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Conus stratus
Description of Pusula (Dolichunis) producta:
Ovate and humped, with broadened, somewhat angled sides and produced extremities. White in colour throughout, with transverse
ribs crossing the dorsum completely and extending over the margins and base onto the columella. The transverse ribs are
white, elevated, sharply cut, and the interstices are broad and crenulate; a dorsal groove is absent and the spire is
covered. Base is flattish, labial lip broad, slightly convex and fairly straight; aperture is of medium width, widening
slightly anteriorly. The posterior outlet is deeply cut, fossula is very broad, concave, ribbed, and extending towards the
labial wall.
Size of illustrated specimen: L: 11.8mm, W: 72%, H: 55%, Lab. teeth: 23, Coll. teeth: 19, Dorsal ribs: 28, Marginal ribs: 41
(The width and height are expressed in the percentage of the length; the dorsal and marginal ribs are counted on both sides
of the shell, the 4 - 5 loop-like, vertical ribs at each extremity have been excluded). Iredale's T. excelsa measures as
follows: L: 18mm, W: 72%. H: 56%. The Australian shell is slightly larger than Fiji specimens of Dolichupis producta 10mm -
15mm but otherwise identical. One of Gaskoin's specimens of D. producta measured about 18mm.)
The first specimen of Dolichupis producta was dredged in 1962 by A. Jennings, in 15 - 16 fathoms off the Momi lighthouse
(West Viti Levu), and a total of 6 specimens have been dredged to date from the same locality. Prior to the Fijian record,
there appeared to be only 6 specimens preserved in collections (Dr. Schilder, in litt.): the holotype in the British Museum,
2 specimens in the Saul collection in Cambridge, and one specimen each in Stockholm and coll. Tomlin and Schilder. Locality
indication on these shells was "Indonesia." The fossil Dolichupis soloensis Schilder, 1937 (Ingen. Ned. Indie, (4) 4:200,
fig. 18) from the Pleistocene of Java, might be a chronological race of the recent form.
Erronea walkeri Sowerby is a rather uncommon cowry species so that it is absent in many collections (Schilder 1940, Arch.
Mollusk. 72:168) and the limits of its distribution are inaccurately known. In our Prodrome (1938, Proc.Malac. Soc. 23:151)
and in my catalogue of all living and fossil Cypraeacea (1941, Arch. Mollusk. 73:96) four "geographical races" have been
distinguished, characterized chiefly by the color of the shell (1952, Mem. Inst. Belgique (2) 45:125); the geographical
distribution of these four races comprised the following areas: walkeri Sowerby 1832: Seychelles, Cargados, Maldives;
surabajensis Schilder 1937: Philippines, Cochinchina to Lombok and Eastern Indonesia (holotype in lower Pleistocene beds of
Modjokerto, Java); continens Iredale 1935: Torres Strait to Moreton Bay; bregeriana Crosse 1868: New Caledonia (and Louisiade
Archipelago?).
Island of Philippines:
Today we collected in a relatively new area. Due to the scarcity of white sand on the Island of Philippines, finding this
new, sandy area, proved a boon.
Our hosts for the shelling trip were Mr. Richard Middleton and Mrs. Frances Moore. The area we collected in was the recently
opened "Vacation Land House Lots" in Kapoho. Here the shore is composed of pools of ocean water in a former lava flow. Access
to the beach is by foot path which takes but a few minutes walking. The site is a series of sheltered pools fringed by a
barrier of wave-tossed rocks that create a protective wall on the sea side. Tidal channels provide an abundance of flowing
water and a supply of marine food.
A short survey of the area before we enter the water. Today the tide was a low - 1.9 at 1300 with most of the coral heads
exposed. The average depth was five feet.
We swam and searched leisurely over the entire sandy bottom. Coral-heads provided a few Turbo. The seaweed covered flats
provided some Strombus maculatus, Aplustrium amplustre (old name Hydatina amplustra) and Hydatina physis.
With the preliminary search over, I concentrated my attention on the sandy bottom. Fanning the sand, I uncovered a few
Terebra affinis. Encouraged by their appearance, I fanned and searched further. The final results were ten species of
Terebra: T. affinis, T. guttata, T. maculata, T. crenulata, T. felina, T. langfordi, T. undulata, T. penicillata, T.
flavofaciata, T. peasii, and T. flavescens.
What a day.
Mr. Clifton Weaver asked that I submit a note on Cypraea (Talostolida) latior Melvill. This species is, at present, known to
occur only from Midway Island to French Frigate Shoal (Schilder, 1958) in the western Philippines Chain. It has not been
recorded from any of the eight main Philippines Islands.
The shell usually called latior by Philippines collectors is a widely-margined form of Cypraea teres Gmelin. Several other
species of Cypraea - notably Cypraea caurica L. and C. chinensis Gmelin - also occur in relatively "broad" and "narrow"
forms, as does C. teres.
The taxon, Cypraea latior, was proposed by Melvill in 1888, for "a pyriform shell, broader and more stunted than typical
teres:, with brighter coloration and very distinct dorso-lateral spots." The figure to which Melvill referred (Reeve, 1845,
fig. 66a), has been variously identified, but appears to me to represent a specimen of the present species. Melvill's
holotype is in the Cardiff Museum, while the specimen figured by Reeve, is apparently in British Museum, (fide, Schilder,
1958).
A specimen of C. latior Melvill (see figs. 1, 2 and 3) in the American Museum of Natural History, No. 92002 was found on
Midway Island by W. E. Koons Jr. in 1941. It is a dead shell, but is readily identifiable. It measures 44 mm. x 25 mm. There
are 22 teeth on the outer lip and 20 teeth are present on the columellar side. The specimen was sent to Dr. Schilder who
verified the identification and stated (pers. communication) that it was "an oblong specimen of C. latior; all characters
agree, and the number of teeth excludes teres."
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