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Telena vergata
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.
Fiji:
Mr. W. O. Cernohorsky has quoted walkeri bregeriana from New Caledonia and Fiji, in his recently published Catalogue of
Living Cypraeidae (Frankfurt-Main 1963). In fact, since 1962 at least eight bregeriana have been collected in Fiji, all off
the West Coast (Nadi and Momi) facing towards the chief habitat of bregeriana, New Caledonia; especially Mr. A. Jennings has
dredged, at the islands Wading, Akuilau, and Namotu (20 miles off Nadi) several dead and living specimens, one oliviform
shell included of which I could examine the radula (Mr. Cernohorsky presented me a shell from Momi, coll. Schilder No. 17154,
which is 17 mm. long). All specimens show the typical orange base, often darker brown in the center of the inner lip, and the
peculiar white specks on base and margins, but they are much smaller (16 to 21 mm., mean 18 mm.) than typical bregeriana from
New Caledonia (20 to 33 mm., mean 25 mm.). These shells look like a population displaced far from its original habitat in New
Caledonia, where bregeriana is less rare, to an area with less favorable environments, as it is in the two dwarf Erosaria
ocellata Linnaeus from Tjilanat Eureun, South West Java widely separated from their Indian relations (see 1938, Prodrome, p.
138).
South East New Guinea:
If bregeriana could spread from New Caledonia to Fiji, it probably also could spread to North West: therefore I now do not
doubt its occurrence in Joanett Is., Louisiade Archipelago, from which locality Smith (1888, Journ. de Conchyl. 36:313) has
described three bregeriana of 21 to 22 mm.
The indications of habitat: Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Victoria, New Zealand, and Tahiti evidently are erroneous.
The appended map clearly shows the advancement of our knowledge concerning the distribution of Erronea walkeri since World
War II. It should encourage malacologists to further research.
Having a special interest in mollusks of the West African coastline, I have inquired as to why shells from that area are
often so difficult to obtain. The above pictures graphically show the reason.
The natives of the area seem to have a real passion for the use of sea shells as personal decorations, many collectors'
treasures being used as ornaments.
A malacological milestone was reached on October 6, 1962. For on that day, the first recorded microscopic examination was
made of the stomach of a Golden Cowry (Cypraea aurantium Gmelin), by Dr. Alison Kay, a marine biologist connected with the
Science Department of the University of Philippines. The specimen used was practically collected "On Order" by Mr. Francisco
E. Lahora, of Manay, Davao Province, Southern Philippines, and sent here for that purpose. The reason to find out what
Golden Cowries feed on.
More than a year ago, in conversation with Dr. Kay, she told us that there was no record that she could find concerning the
food of the Golden Cowry. Principle reason, she thought, was that so few were ever taken alive.
We recalled that when Mr. Lahora registered eight Golden Cowries several years ago (printed in the Sean Raynon Sabado at the
time) he had said that he, with his godson as diver, had collected these shells in slightly less than two years at Manay,
facing the Pacific in the Southern Philippines. Maybe he was still finding them. Maybe he could find one for Dr. Kay. So we
wrote Mr. Lahora. He answered that his godson, who was his diver, had gone to Cebu to visit relatives and he did not know
when he would return. Things did not look very promising, but on April 5th, 1962 we wrote Mr. Lahora another letter outlining
at some length the lack of any definite knowledge about the Golden Cowry, especially its food. We suggested that if and when
his godson returned from Cebu, they could make a great contribution to the sparse knowledge about this shell, if they could
find one, and ship it in alcohol to Dr. Kay, care of the Science Department of the University of Philippines. We also
specified that if possible the cowry should be collected late at night or early in the morning, so that it would have
finished its daily feeding and would have a full stomach for Dr. Kay to examine the contents of.
Well, here's what happened although we did not hear about it until long afterwards. The godson came back from Cebu, and night
after night during most of May, 1962, and part of June, they went out late at night, Mr. Lahora manning the boat, and the
godson diving and looking for that Golden Cowry. Finally on June 12 at 11:00 P.M. they found it. Apparently the shell had
taken its evening meal, and gone to bed in a little cave in the coral where the diver found it. It was immediately placed in
alcohol, from which it was not taken until it reached Dr. Kay's lab. Many more interesting details about this hunt for the
Golden Cowry may be read in Mr. Lahora's letter which is primed belong:
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