YOLo X NO.6
APRIL,
1962
NEW SERIES NO. 28
e
~
0
ustulata, Reeve, 1844, and Vexillum ~
Pils., 1920; Fig. 1,.M:
(juvenile specimen) 18mm; Fig. 2,~. ostergaardi Pilsbry, 1920, 32mm; Fig. 3,~ tiarellaA.
Not illustrated,~
ticaonic~ Reeve, 1844, 20mm; Fig. 5;.M: olivaefQrmis
Swainson, 1821, 11mm; Fig. 6,
~ ~
~
Schubert and Wagner, 1829
Adams, 1851, 17mm; Fig. 4, .M:
Dohrn,
1860, 33mm; Fig. 7,
M. emersoni Pilsbry, 1920, 31mm; Fig. 8, M. waikikiensis Pilsbry, 1920, 24mm; Fig. 9, Vexillum thaanumi Pilsbry, 1920,
28mm; Fig. 10,'y' xeniumPilsbry, 1920, 19mm; Fig. 11,'y' ~manda Reeve, 1&45, 10mm, (close to) V. micra Pils., 1920; Fig.
12,'y:
~
(Reeve, 1844), Zlmm.
VALID NAMESAND SYNONYMSFORSOMEHAWAIIANMITERS
by
JEAN M. CA TE
In 1920, Dr. Henry A. Pilsbrydescribed
thirte~n supposedly new species of Mitra
from Hawaii in the Proceedings of the
Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia.
During the past year or two I
have had reason to suspect that some of
the 13 species were not valid, as they
very strongly resembled other species of
Indo-Pacific
Mitra that had been described
at earlier da~
various authors. After
studying the Pilsbry type specimens contained in the collection of the Philadelphia
Academy, I published an illustrated paper
(The Veliger, Volume 4, No.3.. January 1,
1962) concerning
the validity
of these
species.
It has occurred to me that a list
of the valid names and the synonyms
among them might prove of value to my
friends
and
fellow
collectors
in the
Hawaiian Malacological Society; therefore,
I am sending along the final results of
this study.
VALID
1
NAMES:
INVALID
M!!!:!!:. ustulata Reeve; 1844
~
MItra correa- Schubert & Wagner, 1829..Mltra
..~
2 ~
ostergaardl PIlsbry, 1920
tlareIIa A. Adams, 1851
3
Mitra
4
M!!!:!!:. tlcaonlca
Reeve, 1844
5 Mitra ollvaeformis
Swalnson, 1821
6
MTti=a emersoni
peasel Dohrn,
1860 1920
7 mtta
Piisbry,
8 Mffia waikikiensis
9 *""VeXIi1umthaanumi
Piisbry,
PIlsbry,
10 *Vexlllum xenlumPIlsbry,
11 *Vexlllum
12 *Vexlllum
~
~
Plisbry,
NAMES:
kamehameha PIlsbry, 1920
fulva Swainson,
1832 1920
iliaa"iiumiana
PIlsbry,
~
pararhodia Dail (MS) (no.mennudum)
Mltr~ Iugubris honoluluensls PIlsbry, 1920
Mltra crassuia Dail (MS) (nomen nudum)
M!!!:i tlcaonlca ~
PIlsbry, 1920
Mitra puplformls Dail (MS) (nomen nudum)
Mrfi;"a ollveIIaeformls
PIlsbry, 1920
MItralangfordi
PIlsbry, 1920
-
1920
1920
1920
1920
(Reeve, 1844)
*Denotes species endemic to Hawaii.
~exillum
V
~
~
Pilsbry.
1920
Page 2
HAWAIIAN
April,
SHELL NEWS
1962
FROM THE READERS
A short letter from Walter O. Cernohorsky, Vatukoula, Fiji Islands:
"I have just received the December
to
issue of HSN and read the article' 'YOU
receive
a letter
from
such a distant
memCAN HAVE YOUR SHELL AND EAT IT
ber
of the H.M.S.,
but I felt
I had to write
TOO" and the Editor's footnote regarding
and
tell
you
how
much
pleasure
the
the book "HOW TO SURVIVE ON LAND
Hawaiian
Shell
News
has
given
me,
confined
AND SEA". The book states that everyas I am
to a hospital
bed.
I have been
here
for
nearly
three
weeks
now,
underone is warned specifically against eating
going
continuous
traction
because
of a
cones and Terebra.
Fijian natives have told me at different
spinal
disc
lesion.
"The
January
number
of the
H.S.N.
.times that they eat the flesh of the ~
reached
me
yesterday,
and
I am
really
leopardus.
They break the 5" and 6"
thrilled
with
all
the interesting
informacone shells with stones, extract the coiled
tion.
