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Silver mouth
Silver mouth 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.]
Silver mouth "Leviathans with a problem"
During certain times in the Philippine winter season, the Koko Head area from Kawaihoa Point to the Blow Hole presents marvelous scuba diving and shelling opportunities. Not long ago a friend and I took advantage of the calm beauty. He knows this area and its underwater landscape as well as most of us know the view from the Pali. On this particular morning as we watched the sea and slight swells, we planned our quest for the Cypraea leviathan Schilder. Looking down the sheer rocky steep from 40 feet above, Deane (my diving buddy) pointed out the small cutaway where the leviathans were "holed up." And he ought to know for he had collected C. leviathan from that area on three previous dives. The hole was impossible and fool-hardy to approach from above, but from underwater, after a 10 minute swim, the hide-out was beautifully inviting.
In places it looked very much like a wall of narrow brownish-red shelves. Rock ledges formed the layers of shelves that were colored with coral, algae and sponge growth. The chasm was about 25 feet deep at its deepest and the top shelves were just barely below the receding water level. It was on these overhanging ledges that the C. leviathan lived in less than 8 feet of white water. Their coloring blended so well with the coloring of the rock ledges I could not spot them until Deane showed one to me. After that I did find them myself. The shells were wedged tight between the shelves - or had they grown as large as the existing room permitted? Often it was quite a chore to pry them out of the rocky nooks.
However, there is one problem. On perhaps three-quarters of the shells collected there is what looks like a slightly cloudy layer of oily bubbles. It isn't oil. It doesn't come off. All the shells were cleaned the same way - freezing and forceful rinsing. The ''film" is more apparent over the top area of the shells than at the margined sides. The other 1/4 of the collected shells are bright and shiny. Yet they all came from this one location. Any suggestions from readers as to what causes the film and what one can do about it?
Mr. John Orr, Bangkok, has presented me a curious monstrosity of Lyncina vitellus (Linnaeus) which has been collected alive under a granite boulder at the island Ko Samet off Bang Pae, Eastern Thailand, in 1968 (coll. Schilder 23132).
The normally shaped shell (71mm long) shows on each side of the dorsum an irregularly shaped area of more than 20mm diameter, in which the uppermost layer of enamel (which is about 1mm thick) has been removed so that the equally smooth second layer becomes visible. The posterior margin of the right area shows a still deeper narrow impression (7mm long) piercing the second layer too. All step-like vertical borders of these areas are softened by a thin layer of accessory enamel deposited after the shell's injury. The two uppermost dorsum and the margins are uniformly suffused by chestnut enamel. All these characters look like healed traces of bites by a large fish.
Besides, there is a blunt projection covered by still darker blackish chestnut enamel on the left upper margin of the hardly recognizable spire: it looks like a barnacle covered in a very early stage of the sea shell's growth.
Ed. Note: The condition of the cowry described by Kay Antrim in her Notes From A Novice (top of page [above]) and those described by Prof. Schilder are apparently not similar. However, both shells were collected under rocks where possible damage to the enamel, and probably the mantle, could occur. I am sure Prof. Schilder would like to have for study a specimen of the sea shells described by Kay.
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