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Pillary
So the time was not wasted, after all. Another look at the Johnston dredging next morning yielded Cypraea erosa, moneta,
nucleus, depressa, vitellus, schilderorum , caputserpentis, and a fresh fragment of Cypraea sulcidentata and two more Cypraea
tessellata. I was surprised by the few shells of any species that were in those dredgings. A bag full were brought back to
the Bishop Museum. It is interesting that the Cypraea schilderorum were so short and fat that the width nearly equaled the
length. A great opportunity for the "Splitters"!
Shelling being what it was, when an opportunity came to return to Honolulu on January 13, it was as eagerly grabbed as was
the chance to go to Johnston Island in the first place. The reason for this quick return is still another story! I may return
for a few days in about a month, but I surely will leave my heavy aqualung equipment at home. After all, we have not yet
visited the outer reef, but a snorkel, mask and flippers will suffice. A shell collector never knows when he is licked!
When Dr. Tucker Abbott identified the specimen of Atys for me, he stated in his letter: "This is Atys naucum colour form
ferruginosa A. Adams believe it or not."
From personal experience in Fiji, it appears that the colour form ferruginosa is a separate species, for reasons detailed
below.
Apart from the larger size of the typical A. naucum in Fiji, A. naucum s. str. has latitudinal striae from top to bottom,
whereas A. ferruginosa has about 14 striae on top and 14 striae on the bottom, with the central area completely smooth. A.
naucum is fully white, and A. ferruginosa is a translucent greyish-white, with about 9 reddish-brown, wavy longitudinal lines
on the body-whorl. Most important of all, they live in the same localities, on sand in shallow water. No hybrids were
recorded, which would be expected if they were to belong to the same species. The absence of intergrades between the two
forms leaves no doubt about the valid specific separation of Atys ferruginosa.
Editor: Pilsbry* said this: "Bulla ferruginosa Gmelin (Syst. Nat. 13, p. 3432) is a young Cypraea so that A. Adams' form
requires a new name. It may be called Atys naucum strigata. The habitat is unknown." The preceding quote would indicate that
some further nomenclatural work is required before we know what name to apply to the fig. 1 shell.
* Proc. Acad. Sci. Phila., 1917, p. 217.
Leaving Jolo City, I arrived at Zamboanga City in S.W. Mindanao where I did not expect the shell collecting to be quite as
good as Jolo. Joe Abanales, the manager of Rocan Shell Shop, met me at the airport and was a wonderful host during my stay.
He arranged all of my diving trips in the area and provided me with transportation and hotel reservations in town as well.
I spent my first day or so visiting all the shell collectors and dealers in Zamboanga and getting a tour of the area, as it
has quite a historical back ground from the days of the Spanish and Moro settlers during the 1500-1800 centuries. I stayed et
the Bayot Hotel located on the beach overlooking the Santa Cruz Islands where I planned to go shelling. Mrs. King and her
boat M.V. Pele anchored in front of the hotel and they came in for dinner. I met them all including Dr. Richert, Dr. Wilson
and my good friend Fernando Dayrit. They had been dredging their way down from Cebu Is. Fernando said they had made some
exciting finds with the dredge in about 30-40 fms. including many of the Japanese Latiaxis that were not believed to come
from the P. I. at all! From Zamboanga they plan to leave within the week for the Jolo and Siasi area.
The highlights of this trip were furnished by Sylvia who helped us find live Cyphoma gibbosum and C. mcgintyi on the Atlantic
side and live Lima scabra in a man-made lagoon on the Gulf side only two blocks from our motel. We had often admired the
pictures of these shells but as we had been strictly shallow water wading shellers, we had never thought we'd have the chance
to see and collect them alive in their natural surroundings.
To get to the Cyphoma we parked the car less than 50 feet from the edge of the Atlantic Ocean, waded across a channel about 4
feet deep at low tide but only about 15 feet wide, climbed up on a coral reef and were right at the gorgonians on which we
found the Cyphoma. The water was only 10 to 20 inches deep over the reef so sometimes we almost collided with the large sea
urchins as we were snorkeling. It was a real thrill to see the live Cyphoma on the plants and especially the mcgintyi.
Between the three of us on two successive afternoons, we collected a total of (24) gibbosum and (8) mcgintyi so they weren't
really plentiful.
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