|
|
Shellcrafts
Shellcrafts Mary Lou Dauber has made her recent diving payoff, too, with a Cyp. chinensis from Kailua Bay in about 30 ft. of water under a coral head and a perfect Casmaria erinaceus on the same dive. Other recent dives have provided her with a dead C. ostergaardi and an unusual C. pulicarius with an exceptionally high spire.
Tom Fair brought up a dead but good specimen of Mitra [Vexillum (Costellaria)] unifasciatum from 70' off Kahi Point.
Cypraea camelopardalis Perry, 1811
This beautiful sea shell can only be found after a hard, long day of searching over a wide area. Over 90 percent are found in areas with slightly sandy bottoms and plenty of coral and rock slabs, with small mossy-like seaweed growing about them. Never have I collected one on the hard reef or over the reef on the inner side of the outer reef. The water is anywhere from one to fifteen feet deep. The average depth was around four feet. The sea shells seem to prefer quiet waters to the rough waters near the reef.
When this sea shell is found, its mantle has always been retracted. The shell is usually exposed under a rock slab or coral, thus making it easy to see when you are in the area. Where you find one of the species you are sure to find others about, if you take your time and really look carefully. These sea shells like to live in large or small colonies in one certain area. This may be the reason that C. camelopardalis are so hard to find and collect. I know of five different places where they may be collected with little trouble, but it was quite awhile before I was able to find these locations. Also, several are usually found together under the same slab. They can also be taken in the presence of other sea shells on the same rocks and coral. Their movement is restricted during the daylight hours. They are never seen about during the day. Night time is the time that the sea shells move about as they travel from place to place. They can be found on top of rocks or coral at night, with their mantles retracted.
Very young specimens are light yellow-tan in color with dark brown bands numbering about three or four around the shell, which is paper thin. The average sea shell is about 50-62mm in length.
I feel strongly about the possibility of a subspecies of C. camelopardalis, one that lacks the white spots on the dorsum area, for you can find many adults with a lack of spots except for a few faint marginal spots (Pat Burgess believes these are simply young sea shells.)
Shellcrafts Usually we collect only 10-20 different species in any one area, except Playa De Costilla in Rota Bay five miles across from Cádiz seems to be an exception. This bay is blessed?? with all the town's garbage & while I would hate to swim here, the shells seem to love it. About 500 yards off shore is a very large reef that is only exposed during the lowest 0.5 tides, a normal low tide being 2.0-3.0 feet.
On one recent collecting trip at Playa De Costilla, I found 51 different species as no real low tides had uncovered this reef in three months. It seems like half the town's population realized this also & were out on the reef looking for species of bivalves they can eat. Close to shore in mud banks they dig Pholas dactylus Linn, the collector soon looks like the mud bank as it's messy work. Out towards the reef in gravel/mud/weed banks are dug Cardium edules Linn, Mactra sugosz Chem, Lutraria elliptica Lam, and Tapes decussatus Linn. These bivalves are collected by the bucketfull and sold in the local markets.
On the reef itself I find most of the rocks turned over for me as the Spaniards are looking for squid & sea urchins. As the 0.5 tides run in a 3-day cycle it's hopeless to turn them [rocks] back as they will just be turned each day & maybe 50 percent end up in their original positions. As no one else is looking for small specimen shells, it's a real field day for me. Some of the more interesting species found are: Calliostoma zizphinum Linn, Columbella rustica Linn, Conus mediterraneus Linn, Cypraea pyrum Gmel, Chiton olivaceus Spen, Fusus rostratus Oliv, Fissurella graeca Linn, Mitra ebenus Lam, Murex blainvillei Pay, Murex trunculus Linn, Nassarius reticulata Linn, Natica vittata Gmel, Ocenebra edwardsi Payr, and Ocenebra erinacea Payr.
Another form of shell collecting here in Spain is meeting the fishing boats as they return from trawling off the fishing grounds, "La Caballa" S.W. of Cádiz city in 20-40 fathoms. As the fisherman pull their nets up on the pier, I often pick out Cymbium olla Linn, Murex brandaris Linn, Halia priamus Gmel, and Cassis saburon Brug. Some years ago they used to collect Cypraea achatidea Shy. in their nets also, but the style of nets & trawling methods has changed & the C. achatidea is no longer collected, sad to say, as it's very popular with collectors.
shellcrafts,hair accessory,hand made,lei,gold lip,sheashells,white shell,shells pendants,abalone,shellcrafts
Shellcrafts raw earring ornament ornamental shell shell shell jewelry shells bracelet shell crafts silver mouth ornament leis pukka fashion shells components blacktab shell hawaiian shell jewelry necklace shark tooth natural fashion.
shellcrafts
Shell Jewellery
 
|
