including a Terebra that was rated . 'sensational." Photo: McCausland When in Los Angeles visit "You menfollow me!" seemsto be the commandas HMS Junior Shell Club this crowd of mud creepers moves up the beach at The HMS Junior Shell Club met January2 in the Phuket, Thailand. They may all be Terebralia Hall of Discovery at the Bishop Museum in Ho- palustris Linne, but we won't know for sure until nolulu. The first order of businesswas the election of officers for 1981. Benjamin Kam Jr. was chosen they take showers. as presidentfor the year. FINE SHELLS AND FINE ART The first vice president will be Chadwick Oku- We do not publish a list but we will answer moto; secondvice president,Todd Akita; and secre- land, OR 92713. specific requestsfor Rare Shells - our spe- tary, Dawn Zeilinger. Other features of the program include a shell The program was given by Mrs. Betsy Harri- auction, books for door prizes and field trips. cialty. son-Gagne,field associatein botany of the Bishop For information on accommodations and other Shell. I"'" """'"1 t, HMS'SOS Museum (daughterof HMS factotum Ibby Hart:ison matters, write to Elmo Adams (747 Winchester 22762 Pacific Coast Highway and a long-time memberof the Society). Her subject Drive, Burlingame, CA 94010) in the West, or Malibu, California 90265 was' 'The Green Tree Snails of Manus." She Richard Goldberg (49-77 Fresh Meadow Lane, Rushing, N. Y. 13365)in the East. showedus slides and shells. FOR SALE It was very interesting, especially becauseI have a green tree snail. We had a shell drawing and New Caledonia Show SpecimenShells, Shell Craft of all kinds, shell jewelry, sawfish bills, shark jaws and teeth, carved shells, coral refreshments. The Association Conchyliologique de Nouvelle necklaces,carved jade, butterflies, pig tusks, tortoise craft, Dawn Zeilinger, Secretary Caledonie will hold its fourth shell show at the horn, agateand hardwoodnovelties. Satisfactionguaranteed. COA Convention Exposition Center in Noumea from April 24 to 30, CHAIN YU ENTERPRISES CO., LTD. The Conchologists of America, a nationwide says an announcementfrom the association. The (Chien Chih Chen, Pres.) P. O. Box 5-56 Kaohsiung800, Taiwan R.O.C. organization of shell collectors, has scheduled its viewing hours will be from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. 1981 convention for September2 to 5 at San Fran- All shell families, worldwide, will be on display. cisco. The Northern California Malacozoological Live shells are to be shown. Severalaquariums and, <=mal de <=me~ eHterpri"~ Society will be host. 946 Ralph Avenue. e.ooklyn, New Yo.k 11236. USA A call for papers already has gone out. The pro- as in previous years, live Nautilus macromphalus Phone A... 1212\ 485-3550 gram includes time for appropriatetalks, slides and will be included. Outstanding quality and personal service on movie shows. If you have something you want to Visitors will be eligible to compete for some of '\: worldwide specimen sheDs. Rarities are our present, send a resume with a note on equipment Mure" "' specialty. Free price list on request. required to Clair Stahl, 3235 N.E. 61st Ave., Port- New Caledonia'sbeautiful shells in a lottery. phyllopterus

c 0 w R E s 0 For my uItraspecialisedcollec- W tion I pay top prices for any rare or special cowries: cash, im- R mediately. Rare sparesavailable for exchange or sale. Cable: I RAYBAUDI ROMA. E S DR. LUIGI RA YBAUDI P. O. Box 756 Roma (Italy) March, 1981 HAWAIIAN SHELL NEWS Page 13

