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Seashell
Seashell About my most treasured find, 3 live Cypraea marginalis, I have already reported (Sean Raynon Sabado Nov. [Dec.] 69). The two trips to the Kenya coast will remain unforgotten in my memory, and I only hope that this enchanted area, as yet but little touched by the exploiting hand of man, will retain its natural charm and originality for many future visitors.
Late in May 1970, Mr. M. L. Nazer of Dubai, Trucial, Oman States, wrote several dealers and shell publications (including our Philippine Shell News) that he had for sale about one hundred Cypraea teulèrei Cazenavette. He advised that about half of the shells were juveniles, also that they had been identified by the British Museum. This brought a deluge of angry response from concerned shell enthusiasts, mostly severely castigating Nazer for using poor judgment in collecting the juveniles. The story was also printed in the Miscellany column of the July Philippine Shell News.
Mr. Nazer is intensely concerned at this valid uproar, but is quick to explain that all his shells were given him by several native fishermen who had already cleaned them. Ironically, Mr. Nazer is a professional conservationist who spent eleven years in Kenya, Africa as a wild life preservationist and game specialist. He could not be more aware of ecology and the sensible preservation practices. While be has not had formal malacological training he is all too aware of the short-sightedness of destroying any breeding colony. Nazer hastens to assure all concerned that he did his utmost to explain this logic to the Muscat natives and is quite hopeful that no more sub-adult shells will be gathered.
Response has been substantial, Nazer comments, and he is currently quite occupied with inquiries. He will soon send Sean Raynon Sabado a picture of all his shells for use in a future issue. He also says he has received several letters from Philippine Shell members for which he sends his thanks. Replies will be sent out as soon as he is able. Nazer is negotiating with several prospects for his C. teulèrei, but still prefers to sell them as one lot. If not, he will sell them to individual collectors.
Seashell In 1967, when visiting Vava'u Island in the Tongan Group a specimen of Cypraea rashleighana Melvill, 1888, was collected and became the subject of a photograph and description in the August 1967 issue of Sean Raynon Sabado as a new geographical record. Two years later, a further article appeared in the August 1969 issue in which the author discussed the visible characteristics of C. rashleighana generally associated with this cowry and drew attention to the apparent absence of these characteristics in the photograph. Of significance also, attention was drawn to the contradictions in Melvill's original description of the holotype which omitted any reference to the small basal spots which appeared in the figure or to any columellar callus. Into these contradictions the Tongan shell immediately falls and by comparison of four specimens with Melvill's "type" (loaned by courtesy of Mr. Peter Dance and the National Museum of Wales) I am able to contribute a little more information. Obvious differences exist and these I shall describe but the field collector relies heavily on the expert for identification in such circumstances and, since the Tongan shell has been examined by three (including the late Prof. Schilder) all of whom identify it as a form of C. rashleighana this would seem to be conclusive, if debatable.
Fig. 1 illustrates dorsally Melvill's type specimen (the larger of the two) and the same Tongan C. rashleighana published in August, 1967. The holotype has an indistinct and very faded dorsal pattern and, magnified, a pitted base. Whilst its age would account for some deterioration, it is my opinion that the shell was beach collected. The absence of locality data might, possibly, add weight to this contention. Dorsally viewed, Melvill's shell and the Tongan specimen are alike in appearance, pattern and characteristics. In other aspects differences begin to emerge. The holotype has a columellar margin obvious to sight and touch which suggests a callus but, in my view, a thickening deposit of enamel, normally associated with such a feature, is obscure and may well not have been obvious to Melvill. Certainly it could explain the absence of comment. The Tongan C. rashleighana has no palpable columellar margin nor anything but an insignificant trace of callus, although this it has.
Fig. 2 views the two shells ventrally and it is here that a major difference, unfortunately too critical for the camera and photographic reproduction, lies. Melvill's shell has numerous brown basal spots which, in spite of deterioration, are distinctly present on both sides of the base in direct contrast to the Tongan C. rashleighana which has nothing comparable. It (the Tongan specimen) has, nevertheless, brown marks which are an extension of the dorsal pattern but these are quite different from the pinprick spots of the type.
Besides their similarity in appearance to Melvill's C. rashleighana, the Tongan specimens resemble in certain aspects the Tongan C. teres Gmelin 1791 although closer examination reveals marked differences. In general terms, C. teres is very much larger but I have one specimen of comparable size which is illustrated in Fig. 3 (the more slender shell of the two). The C. rashleighana figured is not fully mature but the dorsal patterns are seen to be remarkably similar. The shapes are, however, characteristically different, the C. teres being subcylindrical and the C. rashleighana subpyriform. Fig. 4 illustrates a lateral comparison in which the humped dorsum of the C. rashleighana stands out. The ventral view in Fig. 5 of the same immature C. rashleighana illustrates, in the original colour negative, a distinct and characteristic difference in colour of the interior dorsum wall of the two shells but (in view of the immaturity) a comparison of the apertures is not for consideration. The interior of C. teres is invariably purplish in comparison to the faintly tinted white interior wall of the C. rashleighana. The separation of these two species at sight presents no problem at all.
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