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Pectin nobiles
July 12, 1962
"My Dear Mr. Greene,
"I purposely did not reply to yours of 5 April '62, because, in the absence of my godson diver, there was nothing I could do
about sending a live taken golden cowry.
"My godson arrived from Cebu last May and I immediately told him of your desire. We made several shelling trips just for a
live golden cowry, but for over a month we were unsuccessful. Then, Eureka! on June 25, 1962 just after the last quarter of
the moon, at around 11 o'clock in the evening, my godson emerging from the water was holding in his hands a live Cypraea
aurantium and after giving it to me he went back to the water to look for another. We stayed for over an hour more, but my
said diver was not able to duplicate his feat.
"We were using only a Petromax gas lamp on the banca boat. It was a dark and moonless night and my godson's only weapon was a
crude fish gun and a two battery flashlight inserted inside the tube of an interior bicycle tire. From our position, I could
see that we were not far from the shore, it was around two or three meters from the intertidal zone and the depth was not
more than from 3 to 5 fathoms. Beneath we could clearly see coral reefs all around partly covered by seaweeds, My godson
tells me that this one was taken in a rock crevice under a coral ledge. The place, Dahikan coral reefs, Manay, Davao, just on
the other side of Manaol Point facing the East from Manay Bay. Manaol Point is also a golden cowry country as some of my
shells were taken from here.
"That was our only reward for the evening. Although tired and hungry I was in good spirits, because I am now in a position to
comply with your request. The shell is now in a glass container with rubbing alcohol ready for you as soon as I can avail
myself of a plastic container. My only problem now is how to send this to you by air cargo. Our plane office in Davao City,
being only an agency of the PAL (Philippine Air Lines) may not accept it free as a scientific specimen. I will be going to
Davao this week and find out from the local manager if this could be accepted for free (as a scientific specimen). Otherwise
I will notify you accordingly."
Well, they wouldn't accept it, declaring that it was unmailable. Finally Philippine Airlines agreed to accept it as a special
shipment for a fee of $10, and it was delivered to them by Mr. Lahora, transferred to QANTAS at Manila, arriving in Honolulu
on the morning of Oct. 4. I was phoned to come and get it. We imposed on a friend (Mrs. Andrus) and went to the airport, got
the cowry, and took it to Dr. Kay's office at the Science Department of the University of Philippines. Miss Kay's opening
salutation was, "Where's my Golden Cowry?" We gave it to her and you know the rest. All except her official and scientific
report which will be published soon.
Garrard states that all melanistic specimens from Queensland have a distorted base. I have melanistic specimens which were
collected by Mr. and Mrs. A. R. Bowman in the Keppel Bay area that do not have a distorted base. Garrard states that rostrate
Cypraea staphylaea descripta Iredale are never affected by melanism; a rostrate specimen of this race was recently sent to me
by Molly Bowman which was collected at North Keppel Island. and its color is not normal. The dorsum is a pale creamy color
which is slightly darker in the center, and the base is a rich deep brown which could be considered as melanistic. Molly. who
has collected for many years in this area, states that this is typical of the rostrate specimens of this race. To the best of
my knowledge, this is the only cowry affected in this way. However, I have not seen a rostrate Cypraea limacina facifer
Iredale; it is logical that it may vary in the same way as the two are closely related.
The foregoing is not intended to be critical. It is merely intended to add to the information on this subject. The most
distorted specimen that I have seen from the Yeppoon area is a large Cypraea arabica 75.4 mm in length. It was collected by
Tom Nielsen at Keppel Island and sent to me. It is a very deep blackish-brown color on the dorsum, but the lateral spots show
very clearly as the lateral area is not very melanistic.
Some of the rostrate melanistic specimens of Cypraea felina velesia Iredale from the Capricorn Islands have a diseased
appearance, and flakes of nacre are broken off which makes the shell unattractive, but those which are not flaked are
attractive. Arthur Nash and Roy Perry sent me some flaked rostrate melanistic specimens with the animal in them which I sent
to Dr. Schilder for study Schilder is quite interested in the study of aberrant specimens.
Additional localities for rostrate melanistic or specimens which are either one or the other are as follows: Rostrate Cypraea
moneta barthelemyi Bernardi have been collected in Torres Strait; I have seen a lovely rostrate Cypraea annulus annulus Linn.
which was collected by George and Ethel Young at Okinawa; Phillip Clover recently collected a pair of rostrate melanistic
Cypraea gracilis japonica Schilder in Sagami Bay, Japan and sent me one, but they are not as completely melanistic as some of
the cowries from Queensland and New Caledonia; I have several Cypraea pantherina Solander that were collected at Massawa,
Eritrea, in the Red Sea that have a uniform layer of reddish brown on the dorsum. The specimens I have which were collected
by Howard Beaver at Jidda on the opposite side of the Red Sea do not show this melanistic tendency.
I have never seen a Cypraea hesitata hesitata Iredale like the one in the picture above Garrard's article in the H.S.N. What
a prize to one who is fond of aberrations and freaks!
Cernohorsky's theory that the residue of the mineral nickel being discharged in the Bay du Monoure by a mining company might
possibly cause melanism is logical. I am certain that rusty iron can cause a form of melanistic color. However, the rust
never causes rostration to the best of my knowledge. This may be the weak point in the theory and again it may not be as
nickel could possibly produce a different reaction.
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pectin nobiles
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