I do rather
specialize
in Cypraea,
up mollusk and boil it in salt water prior
Conus,
and
Voluta,
and
I have
probably
to consumption.
They tell me that it
theTargest
COllection
of
these
in
this
tastes like "davui", the Fijian name for
country, outside a museum. What a Charonia tritonis.
That they do not suffer
pleasure
it
was
to
see,
at
last..
an
illusany ill-effects might be due to the fact
tration
and
description
of
Cypraea
latiot,
that..9..:.leopardus is not on the toxic list.
good
illustration
of
the
various
forms
of
Apparently they do not eat Terebra,
~
pennaceus
and
a photograph
of
the
there just might be very little meat in an
rare
volutes
mentioned
in
Cliff
Weaver's
auger shell.
article.
.
All the best to your club,"
"Then
again,
the photographs
of persigned; Walter O. Cernohorsky.
sonalities
in the Society,
including
your**********
self,
help
one
to form
a mental
picture
And two letters from Florida;
of
people
one
is
never
likely
to know
Mr. John B. Proetz, P. O. Box 334,
except
by name.
However,
I have
had
Boynton Beach, Florida, writes:
the
great
pleasure
of
meeting
Alison
Kay,
"The article in the February issue of
Ruth Turner, Alan Kohn and Don Mc HSN offering names and addresses of
Michael,
when
they
visited
this
country,
members in other countries interests me.
and I hope
any other
members
who come
I think the idea expressed in your article
here
will
get
in touch
with
me.
to encourage "shell talk" is excellent.
"When
are
we going
to see a photo"Congratulations on your 100th Edition.
graph
of Mrs. King?
(See Page 5 - Ed.)
I look forward to each new issue, and
I
have
not
forgotten
her kindness
in
from all the back copies which I carefully
presenting
me
with
my
first
specimen
of
preserve, I learn a lot about shells. Mr.
Cypraea
tessellata
and
Weaver's fine photographs and data on
collected).
She
brought
them
to
London
Marine Mollusks is an outstanding conand
spoke
to
me
on
the
telephone,
but
I
tribution.' ,
did
not
actually
get
to meet
her.
**********
"I
am
not
entirely
divorced
from
my
From Mr. Maurice Holland, 157 S.E.
shells,
for
on
the
locker
beside
my
bed
Small Street, Port Charlotte, Florida,
I have
fine
specimens
of
Voluta
bednalli,
comes the following:
Pleurotomaria
hirasei
and~s
yet un"Here are a few newspaper clips and
named
Red Volute
from
Swains Reef.
I
other items on Naples Shell Club Fair
also
have
a large
number
of
color
slides
which I attended as our "roving reporter"
of shells
from
my
collection,
and
projected
for H.S.H.O.
them
one
evening
for
the
entertainment
Attendance was 1,000 per day.
of the
other
patients.
No admission.. Club dues $3.00 per
"Since
entering
the
hospital
I have
year.
Ten percent c.ommission on combeen
told
that
I have
been
elected
to
the
mercial shell-craft sales at fair. They
Council
of
the
"Conchological
Society
of
make money every year."
Great
Britain
and
Ireland"
which
I feel
From
tary
England
received
"You
will
our
Corresponding
this interesting
probably
be
f.:
One of the advantages of belonging to
the Hawaiian Malacological Society is that
you might
be appointed Editor of the
Hawaiian Shell News. Then you will learn
what an international
organization
your
HMS really is.
Certainly
it is an advantage to all
members to belong to such an international
organization because wherever you go you
will almost always find individuals
with
the same interests
and with shells to
exchange.
Because
Hawaii,
more
specifically
Honolulu, is the birthplace
of the HMS
it would seem that Honolulu members
would be more active and enthusiastic
than those we might term corresponding
members,
some in far away lands.
It
appears that this is not necessarily true.
From correspondence
it would seem
that many HMS members in mainland cities
and across the seven seas in other countries are more active and more interested
in the Society and the HSN than those
"at home".
An organization such as the HMS, and
a publication
such as our HSN, can be
successful
only if ALL MEMBERS take
an active interest and part in their operation.
is
a
great
honor.
The
Secre-
letter:
surprised
sulcidentata
Society
(live
was
in 1876, and has an international
ship.
founded
member-
"I am afraid many of my shell friends
have been wondering why I do not
reply to their letters, but it is such an
effort to write under these conditions,
and I will have to make amends once I am
on my feet again, which may not be for
some while yet.
"In the meantime I want to thank you
all for providing such a splendid magazine
each month. It gives me many hours of
pleasure, and the back numbers are
invaluable
for reference purposes. I hope
you will keep up the good work for many
years to come.
