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Native
In his paper Crawford Cate gave statistical notes on (7) C. chinensis from Philippines. The formula of these (7) specimens is
34/70, 15:16 (reduced). However, (3) of these specimens are only 67%, 68%, and 69% in width in relation to the shell's
length. My own shells of C. chinensis from Mauritius have a mean width of 67% of the shell length, and also have a produced
marginal callus. A shell of C. chinensis from Diego Suarez which Dautzenberg named C. chinensis variolaria - variation
convergens is 69% in width in relation to its length. (See illustration in Dautzenberg's collection of Cypraeidae). Crawford
Cate based his separation of the Philippines amiges on the following characteristics: The Philippines shells are broader (67%
- 74% in width in relation to the length), they have a more produced marginal callus, which is marked with spots of a deep
violet color, the teeth are less numerous in amiges and extend as concave ridges onto the broad fossula. Cate further
mentions the design of the dorsal lacunae. However, every active field collector who has handled hundreds of specimens of a
species, is aware of the extreme variability of a species even if it comes from the same locality. Since the colour hues and
dorsal design within a species from the same locality are extremely variable, this characteristic, which is by no means
constant, does not constitute a valid argument in favor of separation and should be disregarded.
The diagnostic characteristics of amiges as outlined by C. Cate, are present in other races of C. chinensis as follows: The
greater width of amiges is present in specimens of C. chinensis variolaria from Mauritius. The fewer teeth of amiges are
identical to the number of teeth in specimens of variolaria from Mauritius and come very close to those of C. chinensis
sydneyensis and C. chinensis violacea. It should be remembered that the tooth count of a given species in a population can
vary as much as plus or minus (3) teeth from the mean, or (6) teeth in individuals. The concave ridges (inner denticles)
extending onto the fossula are by no means a prerogative of amiges, but are distinct on specimens of C. chinensis in my
collection, and those which came from the Philippines, Mauritius and Fiji.
The few peculiarities of amiges as mentioned by C. Cate are present in almost every race of C. chinensis, but come closest to
specimens of variolaria from Mauritius (and possibly from other parts of the central Indian Ocean). The only small difference
between the subspecies variolaria and amiges is the 6% greater width of amiges as compared with Schilder's statistical
figures, and only 3% as compared with my own actual specimens from Mauritius. This is a greater width of 1-1/2 mm. and 3/4mm.
respectively in a shell of 25mm. length, and is insignificant.
Cate also stresses the rarity of C. chinensis in Philippines and that it occupies a different ecological niche as compared
with specimens of C. chinensis in other localities. C. chinensis is rare in Australia, and extremely rare in Fiji. C.
chinensis had been dredged in Sydney harbor from deep water. Dr. A. Kay pointed out in one of her papers the reasons for the
shift in ecological habitat of Philippines Cypraea as compared with shells of the same species from other Pacific localities.
Not only C. chinensis but the majority of Philippines Cypraea have a different benthic range as compared with Cypraea from
other parts of the Pacific region. Ecological habitat of a given species of Cypraea may vary in a locality as small as Fiji:
C. mappa viridis is usually found in shallow water in Fiji, however, in one locality C. mappa lives only at a depth of 30
feet, and is never collected in shallow water.
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.
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