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Haliotis asinana
I have a theory which if substantiated by subsequent investigations might very well prove why the New Hebrides are without
the Golden Cowry. If you will look in the November 7, 1960, issue of LIFE, (Yes, we filed it) you will find that it is
devoted to some of the accomplishments of the International Geophysical Year. Included in the projects which the world
scientists had outlined for themselves during this period of 18 months were extensive studies of the various ocean floors.
LIFE shows the main features of this investigation in a series of maps. It is a double page, fold-out map of the floor of the
South Pacific to which we wish to call your attention. This map shows among other things a New Hebrides Trench. The New
Hebrides are located on the western side of this trench, and the Solomon Islands and Fiji are on the eastern side. Could this
trench, channeling along the northern shores of New Guinea waters of the Indian Ocean, prove an impassable barrier to
expansion of the Golden Cowry in its trip from Fiji to the Solomon Islands? A study of Map 61, referred to above, seems to
support this theory. Now, you researcher with the necessary maps, charts, I.G.Y, results, get busy!
Again referring to this map of the floor of the South Pacific, we find shown very prominently thereon a giant fissure called
the TONGA trench. It runs northwesterly from the New Zealand neighborhood to almost the equator where it turns sharply in a
westerly direction. Fiji lies west of this Tonga Trench. The Tonga Islands, Samoa, still further away from the Society
Islands, and the Tuamotus all lie to the east of this giant fissure. Could this be the reason for the very infrequent
occurrence of the Golden Cowry, in the islands east of the trench? Does this trench form an almost complete barrier? It's
something to think about.
In my next installment, I will tell you where they are found, how I believe they got there, probable points of origin, and a
few tales involving this shell.
The Maroro, a ketch with auxiliary diesel that once belonged to the queen of Tonga, left from Lautoka, near the Fiji airport
of Nandi. After visits to reefs and islands in the Mamanutha group it went onward to the Yasawa Islands for a couple of days.
Then down to the Kandavu Island group and the great Astrolabe Reef.
The Evanses, who had spent hours at a stretch snorkeling in the clear 80-degree water, reported that the area did not beat
the Great Barrier Reef, but that it was highly rewarding, and easy of access. They remarked further, "It is different. After
you come out of the water at the Barrier Reef there is nothing, and accommodations are undeveloped. Here in the Fijis you
have an interesting region with native villages and tropical islands, and very good hotels and boat accommodations."
They reported miter shells in abundance, spider conches, Tridacna, and black-lipped pearl shells, the latter on the Yasawa
Island reefs. There were also many "lettered cones'' and "marbled cones", an "orange spider conch", a "hawk-winged conch,"
and a very rare "Isabell cowrie" [Cypraea isabella]. [The] Terebra maculata, the big auger shell, were in quantity. Another
prize they found was a six inch "sparky vase."
The Evanses reported many strombs or Strombus and where a family of these was encountered other shells were also found, such
as the "blood-mouthed conch." Other shells they added to their collection were: a "globe vase," or Globulus, poisonous Conus
striatus, Conus californicus, a "skiff ark" or Arca scapha, and a "lithograph cone" or Conus litoglyphus Hwass.
Let me prove this accusation by discussing the variation in size of Cypraea tigris in Fiji. In The Cowry (1:3, p. 43, 1962)
F. A. Schilder has stated the average length of tigris from Fiji and Tonga as 76 mm. In The Cowry (1:5, p. 74, 1963) W.O.
Cernohorsky writes: "Every Fijian collector has a specimen of tigris from 105 mm to 110 mm...I have seen nearly 25 specimens
of tigris approaching 110 mm... From personal observations and measurements I place the mean length of C. tigris from Fiji as
about 90 mm." Let us see how this difference can be explained, and which indication is correct.
Apparently W.O. Cernohorsky fears that research workers may be led astray by only using shells from a single locality of a
region and he tells us that with some populations in Fiji, all shells are "dwarf" size. In others (especially Vatia Wharf)
all shells are "giant" size. As Mr. Cernohorsky has collected for us in a most generous way with thousands of Cypraeidae
(mostly with the animal within) from many localities all over Fiji, we base our research of Fijian shells mostly on the
specimens collected by him. In addition, Mr. Cernohorsky often provides us with the results of his own measurements of other
specimens. He told us that his maximum tigris from Vatia Wharf is 92 mm long.
We measure each shell with calipers in tenths of millimeters and get our means from each series of each locality. The
following table indicates
(1) the number of specimens,
(2) the exact locality,
(3) the length (in classes of 5 mm: 65 = 63 - 67, 70 = 68 - 72, etc.), and
(4) the mean of the length in mm.
The mean of the 7 means of population is 78, as well as the mean of all 93 specimens coming from these localities. The mean
indicated in The Cowry (1:3) was 76 instead of 78, as other sources were used there too, shells from museums, from the study
of Dr. A. Kay in The Veliger (4:1, p. 36, 1961) and shells from Tonga. But the mean of tigris from Fiji can never be 90 mm as
W.O. Cernohorsky suggested
The last two lines of the table refer to the 24 females and 33 males examined from all Fijian localities (except Vatulele
Is., where only dead shells have been collected): therefore the mean of the sum of 57 live specimens is a little higher (79
mm) than that of all 93 specimens. The difference between the average size of females (81 mm) and males (78 mm) agrees with
that observed in most other species of Cypraeidae: the average size of males is only about nine tenths of that of the females
(see The Cowry 1:4, p. 50, 1962).
The average length of shells can be approximately estimated by halving the sum of the minimum and the maximum known. As our
tigris from Fiji vary from 60 to 92 mm, the estimated mean is 76 mm, which figure rather approaches the mean size 78 mm
calculated above. This rule, however, can only be adopted for shells coming from a restricted area or at least belonging to
the same geographical race. It does not fit the tigris coming from the whole Indo-Pacific: the mean of the two extremes (44
mm measured by F.A. Schilder, 1930, in coll. Vayssière in Marseilles, and 147 mm mentioned by A. Kay, 1961) is 95 mm; it is a
far too large figure, as it is influenced by the Philippines local race schilderiana Cate (80-147 mm, estimated mean 114 mm),
while typical tigris from the vast area from East Africa to Polynesia are much smaller (44-112mm estimated mean 78 mm). The
latter figure agrees with the calculated mean of the specimens from Fiji.
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