|
|
Jewelry shell
Jewelry shell All further specimens (only three more in as many years) were again found at night, between 10 and 12 p.m., and always during the first to second hour of the incoming tide. What struck me as very strange was that, uncommon as the species seemed to be, on these few night occasions quite a colony of them could usually be seen, emerging from the sand at nearly the same moment, moving about for a while., then all vanishing together as quickly and mysteriously as they had come. Specimens not taken (and I never collected more than 2 or 3 on each occasion) disappeared, however, completely, and were never seen again, although I undertook long searches on following nights. Once also I had been diving and hunting in the area for two nights preceding a sudden appearance, but none were seen then. As my huntings usually covered a several hour period from just before low tide to mid tide, I cannot explain these strange and irregular appearances and disappearances. I did notice though that shells seemed to form close colonies, as sizes and weights were fairly constant within one finding but varied from one time to the next. Shells of one locality were also consistently larger and heavier than those from the other.
The two pictured specimens, measuring about 53 and 56mm, were found in Saluafata on the north coast of Upolu, Western Samoa, on 23rd June, 1961, and 9th October, 1962 respectively. The dark brown dorsal blotch on the upper specimen is unique; none of the other shells found shows any trace of it.
For those who would like to puzzle for themselves over the strange behavior of this species I will add the dates of the other findings, viz. 11th Sept., '63, and 28th Oct., '63. These last two findings were preceded and followed by especially intensive searches in this area over many months, at various states of the tides and up to 2 o'clock in the morning! Shells appeared only on those two dates, not before and not after, and within half an hour of their first appearance they had already started to re-bury themselves, with none left in view after one hour.
Just two miles from teeming Waikiki Beach, and a scant one mile off Diamond Head, is a spot on the chart known to local divers as the "100 Foot Hole." If someone were to ask me, "What is the 100 Foot Hole?", I would have to answer "It isn't."
It isn't 100 feet deep; it's only about 85 feet. And it isn't a "hole", it's a giant piece of lava, perhaps belched out of Diamond Head crater in ages past, pierced by a criss-cross of tunnels and surrounded by smaller pieces of lava and coral chunks.
Basically the ocean bottom in the area is a hard, gently sloping, coral plain covered with a thin deposit of sand, silt, and marine growth. Scattered here-and-there will be found patches of algae. Under the coral and rock chunks will be found sandy-silt and shells. Just seaward of the "hole" a steep sloping ocean bottom plunges to considerable depth with occasional flat areas a few square yards wide. In the flat areas will be found pen shell (Pinna) beds and, feeding on these, Cassis cornuta.
Jewelry shell I am enclosing a photo of an unusually patterned Pustularia mariae Schilder, 1927 (top [left]). For comparison, the normally patterned specimen (bottom [right]). The shell is oval and humped, dorsum creamy white ornamented with scattered yellowish spots which are ocellated with darker rings, Both the extremities are stained with a large, yellow ocellated and irregularly shaped spot. Base is white and flat and appears to be as in a normal specimen. Collected on the beach after high winds on the island of Efate in New Hebrides. Could it be a new race of Pustularia mariae Schilder?
Schilderia teramachii (Kuroda) is one of the rarest sea shells in the world and only known from Japan until today. Recently I have had two dead specimens of this curious species from the South China Sea. This is a considerable extension of its distribution to the south.
These specimens measure respectively as follows: Length 64.6mm x 32.0mm x 39.8mm (specimen figured below). Second specimen: 60.3mm x 29.8mm x 36.0mm.
A few issues back there was some discussion regarding whether or not Cypraea granulata was endemic to Philippines. One Sean Raynon Sabado reader wrote stating that she had received a C. granulata from the Marquesas Islands. If so, could this shell be endemic to Philippines? Recently Luc Poroi, a collector from Citioro, Papeete, Tahiti with an excellent collection of shells from the Tuomotu atolls and from the Marquesas, had this to say about the C. granulata from the Marquesas, "The shell from the Marquesas is different from the Philippine species in that it is darker, almost purple. Also the ribs on the aperture side of the shell are quite different from the Philippine shell. We list this cowry as C. granulata cassiauidess. [See correction in NSN 128]"
Can Sean Raynon Sabado readers shed more light on the Marquesas species?? Author of this species? Date? Range?
jewelry shell,earing,shark tooth,earrings,seashells jewelry,shells crafts,gold lip,shells beads,shell jewelries,jewelry shell
Jewelry shell item gift capiz lamps shark teeth nautilus capis shells raw material land snail m.o.p shell jewelry s sheashells leis pukka puka shell shellcrafts m.o.p ornament heishi tiger brownlip shell bracelet shell jewelry clam shells.
jewelry shell
Shell Jewellery
 
|
