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Murex alabaster
The year 1758 marked the beginning of a whole new era of systematic enlightenment. Linnaeus introduced for the first time an
orderly arrangement for the animal kingdom, among them the mollusca in general and the Cypraea in particular. He enunciated
the first acceptable principles for defining species and genera, and this, with his suggestion for a simple binomial
nomenclature, resulted in the first systematic arrangement to enable workers to sort their material in a logical manner.
Linnaeus' famous work, Systema Naturę (10th edition) first fixed the taxonomy of the Cypraeidae in a way that made sense; the
International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature uses this work as the starting point for name priority in all animal
groups.
With this starting point in mind, subsequent work on the Cypraea can be traced through the literature in fairly definite
stages: the first stage is evidently the study of local populations; the second, the acceptance of possible environmental
influences, and the third would be the study of species and races in a broader sense. These are the essential stages to be
considered in the study of any shell family group.
After Linnaeus, many other naturalists contributed their work to subsequent volumes. Gmelin 1789-1791 is the author of the
13th Edition of Linnaeus' earlier work; he revised it by adding many new species and enlarging the bibliographic references.
Gmelin mentioned a total of 114 species of Cypraea.
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.
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