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Puka
Puka Great series collected in the Persian Gulf (coll. Tomlin) usually vary from 26 - 32mm, those coming from Karachi (leg. Winckworth 1932) from 26 - 31mm; in the last named area, the shells labeled Karachi (general), Manora, Baba Island, Oyster Rocks, and Ibrahim Haidari vary from 26 - 30, 24 - 31, 27 - 31, 27 - 30, and 26 - 31mm, respectively. Two sets collected at Bombay (coll. Shopland and coll. Tomlin) are also large (25 - 31mm) in southern India, however, E. ocellata is distinctly smaller: in a series of 49 shells from Madras (coll. 1966, recently presented me by F. B. Steiner) the usual length is 20 - 26mm, in 42 shells from Ceylon (various collections) 18 - 25mm, besides populations collected by Winckworth (in 1928 - 1935) at Mount Lavinia near Colombo 21 - 24mm and in Trincomali 18 - 23mm. Two shells only collected at Tjilaut Eureun in South Java (leg. de Priester about 1933) measure 17 and 18mm.
Therefore the usual size of E. ocellata evidently decreases from the northwest to the southeast. The figures indicated above may be illustrated by the diagram.
Someone once said good things come in pairs. John Earle now believes this is true. While diving off Makua in 75 feet he collected not one, but two, Cypraea rashleighana. Ed deVaul did some fast trading and ended up with one of these fine specimens. Ed placed the living shell in his aquarium with his other live shells. The next day C. rashleighana was gone and he still hasn't found it. Also in Ed's well stocked aquarium is his first Conus spiceri collected the same day the sea shells were found.
Betsy Harrison collected the Cymatium vespacium pictured below [omitted here]. This shell, rare in Philippines, was collected in 80 feet off Waikiki. Betsy also collected another Conus acutangulus from about the same place.
Ed Womack, a fairly recent graduate diver, finally collected his first Cypraea sulcidentata. A nice shell from 70 feet also off Waikiki.
On Sand Island, Ray Fuhrmann found a fossil Conus nussatella. This is not surprising because quite a number of C. nussatella were collected (as fossils) during the dredging of the second entrance to Honolulu Harbor.
A specimen of Blasicrura coxeni (Cox, 1873) has been collected by Miss Toutol at Motalava in the Banks group (New Hebrides). The specimen measures 25.4mm in length, 14.6mm in width and has 15 labial and columellar teeth. The base is rather unusual in color: the columellar interstices are prominently orange-brown, while those on the labial lip are light orange, resembling in this feature Erronea ovum (Gmelin). The species has been previously reported from the New Guinea - Solomon I. area. In the published photograph an elliptical white ring is evident on the dorsum; this unfortunate reflection was caused by a new type of ring flash which was being tried out.
Puka Recently a colleague and I, from the University of Florida, spent a week on Bimini doing research on immunity of lemon and nurse sharks. When time permitted we jumped in a boat and did some fishing and shelling just a short distance from where we worked at the Lerner Marine Laboratory. My shelling time was very limited and thus I am by no means an expert on the shells of this Island. However, I can't resist telling of the fantastic shelling I found there at a spot picked completely at random. The depth of water ranged from 2 to 15 feet. In three-quarters of an hour I had about ten nice size Strombus gigas (Queen conch), ten S. costatus (Milk conch), two S. raninus (Hawk-winged conch) and two as yet unidentified shells. Naturally all but the most perfect specimens were put back.
As we were getting ready to return to shore a "Conch Fisherman" pulled alongside with his "boat load" of S. gigas (See below). These were destined to become conch chowder or conch fritters, both dishes of which are delicious. If you are ever on Bimini and would like to try some conch be sure to stop at Jimmy Pitts' place called "The Island Woman". He will serve you conch as it should be served.
The few species of shells I collected on the one short outing are certainly not the only types found on Bimini and you can be sure that as soon as possible I'll be back to chase down the other conch, helmets, Terebra, etc.
I would like to take this opportunity to send my sincere Alohas to my former Philippines shell-collecting buddies: Helen and Don Hemmes and to Lyman Higa, a really great guy (Amen brudda, ED.)
Having entered upon the hobby of malacology rather late in life I may be reporting an incident which is of common knowledge to all you old-timers. Nevertheless, it was of unusual interest to me, so I will relate the tale here.
A recent shelling expedition to Onekahaka Beach in Hilo turned up, among other things, 4 very nice specimens of Conus textile Linnaeus, plus a couple of the very common (live) Strombus maculatus Nuttall.
After collecting, I usually place all shells into a rather large container of sea water so that I may observe them when they decide to come out of their shells. By the time I had arrived home most were actively poking about. One Strombus maculatus came upon the siphon of the Conus textile and immediately went into violent convolutions, writhing and twisting, and using his operculum as a foot to propel himself. At first I thought he had been stung and was in his death throes, but when he reached the other side of the container he acted in a normal way, and was very obviously still alive. Very shortly thereafter, the identical thing happened with another cone and another Strombus. This time, I was aware that the Strombus was using the operculum as a means to get the heck out of there as fast as possible. It was somewhat reminiscent of seeing photographs and movies of the frantic efforts the scallops make when they are exposed to a star fish.
To me, this was a discovery that the operculum doesn't merely serve to close off the aperture of this particular shell (and I'm wondering if many others might not fall into this category) but also serves as a means of vigorous propulsion to get out of harm's way.
Thank you for your excellent bulletins. I look forward to reading them each month and have obtained some excellent information, plus some particularly interesting books recommended from your lists.
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