~~ S~ECIMENSHELLS * FREE PRICE LIST * LARGE SELECTION By RICHARD SALISBURY * ONLV THE FINEST QUALITV * FAST ~ROFESSrONAL SERVICE Subic Bay faces the South China Sea from the * OEOICATED TO THE COLLECTOR CHARLES CARDIN western edge of the Philippines, approximately 60 ~ 4681 G'TOS&, -- , L'S""S'C"O"9I" US, miles from Manila. It has been a port of call and ~~ - base for U.S. Navy ships for half a century. The THESEA waters are rich in molluscan habitats. Nevertheless, 305 N. Harbor Blvd. its shell shops are not well known although several San Pedro. Calif. 90731 excellent ones have been in business 30 years or - (213) 831-1694 Visit our new much larger museum-like store Specimen. decora- longer. tive & craft shells - shell jewelry. shell & sea related gift items- It was my good fortune to return to Subic Bay, shell books after an absenceof nearly 10 years, in May 1979 on Importer of world wide she/Is No lists - no mail order a temporary assignmentfrom Guam. Luckily, I met THOMAS HONKER Lee Adams, then president of the Subic Bay Dive P. O. Box 1011 - 25 N.E. 10th Street Delray Beach, Florida 33444 Club, and his wife, whose hospitality I enjoyed Phone:(305) 276-9685 thoroughly. Dealer in top-quality uncommon and rare worldwide shells. Florida-Caribbean specialist, with 15 years of Sea Treasures Shell Shop in Olongapo City is diving-collecting experience. owned and operatedby Mario Mercado, a longtime Want lists, inquiries invited Free lists. HMS-ISGS member of HMS, whom I found relaxing in the shade of his rock and shell garden. Mercado has been in the shell businesssince right after World War II. Among the rare cowries and cones on dis- play were Cypraeaguttata and Conus gloriamaris. Perhapsthe prize shell in his collection was an exquisite specimen of CanceUaria mercadoi Old, described and named in his honor from specimens collected by Mercado himself. Knowing of my own qzelD ~ul..ea S"ell~ "Ply. £td. in~rest in the miters, although he had only three of RABAUl . PO BOX 1187. PH 92. 1018

these rare shells, he insisted on giving me one as I PAPUA NEW GUINEA left. MIIA8A'S WSESTSHB1 8m

My secondcall was at the Braceros' shell shop in WIDE RANGE OF nearby Calapacuan, where I was soon browsing LANa & SEA SHEUS A V AIIA8If Rhyw,..-", \... MI through boxes of shells and rows of display cases. - WRITE FOR FREE UST - Zenaida and Alex Bracera (right) told .of shelling in the early days, including one about the local WEST COAST CURIO CO. fisherman who found a pair of Conus gloriamaris in 1940 Maple Ave., Costa Mesa, Calif. 92627 fish traps right in Subic Bay. That occurred at about "13 miles south of Disneyland". Longest estab- the time the Braceros entered the shell businessin lished shell dealer in the U.S.A. More than 3,000 1957. species stocked regularly. No lists - No mail or- Their daughter has continued the family tradition der. Buy or browse - you're always welcome! by opening with her husband, Lee Liwyway, the COME TN AND SFF TIS Lee Shell Collectors Shop just up the road. I spent several hours there, looking at beautifully arranged CROWN SPECIMEN SHELLS INC 2293 Novus Street shells, including many deep-waterspecimens. Sarasota,Florida, 33577, USA I had time for only a brief stop at the Kalayan Finest Quality Slk'cimen Shells Gate Shell Shop. Again, many nice Philippine spec- Bought Sold Traded imens were on display, including some interesting "PRICE liST UPON REQUEST' conesfrom Cebu. When my duties at Subic Bay ended, I was sorry to say goodby to the Adamsesand the many othersI had met there during my brief stay. I couldn't leave the Philippines, however, without seeing one last shop. At that time fellow HMS memberAl Deynzer had a place at Angeles City, just outside Oark Air Force Base. (He has since moved to Florida.) His Shell Gallery was exceptional for the number and variety of gem-quality specimens. I was pleased to meet Ernesto Hao, who has taken over the businessfrom Deynzer. He was ex- tremely knowledgeable.If I had not had a plane to catch, I would probably still be there. Page 14 HAWAIIAN SHELL NEWS March, 1981

praea cervinetta Kiener, C. arabicula Lamarck, SHRIMPS AND SHELL: S FROM COSTA RICA Latirus recurvirostris S. & M., and Opeatostoma pseudodon Burrow. By STEVEN SAMU My catch while on the shrimp boat included: Since making a full-time career of yachting-vaga- Conus patricius, C. recuTVUSBroderip, C. fergu- bonding, I have never known which exciting new saRi Sowerby, Mitra zaca H. & H., Fusinus shelling area - if any - I would be visiting next. dupetitthouarsi Kiener, Melongena patula Broderip, Harpa crenata Swainson, Murex bras- Recently my professiontook me to the west coast of sica, Cymatium parthenopeum keenae Beu, Central