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Shells heishe
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.
1. There is no population in which only rostrate or melanistic shells occur, and normal shells are absent.
2. There is locally a gradual passing from normal shells to sub-rostrate and rostrate ones; Cernohorsky estimated (by letter)
the relative frequency of these stages in Mauritia eglantina Duclos in Mondoure Bay as about 30: 5: 1.
3. Rostration and melanism often occur in the same specimen, but they are not always linked.
4. Localities from which such shells are known, may be scattered over the whole region inhabited by the species, but they
evidently are concentrated in certain smaller areas.
5. The tendency to become rostrate or melanistic differs, as certain species seem not to be susceptible at all or at least
less susceptible to rostration and melanism than other species.
There seems to be no predominance of any sex in rostrate cowries; the radula evidently does not differ from that of normal
specimens.
Certain specific names are persistently used in literature, despite their invalidation by the I.C.Z.N. some 10 years ago. As
I was one of the culprits in using two invalid names in my Catalogue of Living Cypraeidae, I thought it advisable to make the
necessary corrections.
By opinion 261 (published 10th August, 1954), the work of L. T. Gronovius, Zoophylacium Gronovianum, 3 parts, 1763 - 1781,
and F. C. Meuschen's Index to Gronovius' work from 1781, have been rejected as non-binominal. This will invalidate the
following names:
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Shells
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