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Capis lamps
Capis lamps Venturing further out into the lagoon I discovered areas populated with colonies of Lambis lambis – all rather large, long-spined, and richly colored specimens – and in other parts Murex ramosus, which were, however, generally badly eroded and not worth taking. Once, coming across a funny little knob in a sandy hollow near some coral, I dug in with my hand – to come up with a live 5-inch Cypraecassis rufa, the first one I had ever found myself anywhere.
On following days I concentrated more on the intriguing mid-lagoon channel which was studded on both sides with remarkably large coral boulders rising to within a few feet of lowest low-tide level from depths of 25 to 30 feet. A prize find was a large, 100mm Cymatium gutturnium, alive and in perfect condition, that had been hiding inside a narrow crevice. Here I also found several Drupina lobata, the curious Indian Ocean form of D. grossularia, which may or may not be a full-fledged species of its own.. They always seemed to occur in pairs. Lambis scorpius was lying exposed on the coral rubble covered sides of the steeply sloping channel in about 20 feet – the limit of my skin-diving prowess – while L. crocata, and L. arthritica were rare and limited to the outer reef ramparts accessible only during minus tides. Such low tides occurred only a few times during my stay. These were the "sea shell days": on the flat, solid reef-plateau rising from the sea for only 15 to 30 minutes Cypraea histrio, C. vitellus, C. carneola, and C. helvola were quite common. C. chinensis I found both under coral in the lagoon and on the reef, all with a beautiful, deep coloring of the base and sides. Most sought-after were C. mappa and C. stolida. I found none myself, but native fishermen had a few for sale, and some fellow holidayers found 3 or 4 C. stolida under coral blocks in the lagoon. There was one specimen that tallied in all respects, for me, with the description of subspecies fluctuans Iredale as given by Messrs. C. C. Woltz and D. B. Becher in their valuable little guide pamphlet "Collecting sea shells in Dar-Es-Salaam." I was unfortunately not able to obtain this specimen from its finder, but could inspect it very thoroughly, and found it to be of apparently sub-adult age.
Certain other sea shells, notably C. teres and C. nucleus, seemed to be more widespread outside the reef. SCUBA divers brought up specimens from 10 to 20 meters depth. I once accompanied them on a diving excursion, but having only goggles, had to remain near the surface above a large coral plateau that rose to within 4 or 5 meters of the surface from surrounding greater depths. It was a breathtaking experience for me. Never had I seen fish in such numbers. Above and between the canyons and slopes of the bizzarely shaped coral gardens literally thousands of fish in all sizes were moving about in an unbelievable pandemonium of color. Once an immense swarm of perhaps one to one-and-a-half foot long silvery fish completely enveloped me, parting in two streams only feet away from my face, and joining again behind my back. In one place, I discovered a large leopard trigger fish which let me approach on short dives to within a few feet. Museum aquaria gladly pay 500 US-Dollars for this rare beauty. The few coral plates I managed to turn over yielded, however, no shells, while the SCUBA divers working in deeper water nearby brought up quite a lot of sea shells.
Capis lamps Another youngster, 15 years old, Conrad Cormier found a recently dead Strombus hawaiensis. This rare shell was in 60' off water at Kahe Pt. For his second shell Conrad came up with a very rare Conus eugrammatus. We have to check this as most surely it may be a Conus acutangulus.
Among the rare shells that were stolen from the Tarpon Spring's shell shop of Mr. and Mrs. Vatikiotis was their specimen of the very rare Cypraea valentia, one of six specimens in the world.
Mr. R. E. Herrington, 1551 Jeffords Street, Clearwater, Florida 33516, wrote and sent a clipping about the robbery. Mr. Herrington also said, "I am within telephone contact with Mr. Vatikiotis and will make immediate reply to anyone who requires more information about the stolen shells or has information about them. Particularly if anyone is offered a C. valentia with 'foggy' background information. My telephone number is 447-1737."
Newly elected Philippine Shell President Wes Thorsson, diving out Nanakuli way in 20 feet, found two Cypraea sulcidentata and two C. leviathan. Farther west along the same shore, in 110 feet off Makua, Earl Kaatzer came up with a beautiful three inch Conus bullatus, recently dead but a beauty.
Another Turridrupa weaveri has been collected. This one by Olive Schoenberg in 65 50 feet off Waikiki Makaha [correction per NSN 111]. On the same outing, Martin Reddick collected a Conus spiceri.
Last month's Recent Finds reported Conrad Cormier had found what was believed to be Conus eugrammatus. A careful check showed this cone to be C. acutangulus.
Stanley Takahashi's Cypraea gaskoini collected off Kahuku was identified by Joe Reid as Cypraea cernica. Stanley went through his collection of C. gaskoini and found another C. cernica.
But not all rare shells are found by divers. Neil and Eva Seamon, recently returned to Philippines from New York were walking the north shore of Oahu after big surf. They collected Conus nussatella, Cypraea tessellata, C. becki, and even Murex pele plus other less rare shells.
Off Ala Moana, in 70 feet, Philippine Shell VP Betsy Harrison almost swallowed her scuba mouthpiece when she turned over a small rock and spotted a live Clivapollia fragaria. This is the third known specimen from Philippines.
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