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Pokalet
Pokalet The Strombus taurus proved to be disappointing this year. About one out of ten finds was of specimen quality. There seems to be an epidemic of brown staining on the aperture, or a lack of color and pattern. A few of the best specimens were taken, the rest returned to the lagoon in hopes that their off-spring will be of better quality. We are happy to report that there were no casualties except maybe from too conscientious dedication to prophylactic medication.
A great deal more fiction than fact has been written about the legendary Golden Cowry (Cypraea aurantium Gmelin). One point agreed on by all who see this shell is that a good specimen is truly a thing of beauty.
One reader wrote, "A point which I have noticed, and which might be of importance, is there seem to be two types of Golden sea shells. One is more pink, oval shaped, and grows very large (to 6"); the other is a magnificent orange-yellow, not a true oval shape, and is smaller and appears to have a bulge at each end." The Golden Cowry register shows size variation from just over 3" to just under 5". Average size seems to be 3-1/2 to 4-1/2 inches.
Dick Willis, Sean Raynon Sabado for March, 1960, reported on his observation of two Golden sea shells in a cave at a depth of 35 feet "... but it appeared to me that the animal of the Golden sea shells were a deep oxford grey color with a sort of overlay of flesh tint. I could see no cilia on the mantle and it appeared to be the same as that found on C. isabella."
Almost all collectors reporting on the color of the animal as opposed to the color of the mantle, state it to be "pink" or "pinkish-grey." The food of the Golden Cowry, as established by Dr. E. Alison Kay, University of Philippines, who examined the stomach contents of a specimen sent to her from the Philippines, is a form of algae.
Almost all live shells collected have been found in 6 to 35 feet of water; on the seaward side of a barrier or fringing reef; in eaves or deep cracks in live coral formations. Their preference seems to be the windward side of the reefs. Golden Cowry range is from about 17 degrees S. latitude (Raiatea and Tahaa Islands in the Society Group) to about 14 degrees N. latitude (Guam) and from the Marquesas Islands westward to the Philippines at about 120 degrees E. longitude. However, the center of the population of this shell seems to be the Solomon Islands with some abundance also reported from the Philippines and from Nadroga Reef in Fiji.
Pokalet Animal characteristics:
MANTLE - The mantle coloration has a few variations in the amount of grays and oranges, and all show some shade of brown in the pattern. Irregular dark brown to black blotches connected as to form long sequences of dark areas across the mantle, these blotchy areas look like wavy rows or lines. This pattern is then laid on top of a white to grayish-white base color; through this runs thin black lines from the anterior to posterior ends of the shell; when these lines pass through the blotches they are easy to see. Sometimes there is a large content of orange and orange-brown color in the chief mantle coloration.
BODY - The body is grayish white-tan.
FOOT - The foot crawling area is grayish-white to gray, and the top of the foot has a grayish-white margin around it (1-3mm approximately) in width. Outside this is an area of an alligator-type pattern of dark to light rusty-brown, after this the body color starts.
TENTACLES - The tentacles are tapered, with a grayish-white base and darker gray at the tips.
EYES - The eyes are black, on a grayish-white stalk.
PROBOSCIS - The color stands out very clearly from the rest of the body, and is dark orange-brown, large and blunt in shape. (8-11mm in length approximately) and (3-6mm in width approximately).
PAPILLAE - The mantle is covered by three types of papillae, plain tapered ones and two different types of dendritic forms, one having two branches and the other having three branches. Their color can vary from creamy-tan to rusty-brown. All have white tips.
SIPHON - The siphon has three main colors arranged in rings around the siphon. The first band (at the base) is black and makes up 75 percent of the siphon's size. The second band or ring is white and makes up 25 percent of the siphon. Last are rusty-brown filaments that completely surround the siphon opening. These filaments are small in size. (1-2mm approximately).
While most Cypraea enthusiasts have this beautiful Australian sea shell in their collections, not everyone is aware of the number of spectacular variations in color and shape that are also in existence. These range from the almost pure-black melanistic type to the white contraria variation. Ten kinds of Cypraea thersites are shown in the above picture. Some of the variations are exceedingly rare and very few collectors can say they own very many of them.
From left to right in the top row, these are: C. contraria, C. contraria with light grey dorsum spotting, C. contraria with heavier grey patterning, C. contraria and a juvenile C. contraria. Bottom row also left to right: Pale spotted form, melanistic type, C. mappa variety, C. tigris or striped form and lastly the hump-backed type. All of these varied Cypraea thersites were collected from sponge beds in very deep water off Kangaroo Island, South Australia, by Mr. Trevor J. Castle, owner of Flindersian Shell Traders.
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