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Whole saler
Whole saler Checking with several of the more knowledgeable shell collectors on Okinawa, I have found "E. ogasawarensis" to be just as rare now, as when Mr. Cate wrote his article. However, two more consecutive dives that week, in the same area, produced five more of these beautiful shells for me and one more for Phil. Unfortunately, all the rest of the shells we found, were found in the freshly dead state, laying in the sand at a depth of 115 to 125 ft. Since this is such an uncommon shell for this area, I thought I would share it with the H.S.N. readers, along with the vital statistics for the eight I found [see table]. You will notice they vary quite a bit although all but the one juvenile found alive, are fully mature.
QUESTION: Several years ago, when I lived in Vera Cruz, Mexico, I used to get a lot of sea shells (Macrocypria [sic] cervus) from the fishermen there. These shells were all perfect except for a small hole, which the fishermen said had been drilled by octopuses in order to extract the flesh. They always found a number of empty shells in the dens of octopuses, and these always had the tiny hole. If these holes were made by octopuses, what type could it have been? How would it make such a small hole? R.S., Calgary, Alberta.
ANSWER: Shell boring or drilling by octopuses is a recently discovered phenomenon. Fossil bivalves have been found that were apparently bored in the manner you describe, and recently researchers have found that some octopods bore both bivalves and gastropods. As for species, Octopus vulgaris apparently bores shells and this animal may have been responsible for the bored shells you found. It might also have been Octopus maya, a related species common in the Vera Cruz area. The precise mechanism of boring is unknown, although it probably involves the chitonous radula, a rasp-like organ possessed by octopods and other molluscs. Chemical secretions from the salivary glands may help to dissolve the shell.
The above is from Sea Secrets, Volume 1, No. 1, Feb. 1970. Sea Secrets is published by the International Oceanographic Foundation, 10 Rickenbacker Causeway, Virginia Key, Miami, Florida 33149.
Whole saler One day I discovered a juvenile one, red-colored and only one inch in length. In spite of my own rules of taking young shells, I decided to pick it up and to put it into an aquarium on board my ship. In this way I brought it home to Holland.
It has been most interesting to study this conch, day after day, during a period of almost two years. In that time this juvenile S. gallus made a complete red whorl. The food was no problem at all: there was enough algal growth on the glass and stones. With its two-inch long proboscis, the conch scratched the algae away and it was remarkable how far it could extend its proboscis. I have never observed it eating any animal matter.
The locomotion is also interesting: with the aid of the operculum the S. gallus moved, or better, jumped. The foot was only used as a sucker, just to fasten itself to the glass or stones in order to reach the higher places.
Ron Scaggs has come up with an excellent specimen of Bursa bufonia from 40 feet off Waianae, and Al Calabrese, diving in the same area brought up a Conus spiceri.
Eight Cypraea tigris schilderiana were brought up from a small area off Sandy Beach by Jack Uyemura, Ken Matsuda, Francis Shibata and Andy Shimazu recently. Seven of these beauties were nearly 5" in length and one measured 5-1/4".
Nelson Ching found six C. tigris in the comparatively shallow depth of 20 feet, off Waikiki. These sea shells were all very close together on the bottom.
Dr. Bill Stevens found a pair of Cypraea chinensis off Waianae at a depth of 45', but is still looking for his first C. tessellata.
The most outstanding find of the year came from 120 feet of water off Makua. A magnificent Tonna melanostoma, found live, by Lonnie Jordan measures 9-3/8 inches and the animal was too big to hide it the shallow sand.
During the two years that Ken White and I have been with Raytheon Service Co. in Saudi Arabia, we have become avid collectors of Red Sea sea shells.
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