Yours very sincerely,"
Mr. R. P. (Bob) SCORE,
Perkins Ward,
Rowley Bristow Orthopaedic Hospital,
Pyrford, Nr. Woking, Surrey, England
will
WHY COLLECT SHELLS?
by
DR. VERNON E. SMITH
The satisfaction that one may receive
from Shell Collecting
varies in degree
from mild interest to fanatical gloating
and
the
methods to accomplish this
response are legion.
One may assume
the 'armchair executive' attitude in amassing an impressive quantitY of anything and
everything that might qualify as a member of the Phylum Mollusca or one may
seek the deeper soul shaking experience
of meeting the elusive quarry face to face
in its ecological niche.
The latter requires more than 'shelling'
vicariously
but participation
may entail
nothing more complex than sloshing around
over an inter-tidal
zone during low tide
or wading hip-deep with a "look-box"
and a "pry-bar".
But the call of the
conch may lead to some involved and
individual testing adventures.
There is
the excitement
that attends the correct
guessing which crushing comber will not
smash you into the face of the rocky
shoreline, (habitat of Helcioniscus) or the
subdued thrill
of anticipating
just what
unfriendly visitor will pierce the circular
ring of blue that establishes your limit
of vision when you are diving in deeper
waters. (habitat of Cassis)
The experience -pm- about to relate
has to do with an encounter that took
place off the Halekulani on a beautiful
morning in about four fathoms of limpid
marine environment.
Buzzy Agard was on the prowl for some
of the larger octopi that visit the inshore
bottom during the winter months.
I was
on the prowl.
An octopus in its "hole"
is not easy to see under the best of
conditions but if you are separated by
twentY-five
feet of water, vertically,
the
animal is invisible
to all but a He-e
expert.
The initiated
hunter can tell
whether the octopus is at "home"
by
observing the area immediately surrounding the lair.
There is generally evidence
of deceased victims, crab carapaces and
shell debris,
scattered
about and also
rocks and pebbles that have been removed
from the hole to make more room for
the occupant.
(1 have actually seen an
octopus toss out a beautiful, live Conus
textile).
Buzzy is an expert at locating the
perfectly hidden octopus.
He will cruise
slowly over an area of submerged reef
table.
At intervals he will stop and study
the bottom.
Then, for what to me seems
no apparent reason, he will swim down to
some slight indentation
or insignificant
crevice in the bottom.
He peeks into a
crack, his spear does a bit of probing
and suddenly he is surrounded
by the
wriggling
tentacles and sepia discharge
of a frantic Cephalopod.
On this particular day I had been trying
to emulate
the skill
and elan of the
Hawaiian "He-e Hunter."
But numerous
trips from top to bottom and return had
resulted in nothing more than a growing
opinion that as a 'He-e Hunter' my goggles
needed prescription
lenses.
Thoroughly frustrated I decided to swim
back to the boat to give my blood pressure
time to return to normal.
On the way
my eyes happened to catch the almost
imperceptible scintillation of the mantle
of a Pinctada galtsoffi (Pearl Oyster).
The very mention of the Pearl Oyster
brings to mind names like Pearl Harbor
and Pearl and Hermes Reef. Visions of
pearls, like "sugar plums", begin dancing
in my head. But how many pearls of any
value have been taken from our local
waters?
I, for one, have never seen
any pearls, nor met anyone who has seen
any pearls of Hawaiian vintage. When
Dr. Edmondson refers to the Pearl Oyster
in "Reef and Shore Fauna of Hawaii",
he states, "The black-lipped pearl oyster,
Pinctada galtsoffi Bartsch, seems to be
widely distributed about the islands at
depths of a few fathoms". He probably
means by "widely distributed" that the
distance between shells is considerable.
Of course it is against the law to take
oysters from Hawaiian waters but as
regards Pinctada galtsoffi it is practically
impossible to violate the law. The oyster
beds of 'Pinctada nebulosa found in Kaneohe
Bay have always re.nained quite small
in size due, I think, to the limited suitable
bottom. During the War in the Pacific,
offduty Service Personnel and civilians
seemed quite unaware of any laws relative
to conservation and removed them by the
sackful.
The primary objective was
savory shellfish "a-la Rockefeller" but the
disadvantage of having to strain the "seed
pearls" from between one's teeth probably
saved the beds from total extinction. But
these are seed pearls and not the precious
product that St. Matthew has in mind when
he spoke of, "A pearl of great price, went
and sold all that he had and bought it."
When I say that I have never seen a
pearl from Hawaii's mollusca, I mean
never, with one exception. And this brings
me back to that day I was returning to the
boat after an unsuccessful octopus hunt.
