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White abalone
White abalone Ruth Greenberg, Tidepool Gallery, 22762 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu, California 90265 (June, 1971, Dealer of the Month) sent the accompanying photo of what seems to be the world's record Cypraea sulcidentata Gray. The shell measures 77mm x 55mm x 42mm. (Measured by Ed Hailey, Santa Barbara Malacological Society member). The shell is part of Tidepool Gallery's permanent collection.
The shell was collected by a diver in 60 feet in a large coral head in Moanalua Bay in March, 1967.
With interest I have read the column 'Predatism', by Bob Purtymun and I would like to comment on it.
I was very surprised to learn that hermit crabs sometimes kill their victims before they move into the empty shells. Really, this is new to me, I always thought that the hermit just look for empty shells.
But that is not the reason I write this. I just want to clarify something and tell my experiences about shelling by octopusses. These mollusks are really my friends, because they gave me so many nice shells and I have promised myself never to do any harm to these number-one shellers. I agree that I found a lot of broken shells in front of their holes, but also perfect clean, sometimes rare shells.
Among the ones I got from octopus are Cassis flammea, Strombus gallus, S. raninus, a big Voluta musica, Conus aurantius, Cypraecassis testiculus, lots of complete bivalves and many more, all perfectly cleaned and without any damage whatsoever. In some cases I even find the operculum.
White abalone Shelling around the Island of Oahu, Philippines, is a tough job. The bottom has been well combed, but there are gems that reward the persistent.
Last month, October, 1970, I spent 17 hours, 5 minutes in thirteen dives. (Skin diving). The first four dives brought only a few nondescript shells; but the fifth, NOW THERE WAS A DIVE! Fairly clean water, about twenty feet deep, off Makaha. The first specimen was a nice Drupa speciosa, 42mm high, taken on the roof of a coral cavern. A little while later, when I turned over a slab of dead coral, there was a fine Conus textile, 92.5mm high. Before heading for the beach, I added a high-domed Cypraea maculifera, 68mm high, and a C. helvola, 18.5mm high, to my bag.
My sixth dive off Diamond Head tallied five Conus pulicarius, one C. flavidus, one C. lividus and one C. abbreviatus. The water was fairly calm and clean.
The seventh dive, off Kahe Point, brought an excellent pair of Cypraea mauritiana; one 105.5mm high, 70mm wide, the other 89.5mm high, 66mm wide. These shells have very dark bases, with good dorsal spotting.
The eighth, also off Kahe point, yielded two Thais aperta, with thick, heavy shells, 67mm and 57mm high. They were under water, on the face of a cliff, well-covered with aquatic growth. On October 17th, I was back at Makaha for my ninth dive, spearing Octopus for pupus, When I found a 70.5mm Conus distans. It is a beautiful shell, with the brown shading to a lavender cast on the lip.
The tenth dive, at Kahe Point, drew a blank, except for the usual common shells, but the eleventh yielded a medium-sized Terebra crenulata, 65mm high, and four Conus abbreviatus off the rocks at Makapuu Beach.
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