AN EDUCATIONAL PUBLICATION OF THE HAWAIIAN MALACOLOGICAL SOCIETY
VOT, XXH
NO" 3
Recovery of what is believed to be a hitherto
undescribed member of the Trochidae from
deep water in the Molokai Channel' between
Oahu and Molokai has been reported by MI;.
and Mrs.. Don Com, of Kail.ua, Oahu. Corn is
skipper of Maw Divers Deepwater Explorations,' eighty-foot research vessel Holokai,
which uses a two-man 8Cubmarineto harve8Ct
pink coral from water 1,200 feet deep.
The so-far-unidentified 8Chellwas found on
January 18, 1974 among pieces of angelskin
coral "picked" by the submarine's mechanical
arm. Similar specimens (possibly the same
species.).were recovered in the area by the
U.S.ft.V. Alba'rQ8~ about seventy-five years
ago.,and by E. ft. Cross while dredging in 60Q
to 800 feet of wat"r off Waikiki in the early
1960s.
Collectors suggest that there may be others in
museums awaiting identification or description.
"It was fascinating to go along (on Holokai)
and watch the maneuvers of man and machine,"
wrote Mrs. Com in reporting the find.. "The
operation involves a million dollars' worth of
equipment and seven men: the skipper., three
divers, a deckhand, the pilot of the submarine,
'80' Bartko, who handpicks the angelskin coral
with the mechanical arm, and II co-pilot.
"Remembering that Mike King had found a
new species of Volva by sorting through black
coral, I asked Don to examine the baskets of
pink coral as they came up, He did so, and to
our delight on January 18 h" found a shell that
appeared to be a Trochid but was unlike any
other we had seen in local collections or in
books.
..Aft"r we failed to get a name for the shell
we took it to Dr. Alison Kay, head of the department of general science at the University
of Hawaii and our leading expert on Hawaiian
shells. She returned the following memo:
" 'This is a species of Trochid genus Tristitrochus, and may be undescribed. The species
in the genus are usually deep-water. One was
described from off Midway Island, ca. 480 m.
deep, by Habe and Okutani (Venus, 1968), but
this shell differs in its very fine sculpture. Shells
vrobablv revresentinlr the same species were
MARCH. 1974
NEW SERIES NO. 17
by ELMER
Photo: Jim Fair
dredged by the Albatross at depths of more than
100 fathoms off Mo}()kai at the beginning of the
centw:y..' "
Mr8. Com describes the shell as fol}()w~:
"This live-found member of the Family
Trochidae most neuly resembles Tristichotrochus aculeatus (Sowerbyl and CaUioBtoma
{Tristichotrocus}
wsaensis Kuroda and Habe, but differs quite distinctly in its five greatly
pronounced ventricose body whorls which expand away from the protoconch of three granulate lirae.
"The fragile shell is irridescent deep bronze
overall and becomes only slightly lighter inside
the labrum down to the operculum, which is th~
same color and completely fills the aperture.
"The lirae are crenulose and emanate eoncentrieally in obvious growth series horn apex to
base. These lirae are separated by granulos\J
striae. A periostracum is absent.
"The known benthic range is 185 to 205
fathoms (approximately 1100 to 1230 feet).
The habitat was (among) pink, gold and bamboo coral growing from a thick, silty, muddy
bottom in a strong current.. Distribution other
than in Molokai Channel is unknown.
"The specimen is 19.1 mm high by 18,5 mm
in great~st diameter. The animal is present and
yet to be studied.
"Sinee the original find, two more live specimens have been brought up. They measure 20.9
mm by 21.3 mm, and 17.1 by 17.6 respectiveIv."
G.. LEEHMAN
The majestic volute family is,truly the Royalty of the Shell Wo~td. This is ~ without reason.
The fascinatwg r;ang~of profi~ ~Ol1g with the
s~ctrum of britli~t cot<Jrsmake%these shells a
joy to collect or \0, 8tudy,
This i8su~of; 8llwUffln.SheU News pays particular; tribute to the YQl~e.
The spectacul~ 1r00sand ~!C~e% of VOcluta
Biuliea Sowerby, 1825, fur example, are simply
stunning.. The h\Wdl:ed or ~re fo!Cmsof ~he
common V. vespe{'tiliv Linne, 1758 are no less
than am~ing. The ~uge size and usefulness of
the bailer sheU, V, t Mero)lJmphora Lightfoot,
1786.. ~d the damaging potential of the V. imperialis Lightfoot, 1786, which Filipino villagers traditionally used as a sort of brass
knuekle, are marve}s of Nature's handiwork.
Several volute speci~s have heen trawled
from depths exceedwg 10,000 feet. We ponder
at the adaptability of !Oucha seemingly fragile
creature to ~e!Oistsuch crushing pressure%.
Volutes, with mo~e than 200 year!Oof documen~ed history, have been in special demand
8ince the firs\ specimens were brought to the
Bri\ish Isles in tbe late l700s hy merchant and
naval ships participating in the "explosion" of
~xploration in the va!Ot Pacific basin. Cap~,
James Cook, who charted \he previously unknown coasts of Jlawaii, eastern A1\stralia and
New Zealand, and Capt. William Bligh, ()Ommander of the ill-starred H.M.S. Bounty, wer~
among \hose who brough~ or sent home large
numbers of rare and undescribed shells. Bligh's
eventually formed the basis of the famed early
collection amassed by his wife. Volutes were an
important part Qf \he~e "cabine\s,"
The first known Volltta plJpiUosa Swainson,
1822 was procured w Australia on one of those
voyages. It subsequently waR !Ooldto the Postmaater General for tw~nty,nine pounds, a sub..
stantial sum at that time. The first recorded Ii:
altlica came into the hands of the Duchess of
Portland in 1780, was sold to the Duke of
Colonne in 1787, was later bought by the fourth
Earl of Tapkerville, and finally was donated to
the British Mustl1\m, where it repo!Oestoday.
ICont'd on P~e
4\
Page 2
March. 1974
HAWAIIAN SHELL NEWS
that migrate around in underground streams.
I'm going to have fun working on this puzzle."
A good crowd of members and guests attended the regular meeting of the Hawaiian
Malacological Society at the First United
Methodist Church on February 6 to hear about
the University of Hawaii's high-school-level seagoing lab / collection / study cruises. The
speaker was Doug Pendleton, graduate-student
coordinator of the UH Marine Options Probrram. Barry Hill, who initiated the program,
was unable to attend at the last moment.
Dottie Wendt, high school science teacher
and enthusiast for field projects of this sort:told
of the need for bringing Hawaii's students into
contact with the sea.
"Many know almost nothing about what's in
the ocean," she declared. "Plenty of them go
surfing, but a lot of them can't even swim. The
study cruises aboard the motor-sailer Machias
open a whole new world to many."
Under the Marine
Options Program,
Machias makes approximately twelve half-day
cruises per month with thirty students plus
teachers. The vessel tows a plankton net, the
contents of which are studied in the ship's
laboratory. Students learn elementary oceano!,rraphy and meteorology, as well as something
about seamanship and about aspects of their
Hawaiian heritage.
Pendleton invited HMS to consider chartering Machias for study and collecting cruises to
the Neighbor Islands.
REEFCOMBINGS
JJ(} A FRIENJJ A FAV(JR!
HMS Members: Non-members will receive a
(~omplimentary copy of Hawaiian Shell News
(with a membership application) if you send the
Corresponding Secretary their full name and
address.
HMS veteran, E. C. "Easy" Jones, and his
wife Marlene, have reported to Hawaii friends
on conditions in Norwood, Missouri, to which
they moved last year when Easy retired from the
U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service.
"I have not had much time to think about
shelling since we've been here," he wrote.
"Aside from some pond snails in our spring
there aren't many shells to collect. Of course,
our farm is made up of a reef about 400 million
years old (Pennsylvanian t and there are oodles
of fossils around. About all we find on our farm
are negative molds of crinoids and gastropods,
but a few miles north of us are abundant 'positives' of brachiopods, blastoids, horn corals (just
like the ones from 120 fathoms in Pailolo
Channell, and crinoids, not to mention masses
of bryazoa, and hydroid-like colonies. Many of
these are in weathered limestone and can be
plucked out like nuts from a cake.
"Our spring is a biological puzzle. It dries
completely in July and stays that way until
November. The creek into which it flows also is
dry during the summer and the nearest yearround stream is a mile away (witht waterfalls in
between. In spite of all this, I have crawdads
and fish in my spring. They do not appear to be
cave species. (Thev seemt to be surface species
After you have read Kendra Allen's report ~n
land snails a,nd Dr. Bea Burch's comments
(page 31, you may want to look up "The 1973
Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine" appearing in Science, 2 Nov. 1973. The article
gives some fascinating information on the lives
of the three Nobel prizewinners and reinforces
Dr. Burch's point about the potential usefulness
of amateur studv of the molluscs.