The Pinctada that caught my eye was
a lone oyster shell. I don't know how to
make this sound credulous but the only
reason I went down for that oyster was
because I was hungry. (After all one
shouldn't be censored too severely for
attempting to ward off starvation.) The
shell was fairly large, a little over five
inches, but not nearly of such size as
to make one anticipate any kind of a
pearl.
The byssus was firmly attached
and I was on the verge of letting go when
it broke free. That first breath of air as
I surfaced came about a minute overdue.
After I had climbed into the boat I sat
there for awhile appreciating our atmosphere and then took out my knife to cut
the adductor muscles of my lunch. I
removed the entire oyster and was about
to put it in my mouth when I felt a hard
lump between the mantle and the visceral
mass. I still did not suspect a pearl.
With my knife I cautiously cut into the
lump and there, behold--was a pearl.
Anything that I might add is postclimactic but shell hunting includes a certain amount of 'show and tell'.
The first
to doubt my word was the other individual
in the boat. He was Buzzy's brother and
had come along for the ride. In a trance
I held out the pearl to him and said, "Look
at what I found."
These famous words
might be considered as 'pearls of great
wisdom'. His reply is what shook me out
of my state of shock.
With a knowing smile he said, "Yeh,
Kress' kind".
"Why the lug thinks that I've been
harboring a joker for the psychological
moment" I thought. "He doubts my integrity!"
But when Buzzy swam up alongside and
I produced my surprise he wasted no
breath on questions except to ask, "Where
did you find the oyster?"
And to this
day Buzzy is still searching the area for
my oyster's brother.
That afternoon I presented the dear
wife with my fabulous find and the valves
of the Pinctada for proof. "How wonderful" was her only comment at the time
but the real payoff came several days
later when she added, "Darling, that pearl
is really genuine. I had it appraised at
Wichman's and they said it was worth
a hundred dollars without the setting. How
do you like my new ring?"
April, 1962
HAWAllAN SHELL NEWS
Page 6
IT PAYSTO ADVERTISE
MORE FLASHES!!
NEWS FLASH!!
A LIVING CYPRAEA
ROSSEL~ COTTON FOUND
Word
living
was
has
just
specimen
collected
been
of Cypraea
for
the
first
received
rosselli
time
that
a
Cotton
on March
18, 1962. The shell was collected by
Max Shaw who lives near Perth, Western
Australia.
The newspaper account, printed in the
Perth "Daily News", on March 26th follows:
"A rare cowrie shell will pay most of
bends victim Max Shaw's hospital expenses.
"By
fantastic
coincidence
the shell
which Shaw plucked from the ocean bed
on his 216 foot dive off Rottnest Island
last week is one which marine scientists
have been seeking for 15 years - a living
specimen that is.
-
"Shaw (26)
a member of the 'underwater Explorers
Club' - had no idea of
the value of the shell when he saw it on a
piece of fan coral 36 fathoms (216 feet)
down on March 18th.
He picked it up
because he thought it was pretty and might
make a nice pendant for his wife Laurel.
"But within 24 hours diver Shaw was
the center of a tense hospital drama. He
was stricken
by the 'bends', a diver's
pressure injury, which paralyzed his right
leg.
"On Tuesday morning while Shaw began
a 38-1/2 hour spell in a recompression
chamber, rushed from Augusta, the cowrie
shell lay in a bag by the side of his house
with nobody aware of its rarity.
"Shaw had mentioned it to UEC secretary Harold Roberts, and, intrigued by its
unusual markings, Roberts passed it on to
another underwater
explorer
UniversitY
Zoology demonstrator, Barry Wilson.
"Wilson
cowrie as
was doing
It was a
previously
at once recognized Shaw's
the missing link to a paper he
on Western Australian cowries.
live taken...Q.. rosselli
known
only from dead specimens.
"Museum
authorities
made Shaw an
offer
'I can't tell exactly what it was,'
said Shaw, 'but it will take care of most
of my hospital bills,' - and the shell will
now repose in a glass case at the Western
Australian Museum at Perth."
-
EDITORS NOTE: See HSN, p. 7, Vol. X,
No.2,
Dec. 1961 for photo. However,
the dorsum of this living Q. rosselli is a
spotted chestnut brown with chocolate overtones.
The intervals
between the labial
and columellar teeth are white.
In the remote Western Caroline Islands
a native diver has collected a live Cypraea
~
Gmelin, one of the world's rarest
shells.
A letter from Dick Willis (an old HMS
member) was recently received jointly by
Karl Greene and Cliff Weaver.
Portions
of this interesting
letter are quoted for
your information:
"Yesterday I had the thrill that comes
once in a lifetime.
I had the privilege
of holding in my hand a perfect live caught
Cypraea guttata!