America. Hormospira maculosa (Sowerby) and Malea I had accepteda position as captain of a motor ringeRs Swainson. yacht that was to be shifted from the U.S. East Coast to a new base at Puntarenas, Costa Rica. Heading northward from Balboa, after transiting the Panama Canal, we stopped for a week at a quiet anchorage called Golfito, a genuine banana port, built by the Chiquita Bananapeople. There I finally got sometime for shelling. Leaving the inner harbor, I took the dinghy out to does not catch shrimp in luxury is a gross under- the left of the entrancechannel. After sevenyears in statement.Six men were crowded into a cubicle that the virtually tideless Caribbeanand Virgin Islands, I servedas galley and forecastle. Meals were rice and was pleasantlysurprised at how much easier it is to beans three times a day, with four spoons, three pick up shells just by turning a few rocks at low forks and one kitchen knife among us. No shower, tide. I found Cypraea cervinetta and C. arabicula no toilet. We didn't even all speak the same lan- that way. guage. Snorkeling produced many more C. arabicula, I explained previously (HSN Dec. 1980) that the - however. I guess they enjoy having a little water shrimperswork with two nets down. The smaller is over their heads. raised from time to time to test the catch. On our PERSONAL ADS I must have lucked out. The very first area I cruise from Puntarenas,the first time the little net searchedhad a high concentrationof cowries. The FOR SALE: Papuina pulcherrima (green tree was brought up I quickly spottedthree Ficus speci- snails), Manus Island, New Guinea. Acquired pre- other areasI hit had far fewer shells. On subsequent mens. For the first time, I saw the Ficus animal embargo, limited supply. $10 each including post- daysof snorkeling,however, I founda 72mmgem fully extended.It is hard to believe that it all will fit age, while they last. Myrna Esser, Box 672, Conus dalli, color variationsof C. princepsaver- Nashua,N.H. 03061, U.S.A. back into the shells! aging 45 to 50mm, and many C. purpurascens. Our boat headed south from Puntarenas,to work Note: Prospectivepurch_en should Inform them- Three weeks later I dropped "my" yacht anchor selv~ on current U.S. r~trictions on tranllen ~ P. the area between Punta Mala and Bahia Naranja, pukhelTima.Ed. USN. in the muddy river at Puntarenas.There was little dragging our nets in 60 feet of water by day and in time for shelling.My job allowedme only a few 120 feet at night. It was not great shelling, but the FOR SALE to high~t bidder - Cypraea gut- hours off each week. I discovered, however,. that shrimp catch was satisfactory. In two hauls we tala, rosselli, fultoni, cruickshanki. All gem condi- Puntarenasis home port for a considerableshrimp- brought up Conus patricius from 60 feet, and in tion. Isabell Ernests, 43 Roadrunner Lane, Kerr- boat fleet. I began to establish contacts with skip- viIle, TX 78028. another drag at 120 feet we got a 93mm C. recur- pers and crew members. When at last my replace- vus, a 14OmmC. fergusoni, a grinning tun and CYMATIIDAE, BURSIDAE - BOUGHT, ment as captain arrived, I was ready to board a various muricids. TRADED. Seeking rare species, aberrant, geog- shrimperfor a two-week cruise. Since I was working right alongside the rest of raphic, depth varieties. Can identify species. Many What a change from my yacht! To say that one specimens, many families. Any condition accept- the crew, they soon noticed and took great interestin able. Steven Hazard, 818 South Harrison Rd., East my shell collecting. Between net hauls we looked at Lansing, Michigan 48823, U.S.A. my copy of Jerry Walls' Cone Shells. Soon the men Fine shell collection of late Ella West for sale - began to point out the Panamic cones with which complete unit only. Sealed bids taken through they were familiar, as well as some of the Southeast March 31. For appointmentcall Freda Monroe, ad- Asian species. ministrator. (714) 748-1958.