The announcement that Gabby Kawelo of
Kailua had found a genuine six-inch Hawaiian
Tiger Cowry (HSN, January 1974) has been
followed by a suggestion that an even larger
specimen is known. Does any reader - particularly one with contacts among nonmember
scuba divers and fishermen on the Neighbor
Islands - have any information on this? Dr. A.
Gordon Melvin, a thoroughly reliable author of
shell !;looks, writing in a hobby magazine last
year, cited a diving bulletin from Hawaii
reporting a seven-inch specimen. But the source
of the bulletin is obscure. Information, please.
Abraham Singer's Little Stranger from the
Gulf of Aqaba, shown in HSN for December
1973, was the most recognized shell in recent
memory. Mrs. Nellie R. Hamilton, of Ithaca,
N.Y. was the first to identify it as Ancilla
cinnemonia, as reported last month. She was
closely followed by Bill Brough of Balga, Western Australia, Richard E. Petit of North Myrtle
Beach, N.C., and Earl H. Reed, senior curator
of the Springfield (Mass.) Museum of Science
- all of whom gave Lamarck as the author. A.
castanea Sowerby was said to be a synonym.
John R. Van Ruth, of Hilo, plans to sail to
Rapa Island, in the South Pacific this year. He
wants to know what shells are found there. Can
anyone advise him? His address is P. O. Box
872. Hilo. Hawaii 96720.
Identified
One of the Little Strangers from Thailand,
the
January
(Phalium)
Filmer
"I
HSN,
fimbria
of Chobham,
have
Thailand
in
Cassis
(Gemlin, 17911, by R. M.
is
identified
as
Surrey.
seen beach
specimens
and Mikkaduwa,
in Phuket,
Ceylon,
and live-
taken specimens in Ceylon and the Seychelles,"
he writes.
endemic
"For
"It
is clearly
to the Indian
details,
the Cassidae."
a deep-water
species,
Ocean.
see Indo-Pacific
Mollusca
on
HAWAIIAN SHELL NEWS
March. 1974
Pa~e 3
THE LOCOMOTION AND HABITS OF THE ACHACHATINA
Introduction
-
A School Science Project Report
by Beatrice L. Burch
The 1973 Nobel Prize for Physiology or
Medicine was awarded jointly to three zoologists
who discovered individual and social behavior
patterns in lower animals. Their study was conducted by observing animal behavior in the
natural environment.
Among the three Nobel prize winners, Karl
von Frisch demonstrated communication
between bees through their dances and also
showed that color and odor were essential in
colony growth and development. Konrad
Lorenz studied causation and organization of
behavior in birds and fish. Niko Tenbergen, an
avid naturalist from youth (as was Lorenz),
studied digger wasps and other insects. He
tested hypotheses on sensory control of
behavior.
All three of these men spent many years in the
field, studying and then testing theories on the
structure and behavior of animal groups, finally
demonstrating that this understanding is also
relevant to the psychology of our own species.
Kendra Allen, a thirteen-year-old seventhgrade student at Punahou School in Honolulu,
probably did not realize she was walking in such
prestigious footsteps when she began the rather
basic research that she reports in the adjoining
columns. Nevertheless, her product is a model
and a demonstration of the work that can be
done by almost any amateur malacologist. Extended far enough, and coupled with the observations of others in related fields, such a
study can make an invaluable contribution to
the whole field of psysiology.
We lack so much information on behavior of
molluscs. Much can be learned by field observation of molluscan populations. This is one
way the hobbiest as well as the serious student
can contribute valuable information. All it takes
is patience, the seeing eye and the recording
finger. Learning about behavior is rewarding,
but making this study available to others is even
more of a cont.;hnt;nn
~~..~...
*
*
by Kendra
*
Snails live everywhere except in the Arctic
regions.
If there are snails allover your plants and in
your shrubs, you probably think they are pests.
That is true to some extent, but snails are
important to man as well as to other animals.
People eat snails, and use them in a variety of
ways. Squirrels, frogs, birds, snakes and salamanders eat snails, too. Aside from being part of
the food chain, great numbers of snails are
scavengers and eat wild "garbage" - dead
II
Purpose: To observe snails.
Procedure: I arranged a boxlike enclosure
and put two snails inside. The top was left open.
Results: After watching the snails for awhile
I noticed that they prefer left to right. I decided
to experiment with this fact. I put snails at the
edge of our table and put a board about one centimeter in front of them. Their choices were to
go straight up or to the right. They both went
straight up. I also noticed that snails will go left
until they come to an interesting object such as
food. Then they go in any direction.
Conclusion: I conclude that snails go left
when searching for food or just traveling,
but when they find what they are looking for
they don't care what direction they go.
leaves, rotted fruit and animal waste which
might otherwise become breeding grounds for
disease.
Land snails belong to the same class as sea
snails, periwinkles, whelks and conches. Their
name is Gastropoda, meaning "stomach-foot"
in Greek. Fresh-water snails are gastropods,
too. Land snails are descended from early sea
snails whose fossils are among the oldest found.
III
Snails were living in the sea 600 million years
Purpose: To see if snails could travel faster
ago, long before there were dinosaurs, even be- ,
on a wet plate, and if snails went up or sideways
fore there were fish. Fossils of land snails are
or what.
much younger, only about 150 million years.
Procedure: Placed a flat dinner plate at a tilt
The first snails to go onto land probably did
(held up by a fruit bowl), moistened it with a
so by accident. Maybe they were washed ashore
wet paper towel. Put snail, Gertrude, at center
or maybe the ocean started to dry up around
of plate. Set timer and watched.
them. In any case they couldn't stay out of water
Re.'iults: After ten minutes nothing happened.
long because they couldn't breathe air. They
I tried again five minutes later. This time I
had gills for breathing under water. There was
waited 25 minutes and still nothing happened.
an awfully good reason for staying on land,
Conclusion: Since results we.re consistent, I
however. A whole new world of food lay around
concluded the snail was confu'sed and didn't
them, with few other animals to compete for it.
Irnn'"
",h"t
tn
Each generation stayed out of the water longer
.-.,...
.~ An
-~.
in order to eat. If they lived, they passed this
ability to their offspring. Gradually, after
thousands of generations, their babies adapted
to the air breathing need and developed lungs.
Then they were free to stay on land.
No one knows exactly how the Achachatina
came to Hawaii. We do know they came from
Mrica, however. Scientists suggest that the
snails arrived in shipments of vegetables or fruit
after
the missionaries
in Hawaii. in our
I found
the snails forsettled
my experiments
garden and on the lawn.
Allen
My reason for starting this project was that I
was assigned to do it, but after I got into the
project I found it quite interesting and I spent a
lot of my free time working on it.
To begin with, a snail is a very temperamental
animal. The kind of snail I'm working with is
the most temperamental of all, so my work has
been a little difficult, but I've had fun.
There are at least 700 and perhaps as many
as 1,500 species of land snails in America. Of
these I chose the common African land snail.
Most snails eat grass and leaves, although some
eat decayed matter. Some kinds eat tiny insects
and worms. Some even eat other snails.
selves forward with the undulating muscle in
their foot.
EXPERIMENTS
Purpose: To seehow a snail moves by looking
from underneath.
Procedure: I took a piece of sheet glass from
the top of our aquarium, washed it carefully and
set it on our kitchen table. Then I put a snail at
the center of the glass and waited for him to
start to move.
Re.~ult,~:I saw what looked like a little beach
with about twelve waves going across the snail's
foot at one time. This kept rolling and pulling
the snail forward.
Conclu,~ion: I conclude that snails pull them-
IV
Purpose: To see if snails avoid or come closer
or ignore light shone directly on them.
Procedure: Turned out all lights that could
possibly affect my experiment, put snails on our
kitchen table and turned on my 40 watt flashli~ht from different angles.
Re.~ult.~: a. Head-on: Snails immediately
went into shell, then slowly came out and started
to left. (In all cases, after flashlight was turned
on it was laid down at the given place and stayed
stationary. I b. From left: Snail cringed, and
went into shell, turned completely around and
slithered about a centimeter straight ahead, then
came out of its shell for a look around, went
back inside, slithered two more centimeters and
again turned completely around and started left.
c. From right: Snails cringed and turned left. d.
From rear: Snails went about a foot straight
abead, then turned left.
I then repeated this experiment with a 60watt flashlight, with the following results: a.
Head on: Snail went into shell and turned completely around, then slithered about a foot ahead
and tllrned left. b. From left: Went into shell,
turned completely around, slithered ten inches
tCont'd
on
Palle
51
Page 4
Regal Volutes
~Cont'd from Page 11
This brilliant red shell was undoubtedly the
most avidly sought specimen in Europe at the
time. For many years it was the only one of the
species known, and was the envy of all early
shell collectors.
Volut8 8ulic8 is relatively common today,
but among the limited number of volutes known
to pioneer malacologists a few remain exceedingly rare. Examples are V. lyr8eformis Swainson, 1821, V. festiv8 Lamarck, 1811, 1-:
cymbiola Gmelin, 1791, and 1-: chrysostoma
Swainson, 1824.