When it was brought
out for me to try and identify I almost
dropped 'to the floor, It is perfect, not a
flaw or scar on it.
"The people who own the shell want to
start a scholarship for one of the native
boys or girls from the proceeds of the sale
of the ~
and send them to Suva to the
medical school there.
"The shell was found at Ifalik Atoll and
the animal was still in it when it was
obtained, or at least parts of it were.
It was still a little smelly when I saw
it. The strange and weird part of it is that
the shell was obtained in a bag of shells
that one of the natives brought up and
traded for cigarettes.
There is no precise
locality except that it comes from Ifalik
Atoll in the Western Caroline group of
;g]"nng
"I have been positive that this one
could be found in this area and now I will
not be a bit surprised
to find that the
next rarest
one on the list, Cypraea
valentia, will also show up some bright
day in a box or palm basket of shells
brought up for trade by some curly headed
little native kid".
Editor's
Note:
This shell has been
purchased by Cliff Weaver for an undisclosed amount wHich Cliff thinks should
put the whole Atoll through medical school.
When the shell arrives photographs of it
will be published in HSN. In the mean time
Cliff says he can be found in a tent on the
beach at Lanikai.
Guess he had to rent
his home to payoff the guttata.
WANTED!!
INFORMATION!!
Several years ago a Mr. P. S. Galtsoff
and others transplanted pearl shell from
the Pearl and Hermes Reef to Hawaiian
waters. Does anyone have any information
on this transplant? The results obtained?
Etc.?
TWO RARE BOOKS FOR SALE
Wm. A. Bryan's "Natural
History of
Hawaii" (1915), $50.00.
Isabella L. Bird's "Six Months in the
Sandwich Islands", (London, 1876), $75.00.
Write or phone KARL W. GREENE,
P. O. Box 3751, Honolulu, Hawaii. (Telephone 748-472).
Ed. Note: These books have been out of
print for years and should be in
the hands of some collector of
Hawaiiana.
BLACK
CORAL
"Gem of the Hawaiian Islands"
Raw Jewelry Sizes $15.00 per Pound
Display Branches $5.00 a foot up to 3 feet
Bases, Trees and Carvings also available
If Interested, Write to
RICK GRIGG,
2723 Oahu Ave.,
Honolulu 14, Hawaii
-
FOR DIVING COLLECTORS
Are you collecting in the shallows? Or
after the rare ones in deep water with
scuba?
Be safe! I Two new books by
Master Diver E. R. Cross will help. Book
One; INTRODUCTION TO SKIN DIVING,
a manual of safe diving for the skin diver.
60 pages, illustrated,
$1.50. Book Two;
ADVANCED SKIN AND SCUBA DIVING,
safety for the scuba diver.
90 pages,
illustrated,
$2.00.
Order direct or send
for free brochure.
MARINE RESEARCH
PUBLISHING CO., Dept. N-1, 2773 E.
Manoa Road, Suite 201, Honolulu 14, Hawaii.
~
THE BOOKSTORE
c/o The Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii
Books on Hawaii and the Pacific Ocean Area
All Current
Shell Books at Publishers
Prices.
Children's Books a Specialty
SKIN DIVER MAGAZINE
Devoted to the underwater world and to
underwater enthusiasts allover the world.
SDM features complete coverage of clubs,
associations, latest diving equipment,
marine specimen collection, spearfishing
and depth records; oceanography and
undersea archeology reports, plus several
outstanding underwater adventures each
month. Twelve issues, $4.00 in USA and
Canada. All other countries, $5.00. Single
copy 50~. Write to SKIN DIVER MAGAZINE, P. O. Box 111, Lynwood, California.
Helpful Hints For Shell Hunters
The most helpful manual ever written
for shell collectors - from beach combing
to scuba diving to deep sea dredging.
Eleven chapters,
80 pages of accurate
collecting information.
Data on collecting,
cleaning,
identifying,
cataloguing
and
storing.
An informative
monograph by
experienced
collecting
members of the
Hawaiian Malacological
Society.
Priced
at just $2.00 - prepaid. Order today from
TREASURER, HAWAIIAN MALACOLOGICAL
SOCIETY,
2777 Kalakaua Ave.,
Honolulu 15, Hawaii.
April,
Page 7
HAWAIIAN SHELL NEWS
1962
GOLDEN COWRY CORNER
WELCOME NEW MEMBERS
The Editors of your HSN and officers
of the Hawaiian Malacological Society welcome the following new members to the
Society. We would like to hear from new and old - members of the Society regarding
their likes and dislikes of material in
THEm HSN.
-WDR
Norman P. Currin
U. S. Navy VP-31 NAS North Island,
San Diego, California
Miss Jeanie DuFord
P. O. Box 602, Koloa, Kauai
Mr. Vincent R. Foster
1260 "Rockwood House" Lonsdale Ave.
