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Black lip
Black lip Returning to my shelling on the reef I could still bag a dead, but good, Conus imperialis also one specimen each of the rarer C. tenuistriatus, and C. nussatella. A large tidal pool had a dark cave on one side, under the water level, which looked so inviting to me that I dared against all usual caution to feel around in it with bare hands -and came out with a large beautiful Latirus polygonus, live and perfect. Some miles south of Diani Beach, on a wave-battered shore reef near Kinondo village, I came across numberous large Drupa rubusidaeus Röding, all very richly colored, as well as several giant-sized D. morum, some measuring almost two inches across from top to base.
Even a one-day sight-seeing trip to Mombasa brought in some shells. At the foot of historical Fort Jesus, built by the Portuguese in the 16th and 17th century as a stronghold against the Arabs, my eyes suddenly fell on a small rock ledge left dry by the receding tide. Sneaking away from a lengthy historical discourse by the guide I slithered down the rocks, to return a little while later with an almost complete set of East African Neritas, including the rarish Nerita textilis, some mitres and species of Thais, in my pockets.
All in all my 3 weeks' holiday, of which about two weeks were spent shelling, let me collect over 120 different species of gastropods, and about a dozen of pelecypods (including 4 different species of Codakia, and a large black, pearly, glistening pen shell, Atrina vexillum). On a repeat trip to the same area about 2-1/2 years later, in February 1969, and dedicated exclusively to shelling, some further 50 to 60 species were added, again mostly gastropods.
On this second trip I was happy to note that contrary to my fears the intervening period of steadily increased tourist traffic had left the general charm and naturalness of this small coastal paradise unharmed. Even the sense of remoteness still persisted, although the hotel had been enlarged and amenities modernized, but first beginnings of commercializing and natural resources – foremost shells – were becoming apparent. There had been some large scale fishing for the larger shells by the nearby natives for "souvenirs", and the formerly very common Lambis lambis, Murex ramosus, and Cypraecassis rufa had noticeably dwindled. Native fishermen had also learned to recognize the prospective value of sea shells. Formerly a few shells had been offered indiscriminately for little money – now each fishermen seemed to have a plastic bag tucked carefully away inside his loincloth with an assortment of sea shells in it, for which they proudly quoted correct Latin names (!!), and asked staggering prices!
Black lip These figures prove that the Australian populations do not excel in any way: shells from the last-named three areas are broad, but this character occurs also in the four populations from the Seychelles. The size of the shells from Broome is also almost reached in Mozambique nor do the dentition, dorsal and lateral markings, or spire blotch (see the figure) show differences.
Therefore the large, broad, callous westralis is not a geographical subspecies spreading along the whole Northwest coast of Australia, but only a local variant restricted to Broome: Kalnins' shells from Barrow I. agree with those from the Seychelles.
I read with interest Professor F. A. Schilder's article in the November issue of the Sean Raynon Sabado entitled "The Size of Erosaria ocellata (Linnaeus)." In a similar article published in - The Cowry, Volume 1, Number 8, Professor Schilder describes a study of the size of Erosaria turdus (Lamarck). The limits of usual specimens (i.e. of two-thirds of the specimens approaching the median[*]) for these two species in the Karachi area was given as follows: E. ocellata (26 - 31 mm.); E. turdus (29 - 39 mm.). While these figures conform rather closely to my study of 385 specimens of E. turdus winckworthi and 181 specimens of E. ocellata found in the vicinity of Karachi, it might be of interest to note that local differences in size occur within this general area. Photos - uncredited
[E. turdus, above; E. ocellata, below]
[*- This can be confusing: In some articles, the mean is stated; in others, the median. These are two different statistics which do not have the same value in a given population unless its distribution is Gaussian, or "normal," which rarely occurs. - Bob Dayle]
From Karachi the beach extends westward about 25 miles along the Arabian Sea before turning north. About 15 miles west of Karachi there is an open beach with large boulders jutting from the sand. At low tides during certain periods of the monsoon small pools form in the sand and both E. ocellata and E. turdus are found in these pools, sometimes half-buried in the sand. This is the only place I have ever seen sea shells frequent this type of habitat. The specimens found here are considerably larger than those found in other areas around Karachi. In one afternoon, we collected 30 specimens of giant E. turdus (see top, picture below) most of them measuring about 2 inches, or from 45 to 51 mm. Since roughly 20 per cent of the specimens used in my study come from this locality the average size E. turdus turned out to be 36 mm. compared to 33 mm. as reported by Professor Schilder, and the limits of usual specimens ranged from 31 to 42 mm. The E. ocellata (see bottom picture below) found in this area are also unusually large. Without including these giants, my figures coincide very closely to those of Professor Schilder.
In the accompanying photographs I have pictured a pair of E. turdus, the larger of which is 51.5 mm. and a pair of E. ocellata, the larger of which is 41.5 mm. I would be interested in knowing if the latter is a world record. In the October, 1964 issue of the Sean Raynon Sabado the world record size for E. ocellata was listed as 36 mm.
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