The records are not clear on how these early
specimenswere collected, or where. Labels often
merely state "from natives" in such far-off lands
as Amboina, the Moluccas, Mauritius, India or
Zanzibar. Assuming that the data are correct,
one can only wonder how the "natives"collected
such fine (and apparently live-taken I specimens
of shells that normally come from the depths of
the ocean and even today are seldom collected
by chance.
In any event, sailors soon learned that rare
shells brought high prices at home. A box - or
even a few barrels - full of specimens was part
of the gear of many returning seamen. At least
one dealer or collector could be expected to meet
every returning ship. Bargaining for molluscan
treasures was hard and normally continued until
everything had been sold. This "pier-head"
trading was the foundation of almost all the
important early collections of volutes.
Ever since, volutes have been prominent in
the shell world.
Among present-day malacologists and collectors who have made serious contributions to our
knowledge of the Volutidae are several members of the Hawaiian Malacological Society.
Clifton Stokes Weaver, past president of the society and a former editor of Hawaiian Shell
News, is one of the foremost. Shortly after
World War II he became interested in the family and began an intensive study, as well as col.
lecting. He wrote many notable articles on
volutes for this publication, and was co-author
with John E. duPont of The Living Volutes,
bible for all volute enthusiasts.
During his career as a collector, Weaver put
to/{ether probably the finest collection of volutes
in the world. Several specimens were holotypes
and paratypes. Eventually, on Weaver's retirement, his beloved collectioh went to the Delaware Museum of Natural History.
John E. duPont is another who has significantly contributed to knowledge of the volutes.
lh addition to years of active collecting, he has
financed expeditions to remote areas, co-aU.
thored The Living Volutes with Weaver and
financed its publication, set up the tremendous
malacologlcal display at the Delaware Museum
which he was instrumental in establishina, and
March. 1974
HAW AllAN SHELL NEWS
produced an excellent film, The Search for the
Perplicata. With the inclusion of the Weaver
collection, there is no question that the Delaware Museum has the most extensive volute display in the world today.
Both individually and as a team, driPont and
Weaver have travelled to many parts of the
world in search of elusive volutes. They personally, or expeditions they organized, found
and described a number of previously unrecognized species.
Another well-known amateur who has made
substantial contributions to our understanding
of the family is Frank Abbotsmith, of Balga,
Western Australia. The author of Multiform
Australian Volutes, he also has found time to
gather a fabulous collection of Australian species and variations, several of which are one of a
kind.
As I write this, Abbotsmith is on a round-theworld lecture tour that started here in Honolulu
during January. His talk, which included an extensive program of color slides, attracted a
standing-room-only crowd to the Waikiki Aquarium.
Maxwell Smith is another who was instrumental in adding research findings. He is author
of A Review of the Volutidae.
Anyone seriously interested in collecting
volutes has an almost inexhaustible field in
which to work. Many shells are reasonably
priced, although as one graduates to the rare
category the investm!JR¥canbecomesubstantiel.
The more plentiful species, such as Voluta vespertilio, V. undulata, v: zebra and V. grayi,
are prime examples of beautiful volutes at
modest prices.
The color, size, form and pattern variations of
a single "common" speciescan make a fascinating study. This writer has observed Voluta vespertillo, for example, ranging in color from a
pure white albino to an almost pure black
melanistic specimen, with reds, oranges,
browns, tans, creams, grays and other colors
in between.
Sinistral v: vespertilio
are also found
occasionally. Some shoulders are smooth, others
knobby, and a number have sharp tubercules.
Actually, it wouid be possible for a serious
collector to specialize in v: vespertilio
exclusively and to have hundreds of shells with
no two exactly alike
all with a modestinvest~
ment.
Surprisingly, many of the most brilliantly
colored volutes live in mud or muddy sand.
They have no free-swimming veliger stage in
life, hence their movement is more restricted
than that of other molluscan families. Some live
in the great depths and can be recovered only
with special trawls and other equipment of the
sort carried by oceanographic research vessels.
Among the well-known research ships,
H.M.S. Challenger, U .S.S. Albatross, and
R-V. P"J" havp made valuablecontributionsto
the lore of the volute, bringing up previously unknown species. Less scientifically, shrimp and
prawn trawlers often bring up volutes - a
welcome bonus income for the fishermen. In
fact, this has become the major source of specimens of certain species. Completing the cycle
started in the 1700s, these vessels often find
shell collectors and dealers waiting on the pier
when they return from deep-water trawls.
It seemsworth more than passing notice that
several of the foremost volute collections have
been assembled by residents of Hawaii. This is
even more remarkable when one realizes that
not a single volute has been found in Hawaiian
waters. It is additional proof - if suchis needed
- of the appeal of the Royalty of the Shell
World.
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Page 5
HAWAIIAN SHELL NEWS
March. 1974
Achachatina
Oahu Observations
ICont'd from Page31
straight ahead, turned around and came up
from behind my flashlight, slithered up on top
and sat there. c. From right: Turned left and
slithered about a foot, then turned left again and
slithered to the end of our table. d. From rear:
Just sat there munching on a piece of celery.
I then repeated this experiment with a 100watt bulb. a. Head-on: Turned completely
around and wouldn't move. b. From left:
Turned right and went into shell. c. From right:
Turned left and went into shell. d. From rear:
Did not move.
C()nclu.~ion: Nine out of ten times a snail will
resist heat or light of this kind.
General Observations
During the course of my experiments I
observed that some snails have a hole about the
size of your thumbnail in the side of their foot. It
is their lung, as I later found out. Another thing
I observed is that when snails bump into anything, first they try to push it away and then
they attempt to climb over. If that doesn't work,
they go around. But they always try to push
things
awayfirst.
-
I found that large snails travel faster than
small snails. This is probably due to the fact that
the larger snail's foot is bigger, allowing bigger
waves to travel across the foot. This would move
the snail farther with every wave.
I observed the mating of two snails. The snail
playing the part of the male will place its dart
into an opening at the side of the other snail's
neck. The dart is on the side of the neck, too.
My particular snails stayed together f-rom 11: 00
to 3: 05
-
Occasionally, in the winter, Honolulu gets a
Kona storm when our normal northeast trade
winds back around and come out of the southwest. The water on the windward side of Oahu
then flattens out and we can snorkle and dive in
areas that normally are inaccessable.
Not long ago we had just such a storm.
George Campbell and I had waited about a year
for it. We wanted to snorkle out to Makapuu
Point, and look for large Cypraea mauritiana
Linne, 1758 and Thais aperta Blainville, 1832.
Neither shell is rare, but good specimens are
hard to find. And their home - the sheer cliffs
beneath the Makapuu Lighthouse, exposed to
the northeast - are murder when the trades
approximately
four hours.
When
I
sprinkled water on them they quit mating, but
only for a short while. Then they went right on
mating for another hour before they finally
stopped. Snails are both male and female,
although they can't fertilize themselves. They
both can bear offspring.
I learned that snails have dorsal waves
moving from the mantle edge to the dorsal surface of the head and body, acting to move a
glandular fluid forward, and that about twenty
waves pass per minute at a velocity of 6.5 -to
10mm per second, advancing the animal 0.5 to
Imm. I learned that snails'prefeyJ~fttoright,
they like vegetation to eat, they do not like light.
Photo: Chapman
Vo/uta araus;aca Lightfoot 1786
Contrary to popular belief, all desirable
volutes do not come from Australia!
Voluta arausiaca Lightfoot, 1786, commonly known as the Vexillate Volute, one of the
most sought specimens, is endemic to Ceylon
and South India. Once in a while, gem specimens are trawled in the Bay of Beftgal, commanding high prices when offered to volute collectors. This shell has brilliant red banding on a
cream base and has a tall, graceful spire.
Oddly, the late Walter Webb years ago was
able to obtain a number of these shells from
sources he never revealed. After Webb's death
the shell again became very scarce, as it still is
today. Few volute collections can boast a gem
specimen.
The figured specimen was trawled from deep
water off Ceylon by John: De Silva of Ceylon
early in 1973. It measures 75mm by 40mm, and
"'00
""0 1:...." _"_+0.1
~v..,,~.~u.
E:G:£;;
I~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~I
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RICHARD
1575 NO. 118 ST.
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M. KURZ,
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WAUWATOSA, WIS. 53226 U.S.A.
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blow vigorously.
The surf at Makapuu was fairly calm that day
except for an occasional set of steam-roller
waves. We entered the water by the body-surfing beach and swam out to the point, where
there was a bad chop. We were like a couple of
corks, swimming in close to the face of the cliff
during the calm, with an eye out for the big one,
then quickly kicking clear as the white water
boiled and surged up the face of the cliff.
George scored first with a beautiful C. mauritiana. Many times, this shell is found in the
same hole as the long-spined black sea urchin,
Cantrechinus paucispinus Agassiz. This was
the casehere, and George had to do a little work
with his bar, before he could get to his prize.
