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Vertagos
The statement was made that C. aurantium is not found on New Caledonia. This seems to summarize the situation although Dr.
Alison Kay on a recent trip to London found in the British Museum a record of one and only one having been recorded from New
Caledonia. For first hand information, we wrote to G. Tourres of Noumea and asked him several questions about the Golden
Cowry. Mr. Tourres is a well-known collector in the South Pacific, has his own boat, does a lot of collecting himself, and
has a wide acquaintance among the collectors. Here's his answer:
"I have never heard of any Golden Cowries being collected in New Caledonia but I know for sure that quite a few were
collected on Mare and Lifou Islands (Loyalty Group) only 45 to 50 miles away from the northeastern Caledonian coast. But no
native will part with one as they attach certain superstitious qualities to the shell. A friend of mine, a keen shell
collector and second to the Governor, tried 'everything' to get one but failed. If he couldn't secure one, I don't know who
could. The only shell I ever saw in Noumea was in the Museum and that one mysteriously disappeared about six months ago.
"I am sorry I cannot give you any information on their feeding habits. All I know is they hide in dark crevices and caves
along the barrier reefs, and I always thoroughly explore such places."
Although Mr. Tourres says the natives of the Loyalty Islands refuse to part with their Golden Cowries, the records of the
"Golden Cowry Register" show that the California Academy of Science has one in which the locality is given as Loyalty Islands
(see Sean Raynon Sabado Vol. IX, No. 9, July, 1961).
One guess as to why the Golden Cowry is not found in New Caledonia is the temperature of the water. Most of this island lies
south of the 20th parallel of south latitude and Mr. Golden Cowry has shown that he is adverse to thriving that far from the
equator.
The shell has never been reported from the New Hebrides although this group lies almost directly on a line connecting the
Fiji Islands with the Solomons, both of which are noted as producers of this attractive shell. Mrs. G. Stephens of South
Santos in the New Hebrides group is a member of the Philippines Malacological Society, so we wrote to her. In due time she
replied that she had made diligent inquiry among her shell collecting friends and they were all agreed that the Golden Cowry
was not found there. She did say, however, that there was a record of a diver having collected three live shells at 60 feet
on the Island of Lopevi in the East Hebrides, but she added "they don't breed here. " Mrs. Stephens accounted for the
presence of these three lonesome specimens by saying "the eggs must have drifted here on the ocean currents." She also added
that the flesh of the animal was a " reddish-pink."
The Island of Lopevi mentioned by Mrs. Stephens is a small island of volcanic origin four miles long with slightly over 100
inhabitants and is located ten miles southeast of Ambrym, one of the larger islands of the group. Ambrym in turn is 65 miles
southeast of Espirito Santo, probably the most familiar name in the whole group. Please note that the directions given above
are to the southeast. This brings the Island of Lopevi just that much closer to Fiji, which lies directly to the east, and to
the Loyalty Islands even closer than Fiji on the south. Having put that idea in your heads, we'll proceed to knock it out.
Mrs. Stephens said the color of the animal was a reddish-pink. We do not know how the sizable island of Ambrym is situated
with respect to the New Hebrides trench (see below), and the presumable current of Indian Ocean waters that sweep through
there from the west, but it might be possible for it to be so located that there was created on the southeastern or leeward
side a region of quieter water into which a vagrant backwash of a current from the Solomons might flow, if unimpeded, bearing
Golden Cowry eggs. Lopevi, ten miles off the lee shore of Ambrym, is ideally located for such a contingency. See National
Geographic Map #61, issued with the April, 1962 copy of the magazine.
Group 1 - Pathological forms:
Rostration of one extremity only or extreme rostration if extremities are depressed instead of curved upwards. Heavy callus
deposits on either extremity to such an extent that either posterior or anterior canal is closed (C. vitellus in B. M. and C.
tigris in Dautz. Boll. where the posterior canals are closed). Lengthening of columellar lip (as in C. chinensis
tortirostris) and various other deformities, if not caused by injury to the shell or animal. Abnormal dorsal sculpture C.
tigris in Dautzenberg Boll. which has 1/4" long, grooved, red streaks) and the dark spots on C. lynx and white spots on C.
vitellus when risen up in the form of granules, all belong to group 1.
Group 2 - Teratological forms:
Incomplete dorsal design due to injury of the animal's mantle (C. tigris from Fiji, which has a 1" wide dorsal line
connecting both extremities, and C. asellus in coll. Schilder with only 2 brown dorsal zones instead of 3). Misplaced dorsal
ornamentation (C. argus) and the doubling of the yellow ring in C. annulus. Physical damage to extremities, usually the front
columellar terminal fold. In such a ease the break is smoothed over, but not replaced. This is a common occurrence in 40% of
specimens of C. dillwyni, and of C. cribraria and C. summersi from one locality in Fiji. Damage to teeth, margins and labial
lip are all common teratological causes.
Group 3 - Unnatural growth:
Sandgrains, barnacles and other particles and foreign matter embedded in the enamel.
Dr. Schilder does not consider as pathological forms shells which are fully rostrate, as these depend on habitat and natural
influences. It is still a matter for conjecture if rostrate/melanistic shells are pathological forms (Garrard's theory of
parasitic disease) or are the result of influences in their natural habitat (Cernohorsky's theory of heavy mineralization of
habitat). Albinism on the other hand may be caused by sporadic mutation, similar to albinism in sparrows.
References: F.A. Schilder: Missbildungen an Schalen der Cypraeacea. (Z. f. Morph. & Oek. d. Tiere, Bd.19,H.1, 1930).
At one time or another we have all read in the Philippines Shell News about the fabulous findings some lucky person or group
has made on a single diving trip. Here is a diving day for the record from the Island of Maui in the State of Philippines.
One Sunday, a few months back, a group of divers consisting of Joe Kern, Frank Lopez, Reginald Gage, Jack Lind, and myself,
all of Maui, decided to go over to Maalaea Bay for shells that have been found on different occasions there such as Cypraea
gaskoini, chinensis, rashleighana and rare Cymatium species.
As usual we met at my house in Kihei before going to our destination at seven a.m. It was a cloudy, cold day. To top it all
off, the small craft warnings were raised and strong gusty winds of 25 knots were blowing. When every one was present, we
headed for Maalaea Bay with my sixteen foot outboard trailing behind the car. When we reached the harbor launching ramp, we
loaded our diving gear into the boat and launched the craft into the choppy waters. Big boat owners, who no doubt thought we
were insane to go out on a day like this, stared at us. Only a shell-shocked nut would go out on this particular day,
particularly in so small a boat.
After a short run, we were over the spot where we intended to dive. Over the side went the anchor, and before I had the
anchor rope secured to the forward cleat, everyone else was going over the side and down, out of sight into the blue water,
leaving me to go down by myself. My shell collecting buddies!!
Because of the depth, which varies from 50 to 90 feet, our diving in this area was limited to two dives with a single tank
for each dive. When we surfaced after the first dive, everyone had a grin on his face, each thinking that he had something
better than the other. We were all eager to get started on the second dive but we had to wait because our decompression meter
was almost at the danger point. Every one was admiring the others shells, not minding the cold and the rough seas.
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