Parkhurst, Newport, Isle of Wight,
England
Mrs. Frank Gallagher
6500 Mt. Hawley Road, Peoria, nl.
Mrs. M. R. Hammond
2605 Fairway Drive, Baton Rouge, La.
Captain Dewey Huffer
Truk - Eastern Caroline Islands
Trust Territory of Pacific
Anne W. Jones
712 N. Colorado Ave., Claremont, Calif.
Mrs. B. S. Mauney
2373 Lynhurst Ave.
Winston-Salem, N. C.
Mr. Y. B. Robbins
44 Vancouver Street, Yarmouth,
Nova Scotia, Canada
Sr. Don Mariano Lopez Socas
"Museum Maris"
Avda. Dr. Rafael Gonzales, 12
Arreclfe
Lanzarote
Islas Canarias, Spana
In the October, 1961 issue of the Hawaiian
Shell News this column was headlined
"Can Luster Be Restored To A Golden
Cowry?"
Mrs. R. T. (Virginia) Gallemore
asked that question.
You will recall that
Mrs. Gallemore is the wife of an administrative official in the mandated islands of
the Pacific.
The family
is currently
stationed at Yap in the Western Caroline
Islands.
A recent letter from Mrs. Gallemore provided the answer to the question.
A portion of Mrs. Gallemore's
letter is
quoted as follows:
"Color,
But Not Luster, Returns to Golden
Cowries in Tests"
Vaseline outside and moisture
within
have returned three faded golden cowries
to a brilliant orange color, evenly throughout. Where luster was lacking, it is still
lacking.
The cowries were of three grades. The
best was perfect, but gold in color, rather
than the blood-orange of the best specimens.
The second was lustrous and beautiful
on the base; but scabby in polish, and
spotted in coloring on the top.
The third, definitely a beach-worn specimen, has little of either luster or color.
The best now is thought to be equal to
the best anywhere.
The second and third
have the same orange coloring, and with a
luster provided by any of the artificial
means (oil, wax, silicates) and very desirable, from the standpoint of beauty.
Color started returning in spots near the
small end. These grew larger. and crept
above and outward until the entire shell
was covered with the far deeper shade.
No spotting of the paler shade remains
on any of the three."
Many thanks to Mrs. Gallemore.
And.
as this issue of the HSN goes to press another good letter has arrived from Mrs.
Gallemore; it contains items which will be
of interest to our readers for a future issue.
GOLDEN COWRY REGISTER
-
Mrs. Mildred Tate
211 Huisache, Lake Jackson, -Texas
Mrs. J. F. Unerfusser
P. O. Box 703, Lake Jackson, Texas
WHAT PRICESHELLS???
Several
price
lists have been received
this past month.
Space - free space that
is - is limited
and we can barely mention
the more interesting
lists.
For more complete
information
write
to the address
given.
(1) MARINE SHELLS OF THE PACIFIC
NORTHWEST
Thomas
C. Rice,
Route 2,
Box 483, Poulsbo,
Washington.
(2)
DREDGED
SHELLS
FROM
THE
GULF OF MEXICO IN DEPTHS OF 100 TO
800 FEET:
Jim Moore,
P. O. Box 65,
Palmetto,
Florida.
(Based on prices
there
must be so m e rare
goodies
in those
dredgings.)
(3)
CYPRAEAS
AND CASSIS (World
Wide) V. F. Saxton, 2716 Fruitville
Road,
Sarasota,
Florida.
(4) SPECIMEN
SHELLS Mrs. A. Gordon
Melvin, 863 Watertown St., West Newton,
Mass.
For
is
the
collector
of
fossils
the
following
Steve Harman forwarded the measurements of his cowry in inches. The conversion
to millimeters
is ours.
Information on Captain Huffer's cowry has been forwarded to us by R. (Dick) C. Willis,
along with the Captain's request for membership in the Society.
For readers that may be curious on the location of Nomwin Atoll, the atlas indicates
8 degrees 25 minutes north latitude, and 151 degrees 25 minutes east longitude. It is
estimated that the atoll is about 12 x 16 miles in size. With the registration of Captain
Hoffer's cowry, total registration now numbers 206.
RECORD SIZE SHELLS
The December, 1961 issue of the Hawaiian Shell News contains sizes of eight
different
shells and asks "Can You Top
These?"
Readers responded particularly
well on
sizes of their Mitra mitra and Terebra
maculata.
Brief comment has been made
in the last several issues of the HSN on these
two type shells.