And prize it was, as it later proved to be a flawless specimen 110mm long, with very dark
black-brown base and margins. Spotting on the
dorsum was beautiful.
I always marvel at the shape of these shells,
how perfectly suited they are to their habitat;
wide, flat base, with anterior end sloping up to a
humped dorsum. It could crawl into the strongest wave, for the water rushing over the shell
would only force it tighter to the surface it was
crawling on.
Later on the beach we also admired my pair
of Thaisaperta. They were about 8Omm long. I
also took one Cypraea maculifera Sch. 1932,
which measured 74mm in length.
I passedup a large Patella talcosa Gould, for
I didn't have anything sharp and thin enough to
get it off the rock without breaking the shell.
Most people wouldn't swim out to that point
for a bag of gold, but George seemed happy. I
know
I was. Just a couple of nut shells
mean shell nuts.
-
I
Bob Purtymun
. In makingher report,on pageone,Mrs. Com
expressedher appreciationto Dr. Kay, Jim and
Ruth Fair, and Harold Jewel. She cited three
references:SelectedShells of the World, Vol.
I, by Shikamaand Horikoshi, 1963; Shells of
the Western Pacific in Color, by Kira, 1962;
and An illustrated Handbook of Shells in
NAhlrAI
f:nlnrR.
bv Hirose.
1939.
HAWAIIAN SHELL NEWS
Pal!e 6
"My husband and I have self-collected Solomon Islands shells of many families with all
data, plus Gulf of Mexico shells, live-taken and
dredged, of many families," writes Mrs, Frank
Petway, 2431 Brookmere, Houston, Texas
77008. "We are interested mainly in worldwide
cones, volutes, cowries and murex."
* * *
Here is an unusual opportunity to obtain a
"beautiful- red Conus buUatus.from KauaL"
James McDowall, P. O. Box 637, K610a,
Hawaii 96756, is prepared to trade it for large
Cypraea tesselata, C. rashleighana, or a fiveinch C. tigris. In addition, he has C. ostergaardi which he will trade for worldwide Cypraea of equal value.
...
A veteran member of HMS, Dr. Austin W.
Cheever, 1330 St. Louis Drive, Honolulu
96816, has reached the point where he feels he
must sell his extensive and varied collection, the product of many decadesof travel. His
holdings include both marine and land molluscs,
with specimens from New England, Bermuda,
the west coast of Florida, Cuba, Jamaica, Gulf
of Mexico, Eniwetok and the Carolina-Tennesee mountains. He has 65 species of the
Helicidae, 100 of the Bulimylidae,
and 200
Cerion, largely paratypes, as well as Physa and
Lymnacidae representatives.
SHELLS FOR SALE
Write for Free Itinerary for 73.74 Season
P. o. Box 1418
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida 33302
PersonallyGuided Shelling and Diving Tours
Around the World. Tried and Proven.
COME JOIN THE FUN!
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OAKHURST,P.O.
CALIFORNIA
BOX 730 93644 USA
WorlJ
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PANAMA
AND
anJ
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OF WEST MEXICO,
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Sholl, ,'odod 'oo,.d", t, HMO-ISGS
--}
March. 1974
CAN YOU TOP THIS?
Standards Accepted
Data on world record size shells are being
brought up to date in anticipation of a new edition of Van Nostrand's Standard Catalog of
Shells. Have you anything larger? If so, write
to:
In more than six months of use, the HMS
International Shell Grading Standards appear
to have demonstrated their value. Reports
reaching HMS Past President Elmer G. Leehman who, with HSN Editor Stuart Lillico, compiled the standards indicate the system works
better than many had anticipated. The ultimate
aim of establishing quality designations that
mean the same to all parties - collectors, writers and dealers - is being achieved.
Robert
J. L. Wagner, Editor
Van Nostrand's Standard Catalog of Shells
Route 1, Box 21
Marathon, Fla. 33050
When submitting data, include the name of
the present owner, where and when collected,
and by whom. It is important, also, to state who
measured the specimen.
Species normally measuring less than about
50mm are not listed in the current series;
Voluta americana
65.0
Voluta amphora
468.1
Voluta aulica
132.0
Voluta becki
455.0
Voluta bednalli
129.0
Voluta ebraea
211.0
Vol uta imperialis
200.3
Voluta lyraeformis
133.4
Voluta miltonis
445.0
Voluta musica
100.6
Voluta nobilis
192.9
Voluta nodiplicata
385.0
Voluta undulata
122.3
Voluta virescens
90.0
Xancus angulatus
360.5
Xenophora robusta
108.5
Yoldia cooperi
78.5
Yoldia thracieformis
73.1
Zirfaea pilsbryi
143.0
Ceratostoma foliata
98.0
Ceratostoma nuuallii
63.4
Cerithium maculosum
55.3
Chacea ovoidea
125.0
Charonia tritonis
475.0
Charonia variegata
348.0
Cheilea corrugata
53.3
Chione j1uctifraga
86.0
Chione gnidia
110.8
Chlamys aequisulcata
100.0
Chlamys hericius
93.0
Chlamys islandica behringiana
62.0
Chlamys latiaurata monotimens
53.1
CiUarium pica
136-0
Clathrodrillia
manra
72.6
Clavus pembertoni
63.7
Clementia solida
62.0
Clinocardium ciliatum
86.7
Clinocardium nuuallii
146.0
Colubraria procera
79.3
Compsonyax subdiaphana
62.0
Cantharus capitaneus
57.9
Cantharus elegans
58.3
Cantharus macrospira
66.5
Cantharus mendozana
84.6
Cantharus pagodus
56.0
Cardita crassicostata
70.4
Cassis centiquadrata
79.8
Cassis coarctata
79.5
Cassis corn uta
381.0
Cassis madagascariensis
form spinella
357.4
Cassis rufa
185.0
Cassis tenius
122.9
Cassis tuberosa
211.2
Cassis vibex
64.0
Centrifuga centrifuga
85.5
Centrifuga leeanus
75.9
Cymatium amictum
64.7
Cymatium caribbaeum
100.0
Cymatium femorale
240.0
Cymatium nicobaricum
83.3
Cymatium gibbosum
61.5
Cymatium lotorium
157.0
(List to be continued!
Perhaps the best evidence of success is in
reports by several dealers that returns of shells
on grounds of dissatisfaction with the condition
of the specimen have virtually been eliminated.
Increasingly, a dealer's list is capable of telling
exactly what is being offered.
The standards are reprinted below. Hawaiian
Shell News urges everyone to use the HMSISGS in describing shells. Dealers who support
the system are identified by a line in their ads,
which HSN includes without charge.
GEM quality
A perfect specimen, with an unblemished
spire, unbroken spines and lip without chips,
fully adult and normally colored. A shell without a flaw. Well cleaned, both inside and out.
Cowries must have original color and gloss. Bivalves must have both valves, properly matched
and unbroken.
FINE quality
An adult shell with only minor flaws and with
not more than one shallow growth mark. Must
have original color and gloss. A cone may have a
rough lip OR one small chip. The spire must be
unblemished. A Murex may have not more than
two minor frond breaks. No repairs - filed lips
or mended knobs, for example - permitted.
GOOD quality
A reasonably acceptable shell, with a few
defects such as growth marks, broken spines,
worn spire, or lip chips. Minor fading of color
permitted. Specimen may be slightly subadult.
A good quality shell must faithfully display all
the basic characteristics of the species.
FAIR quality
May be obviously dead or beach collected
with chipped lips, faded color, growth faults or
imperfect spires. This grade - comparable to
the present "commercial" quality - is not
acceptable for mail order retailing and should
not be offered as collectors' specimens.
Standard symbols
with operculum
F / D = fu1\ data (area of origin, habitat,
date and original co1\ectorl
R / n = basic data (less than fu1\ datal
W/ 0
=
March. 1974
HAWAIIAN SHELL NEWS
Pal!e 7
PoisonDartsin Conusbandanus
"In the past year I have examined about ten
large Conus bandanus, dissecting them for a
study of radula and poison darts," Dorothy
Wendt, marine zoology teacher at Waipahu
High School, Honolulu and HMS member,
reports. "In at least half of the cones examined,
the radula were extremely small, or completely
nonexistant with no darts in the sac at all.
"Among the remaining five cones, the average
number of darts in the radula sac was somewhere between 10 and 22. These' were in all
SHELLS FOR SALE
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stag~c9fcQ~y~.gpm~~t,,;
"All ten cones had been fresh collected from
the ocean.
"Two years ago I examined another very
large C. bandanus that Ron McOmber had
kept in his aquarium. No darts whatsoever were
Vermicu/aria spirata Phillippi
DALTON,
by AVIS SOSA
Mass.
The
-
range
of
Vermicularia spirata Phillippi is from Cape
Cod to the West Indies. It is a common species
in Florida and in the West Indies, but is uncommon as far north as Cape Cod.
