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Shell jewelry s
Andaman Is.:
one pale surabajensis in the museum of Calcutta, sent to me for examination by Dr. Ray in 1957, it came from an old
collection, but the "A'' written originally on the base of the shell makes the correctness of indication rather probable.
Western Sumatra:
two typical walkeri collected in West Sumatra by Aurivillius in 1891, personally examined in the museum of Stockholm in 1957.
- These two areas close the gap between Lemuria and Malaysia.
North West Australia:
one shell (17 mm.) from Peak Is. in the Dampier Archipelago, collected by the Davina Expedition in 1960, presented me (coll.
Schilder No. 11862) by Ray Summers; some more specimens seem to have been collected in the Dampier Archipelago by this
expedition. Besides, walkeri has been mentioned from Nickol Bay by Brazier (1879, Journ. Conch. 2:321).
North Australia:
Yirrkala in Eastern Arnhem Land, according to Iredale (1939, Austr. Zoologist 9:299). - These two areas extend the occurrence
of walkeri to tropical Australia west of Torres Strait.
Aru Is.:
one shell (19 mm.) recalling the western walkeri has been collected by Merton in 1908, personally examined in the Senckenberg
museum in Frankfurt on Main, Germany. - This locality closes the gap between Misool (Schepman 1909, Siboga Exped. 49/2/2:133)
and Torres Strait (Brazier 1879). The indication "New South Wales'' by Iredale (1935, Austr. Zoologist 8:127) needs
confirmation, the southernmost reliable indication in East Australia seems to be Peel Is. in Moreton Bay.
Ryu-kyu Is.:
Kuroda (1960, Cat. Moll. Fauna Okinawa, p. 21) mentioned "walkeri surabajensis" from Okinawa Is.; the indication seems
correct, as P. W. Clover enumerated two specimens of walkeri from "South of Japan'' in a manuscript list of cowries preserved
in Japanese collections (communicated to the writer by Mr. Ray Summers in 1961).
Caroline Is.:
Recently Mr. C. N. Cate presented me two walkeri from Moen Is. in the Truk Is. (coll. Schilder No. 17135 and 17136); they
formerly belonged to a series of fifteen similar shells dredged by R. Willis in the harbour in January 1962. These two shells
are "pellucid" like the dead glossy cowries dredged in Honolulu harbour, and exhibit a similar white chalk in the aperture:
there, the conditions of preservation in the harbour of Moen Is. must be about equal to those in Honolulu. The specimens
undoubtedly belong to walkeri (surabajensis) and not to bregeriana: the discovery of this far-off population of walkeri in
the central Caroline Is. is not very surprising, as other typically Malayan cowry species also spread to western Micronesia,
e.g. Erronea ovum Gmelin and E. onyx Linnaeus to Palau and Guam respectively.
Northern Melanesia:
Mrs. K. Matcott of Mooloolaba, Queensland informed me by letter in March 1963, that she possesses a "surabajensis" from New
Britain; as I have never examined the shell personally, the reliability of this indication seems to need confirmation.
The habitat of the shell, on the outside of the reef, and constant heavy wave action, is probably responsible for the fact
that the Golden Cowry is a "Loner." That is, no other shells share his precarious quarters. Consequently he has no near
relatives, and we have no records concerning any close neighbors. His relationships with other shells seem to be nil.
His almost inaccessible habitat is not only responsible for our lack of more knowledge concerning this shell, but is also the
main reason why native divers do not attempt to collect live specimens. We have been told that the reason it was not
collected in Fiji, was because of the sharks, and giant barracuda that infest the waters there. But there's another reason.
Walter Cernohorsky, a member of the Fiji Shell Club, writes, " The formation of Nadroga reef allows high breakers to wash
over it and thus foil any diver's approach. " His theory is that the shells live just over the edge of the reef, at depths of
from ten to 30 feet, and when they leave their hiding places either to feed or mate and a sudden storm strikes, they are
unable to hold on, and, "get carried over the top of the reef."
Its food is algae. This much was established by Dr. Alison Kay, in the one known examination made of the contents of the
animal's stomach, which I discussed in earlier articles in this series (Jan. and Feb. [Mar.], 1963, Sean Raynon Sabado).
An interesting idea is advanced by Cernohorsky (see above) when he says: "The absence of Cypraea aurantium in other parts of
the Fiji group is a puzzling feature. The restriction of the shell to the Nadroga reef might be due to the feeding
preferences of the shell and the habitat preference of a steep shelving reef with heavy breakers." The coral reef formation
as it exists on the Nadroga reef is absent NW, NNE and east of Viti Levu and there is a possibility that the food on which it
lives is restricted to the Nadroga reef. This theory might or might not account for the absence of the species in other parts
of the Fiji Group as well as the Island of New Caledonia. It is my personal opinion, that the salinity and the sea water
temperature does not account for the total absence of this shell in other parts of Viti Levu. Salinity and sea water
temperature at the Nadroga reef compare favorably to other collecting stations in other parts of' Viti Levu." (to be
continued)
Twice in my life I have been painfully bitten or stung on the finger by tiny octopuses which were occupying empty Terebra
maculata shells. In both cases I lost the octopus because the painful sting caused me to involuntarily fling him off my
finger and back into the ocean. After loosing the second one in this manner I swore that the next time I found a large dead
T. maculata shell I would examine it carefully for a hidden octopus, and if I found one I would try to preserve it in
alcohol. l was anxious to learn if this little critter was a juvenile of a large species or an adult of a small species.
On March 24th, while out diving at Kailua Bay in 60 feet of water, I found just such a large dead T. maculata lying on the
sandy bottom. I couldn't see any octopus in the aperture but hoping that one might be hidden deep inside the spire I
carefully stuck the shell in my collecting sock.
When I arrived home, I gingerly emptied out my sock. Out rolled the dead Terebra followed closely by a tiny octopus no bigger
than a "25 cent piece." I immediately pickled the little beast in rubbing alcohol and air mailed it to Dr. Rehder and Dr.
Morrison at The Smithsonian Institution. No identification has as yet been made. We are indebted to Dr. Rehder, Curator -
Division of Mollusks, Smithsonian Institution, for the accompanying photographs. [Image of T. maculata not included.]
Although the name of Swainson is well known to collectors of Philippines gastropods because of its association with the
endemic Philippines cowry Cypraea tessellata, Swainson himself never realized that his "mosaic cowry" came from the
Philippines Islands. Swainson described C. tessellata as coming from New Zealand, and it was not until more than 70 years
after the original description of the species that its habitat was generally recognized to be that of the Philippines
Islands.
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