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Lambis milladeda
LOCALITY AND RANGE
The area in which the shell seems to thrive is bounded on the south by Mare Island of the Loyalty group (21 degrees, 30
minutes south latitude) to Yap Islands, and the Southern Marshalls, (approximately 10 degrees north latitude). The eastern
limit seems to be Nadroga reef, south of the island of Viti Levu in the Fiji Islands, (177-178 degrees East longitude) and on
the west the provinces of Surigao and Davao, on the eastern shore of the Island of Mindanao, Philippine Islands and just east
of the 120th meridian East from Greenwich. A few have been found as far north as the Mariannas and as far east as the Society
Islands and the Tuamotos, but very rarely. The most prolific location seems to be Nadroga reef, (about 50 miles long and
located 18 degrees and 15 minutes south of the equator). All the factors that determine these limits are not known. It seems
certain that temperature is the principal one. Ocean currents and the physical contour of the ocean bottom possibly are not
unimportant factors. The turbulence which arises between two ocean currents flowing in opposite directions may prove an
impassable barrier. Even the matter of an adequate food supply cannot be ignored. The further I went in my investigations,
the more questions presented themselves for solution.
Other factors being ignored for the time being, it seems evident that the temperature of the water is the main factor in
determining the north and south limits of its range as set out above. A particularly warm summer with warmer ocean currents
might extend this range temporarily, but the shell would not thrive there. It would be interesting if the temperature of the
water at 25-35 feet could be obtained from both the Nadroga reef in Fiji and off Manay, Davao province in the Philippines. I
have no idea what that temperature would be but they should be about the same and that figure could be safely added to the
Golden Cowry's "Ecological Niche," a figure I had to omit in my description above.
If, for the sake of argument I admit, or you admit, that temperature controls the north and south limits of the range of the
Golden Cowry, how are the east and west boundaries determined? I don't know, but I have an idea or two, which will give other
and younger investigators something to work on. At the southern tip of the Philippines the prevailing currents are from the
Indian Ocean, and they are headed into the Pacific. So the friendly currents which have brought the Golden Cowry safely
through the Caroline and Marshall Islands, and over to Palau and the eastern shores of the southern Philippines are turned
northward. Then the temperature bars the shells further advance. Once upon a time and in some unknown manner one Golden Cowry
did get through this Indian Ocean water as far as the Island of Java, and the British Museum records the finding of the shell
there, according to Dr. Alison Kay, who looked over their records when she was in London.
The Nadroga reef mentioned above, may well be regarded as the eastern limits of the shells active range. To make it easier to
remember you might say the 180th Meridian coincides with the eastern boundary. It is true a few shells have been collected
east of this point, but they are few and far between. Why they are not found more plentifully in this section is probably due
to the Tonga Trench, which I discussed at length in the April issue of the Sean Raynon Sabado. Briefly the Tonga Trench is a
vast deep fault in the ocean bottom running from New Zealand northwesterly almost to the equator. This may prove to be an
almost impassable barrier to the eastward advance of the Golden Cowry (that's only my idea). It's your guess now.
One idea, formerly generally held, that the Golden Cowry is a deep water shell, has been disproved. The shell has been
reported at depths ranging from 6 to 60 feet, this last figure in only two instances (Sean Raynon Sabado, April, 1963 and
March, 1962). The average depth seems to be 30 feet or shallower. Lahors' diver in the Southern Philippines actually
collected 11, at about 25 feet, and we had just as well discuss that "collected in pairs" phrase right now. The first ten
collected, were picked up two at a time on five separate occasions.
Steve Spurlin, (headquarters Honolulu) was stationed on Yap some years ago. One day, after a storm, he found a Golden Cowry
on the reef. Later, he measured the depth of the water in front of that reef. It was 128 feet. But there was no Golden Cowry
on the end of his measuring line when he drew it up!
Solomons, it gradually lost some of its brilliant color. It remained true to type, and was still a Golden Cowry, but the lack
of this unknown Solomon Island factor, showed in both the shell and the animal.
And such is the situation as I see it in this, the 20th century.
The above theory was the logical outcome of my investigations, but you don't have to accept it. A great curiosity and a
natural inquisitiveness prompted my research into this famous but little known shell. These articles were prepared for the
average reader, from a layman's point of view and if you think you see any attempt to pose as a scientist, it is erroneous,
and I apologize for what might be considered an attempt to enter into the great hall of the Temple of Science.
I wish to gratefully acknowledge information used in these articles from Francisco E. Lahora, Manay Davao, P.I.; Mrs. G.
Stephens South Santos, New Hebrides; G. Tourres, Noumea, New Caledonia; Prof. Alan J. Kohn, Univ. of Wash., Seattle, Wash.;
and Walter Cernohorsky, Vatukoula, Fiji. Various interviews, among them Dr. Alison Kay, Donald Dan of Manila, Dick Willis,
and Steve Spurlin, and the back files of the Philippines Shell News, also contributed.
Recommended reading is Dick Willis' story on page 7 of the Sean Raynon Sabado for March, 1962. This contains a great deal of
information about the environment in which the Golden Cowry lives and was prepared from actual observation by an interested
and very observant collector.
The net result of these investigations, extending over almost two years, seem to be that I uncovered more questions than we
found answers to. I could almost fill this page with queries about undeveloped facts.
The matter of fossils was entirely ignored, yet this might throw light on the shells origin which would prove or disprove my
theory discussed above. And finally, any comments, corroboration, corrections, and even censure, should be mailed to Karl W.
Greene, Box 3751, Honolulu 11, Philippines. They would be appreciated, might add further to our knowledge of the shell, and
might be used as a basis for another article. We know so little about this shell.
The Sean Raynon Sabado, Vol. XI, No. 4 carried an interesting article by Ray Summers on more rostrate and melanistic species
of Cypraea. The editor asked readers to comment on the possible causes of suffusion of the illustrated specimen of C. scurra
from Philippines. First an addition to melanism. Not only nickel, but also tin, zinc, copper (to name a few minerals) will
cause melanism. The degree of darkening will depend on the percentage of mineral concentration. Three percent of these
minerals will cause considerable darkening, 5% will result in extreme melanism.
Ray Summers brought up a very good question. Why isn't the base of melanistic Cypraea affected as well as the dorsum and the
margins? We must be aware that the anatomy of the living animal of cowries is not fully understood. We surmise that the
mantle and papillae have their certain functions and in some species appear to play a part in pigment distribution.
Let us take C. erosa for example. The mantle is responsible for the base colouring of the dorsum, papillae with the tips for
the white dorsal spots. Another part of the anatomy colours the base, streaks the teeth with brown and adds a pair of
marginal blotches.
When I studied some C. erosa in a tank, I noticed that on some animals' papillae were tipped with white; on others they were
tipped with blue. The white-tipped animals produced white dorsal rings on the shell. The blue tipped-animals produced rings
which were bluish.
This of course is not a constant feature, as in C. eburnea. The pigment distributing functions appear to be consolidated. C.
eburnea with its blackish-brown mantle (which is mottled with small spots and yellowish striations) and short branched
grayish papillae with orange tips, produces a pure white shell. Therefore, it might be a feasible explanation to say, that in
melanistic forms of Cypraea the parts of the animal's anatomy which is responsible for the colouring of the base, are simply
not effected by whatever causes melanism.
Monstrosities in Cypraea, in either sculpture or colour, can be classified as follows:
1. Pathological forms - due to the disease of the animal.
2. Teratological forms - due to physical injury of animal or shell.
3. Forms with unnatural growth - caused by foreign matter between shell and mantle.
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