The above specimen was dredged in twelve
feet of water off Memorial Beach, Hyannis,
Mass. Broken beach specimens have been
reported from Harthaven and Vineyard Haven
on Martha's Vineyard. These specimens found
at the northern limit of the range were at one
time classified as Vermicularia
radicula
Stimpson, but are now placed with Vermicularia spirata Phillippi.
The exterior of the shell is gray and the quarter-inch aperture is chocolate brown. They are
often found broken off at the point where the
whorls become erratic. The operculum is round,
horny and concave.
The young Vermicularia closely resemble
the adult Turritella from which they evolved.
However, as it matures, the Vermicularia shell
begins to coil at random rather than keeping a
definite pattern of whorl development. Thus,
adult shells are rarely identical in shape. Sometimes these molluscs are solitary and at other
times they are intertwined in a mass. They are
filter feeders and feed primarily on plankton.
They are mostly sedentary inhabitants of mud
flats and sandy bottoms. The food is procured
by means of cilia located near the gills.
Many interesting facts can be learned about
these molluscs in the 1951 Proceedings of the
Royal Society of New Zealand, in an article by
J. E. Morton.
present.
"Other speciesof poison cones I have dissected have always had darts in their radula sacs."
Dotty wonders if the absence of darts would
have some bearing on the feeding habits of C.
bandanus. Is the cone an overly active but
periodic feeder? Does it expend its darts faster
than it can replace them? Would this be a
reason why so few are found in Hawaii?
Has anyone any information on radula of
Conus marmoreus from the Indo-Pacific so
these two cones could be compared?
Olive Schoenberg
Chien Shen Company
Reliable
Shell
Dealer
1-28 and 01128
Kaohsiung, Taiwan
P. O. Boxes
Specimen Shells
Coral craft
Horn craft
Pig craft
Butterfly specimens
Shell craft
Jade craft
Sllark jaw craft
Oil paintings
Butterfly craft.
Over ten years in business. Satisfaction
Ituaranteed.
Yeppoon Shell Museum
R.T. & D.A. Brown
Box 74, Yeppoon, Q., Australia
The largest dealers of Specimen Shells in
Australia. Fine and rare specimens bought and
sold. Will exchange for rare shells. Prices to suit
all pockets. On hand at present, choice shells
from New Guinea, Australia, Philippines and
Mrica. Write for free Price List.
:
:
Shells 0/ the Seas,Inc.
:
~ ,"
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I~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~I
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Writo1o,
~
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Photo: Chapman
In recent years there has been increasing
interest in the collection of fossil shells. None is
more fascinating than VolutB (Scaphella)
floridana Heilprin, clearly the ancestor of the
beautiful junonia family, edemic to the Caribbean area.
The shell above was collected by Bob Morrison of Sarasota, Florida in the Miocene gravel
pit area of North Sarasota. While this shell is in
poor condition, under x-ray the familiar spotted
pattern of the present day junonia is clearly
evident. In fact, the Florida volute authority
Jules DuBar believes there is no substantial difference between the fossil Ii: floridana and the
present li:junonia, which might make it the
oldest reco~ized shell species.
E.G.L.
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FLORIDA:
The Friend/)' Dealer
fREE 1;0'
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SPECIMENSMELtS
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BOUGHT & SOLD
Spo,;..on Co..plo'o
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telephone
)05-524-)128
W"" A".,oto lo,o"on
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U. S. A.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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MAURITIUS
Buy-sell-exchange
worldwidespecimen
MIKADO SHELL HOUSE
6, Sir William NewtonStreet
Port-Louis.Mauritius
TAIWAN (FORMOSA)
K. H. CHEN, P. O. BOX 17.139
TAIPEI, TAIWAN
Specialistin rare marine shellsfrom Taiwan,
South China Sea and Australia. Wholesale
Specimenand Commercialgrade seashells,also
Taiwan butterfliesand beetles.Offer on request.
March. 1974
HAWAIIAN SHELL NEWS
P~e 8
SHELLS FOR SALE
All the essential biographic facts about
America's leading mollusk workers.
shellfishery experts, paleoconchologists and advanced shell collectors are
now at your finger tips in this handy
guide.
ORDER
Photos: Chapman
Voluta (Ericusa) fulgetrum Sowerby
While most volute collections include one or
more specimens of the moderately rare Voluta
(Ericusa) fulgetrum Sowerby, 1825, few collectors are aware of the number of variations
that occur in this attractive species. In his
Multiform Australian Vo}utes, the Australian
authority Frank Abbottsmith describes and
figures twelve separate variations.
giant specimens, as can be noted by comparison
with the other shells and the scale.
All of these fine shells were collected by
Trevor J. Castle in the productive waters off
Port Lincoln, South Australia.
In their Living Volutes, Weaver and duPont
proposed a change of name for this species.This
change has not been accepted in Australia, how-
Of the twelve types recognized by Abbottsmith, five are rare or very rare. The sunburst
variation has recently been recognized and is
also very rare. In the opinion of this writer the
melanistic variation shown is the rarest Qf all
types presently known.
Those figured above, from left to right, are:
dictua, fulgetrum,
connectens, bicincta,
lunisligata,
lacy form, melanistic, punctisligata, unicincta and two specimens of the
new sunburst form. One sunburst is shown with
an aperture view so that the unique orange
markings can be seen. The first two shells are
ever.
The unique melanistic specimen, collected by
Castle in sixty feet of water off Kangaroo
Island, South Australia, is shown below. With
it, for comparison, is a "normal" specimen.
The body of this shell is almost entirely black,
but there is thin cream banding on the spire.
The tip of the protoconch is white with a black
spot in the center of the apex. The parietal area
and the aperture are orange cream with several
large weak dark brown spots. The shell
measures 4Ifs by 17is by 1% inches and is in
perfect condition.
E.G.L.
$12.50
A national
register of
malacologlsts
and
shell collectors
American
Ma/aco/ogists
6314 Waterway Drive
Falls Church,
Va. 22044
WESTERN AUSTRALIAN SHELLS
Box 71738, G.P.0., Perth,
Western Australia, 6001
Fine shells from the Australian west coast and
other interesting areas of the world.
Specimens for the beginner and advanced
collector such as Cyp. rosselli, jeaniana, mar1(inata and Voluta nodiplicata, irt'inae reeve;
and many others.
Also book list and over 200 different colour
!!lirles.
Send for our fine price booklet.
West Coast Curio Co.
1940 Maple Avenue
Costa Mesa, Calif. 92627
"13 miles south of Disneyland". Longest es.
tablished shell dealer in the world. More than
2,000 species stocked regularly. No lists - No
mail order. Buy or browse - you're always wel.
comP.I
COME INANDSEEc
Y8.-
GOLDEN COWRIES FOR SALE
4". live'(~ollected.tiny scratch. Price $300.
3Y4 dead collected.growth mark. $90.
4:i/4". perfect. live-collected- may be world
record size? $600.
M. SHAMIM, G.P.O. Box 1282
Suva. Fiji Island
".
SEA SEARCH
Box 10532, Honolulu, HI 96816
Andy Butler - Dr. Martin Redlich
Fine specimensof all Hawaiian shellsfound
in the Hawaiian Islands. Catalog: 35 cents.
March. 1974
HAWAIIAN SHELL NEWS
Page 9
RECENT FINDS
PUBLICA TIONS REVIEW
AMERICAN MALACOLOGISTS. Edited
by R. Tucker Abbott and M. E. Young. Falls
Church, Va. American Malacologists. 425 p.
$12.50.
It comesas no surprisethat the long-awaited
American Malacologists has turned out to be
both extremely useful and plain interesting.
Underthe chief editorshipof Dr. R. Tucker Abbott, brief biographieshave been compiled of
some1,000 living and 500 deceasedAmericans
activein the study of shells.The real wonderis
that Abbott and his staff have beenable to assembleso many names.The book representsa
monumentaljob of research!
American Malacologists will
almost by
definition
-
by LYMAN HIGA
Cold weather and rough seas (or maybe it was
the gas shortage) kept many of Hawaii's shell
collectors at home during January. But Randy
Stevens found an opportunity to dive off Yokohama beach, on Leeward Oahu, and brought
back a small Murex torrefactus and a crabbed
Cymatium vespacium. Both were in sixty to
seventy-five feet of water.
While diving in Maunalua Bay off Koko
Head, Andy Butler, Marty Redlich and Tom
Richert found the colony of "garden eels" that
has been reported there a couple of times in the
past year. These shy creatures raise about a
quarter of their body from a small hole in the
sandy bottom, all facing the same direction. The
divers were unable to get satisfactory photos, as
the animals disappear on being approached.
They were at 125 feet.
In the same area, the party found large numbers of Cassis cornuta making their seasonal
-
be most useful to shell collectors
who frequently are baffled by cryptic references
to authors of shell descriptions.If the author
wasan Americanhe (or shel is likely to have a
few lines in AM. For whom was the shell
named?He probably is listed, too. Along with a
lot of people whose connectionwith shelling
may be less substantial.