A resume showing' 'top"
shell for each species is, as follows:
offered;
(5) FOSSILSFOR EVERYBODYMalicks ,
5514 Plymouth Road,Baltimore 14, Maryland.
It is interesting to note that the above
price lists do not "list" a single Hawaiian
shell.
Length(mm)
~mJ1rJ!.
Terebra maculata
The
proud
155
255
owner
for
Width (mm)
41.5
61
both shells
is
Walter N. Carpenter, 7115 Healy Drive,
Springfield,
Virginia.
Mr. Carpenter has
written that both of the shells are from
Cebu in the Philippines and were obtained
in August 1955.
Mitra incompta has been topped in size
too.
In this instance by Jean M. Cate,
12719 San Vicente Blvd., Los Angeles 49,
California.
Her shell measures 102.8 mm
in length and 27.9 mm in width. The shell
is from Zanzibar.
Ronald E. Pabl, Fulton College, Tailevu,
Fiji reports that he possesses a Conus
aulicus which is 144 mm in length and 57
mm in width. That size exceeds our record
here at the Children's Museum. Do you have
a larger one?
CIfBMA I!!!R!.SSCHILDERIANANOT FOUND IN
MORE BURSA DATA
FLORIDA
by
CRAWFORD N. CATE
It was with considerable dismay that
I read the letter from "Barnacle
Bill"
Hosmer in the March issue of HSN, in which
he tells of going through quantities of
Cypraea tigris in Florida shell shops and
selecting
schilderiana from among
them,
basing his conclusion
that the
selected specimens are .Q. .h schilderiana
solely on the incorrect
assumption that
this subspecies is merely a lighter-colored
version
of the typical
C. ~
tigris.
I hate to be the bearer Of sad new~t
this situation simply isn't possible. In the
interest of correcting a misconception before it goes much farther, I'd like to discuss this a little more.
~
Let's start out by being a bit technical;
we'll finish up in simpler terms.
After
all, a good many technicalities are involved
in naming and describing a new subspecies;
we don't just say "Look here, this shell
is a different color, let's give it a new
name."
Think what chaos would result
if this were true!
Many mollusk species
are so variable, even in shape, that there
would be a far worse muddle in conchology
than there is at present if this were the
way a new subspecies (or species, or
genus, etc.) is born.
As with everything
else, there are rules to follow in describing
a new form, or taxon.
These rules or
principles
are
what we refer to as
taxonomy.
The textbook definition of a subspecies
is:
"A geographically defined aggregate
of local populations which differs taxonomically
from other such subdivisions
of the species."
A careful re-reading of
my paper in which I described Cypraea
~
schilderiana (The Veliger 3 (4):107109) and the subsequent one by Dr. Alison
Kay (The Veliger 4 (1):36-40) will bring
out the differences which set this purely
Hawaiian subspecies apart from the typical
~. .!!g!:!! ~
and its
other
subspecies
collected more commonly in other parts
of the Pacific.
Color alone is by far the
least important consideration
in such a
variable species; furthermore,
the color
and pattern vary about as much within the
subspecies schilderiana as they do in the
other more common forms.
I have some
specimens from Hawaii that appear almost
totally black, and others in many degrees
of color variability.
It should be emphasized that, according
to presently accepted biological concepts,
any number of mollusks
of the same
species, collected in any single locality,
must all belong to the same subspecies.
It is a biological impossibility
for more
than one subspecies to exist side by side
in the same locality.
Therefore, no one
could sort through any assortment of shells
from the same locality and find anything
but varying color phases and assorted
sizes of the same subspecies. As mentioned
before, variations
could be found even
within a hypothetical bin full of Cypraea
tigris schilderiana; there could be several
va:rIii1ions, but all specimens in that bin
would be schilderiana
Hawaii.
if they all came from
Cypraea ~
~
~innaeus, 1758
(the typical species) and ..Q.,.~ pardalis
Shaw, 1795 are common, to very common
mollusks, found in great numbers in shallow
water and on the reefs in many areas,
notably such places as East Africa and the
Philippines.
It is these large quantities
from such abundantly endowed localities
that are shipped in bulk, literally
by the
ton, allover
the world to shell stores and
noveltY dealers.
Cypraea
~
schilderiana
Cate,
1961
is found only in Hawaii (' 'a geographically
defined aggregate").
It is uncommon to
rare even there, coming from fairly deep
water.
One of the reasons it is rare in
Hawaii is that this is the end of the line
for CyPraea ~,
so to speak; the species
is found no further east than Hawaii and as
is sometimes the case, at the end of its
range it unaccountably undergoes certain
changes in form as well as becoming
scarcer, just before disappearing from the
scene entirely.
Evidently this species
cannot endure whatever changes in ecology
take place east of Hawaii, and therefore
it moves no farther.
