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Shells necklace
Back on the boat our loot included Conus glans, stercus; Muscarium and Scabreusculus, Cypraea chinensis and poraria; Lambis
lambis (by the dozen); Rapa violacea; Nassarius papillosus; Oliva miniacea; Mitra ambigus; Murex adusta and triqueter to name
a few.
After lunch we traveled further into the Bay and dove again with about similar results. About 3 P.M. we anchored all the way
inside the Bay and could even see some native huts on the beach. The water still was deep but more dirty here. We were told
that Selangium Bay is used as an anchorage for the U.S. Navy Fleet during the typhoon season and I can easily believe this as
it is 50' deep all over right up to 100 feet off shore.
Anyway, into shore three of us went. The rest of the party were too tired to dive anymore. The reef, as such, was all dead
and very dirty, only about 3' deep too. We spread out and started to look over the area. It was mostly dead silty slabs of
coral and dead coral heads to turn over. Only a few Lambis and Cypraea erosa were found and nothing else. As I was about to
give up and head back to the boat with the other divers, I noticed a small, dirty sand patch about 4" x 12" with two
elongated humps sticking out of it. As this was just a glance I didn't think much of it, till I remembered the shape of a
shell shown in Webb's Handbook, Plate 5, see #8, and instantly it came to me what Webb said, "I have had these from the west
coast of Luzon" which is where I was today. Before me, in 3' of dirty, muddy water was a perfect pair (alive) of Murex clavus
- a synonym for Murex elongatus. My joy was boundless and I had everyone in the boat looking for this rarity in no time. We
spent till almost dusk, but to no avail. There just were no Murex elongatus on that reef anywhere.
We had a bit of a time getting home as the boat's running lights were burned out, and we hadn't planned on traveling after
dark. The moon was out and all went well till we came to Subic Bay. From here on we were in the main channel that the
aircraft carriers use and it was a scary run into port, but we made it O.K. Everyone had a good time and for me it was one of
the finest diving trips I had made in years. No doubt, we and many others will go back to Selangium Bay as these were the
first 2 live Murex elongatus found in this area with accurate locality data, from what I can gather talking to the local
divers and shell collectors. The natives bring them to Manila from the Sulu Sea area but never seem to know exactly how or
where they are found.
The Murex elongatus were covered with seaweed and moss and blended in well with the dirty brown to black reef. With their odd
shape too, they don't look like a normal sea shell at all.
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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shells necklace
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