Hawaii is representedin AM by about 20
names, ranking after California, Florida and
Texas. Dr. C. M. (Patl Burgessis there, of
course,and so is Dr. Tom Burch, Dr. Allison
Kay, Edwin Bryant Jr. and Yoshio Kondo of
Bishop Museum, Reg Gage of Kauai, AI
Ostheimer,SteveQuirk, Dr. Tom Riahert, Olive
Schoenberg,
SpencerTinker, alongwith a dozen
others.But you look in vain for Clifton Weaver,
E. R. Cross, the Harrisons, Elmer Leehman,
Ruth Fair and perhapsa scoreof others who
have made important contributions to malacology.Let us hope the deficiencywill be made
up in the next edition. (Don't wait for Abbott to
write. Send him the information now!
I S.L.
CARD CATALOGUE OF WORLD-WIDE
SHELLS - by Sally Diana Kaicher. St. Petersburg, Fla.
Ms. Kaicher is producing a fine seriesof file
cardswith photosand brief descriptionsof species.Pack No.1 coveredabout ninety speciesof
Marginellidae; Pack No.2, Muricidae, Part I,
contains ninety-six illustrations with brief descriptionsof species.Advancenotice is given of
Muricidae, Part II beingreadyin a month or so.
The price is modest, $3.25 per set. These
packets would be useful for the collector who
keeps a card file.
R.H.F.
WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Merv Cooper of Perth Shell Distributors
avail" you of his New List No.6.
- FREEWrite to:
PERTH SHELL DISTRIBUTORS
P. O. Box186
Mt. Hawthorn. Western Australia 6016
111e Home of Cypraea rosselli
Phone815-542- 816.159
Photo: Chapman
South AIrica has long been known as the
source of many rare and beautiful shell specimens, especially those trawled from deep water.
A new specieshas recently been named Benthovo/uta kregei. This specimen was live collected
and measures 62mm. It is in the personal collection of veteran HMS member Lawrence Thomas of Morro Bay, California.
SHELLS FOR SALE
VISITORS
Honolulu briefly hosted HMS membersQr.
and Mrs. Robert Pierson of Noumea, New
Caledonia,during February. The Piersonswell known in the shell world for their recent
finding (and reporting in HSN) of live Cypraea
martini along with other spectacularrostrate
and melanistic cowries in Prony Bay
appearance.
In addition to the Trochus species described
on page 1, two other "mystery shells" have been
brought up recently from the depths of Molokai
Channel and exhibited by Don Corn. One appears to be a miter, the other a member of the
Ovulidae. Efforts are being made by HMS
mem"n.
identify them.
* * *
After several mo!)ttls on the ~ach with a knee
injury, Lyman recently resumed scuba diving in
Maunalua Bay. He reports finding a "small but
nice" Triton's trumpet. Charonia triton is.
-
passed
through Hawaii on their way home after a
round-the-world trip that began in November
and included a holiday in Paris.
They brought to Honolulu a gorgeous livetaken Cypraea broderipii
from Reunion, as
well as gem specimens of C. mappa niger, C.
arabica niger, C. scurra niger, C. stolida
niger and several others. Some of these black
shells were also rostrate, and one C. stolida was
extremely deformed.
Besides sightseeing around Oahu, the Piersons spent most of one day with Dr. C. M. (Pat)
Burgess, author of The Living Cowries, who
later commented that the Piersons' C. broderipii was the finest specimen of this very rare
specieshe had ever seen. They left a specimen of
C. sakurai with Burgess for further study.
E.G.L.
FORMOSA SHELLS
WHOLESALE
CHU-SHAN CHIANG
Specimen& commercial seashells
WE BUY, SELL AND TRADE
Write for FREE Price-list
Box 332, Tainan, Taiwan
Republic of China
TELEPHONE: 50520 Tainan
The National Musemnof Natural Sciences
in
Canada wishesto purchasethe rights to use
original colour transparencies
of liying molluscs
of all classesfor exhibition.
. Anyonehayingsuchmaterialshouldsubmit it
and the price required, to permit duplication
and one-timeusein an exhibition. All originals
will be returned.
R. T. McFetridge
Interpretation and Extension Diyision
National Musemn of Natural Sciences
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Page 10
HAWAIIAN SHELL NEWS
March. 1974
Conus barthe/emyi
Photo: Nee Chung
LITTLESTRANGER?
The identity of these three interesting volutes
(aboveI is in question. Are they Voluta cymbiota cymbiola Gmelin, 1791, or are they
Voluta 8ophiae Gray, 1846?
"I found these shells in the collection of T. C.
Lan, famous Taiwan collector," writes Nee
Chung of Taichung. "He had sold some as V.
8ophiae. Mr. Lan has about ten more specimens, I believe.
"These shells were trawled on the north cOast
of Australia by Taiwan fishermen. In view of
this geographical
fact, I sent a photo to
R. T.
Brown, of the Yeppoon Shell Museum and
asked for his opinion. He replied that they were
JI; cymbiola, 'a very rare shell.'
"If Mr. Lan has ten more specimens, is it still
very rare? And if it is not the very rare JI;
cymbiola, what is it?"
SPECIAL BOOK LIST
AUSTRALIAN SHELLS, Wilson & Gillett,
A$12.95, 180 pp, II Y2" x 9", excellent plates.
SHELLS OF NEW GUINEA & the CEN.
TRAL
Hinton,
98
pp, II "INDO-PACIFIC,
x 8", treating nearly
300A$4.95,
conesand
other families. True color.
ABOUT THE ID PAGE
Mitra coffea Schubert & Wagner, 1839, rare
in Hawaii, is found through most of Polynesia to
Western Pacific, also Madagascar. In Supplement 6-73, this name was incorrectly assigned to
a photo of Mitra fulvescens Broderip, 1836. M.
fulvescens has a dead white aperture while M.
coffea has brown. There are other differences
which will be apparent in the photos.
Oliva multiplicata
appropriate name
-
Reeve, 1850. What an
the Many-Plaited Olive!
This shell's uniquely fine and crowded columel.
lar plaits make it easy to identify. Found in Taiwan and the Philippines.
Chicoreus capucinus (Roeding, 1798). The
overall appearance of this dull brown shell is so
drab that it seemsout of place with the other at.
tractive Muricids in its genus. However, it has
fine sculpturing and delicate fronds on the
varices. Found from the Western Pacific east to
Samoa.
MA~INE
SHELLS OF THE PACIFIC,
Cemohorsky, Rev. FIRST Ed. A$7.00, 248pp,
9" x 16",444 b & w photo-plates; New SECOND Ed. A$13.00, continues vol. 1, 412 pp,
9Y4" x 6Y4", color and b & w, 68 pIs, 600 species.
Tonna melanostoma (Jay, 18391, although
it ranges from Polynesia to the Western Pacific,
is rare in all localities. The shell grows to much
larger size than the figured specimens. I know of
only one specimen live-collected in Hawaii. The
shells shown were taken in crab traps 600'
depth by George Donner of Laie Point, Oahu.
SHELLS OF THE WESTERN PACIFIC,
vol. 1, Kira; vol. 2, Habe; EACH A$25.00,
10Y4" x 7Y4", over 1,200 illustr. ea. book. English translation.
Postage is additional at ASl.I 0 (except where
noted!. Payment requested with order, in Australian Currency, by Bank-draft to:
Cymatium
tigrinum
'Broderip,
18331
ranges from Panama north to the Gulf of California. Length will reach over six inches. The
shells in ,the photo were taken on a Panama reef
at night during low tide, and were located by the
sucking noise they made as they tightened their
hold on being disturbed.
CONE SHELLS OF THE WORLD, Marsh
& Rippingale,A$12.60, 185 pp, 11fI4" x 8Y2",
a worldwide reference.
OLAF CHRISTENSEN, BOX 124
NORTH-BRIGHTON, 3186. AUSTRALIA
Photos: Debant
J. P.
Charles S. Wolfe
Debant of Moroni, Comores, in the Indian Ocean, forwarded two photos of Conus
barthelemyi
Bernardi,
1861, with the
following comments:
Conus barthelemyi is found in the Comores
in water more than 100 feet deep, buried in
moderately muddy sand with scatterings of dead
coral. It is Sometimes one or two feet under the
surface, making it hard to find. It might be
easier to find at night.
This species is highly variable in color and
markings. The top photo shows three specimens
which are dark brown with many large spots on
the white banding. The second photo shows four
specimens which are much lighter - tan to
brown - and one with broad white bands,
either entirely lacking spots or having just a few
small ones scattered on the white bands. The
variations in ornamentation do not appear to be
directly associated with the size of the shells.
Debant further notes that the periostracum of
C. barthelemyi is thick, trellised by numerous
very fine hair ridges. The operculum is relatively
small. The largest of the specimens illustrated in
each photo measures approximately 65mm in
length.
R.H.F.