(Poway, Calif.) We spent 13 days at sea, but actually did not A chance to own a fast-disappearingshell (see collect a great deal. We simply were working in the HSN Jan. 1981). A Conus milneedwardsi Jous- wrong place for the good shells. Had I stayed seaume. Not perfect, but with nice markings. Lip aboard for the next cruise, which was due to head smoothed. 80mm $250 or best offer. Graydon Woolaway, 2999 Makalei Place, Honolulu, HI northward from Puntarenas,I am sure I would have 96815. obtainedall the shells I wanted. My luck was not exactly bad, of course. But the FOR SALE - as a package,extensive worldwide Cypraea collection, including such rare gems as gem 93mm Conus recurvus and the other shells I algoensis, barclayi, cohenae, katsuae, langfordi, have listed below cost me somethinglike US $1,000 musumea, ostergaardi, valentia and others. Many in lost time and expenses.On the profit side, how- matchedpairs, subspeciesand variations. An excel- ever, I must list an absolutelyunique experience. lent Hawaiian collection included. Collection totals more than 1,500 shells. For complete list, write For the record, here are the shells I collected in David S. Arnette, 1816-B Porter Avenue, Hickam the vicinity of Golfito, Costa Rica: AFB, HI 96818. Murex brassica Lamarck, M. erythrostoma Swainson, M. regius Wood, M. oxycantha Use HSN Personal Ads. Three dollars per 25 Broderip, Conus dalli Stearns, C. princeps Linne, words, plus name and address. Dealers please use C. Datricius Hinds, C. DurourascensSowerbv. Cv- cli~nl"v "cI~ On" tim" nnlv! March, 1981 HAWAIIAN SHELL NEWS Page 15

By BRIAN PARKINSON New Guinea Shells Pty, Ltd, to accompany the RABAUL - Papua New Guinea, may be unique, withShell theProject diving, Officer Any onshells the collectedboat and areto assistthe prop- him among recently independentnations in having a de- erty of New Guinea Shells, but an accurateidea of liberate program to develop, exploit and protect its the speciesavailable is obtained, Many new species , h h 'ta f ' ' nc en ge 0 manne sh eII s, In thIS, we diftier turn up in this type of work, from several other new countries (and a few long- A major job for th~ Sh~ll Project Offi~er is to , , havethese accurately Identified, A largelibrary of establishedones, too!), where rampant commercial referencematerial is kept in Rabaul, Any specimens exploitation has been the rule or where, conversely, that cannot be identified are sent to scientists in all shell collecting has been banned, their particular field for study and possible de- " , , scription as a new species,It is important that this is The PNG Shell Project IS a national function done, as unidentified shells have less commercial which for logistical purposes is based in the East value, New shells are named for prominent people New Britain Province, The duties of the Shell Proj- in scienceor for geographicalfeatures of this coun- ect Officer are principally to investigate,initiate and tryA' t ' f ed t' ' II I ' " , n ac Ive program 0 uca Ing VI age peop e In promote the commercialisation of Papua New the collection of shells is being undertaken, A Guinea's biological resources, number of books have been published in pidgin, In the past the nlain emphasisof this work has - Motu and other languages, and there is a heavy , " f I ' k ha befi ," b h demand for these, These books point out collection been onented towards the molluscan resources ' both never saw one let t ore, seems to e t e tec hnIques,' meth 0 ds 0 f pac kaging' and dIspatc,' h marine and terrestrial, The objectives of the project consensus as five HMS members gathered at the have recently been expanded,however, to incorpo- home of Reg Gage on the island of Kauai, west of Collection tec~n~ques,being emp~oyedwith, ~uc-

