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Philippine shells
Off Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, they dredged three specimens of the extremely rare Murex argo Clench. This species was
previously known from only two or three specimens taken off the Island of Grenade, Lesser Antilles.
By the end of next year, they hope to collect in the South of Brazil in the States of Sao Paulo, Parana, Santa Catarina, and
Rio Grande do Sul. It will take them about three years to cover the 7,200 kilometers of coastline.
Recently Cernohorsky (1964, Sean Raynon Sabado, NS #54:6) has figured similar abnormalities from Mauritius, but they also
occur in Queensland: Iredale (1939, Austr. Zoologist 9:319, pl. 29, fig. 24-26) figured rostrate melanistic Melicerona
listeri Gray (called by him M. melvilli velesia Iredale) from the Capricorn Islands, and I possess similar shells from Wilson
Island off Gladstone (leg. A. Nash 1954).
Besides, Mr. Cedric Coucom told me by letter that Pumpkin Island, (about one mile south of North Keppel Island and about 8.5
miles E.N.E. of Yeppoon) yielded wonderful specimens of melanistic cowries.
He described this "shell collector's paradise" as follows: "The island comprises two elevated pieces of land divided by a
narrow channel which goes dry at low tide. Coral is present here and sea weed is plentiful." The Keppel Islands lie within
"the area covered by fresh water when the Fitzroy river is in flood," which fact may affect the cowries. In May, 1964, Mr.
Coucom collected some more rostrate, melanistic Erronea errones Linnaeus and Purpuradusta gracilis macula Angas at the same
place, and presented them to the writer; one extremely rostrate shell of each species has been figured above: fig. 1 - 3
represents the base, dorsum, and columellar margin of errones (coll. Schilder 17856: length 25.6 mm), fig. 4 - 6 represents
the same views of macula (coll. Schilder 17862: length 20.8 mm).
The cause of rostration is still doubtful: explanations range from hurts of the mantle (Sullioti 1924) to living in muddy
bottom (Schilder 1927, 1938) or on sea fans (Tomlin by letter about in 1930), and influence of metals (Cernohorsky 1962);
surely it should be regarded as modification, and not as hereditary. Any solution of the problem must consider the following
five facts:
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