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Moonshell white
All specimens from Moreton Bay, both the holotype and 4 paratypes (sent me by W, O. Cernohorsky for examination) from 7-8
fathoms, and 4 specimens from 30 fathoms near Moreton Island (given me by O. H. Rippingale) are broader than the renovata
from Queensland, as they are about as broad as typical striatula from Bombay and the Persian Gulf. They are also mostly
smaller, though four shells from Shoal Point, Mackay (leg. G. Houston) are only about as large as tinctura, and much smaller
than the shells from Piccaninny Point, Yeppoon (leg. C. Coucom) and Pearl Reef (in coll. W. O. Cernohorsky)! These facts may
be illustrated by the diagram in which the length (in classes of 0.5 mm) has been plotted against the breadth (expressed in
per cent of length). Therefore tinctura seems to represent a well defined local race of Primovula striatula renovata: so far
as we know at present times, it seems to be restricted to the Moreton Bay area.
The July issue of The Veliger, quarterly journal of the California Malacozoological Society, contains a paper by Crawford N.
Cate on Western Australian cowries, in which he lists 60 species, with synonymy, bibliographic references, distribution,
measurements of largest and smallest shells, and other notes. He describes two subspecies as new: Cribraria (Ovatipsa)
chinensis whitworthi and Mauritia (Arabica) arabica brunnescens. A plate shows top and bottom of three species. In addition
to a map showing localities, these are listed alphabetically with geographical coordinates.
"There seems to be a strong superstition, Sheriff Kiego told me, that it was a quite common belief among the Trukese people
that when a Trukese dies, his spirit enters a Golden Cowry and for that reason, very few are taken. The student at Yap
promised me he would get me a pair of good Golden Cowries if he could persuade the head chief to let him send them to me, but
I have not received the shells."
Walter O. Cernohorsky, previously quoted in this story, writes with information concerning the salinity of the water
preferred by the Golden Cowry. Our article had insisted that the shell prefers maximum salinity. On this subject, he writes
as follows:
"Normally, I find that Cypraea stay away from areas where fresh water enters the sea. However, this is not so in the case of
C. aurantium and a few other species of the Nadroga reef. Quite a large river, the Sigatoka river is discharging water into
the sea near the town of Sigatoka, which is on the Nadroga reef. I had 12 C. aurantium which were collected only 1 mile from
the delta of the river. About 5 miles in a SE direction is another small river discharging into the sea. In the same
locality, on the reef I saw 3 C. aurantium collected. At the extreme end of the Nadroga reef is another larger river, the
Navua, discharging into the sea."
With no thought of entering into a controversy and guided only by a desire to learn the truth of the matter, we suppose a
definite answer will not be obtained until samples of the water in which the Golden Cowry have been found are sent in sterile
bottles to the University of Philippines for a chemical analysis of their contents. We submit, however, that with mammoth
breakers pouring in from the boundless sea with such force that the shell cannot "hold on" as Mr. Cernohorsky says, the water
would not be contaminated to any great extent by the fresh water from a river a mile away. Looks like a great project for
some young marine biologist.
It will probably come as a surprise to many shell collectors that the Golden Cowry has found a place in the novels of the
South Seas. This fact was called to our attention by Stanley Levine of Long Island who writes:
"In one of Jack London's South Sea Tales entitled 'Yah! Yah! Yah!', is the following passage:
'One day, I happened to speak of my disappointment in failing to trade for a beautiful pair of orange cowries. The pair was
worth five pounds in Sydney if it was worth a cent. I had offered two hundred sticks of tobacco to the owner, who had held
out for three hundred.'
"Mr. London placed the locality of this story at Oolong Atoll, four degrees south latitude, and two hundred and fifty miles
from the nearest land, probably in Melanesia, but populated by Polynesians."
That's all for now. We hope this research will be continued by others and that future information may be published in the
Sean Raynon Sabado especially in non-scientific form and for it's news value only. If you must be scientific about it, try
The Veliger or The Nautilus but send the Shell News a reprint.
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