SHELLS FOR SALE
FRESH COLLECTED
GOLDEN COWRIES
GOOD COLOR - REASONABLE
Write; Olive Schoenberg,3265 Huelani Dr.,
Honolulu, Hawaii 96822.
CYPRAEA FOR SALE
Cypraea thersites, camelopardalis, gaskoini, mus, friendii - 33/4in., teulerei, and
melwardi. Requestinformation. Wenzel,Gen.
Del. YosemiteLodge, Yosemite,Calif. 95389.
March, 1974
HAWAIIAN SHELL NEWS
Page 11
Photo: Chapman
Rare Australian V clute
Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Voluta guntheri Smith, 1886 is a small shell
that has always been in the very rare category.
Photos: Lopez
In his Multiform Australian Volutes, Frank
Abbottsmith lists three subspecies. The photo
shows a Voluta guntheri guntheri (center)
with a V. guntheri adcocki on each side. Note
The entire shell is brown with numerous light
that the middle f': guntheri guntheri lacks the
brown blotches and a few dark brown ones. The . horizontal banding present on the f': adcocki.
texture is smoother, with fewer, wider ribs.
It is a much rarer shell.
These dark specimens have a deep indigo in.
Interestingly, this was one of the few volute
terior.
species that Cliff Weaver never added to his
fabulous volute collection, even though he dove,
Once in a great while an immature shell is
dredged and searched allover Australia for it.
trawled. These have a predominance of white,
The f': adcocki were trawled off South Ausand the stripes and bands are ill defined (fig. 4).
tralia by Trevor J. Castle.
As with most juvenile cones, the spire seems to
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Conus australis ana Conus latercu/atus
by Fr. AL LOPEZ, S.J.
The cone that is most commonly trawled over
the southwestern area of Taiwan is Conus australis Holten, 1802. Its preferred habitat is
around 40 fathoms, where it is taken in great
numbers all year round, especially off Tainan
(Anping) and Chiating. Most of these shells are
about 60mm (2.5 inches!. They can reach a
maximum of 100mm although few shells of this
size are seen.
The typical pattern and texture of C. australis are shown in fig. 1. The ground color is grayish white, over which some thirty axial dark
brown stripes run the length of the shell and
coalesceto form four well defined bands evenly
distributed over the body whorl. The inside of
the shell has an indigo tint which is especially
strong in fresh specimens.
The surface is corrugated by numerous radial
ribs about Imm thick, and the shell itself is
moderately heavy and thick. Breadth-to-length
ratio is around 1: 2.5. The spire, which is about
one fourth of the total length, has some twelve
whorls and ends in a sharp point terminated by
a transliiterifprotoc6ftch...
One shell in ten will look like fig. 2, where the
axial stripes have lost their continuity and as a
result the bands have become vague.
Perhaps one shell in a hundred will have a
radically different color and texture (fig. 3).
This cone is so different that it took me a long
time to accept the fact that it was the same species. Perhaps Sowerby had the same misgivings.
In 1823 he described two cones which he named
C. gracilis and C. duplicatus and obviously
considered to be two different species. It is now
accepted that they are both identical with C.
australis.
This other form of C. australis is very dark,
without a white background. There is a complete absence of axial stripes and radial bands.
be longer and sharper than in the mature shell.
The two or three I have seen had no trace of
indigo in the interior surface.
The operculum of C. australis is typical of
the Canidae and reaches a maximum of about 6
by 2mm.
I was introduced to Conus laterculatus
Sowerby, 1870 while browsing in a little shell
store in Manila, where I found half a dozen of
them. My first impression was that they were
some variant of C. australis, but the dealer told
me that an American "cone expert" had identified the shell as a different species. There is
something" to'be"sai'd"'ffJt" both.opinionsi
As fig. 5 shows, its pattern and color are similar to the typical C. australis and the inside of
the shell also has an indigo tint.
On the other hand it is smaller and slimmer,
and its shell is thinner and lighter than C. australis. Its spire is much lower, only one sixth the
length of the shell. Its shape is more conical,
with straight sides, whereas C. australis is more
oval or rounded. C. laterculatus is from central
Luzon exclusively, while C. australis is unknown in the Philippines. A careful comparison
of the two makes one think of two different species rather than geographical variations of the
same cone.
R.n.f..
The Shelling Scene:
LANAI:
Dim and green on Honolulu's
southern horizon, the island of Lanai is one of
the few relatively unspoiled areas of modem
Hawaii. Its waters are clear, marine life is abundant, and reefs and beaches are unscarred by
progress.
Although visited frequently by small parties
of scuba divers, Lanai has not suffered from
overcollecting. The foot of the leeward (southwestern) cliffs yields many Cypraea that have
become scarce on Oahu.
The 1ong shallo\V'windward ~horehas both
sand-dwellers and shallow-reef species. Tidepools are found in a few areas - notably between Black Manele and White Manele Bays.
Access to Lanai from Honolulu is easiest by
plane. There is mooring for yachts at Manele
Bay and Kaumalapau. The small Lanai Lodge
has double rooms at $17. Taxi service is available, rental cars and jeeps should be spoken for
well in advance.
Club Manukai, favored by scuba divers,
offers spartan communal accommodations for
ten or twelve. Dive boats, essential taxi service,
scuba air, weights and tanks come in a "package" at $20 a day.
S.L.
Pal{e 12
HAWAIIAN SHELL NEWS
March.. 1974
PHOTOGRAPHING SHELLS
by JIM FAIR
Using the camera and two-electronic-flash setup discussed last month, I use the following
technique to photograph shells.
by EDMUND TRIPPNER
Alter diving and shell collecting in the bountiful Indian Ocean you don't expect much from
the Mediterranean. This was my attitude in August 1973 when I arrived on Mallorca (or Majorca', the largest of Spain's Balearic islands,
midway between Barcelona and Algiers. But I
found a very nice Spanish town called Paguera,
which has a diving school from which I rented
scuba equipment and where I found diving
partners.
There really are no large numbers of sheUs
there, and you must dive hard and deep to find
them. The beaches are steep, usually with rocks
at the bottom. Water depths range from fortyfive to 120 feet, with both rocky and sandy
patches. Not very promising, but I had a
pleasant time., nevertheless.
I found many Spoooylus gaederopus Linne
(fig. l' in from three to 120 feet. My largest was
108mm and the smallest 15mm. The tiny specimen was on a Pinna nobilis Linne. Thi~ Pinna
was in less than ten feet of water, right in front
of Pagnera town, and ~asured 304mm.
Pinna nobilis are usually found where rooks
meet the sandy bottom. A giant P. nobilis was
found near Dragonera Island at 120 feet by the
owner of the Paguera Dive Club, Ludwig Spika.
It measnred 714mm (28 inches'. In the pictme
it is held by my son Tanguy.
Spika told me the shell was attached ten
inches into the rock, and required several tanks
of air to dig it out. Every diver knows how"exhausting it is to work hard at 120 feet!
Near Dragonera I~land at 135 feet on rocks I
found a beautiful CharoniB nodi/era Lamarck.
It was an unusually fine specimen with strong
colors, measuring 214mm (9.5 inches). It had
no encrustation, which may have been because
of the very clear water (fig. 2, bottom, center'.
We could easily see the bottom 135 feet down
from our boat. Tritons are sold in the local markets for food, but the meat did not appeal to me.
In addition to the above shells, I found some
nice crabbed Cypraea spurca Linne and two
Murex trunculus Linne. In very shallow water
Fig. 1. Spondylus gaederopus L.
When I photograph a light colored shell I
place a dark background - black velvet or a
sheet of dark construction paper - on the base
of the stand. The opal glass is cleaned of all fingerprints and dust and placed on blocks, four
inches above the background. Do not lay shells
directly on the background as you will get
shadows and will also photograph the texture of
the material.. A dark shell requires a light background for best definition.
I found a crabbed Chenopsus pes pelicani
Linne.
Naturally I did not find any Glory of India
cones, Conus milne-edwardsi, in the Mediterranean as I did in Mozambique. Still, I had
much enjoyment, as well as satisfaction with the
fine shells I did find. It was with reluctance that
I departed f{)r my home in landlocked Trier,
West Germany, where I dream about my next
shelling holiday.
For apertural views, steady the subject in an
upright position by using modelling clay, which
does not harm the shell.
With electronil: flash I use Kodachrome X
daylight type film with an ASA rating of 64.
The camera is then adjusted to give an image
which will nearly fill the frame. The two electronic flashes are placed so that the light is at a
45 degree angle to the shell, twenty-three inches
away. I fix a small penlight to the top of each
Dash with a heavy rubber band to be sure that
the flashes are set correctly in relation to the
subject.
If you do not have a slave flash, you can place
a reflector - white cardboard or a piece 01
crumpled aluminum foil - on the side 01 the
stand opposite your flash, this is an adequate
substitute.
