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Pearl
Pearl Where to begin? So many islands. So many sand bars. So many shoals. The tide was on the ebb and we eventually chose a reasonably promising looking spit of exposed boulders and coral that formed part of a small uninhabited island. Initially I was discouraged by the cloudy waters that lapped in small wavelets against half-exposed slabs of dead coral and rocks. I need not have been. After only twenty minutes of turning over pieces of coral in ankle-deep water I was rewarded by a flash of vivid orange the mantle of a Cypraea saulae siasiensis. I continued to look for a possible mate, but my day was already complete and I couldn't expect my luck to go too far. Besides, the sun was setting and the typical swift dusk of the tropics would soon be upon us. After finding a pair of handsome and very dark Cypraea lamarcki redimita under a nearby rock, I decided to call it a day.
Joe Honda, diving for fish in Kaneohe Bay found a fine specimen of Strombus hawaiensis. Even though the color of the shell has turned orange, it is still in perfect condition.
Joe Reid and Stanley Takahashi had some Cymatium collecting days recently. They were looking for the second Cym. pyrum (Tom Richert has the first) and C. gutturnium (Arch Harrison has the first of this one) but the best (?) they could do was a C. vespacium each. Collected off Waikiki Beach. Joe also found a recently dead specimen of C. labiosum and two C. clandestinum.
Sean Raynon Sabado Editor E. R. Cross finally has his deep water dredge going from his 40 foot boat Joli-Jac. On the first cast, in just over 200 feet of water, he collected, among other things, a C. vespacium, a one inch long Mitra emersoni, plus three species of Turrid new to his collection. Also plenty of cones, including a shallow-water(?) Conus quercinus from 225 feet of water. Coral rubble bottom.
New Philippine Shell member Mike Smith, diving out Kahe Point way, collected a nice, recently dead, Conus bullatus. When Mike found out how rare C. bullatus is in Philippines he yelled, "I've been born again." So it goes Mike.
A little farther along the coast of Oahu, off Nanakuli this time, Major S. C. Williams found a Cypraea tessellata in 40 feet of water, Then, satisfied with his day, he was swimming back to shore when he spotted (and collected, naturally) a C. tigris. Guess good things do come in bunches.
I don't spend all my time answering phones and making notes on recent finds. Once in a while I also go diving; and even collect shells occasionally. And sometimes loose them. I was skin-diving in about 8 feet off Waikiki when I spotted the first Polinices opacus I had seen. I grabbed it and put it in my pocket. On the way to shore, the shell either crawled or washed out and no more P. opacus.
Visiting Philippine Shell member Twila Bratcher (See Sean Raynon Sabado for September, 1967 and January, 1968) hit it lucky with the weather on her recent visit. On a double diving day weekend she went out with the Harrisons. Twila collected many of her specialty shells, a fine Terebra thaanumi being the prize item. Twila, a Terebra specialist, found one shell which was a puzzle to her and to the Harrisons. Also she collected many of the less rare Terebras such as T. funiculata, T. lanceata, T. casta, T. argus, T. brachigyra, and by way of Olive Schoenberg's collection, a T. achates. Twila also collected a fine specimen of Cymatium rubeculum. And from Editor Cross' collection, a live-collected Cymatium clandestinum.
While diving with Twila, I collected a Conus acutangulus from 80 feet, a C. nusatella from a coral cliff in 40 feet, and a Cypraea tigris, a real purple prize, sitting right out in the open, in about 45 feet. The next day I also found a Cassis cornuta on rocky bottom.
Pearl In 1963, Barnard recorded two E. barclayi from South Africa, photos of one of which have been published in H.S.N. No. 90 (June 1967): it is undoubtedly a slightly worn specimen of Reeve's species. In November, 1968, A. Jenner boasted to have discovered two further E. barclayi in the stomach of fishes caught off Natal (Conch. Soc. S. Afr. Circ. 102). In February 1970, Mr. P. Meyer of Durban found a not fully grown E. barclayi (19.5mm long) in the stomach of a Slinger fish coming from deep waters off Durban: its photo will be published in Conch. Soc. S. Afr. Circulars soon.
Then, in March 1970, Mr. Ray Cruickshank of Durban discovered a glossy adult specimen of E. barclayi in the stomach of the fish Chrysoblephus puniceus caught at 50 fathoms off Durban: the marvelous precious shell has been sent to the writer for examination and returned. Our photo shows three views of the shell with the formula: 19.1mm long, breadth 61 percent, with 20 labial and 16 columellar teeth. The dorsum shows close reddish brown spots; sides and base are whitish, unspotted; the extremities are richly tinged with orange both dorsally and basally; and the thickly produced labial teeth are also orange; the fossula is broad with coarse white inner denticles the first of which projects most; the columella is ribbed.
The discovery of a fine E. barclayi valued at one thousand dollars in van Nostrand's catalogue of 1964 shows once more that many rare specimens and even new species of shells could be obtained if the stomachs of certain deep water fishes were examined systematically.
Cypraea mappa Linné, 1758, living within Apra Harbor, Guam, is a very variable shell indeed. It is reasonable to occasionally see variants of a species when they are selected from a large number of specimens or from widely separated collecting stations but I have recently collected my first twelve adult C. mappa from one reef section in Apra Harbor which reflect a remarkable amount of differentiation within themselves for such a small number of specimens taken from such a restricted locality. The reef section mentioned measures about 75 yards by 25 yards. Photos -
[Hyland ?]
PLATE B
[Of 12 specimens
in this Plate,
only these are
numbered and
referenced.]
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