I d " ,cess are scuba diving, night collecting and baiting, rate such other fields as commercial shells and to Honolu u, to a mire Reg s famous collection of A be f ti' num r 0 na on aIs from Manus, N0rth S0 I investigatethe possibilityof establishingan industry Hawaiianendemics, Standing, left to right.,are Dr, omons,East and WestNew Britain and Milne Bay- basedon the indigenousfreshwater and marine W, R, Haasand Mr, andMrs, CharlesChristensen, Provin~eshave been trainedin scubadiving and fi h f Pa N G ' all Kauai residents, Center front is Wes Thorsson of collecting, They go to depths as great as 140 feet, IS es 0 pua ew Ulnea, , " both day and night, and produce considerable num- The main work in habitat study involves the ex- Honolulu, Bob Purtymun of WestPoint, California, bers of very valuable specimens,A number of spe- ploration of as many new areasin PapuaNew Guinea is representedby the ear at lower right, cies, such as Cypraea valentia, which retail at up as possible, both land and sea, to assesstheir poten- to $2,000 each, have only been available in good tial resources of commercial species, The Shell very rare species, such as Papllstyla nol'ae- numbers since the scuba diving program was ini- Project Officer visits as many new areasas possible pommerania from Wide Bay in the East New Bri- tiated, to organise the collection , of terrest~al spec,ie,s, tain Pro,:in~e, which retail at K?,50 (about US$I,O) Other s cies with commercial potential that have

These are assessed for their commercial posslbll- each This IS close to a record be dpe il bl b b di ' ' ' , " ',' Pnce for a land snail en ma e ava a e y scu a vlng InCIu d e Cyp- lties, This IS based on two factors - numbers and With sea shells the Shell Pr01ect Officer has an ' . , , . '. , ' J " raea auraR Ii.am, Conus ClrcumClslS,. .. C onus mo I UC- attractiveness, It IS little use building up an export active scuba divin f ' " " g Program, Much time IS devoted censlS . Conus croc atus, Conus g Ionamans,. ' 01lI'a' market or a species which IS very rare, to explonng Papua New Guinea's vast sea beds and rk . ' . S' th ' ed I b f ' , pa Insonl an d 01ll'a. bu IOWl.. Ince e project start, a arge num er 0 ter- coral reefs looking for new species, Recently the restrial specieshave been assessed,About a hundred M. V, Siassi has been obtained to facilitate this For reasons of safety, the Shell Project Officer of these are at presentbeing exported, These range work, It is equipped with a compressor.A number accompaniesthe national divers on as many dives as in price from some speciescommon to the Milne of patrols have been carried out and are planned to possible, Particular emphasis is placed on safety Bay, Manus Island and New Britain Provinces assessthe supply of commercialspecies, proceduresduring night diving as this is a highly which retail at a few cents each up to a number of An arrangementhas been made with the divers of hazardousoccupation, So far over 5,000 dives have been carried out without a mishap, HAWAII ' S 80 DORID NUDIBRANCHS Baiting techniqueswhich are particularly good for collecting such speciesas olives are easily assimi- By SCOTT JOHNSON latedconsiderable by villagesuccess people,by Theythe Tsoi are beingIslanders used in withthe , , ". . . , , New Ireland Province and the Siassi Islandersin the The largest group of nudlbranchsIn the HawaIian lidw I'ancosa Lamarck, 1801. These are bnlilantly M ob Pr ' or e OVlnce, Islands are the dorids, More than 80 specieshave colored, are among the larger species,and therefore " ' " " ,Other techniques which are sti II In' t he expen-' been found here, and additional ones keep coming are easily seen,Many other colorful speciesare very mental stages are dredging and netting. These to light, small, often less than 25mm in length. techniques are widely used in the Philippines and Dorid nudibranchsare easily recognized,All have , Thailand, As soon as effective methodsadaptable to , . Some authors have suggestedthat the bnght col- local conditions can be developed,villagers in remo- a pair of tentaclescalled rhinophores on the dorsal ors of many speciesfunction to warn potential pre- ter areaswill be instructed in their use, Suppliesof surface near the anterior end. These have a chemo- dators not to eat the nudibranchs (since many nudi- netting are being obtained from the Phili~pines, and sensory function, probably used to detect their prey. b h d b h . aI d th d methods observed there by the Shell Project Officer ranc s are protecte y c emlc an 0 er e- ' II uall be 'I ' ed , P N G ' " ,WI eve?t Most dorids have a tuft, of g ills p rotrudin,g from the fenses). This may sometimes be true, but certaInly Areas with they most uti potentialIS ~n forapua these ewtechniques u,lnea, dorsum near the postenor end of the animal. t aI 0 ' ti pie always Il'