From experience I know that, for light shells.
a lens opening 011.16 will gjve me the definition
and color I want. At this magnification the
depth of field - the area that will be in focus is extremely narrow so I focus about hallway
down the side of the shell to ensure the entire
sheD's being in focus. My camera has a focal
plane shutter so I must set the shutter speed at
I!60th of a second for proper flash synchronization. I use a cable release to eliminate any
camera movement. For dark shells against a
light background I open the lens at least one
stop, i.e. f.II instead of f.16.
Fig. 2. Charonia nodifera and Pinna nobilis
from Majorca.
Photos: Trippner
Usually I take two additional shots, one at
f.ll and one at f.22, to insure the best possible
exposure. When I photographed the shell on
page 1 of this issue, I made five exposures of
each view, since I only had one opportunity to
photograph the shell. As it turned out, my origjnal exposure was correct. But I wanted to be
sure.
My technique is not mandatory for you.
Differences in camera, film and light characteristics will determine the best possible exposures
for your equipment. Take an experimental roll
or two, starting with the smallest opening of
your lens and going to the largest. The best picture of the series will give you a guide for future
basic exposoure.
Supplement 3-74
HAWAIIAN SHELL NEWS
LOOKING
ON THE REEF AT NIGHT
by Dr. c. M. BURGESS
'From HSN, SepL 19591
Everyone who is out under the full moon at
night is not necessarily romancing in the usual
senseof the word. A small number have a gasoline lantern or a torch and are after freeswimming denizens of the reef. A most insignificant number of both sexes are out also with a
gasoline lantern, but these few cold, web-footed
bipeds are simply looking for shells. In spite of
the frequent discomfort, often acute, these shell
hunters have only slightly, if any, less fun than
the others in their own peculiar way.
I say full moon because it is the time - October through February - when the evening tides
March, 1974
BACKWARD
in the channel opposite Ala Moana Park you
had either to swim - which was impossible with
a lantern - or take a boat from the yacht har-
under the same circumstances at Kewalo and
Kaneohe. Deitlev Thaanum and the late Ted
Dranga have collected Cypraea sulcidentata
on Rabbit and Coconut Islands.
bor. I'll never forget the night on this reef in December,1950 when Mickey Waddoups absentI suspect that many others are nocturnal
mindedly stepped from two inches of water into
wanderers, judging by the clusters of fragments
the (Honolulu' channel of 30 feet. It isn't funny
of Cypraea tessellata, C. talps, C. carneola
to be drenched with a heavy wind blowing at 10
and C. reticulata that we find on the submerged
o'clock at night, but I've chuckled over the sight
reefs with the aqualung, the result of someof his head smoothly submerging with hardly a
thing's meal, probably a ray.
splash, many times since. Mickey stayed and
Kiholo, Hawaii is a marvelous place to collect
shivered to the bitter end, and is still interested
Cypraea
mauritiana. One evening in 1940, 1
in shells.
could
have
filled a washtub with perfect speciThe Yacht Harbor side of the Kewalo Reef
mens.
prod.uced, and in huge numbers, the first Bullaria adamsi, which was also introduced during
Koko Head wave bench is, I suspect, Chuck
are low. Of course, they are also low in the dark
World War II. This shell has now spread to all
Allen's favorite spot along with the reef below
of the moon during these months and it is at this
parts of the island. It is here, where in spite of
the lighthouse on Diamond Head. (We used to
latter time that the greater harvest of shells is
new channels and much dredging, Hydatina
refer to it as'' Allen's Puddle."j Here he has had
taken. In fact, it has been established with ceramplustre can still be found. It is doubtful if
phenomenal luck.
tainty that the darker the night the more active
ever again will be found such huge and perfect
~any other areas have been searched, but
the mollusk population of the reef become. But
shells of this species as we collected in the stagwithdut
enough success to mention more than
what is a balmy night in Hawaii without a
nant water enclosed by the municipal breakbriefly. Pupukea, Kaaawa, Kepuhi, ~aili, the
moon? Why go out on the reef at all on such a
water opposite the incinerator. A length of one
projecting reefs at ~akua, all will produce
night?
inch was not uncommon. This area has been ensomething. It was at Haleiwa that many NasThis question is always asked and the answer
tirely filled, to create more land.
sarius graphiterus were found in the sand
is simple. It is ouly at night that certain species
Both sides of Hanalei Reef on Kauai have
pockets under the overhanging calcified yellow
can ever be taken. Since they won't crawl into
been combed at night. The Waikoko side
reef on the left side of the bay.
our cabinets, we must go after them. You will
yielded many Conus pulicarius and an occaAside from the larger Cypraeidae, most of
find up to four speciesof Nassarius, two species sional C. textile and C. striatus. Anini Reef on
the shells found at night, except the cones and
of Hydatina and Tonna, to name a few strictly
the same island is productive of many species.
Tonna perdix, will be fairly small. When connight-crawling shells. Conus abbreviatus, C.
Kaupo, on the Kaneohe side of Makapuu,
ditions are ideal the visibility is amazing, even in
pulicarius, C. pennaceus, C. imperiali~, C. Oahu, has always produced besides voracious
one to two feet of water, and the smallest tracks
nanus and many other species are often found
mosquitos many small sand dwellers, including
and shells are clearly visible. They seem to litexposed on the reef and out of the water. They
Hydatina physis and Conus pennaceus.
erally pop out of the sand.
are far more active after sunset.
It was on the reef at Heeia on Kaneohe Bay
I have hunted at night on almost every reef
that 1 discovered that the bivalves Pteryglypta
So we can see that, on the whole, night colthat is exposed at low tide on the islands of Haedmondsoni
and Trachycardium
sandlecting is highly profitable, enjoyable, and an inwaii, Kauai and Oahu. Each reef is productive
wichensis climb out of the sand and wander
teresting facet of the hobby. There is something
of special shells. For instance, Pyramidella
about the top of the reef at night. Black Point is
about the soft air of a Hawaiian evening that to
sulcata, Polinices mamillae and many tereprobably the best place (or was) to get Hydame is irresistable. The hills at full moon and the
bra can be taken on Sand Island in Kaneohe
tins physis. Also here were the finest Conus
stars of Oahu are at their best when viewed from
Bay. It was here that Jim Cherry first found
abbreviatus I ever collected. This area also
offshore waters. This is one of many attractions
Bullaria verticosa, probably introduced from
produces the only Bullaria peaseana I have
that made me decide to stay here. Everyone
Guam during World War II. Here, so far as I
found in any sizeable numbers.
should try it at least once, if not for shells then
know, is the only area where Polinice~ melaAnother night shell I've failed to mention is
for a quiet peaceful place to search their souls. It
nostoma has been found alive. It has been Nerita polita. They were present in thousands
could be that some souls need more searching
taken dead from Honolulu Harbor and Kaat Kiholo on Hawaii. They can usually be found
than others. The traffic and the annoyances of
huku, Hawaii.
wherever there is sand and rocks at the waters
the day can be forgotten. The night and the limThe reef at Kewalo Basin is still productive of
edge. They live so deep in the sand that I have
ited vision from even a powerful lamp gives the
Tonna perdix specimens of matchless perfecseldom collected one in the daytime.
sensation of deep isolation. The rich odor of the
tion. This shell often reaches six inches in
With few exceptions Cypraea do not come
reef teeming with many forms of life is not .far
length, rides on top of the animal often larger
out at night. However, beyond Sandy Beach at
changed from that which nurtured the first
than a dinner plate and is frequently completely
Makapuu a living C. tessellata was collected
amphibian that climbed out of the sea.
out of the water. Kewalo reef also produces Miexposed and out of water on the reef. At Katra astricta, four specimens of Nassarius, large
haluu, Hawaii, where there is a Cypraea
Conus nanus and, on two occasions, the rare
T
moneta colony, we found that these shells do
Phillipia hybrida and Bullarina scabra. Nonot come out at night. This is also true'of C.
The St. wuis Shell Show is scheduled for
where else in the islands can one find such large
helvola. Cypraea mauritiana always wander
March 3 and 4 this year, with Dr. R. Tucker
and perfect Conus ebraeus and C. pulicarius.
about, as do C. reticulata and C. isabella.
Abbott as judge. Displays were expected from
Thi~ reef is easy to get to - one simply parks
Charlie Boerner found a huge C. gaskoini at
Indiana and Tennesseeshell groups, as ,,:ell as
the car and walks out. But before the citv filled
Kahaluu at night and I havecollectedC. teres (rom nearby communities.
'he Other Shell Clubs
~
March, 1974
HAWAIIAN SHELL NEWS
Supplement 3-74
-
-,
;I
~I
~
<:»
Photo:
1,-
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Hawaii
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...
c
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--
1798)
Photo: Kemp
Photo: Kemp
To usetheseillustrations, cut carefully along the
--- dashedlines. Perhapsa bit
~
Q
...
Q
~
~
~
J
of extra trimming may be necessary.Then carefully mount the illustration on a
standard 3 x 5 inch file card. Additional data about shellsof this speciesin your
collection, sizes,etc., may be entered on the back of the file card. (Seepage 10
for more about these shells.)