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Leis shellcrafts
Mr. Anthony Kalnins, 244 Corinthian Road, Riverton, Perth, Western Australia, Australia, writes: "In the July number you wrote that Mr. Max Cramer of Geraldton, W.A., had the first live-collected Cypraea marginata. But
that is not correct. My friend Mrs. McDaniels of Broome has a very nice marginata in her collection, taken alive several
years ago by a cray-fisherman near Dongara, W.A. This shell is very large and has nice blackish-brown spots, sparingly, all
over the top of the shell."
From A. R. Bowman, Adelaide Park Road, Yeppoon, Queensland, Australia, comes this letter: "My friend, Ray Summers, is anxious to tell all Cypraea lovers that he now believes C. saulae jensostergaardi, does not
exist in Queensland waters.
"A few beautiful C. saulae nugata were found on the mainland shores of Yeppoon, Central Queensland, about 1952-53. I also
found a smaller, quite differently colored one, on one of the Keppel Islands. This one, and a mainland one, I sent to Ray
Summers. He was pleased with the nugata from Yeppoon and very interested in the pale Keppel Island form, which he said
exactly fitted the description of jensostergaardi. Professor Ostergaard had seen the holotype of jensostergaardi, and he also
agreed.
"Later, in 1960, I had the luck to fish up a rare saulae variety on a piece of dead coral I brought up on a fish hook off
Flat Rock (see Keppel Bay Tidings No. 1). This specimen seemed to Ray Summers to be between nugata and jensostergaardi. At
this time lie wondered if the deep-water and Keppel Island forms were jensostergaardi and the mainland forms nugata
Unfortunately, I did not know when I wrote my article, that Ray had had further opportunity to study this problem and thus
change his opinion.
"He was able to study a large number of Queensland specimens, all from one area, and found them so variable in size, color
and shape, that he decided there could be but one race involved, not jensostergaardi.
"So friends, it is C. saulae nugata for the Q'ld. shell and a beautiful little shell it is!"
The species was first described as Cypraea producta Gaskoin, 1836 - Proc. Zool. Soc., London, p. 200, without locality. The
holotype was figured by Sowerby, Reeve and Kiener, and was further illustrated by Sowerby (1870), Weinkauff and Tryon. In
1848, Gaskoin remarked, that further specimens have been brought to England by Capt. Sir Edward Belcher from H.M.S. Samarang,
and distributed into the cabinets of Miss Saul, Cuming, Gaskoin and others. The indication of Indonesia as locality had been
accepted on labels. The H.M.S. Samarang's voyage and collecting in the Moluccas was probably responsible for the choice of
locality. Iredale proposed the new genus Dolichupis (Mem. Qld. Mus. 10:83, 1930) for all Trivia with produced extremities, and
designated C. producta Gaskoin, as type species. Iredale's genus Dolichupis is used here in a subgeneric sense. The same
author established Trivellona excelsa (Rec. Aust. Mus., 18:221, pl. 24, figs. 13 & 14, 1931), for a shell dredged in 50 - 70
fathoms off Montague Island, SE-Australia. Examination of Iredale's holotype in the Australian Museum (a dead, anteriorly
somewhat worn specimen), proved T. excelsa to be identical with Pusula (Dolichupis) producta (Gaskoin, 1836), and at best
meriting subspecific status on a geographic basis only. As Iredale's T. excelsa had been mis-identified or presumed different
originally, the genus name Trivellona has no standing.
I have a Cypraea arabica niger Roberts (the racial name is in accordance with the Schilder's classification) which was
collected on the rusty hulk of a ship at New Georgia, Solomon Islands, a Cypraea mauritiana calxequina Melvill and Standen
collected on a sunken Japanese ship in Rabaul Harbor, New Britain by Harry Reiek, and a Cypraea maculifera Schilder collected
by John Souder near a rusty sunken ship at Berlin Island in the Marshall Islands. All of these are melanistic because of the
rust in the nacre which evidently was absorbed by the mantle and deposited in the nacre. The color of the maculifera was the
least affected and that of the mauritiana the most affected as the dorsum is a deep reddish brown. This did not effect the
base of any except the arabica, and on it there was some traces of the rusty color that extended a little on the base on each
side. This lack of effect on the base could possibly be another flaw in Cernohorsky's theory.
Conchologists have been puzzled for many years as to why cowries in certain areas are subject to melanism and rostration.
Some of the old time conchologists thought some were new species, and unfortunately some were described. For example, Cypraea
arabica niger was described as a new race.
Melanism and rostration rarely occur in Japan; rostration is rare in Okinawa and Torres Strait, and melanism never occurs in
Okinawa and Torres Strait to my knowledge. It is puzzling that the most complete melanism and rostration combined occur in
New Caledonia and Queensland both of which are near the Tropic of Capricorn. It is by far the most frequent in that latitude
too. It is a mystery why some species that live in the two areas most affected are never rostrate or melanistic.
I will diverge from the subject to some extent in the next paragraph, but it does concern the unusual in cowries.
Unknown factors in the environment seem to influence the size, color, and shape of cowries causing ecological variations and
aberrations. I have seen a Cypraea miliaris diversa Kenyon (=metavona Iredale) which was collected by Alex Schelechoff in
Moreton Bay, Queensland, which is so suffused with a uniform layer of white enamel that only by close examination can one
discern the dorsal spots. Alex deserves credit for noticing this detail as very few collectors would have noticed this. At a
glance it appears to be Cypraea eburnea Barnes.
The illustration [above] shows two Cypraea scurra Gmelin collected off Barbers Point. The specimen at the left has a complete
covering of an olive green color. As far as can he determined, the nacreous covering of the shell is identical to that of the
normal scurra on the right. Other collectors must have also collected similar shells. Is this melanism or a diseased
condition?
The first article in this series dealt with the collection of a live Golden Cowry, practically on order, by Francisco E.
Lahora of the Southern Philippines. This shell was requested by Dr. Alison Kay, General Science Dept., University of
Philippines, who wished to examine the soft parts microscopically. In the course of corresponding with Mr. Lahora, many other
interesting facts developed. We emphasize the word facts because in his letters Mr. Lahora insisted that he would give only
details which he could substantiate.
Unless the Philippines are included in Micronesia, and we believe they are not, the discovery of the Golden Cowry in the
Philippines is probably a range extension for this species. When Mr. Lahora sent the measurements of his first eight shells
to be registered in the Golden Cowry Register maintained at the Children's Museum, he mentioned, under the date February 5,
1962, that they were collected "in a period of more than a year between 1959 - 1960." Subsequently we learned that three
additional specimens had been taken, the one sent to Dr. Kay being No. 11. Except for No. 11 these shells were always found
in pairs. He spent an extra hour trying without success to find the mate of that one. All were taken at night, in
comparatively shallow water (not over 5 fathoms), "under ledges in the coral reef a little bit off the tidal zone." The
locality was the coastal town of Manay on the Pacific shore of Davao Province, southernmost Philippine Island of Mindanao.
This island lies about seven degrees north of the equator.
Mr. Lahora has kept a very close check on the Golden Cowries found in his province, and here is his report on that subject:
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