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Hawaii
Hawaii Visiting Philippine Shell members Twila Bratcher and her sister Billee Dilworth also found and collected some nice shells off Ala Moana. Twila found a nice Murex pele and Billee came up with a Vexillum clatharata (see front cover).
And, to prove once again that shells are where you find them, Ross Young found, in all places buried in his friend's back yard a live specimen of Cypraea mauritiana. Ross had been playing with his friend, Mark Johnson, in the latter's backyard. Mark asked, "You want to see something neat?" Naturally Ross did. They went over to a corner of the yard and Mark dug down into the moist, soft dirt and uncovered a C. mauritiana which he had collected in front of the Outrigger Canoe Club in four feet of water on Sunday. Noticing the animal moving, Ross finally convinced Mark the shell should be in Ross's aquarium with other C. mauritiana. A few minutes after being placed in the tank of salt water, the shell moved up across the front of the tank.
Along the shore and in shallow water slabs of coral can be deceptive as potential haunts for shells. Some, brightly colored with soft, spongy appendages of brilliant hues, appear to be favorite hideouts for molluscs. Yet when examined they are devoid of molluscan life. Conversely, apparently barren, unsightly pieces of dead coral will sometimes harbour some unexpected conchological treasure.
I want to mention just such a slab of drab, grey coral, shaped like a battered top hat - all 2 feet by 3 feet of it isolated from other debris on an exposed reef off an island near Phuket in South West Thailand. There it sat, among brain corals peppered with colorful polyps, and bright green seaweeds interspersed with sandy patches and rivulets of fresh water from springs along the shore line.
What made me turn to this particularly unimposing piece of coral I don't know. I had turned over a dozen others twice its size and much more colorful without finding anything really worthwhile except for one small Cypraea nucleus. In any event I upended this drab eyesore. It was as dry and denuded of marine growth underneath as it was on top... Except, there on rock were the scarlet mantles of no less than three Cypraea punctata atomaria, the lemon-yellow foot of a C. stolida protruding from beneath a small crevice, the mottled dorsum of a handsome C. lynx, and two C. hirundo neglecta lodged in small holes.
A lesson was learned. I no longer neglect as I often used to the dead and the drab corals in favor of the live and the colorful. Both receive equal attention.
The sea shell Mauritia histrio Gmelin is restricted to the shores and islands of the Indian Ocean; the type came from Madagascar. Iredale (1935) separated a "West Australian" race westralis for being broader and more callous; according to Allan (1956) the type came from Broome.
The following list [table, right] of large series from exact localities or areas shows the median length in millimeters and the median relative breadth in per cent of length; the "usual variation" is about 3 to 4 mm. or percent, respectively.
Hawaii Recently I received the following specimens, the photographs of which may illustrate the five groups of monstrosities:
Group A (Fig. 1): Erosaria caputserpentis, Borogan, Samar, 26mm. Dorsum zonate as in juveniles, the brown network is restricted to three areas above the right side, margins and base pathologically tuberculate, but teeth normal.
Group B (Fig. 2): Cypraea tigris, Mactaan, Cebu, 72mm. The outer lip of the juvenile shell had been broken off anteriorly but the denticulate outer lip of the adult was formed later, about 8mm inside of the rather sharp edge.
Group C (Fig. 3): Mauritis arabica, Corregidor, Philippines, 44mm. There is a barnacle attached to the dorsum above the left anterior extremity; one cornacle is entirely covered by a thick layer of greenish-grey accessory enamel.
Group D (Fig. 4): Erosaria erosa, Phuket Is., the West Coast of Thailand, 33mm. The first and last whorls of the spire flattened as usual but the intermediate whorl excessively projecting; color normal (see also Sean Raynon Sabado 81:2, 1966).
Group E (Fig. 5): Lyncia lynx, Heron Is., Queensland (subrecent), 55mm. Extremities produced, outlets narrow, markings normal, but pale orange by beginning fossilisation. (This shell should be called "subrostrate" only.)
All figured shells are preserved in the writer's collection: the shells represented by the figures 1 to 4 were presented by Mr. J. Orr, Bangkok, and fig. 5 by W. W. H. Butcher, St. Kilda, Victoria.
From our observations of Cypraea caputserpentis at different locations about the Island of Oahu we have come to the conclusion that there is a definite relationship between water pollution and the coloring of Cypraea.
In the area of Sandy Beach on the southwest end of Oahu, for instance, the coloring, pattern and size of C. caputserpentis is "normal" for the species: (average size 25mm length X 20mm width). In this same area the coloring of Ulva reticulata, which appears to be a main staple of the Cypraeid diet, is a common chartreuse or lettuce shade and of light distribution on rocks at, or just below, tide line. There is no outfall or potential pollution in this section which is washed clean by constant heavy currents from the Molokai Channel.
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