|
|
Mello
Mello Where are veligers found and how are they captured? Veligers are found in nearly ail relatively calm marine surface waters on days which are not overcast. On cloudy days, arrow worms, ctenophores and rather plain micro-crustacea predominate. On sunny days, where the surface water is not excessively turbid and choppy, one obtains colorful amphipods, marine worms and a variety of veligers. Areas which yield the highest diversity of prosobranch veligers are those clearwater areas between turbid inshore areas and clear, out-to-sea regions where channels funnel water through a defined region.
A nylon plankton net from 1/2 to one meter at its widest diameter is towed from a slowly moving boat for at least 10- 15 minutes. Mesh size of the net should be no larger than 0.33mm. A wide-mouth jar approximately one liter in volume is secured to the net by means of a hose clamp or twine which may be obtained in most hardware stores. The contents of the sample should be poured through a small fish net (mesh size of 1-2mm) into a bucket containing a few centimeters of fresh sea water. This separates large components such as algae, jellyfish, arrow worms, etc. from the desired smaller components. Then a centripetal effect is introduced by swirling the bucket a few times. After waiting a few minutes for the sedimenting organisms to collect at the bottom, the supernatant sea water and organisms are poured off into another bucket. By repeating this procedure several times, one is able to obtain a reasonably pure sample of veligers.
Photos - Taylor
Fig. 2
Protoconchs of veligers,
Kaneohe Bay, Oahu.
… 1. Cypraea sp.…
o. Cypraea isabella.…
s. Trivia sp., without outer
part of protoconch.…
It is desirable to separate the components in this manner as soon after collection as possible because veligers, especially common species such as Crucibulum spinosum, are capable of secreting appreciable amounts of mucus, which not only aggregates the veligers, but also causes other organisms or pieces of debris to adhere to them. This makes later scanning with a dissecting microscope more difficult and time-consuming. Take one or two buckets of fresh sea water back to the laboratory for subsequent filtration with a piece of nylon cloth which has a pore size of 12µ ( =.012mm). Water filtered in such a manner can be stored for 1-2 weeks without spoilage.
Mello Shell collecting has also evolved to a high state. We can only be thankful that groups such as our Honored Society have successfully undertaken the task of stimulating and perpetuating an interest and understanding of shells and shell lore
This reef, if anything, presented an even more uninspiring spectacle than the one I had worked the previous day. Silty water lapped at slabs of black rock and colorless corals covered with a slimy scum. It was not the most enjoyable form of shelling by any means. The corals were sharp, and being only half exposed one had to lift them out of the water and balance them on one's knee in order to examine the underside. Cuts and scratches were unavoidable. An hour of backbreaking toil produced only a few live shells, among them C. errones, C. arabica arabica, lamarcki redimita, and one or two large C. vitellus. Suddenly, one of the fisherwomen who was searching nearby for mussels and rock shells for the evening's cooking pot, called to me. Stumbling about in ankle deep, muddy water I groped my way over to her to see what she wanted. [ photo - uncredited; published
inverted, corrected here; cropped.]
Specimen of Cypraea nivosa
54mm x 32mm x 26mm found
in a box containing C. zebra
(Linn), purchased by Mrs.
Kinloch from the late Mr. A. E.
Salisbury collection. Label is
the original but does not have
locality data.
Under a typically half-dead piece of coral she had turned over was a solitary Cypraea nivosa.
There it sat, the greyish, mottled mantle slowly retracting to expose the soft golden brown tints of the glossy dorsum peppered with off-white, smoky spots, some faintly tinged with olive hues, contrasting, yet in some inexplicable way subtly blending with the drab browns and greys of the coral. The irregular mantle line was not very prominent on this particular specimen and at first I thought it might be a freak C. vitellus. But the conspicuously raised ridges faintly tinged with purple around the anterior and posterior apertures dispelled any doubts.
Carefully, I eased the shell from its foothold and placed it in my shell bag. A reward for the finder? Of course, and well deserved. She acknowledged it with a toothless grin and resumed to her the much more important task of filling her basket with succulent mussels. It was at the same time the signal for a massive onslaught upon the reef by the villagers. Needless to say, no other C. nivosa was found there, although I was assured by our host that one had been found some months ago on the same reef.
Back in the sultry confines of our small room, I placed the C. nivosa in a specimen jar half-full of sea water and waited for it to adjust to the strange new environment. It was a long wait almost an hour. Finally, black tentacles probing the 'nothingness' and within another half-hour the shell was crawling quite confidently across the base of an upturned plate.
Within two days both specimens were en route to the British Museum of Natural History where the back room experts would doubtless soon be sharpening their scalpels and tweezers to conduct a comparative post mortem upon them.
Conclusions reached as the result of the rather superficial examination I was able to make are shown in the table below, left.
mello,shells,shell hairclips,violet oyster,shell beads,coral,shells accessory,tiger brownlip,pearls,mello
Mello shells components clams raw pukalet crafts exporter wallets earings shells necklace jewelry shell exporters shells craft troka puka raw shells heishi trocca shell-madebelts clams raw components of mother pearl raw shell jewelry.
mello
Shell Jewellery
 
|