If any single morphological
character
could be said to separate Cypraea ~
schilderiana from the typical species and
other subspecies, it would not be the color,
but rather
the astonishingly
large size
it attains at maturity---5
or 6 inches long,
3-1/2 or 3-3/4 inches wide, and 3 or
3-1/4 inches high---nearly
twice as large
in all dimensions as the typical species.
My closing arguments may seem unscientific,
and possibly will sound all the
more convincing for that reason:
it is
unlikely that any Hawaiian collector lucky
enough to find such a prize on a deep
dive would let it go to a bulk-shell dealer
for the pittance he would receive for it.
Its relative
rarity
precludes
its being
exported in large quantities, and if dealers
can sell Cypraea tigris at the height of the
tourist season for tWenty-five
cents apiece
and make a profit, what could the original
collector, with his costly SCUBA equipment,
gain by sending a single specimen to a
dealer for resale?
The postage alone
would cost more than twenty-five cents to
mail a parcel containing the equivalent
weight of a single typical adult specimen
of Cypraea tigris schilderiana.
It is my
understandin-g--fiiat a fine, large specimen
of
the Hawaiian
subspecies
could be
expected to bring a figure closer to $20-$25
through a dealer in specimen shells, and
its rarity makes this a not unfair price,
all things considered.
I further
would allow
to remain in
even if he
shells, if it
long!
doubt that any shell dealer
a specimen of Cypraea ~
the twenty-five cent grab-bag,
didn't know anything about
measured five or six inches
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN
Regarding Feb. 1962 issue of HSN:
"On p. 7; having no book reference on
~
mammata, Roding, 1798, but knowing
I have a similar shell I checked. It seems
I have 2 similar
(if not th~ same) shells
to the one you picture, both found in 1956.
The one from Guam and one from Kii,
Japan.
Both came as "rhodostoma"Beck.. 1841 "type of Lampadopsis genus".
Maxwell Smith World Wide #666 and M.
Smith
"Triton
Helmet
and Harpa"
#27
-
plate 9, fig. 2 show "rhodostoma".
Also
in "Triton
Helmet and Harpa", P. 26-9
list "siphonata"
Reeve, 1844 as synonym
of Bursa bufonia venustula Reeve, 1844.
Do we-have
same or different shells?
On p. 2; the shell I have from Japan
and the pictures in the 2 Japanese books
I have (not the newer Habe) do not look
like figure 3 and 4 of Cymatium _echo.
"Would you know if vespaceum Lam
and sinense Reeve 1844 are similar shells
because figures
5 and 6 fit M. Smith
"Triton
Helmet
and Harp"
Cvmatium
sinense more than.9.., vespaceum?
signed, Mrs. W. Barker.
ANSWFH
We consider
the most up to date
taxonomic reference for Pacific Marine
Mollusks to be Kuroda and Habe's "Check
List and Bibliography of the Recent Marine
Mollusca of Japan". SuchfamousAmerican
malacologists
and zoologists as Dr. Myra
Keen and Dr. Alvin Cahn helped compile
this outstanding "Check List".
Although Maxwell Smith's books' 'Triton
Helmet and Harp Shells" and "WorldWide Sea Shells and Rock Shell Catalog"
are helpful they contain many errors in
nomenclature, particularly the earlier book.
For example, in "Triton Helmet and Harp
Shells",
on p. 27 he lists B. cruentata
as a synonym of~
rhodostOma-:--l1ihis
latter book he lists them correctly as two
distinct species as have Kuroda and Habe.
Unfortunately only a handful of Bursa are
listed in Smith's "World Wide Sea Shell,
etc.", and therefore few corrections could
be made of his earlier work which covered
many Bursa species.
In Kuroda and Habe's "Japanese Check
List" on p. 82 under Ranella we see that
~ ~fini~ Broderip, 1832, is a synonym
of ~ corrugata Perry, 1811, and that ~
vunustula Reeve, 1844, is a synonym of
B. mammata R<>ding,1798, both of which
correct Smith's synonymy in his "Triton
Helmet and Harp Shells."
The earlier
authors of course have priority in these
two cases. On p. 26 Smith also incorrectly
lists ~ tuberossima as a synonym of ~
bufonia, Kuroda and Habe show on p. 42
of their "Check List" B. bufonia and B.
tuberossima to be two di"Stin~
separate
species.
Cymatium vespaceum Lamarck and C.
sinense Reeve are broadly similar bUt
different species; see Kuroda and Habe
"Japanese Check List", p. 51.
We believe the Hawaiian Cymatium
~
to be a narrower ecological form of the
typi1::alJapanese5;..,.
~cho.
We find the taxonomy in Kuroda and
Habe to be the most reliable andup-to-date
for the area covered by this volume.