no ways. ne speCies, or exam, ves are Mi lne Ba y " East New Britain Morobe and Gulf Dorids can be found under a variety of condi- , t f 12 t d h 'ts bn' ght red Provinces. In wa er 0 me ers or eeper, were I tions, ranging from exposed intertidal reefs to sub- coloration looks blue gray and causes the animal to Two companies have been set u~ in Papua New scuba depths ' from crawling in the open to living blend Into' ItS' back groun d very we II , Guinea, to handle shells commercially, These are Ra I d Al I add" under rocks and in caves, from rough pristine areas ~asedIn bau an, o~au, n, ltiOn,'a ~ompany

, Many other species are cryptic at any depth, They In Port Moresby IS being asSiSted WIth Its shell to calm, quiet, murky or polluted areas., retailing. Despitethe relativelylarge numberof species, look like blobsof algaeor sponge,and are rarely .., . . , seen even by experienced searchers. Advice IS given to Interested PNG persons or and the relative abundance of many of them, nudl- companies on credit worthiness of dealers overseas, branchs are easily overlooked, The most obvious Most of the Hawaiian dorids are sponge eaters, Any local group that does not wish to sell shells nudibranchs are the large red "spanish dancer," some feeding exclusively on one speciesof sponge, ~o.ugh the establishedcompanies is advised,on ob- . talnlng outlets abroad, They are also advised on Hexabranchus sangulneus. (Ruppell and Leuckart, A few species eat bryozoans, and some are pre- proceduresfor obtaining clearancesfrom the Wild- 1828) and the "scrambled egg" nudibranch, Phyl- dators upon other opisthobranchmollusks, life and FisheriesBranches, Page 16 HAW AllAN SHELL NEWS March. 1981

I ON THE REEF_J By BEATRICE L. BURCH With BOB PURTYMUN Pinna beds in Hawaiian waters contain many The ocean side of Rairik Island, on Majuro Atoll interesting surprises.Recently we found an eulimid in the Marshall Islands, has a wide solution bench. imbedded and pearlized near the hinge area of the muscle scar in a juvenile Pinna muricata. The Rather, I should say it had a wide bench. During the early 1970s , hard coral was blasted loose and unblemishedexterior of the shell showed that the used to build a breakwater for the new Majuro eulimid had not enteredby boring from the outside. ailport and water-treatmentplant. The coral all came It was an insertion by the gastropodinto that area of from the Rairik reef. the young Pinna much as a grain of sand would The resulting borrow pit, extending from the work its way in and not be able to get free from the high-tide mark to within 10 meters of the outer mantle. ,~-,~~"--~~-,- drop-off, was excavatedto a depth of three meters. Many speciesof snails and clams seal off irritants Photo: Tom Burch The 100meter-widestrip left facing the ocean - introduced into their mantle area either from or- The unusual Eulimid "pearl" embeddedin the shell exposed at low tide - forms an effective break- ganisms boring from the outside (such as marine of a Pinna muricata Linne. Found at Makapuu water againstthe heavy surf of the open Pacific. worms are sealedoff from oyster interiors). Mollus- Point. Oahu (Honolulu). Needlessto say, the shallow lagoon formed by can mantle epidermal cells secrete interior shell pearl musselshave decreasedin number. the borrow pit was an excellent habitat. The bottom layers and seal off foreign bodies introducedinto the Most marine pearls are found or grown in the was covered with loose coral blocks and slabs, and areabetween the mantle layers or betweenthe man- "pearl oyster" in the 32 species of the Pteriidae clumps of live and dead antler coral. tle and the shell wall. Indeed, Chinese have been genusPinctada from temperateand tropical waters, inserting small objects of lead or tin into pearl mus- with certain regions famed for particular colors of In May 1978 I found the water there crystal clear sels for 2,000 years, producing pearlized images of pearls. Both freshwater and marine pearls may be at low tide. Also, I found Mitra (Strlgatella) acumi- Buddha. At the time of my childhood in California. cream, white, pink, blue-grey or black. Pinna and nata (Swainson,1824) (below). the Chinesesold tiny pearlizedanimals. Placuna form yellow-brown pearls which are of In his Marine Shel~ of the Pacific, Walter O. The father of taxonomy, Carolus Linnaeus, in the little value. Cernohorsky classesthis little yellow miter as un- late eighteenthcentury, is said to have been the first Mytilids also form pearls and while Mytilus common. However, I believe that I discovered the to successfullyattempt to form pearls artificially in coruscus of Japanis more famed for its meat, as far acuminata "heartland." They were everywhere in the wastem world. As did the Chinese,he did so in back as the 12th century this specieswas harvested the borrow pit. freshwaterUnionidae. also for its pearl, according to Habe (1971). Nacre- This peaceful lagoon offered many bonuses- at Pearls have been found in several Unionidae in ous lined gastropods, such as Turbo and abalones low tide, that is. When the tide was high the surf many temperate areas. Mountain streams of the (Haliotis), form grey, beautifully gleaming pearls surged across the outer reef, breaking on the sandy temperateclimates of Britain, Scotland and China and blisters. Other snails forming pearls include the beach at the foot of the island's tall coconut trees. have furnished pearls since the Roman times. Cur- Indian chank shell, Turbinella scolymus. This tendedto make swimming uncomfortable. rently, the famed and highly prized small fresh- Pearl forming is not limited to mollusks with Many shiny Cypraea maculifera, C. helvola, C. water pearls from enormousLake Biwa in Japanare nacreouslining. Strombus gigas L. from the Carib- poraria, and an occasionalC. depressalived under greatly valued. Some are rounded and others are bean can form pearls which are highly valued al- the slabs and blocks. quite irregular in shape, but all are beautiful. Habe though the pink, nonlustrouscolor tends to fade. In the antler coral and rubble were a few Conus (1971) in his great little book, Shells of Japan, told While our minute pearlized Eulima bli~ter from tulipa and the rarer C. retifer. Cracks and crevices of Hydriopsis schlegeli, a fresh-water pearl mussel the Hawaiian Pinna will never rival a Japanese produced Bursa bufonia, B. cruentata and B. endemic to Lake Biwa that accepts foreign bodies pearl, it was gratifying to find a pearl blister in this granularis, to name a few of the residents. and so can be used to cultivate pearls similar to the delicate and locally abundant fragile bivalve. The But the super-rare "shell of the show" was a way that Pinctada fucata mal1ensii does in the specimenhas been depositedin the Division of Mol- slender yellow Mitra (Dibaphus) multiplicata wonderful Japanesepearl culture method. lusks, Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian (Pease, 1865), (center below) which I found under a The pearl culture industry was createdby Kokichi Institution, Washington,D.C. medium-size coral block. My first. Mikimoto of Japan at the turn of the century. He was first to create pearl blisters successfully. By 1909, the first free spherical cultured pearl was accomplished by T. Nishikawa of the Japanese Bureau of Fisheries. This led to the tremendously successfulcultured marine pearl industry in Japan. Interestingly, American fresh-water mussels sup- ply most of the tiny beads around which the Japa- nese pearls are formed. The Pinctada supply is now decreasing,however, so perhapsthere will be increaseduse of Hydriopsis schlegeli. New trans- plants of this species into Kasumigaura Lagoon seem to be adapting and reproducing in their new environment. America used to have a highly valued "seed" pearl industry from unionids of Mississippi, Iowa, Arkansas,Tennessee and Kentucky rivers, but these tiny pearls are seldom seen now as the freshwater