By JANET R. VOIGHT*

Octopuses are predators, whether they live underrock ledges, in the midst of coral reefs or in clustersof seaweed. One octopus species or another seemsto eat virtually any animal in the ocean, althoughcrustaceans (especially crabs) are the preferred prey.

Since octopods are soft-bodied, protected only bya thin layer of epidermis, their preying on crabssheathed in a rigid exoskeleton would seem to pre-sent a problem. Considering that some crabs caneasily crush snail shells, how do octopuses takecrabs as prey without suffering harm themselves?The answer lies in multifacete arsenal. The suckerslining the inner surfaces of the arms, the chitinousbeak, the toothed salivary papilla, and, more thananything else, their venom (a mixture of chemicalsmade and stored in the posterior salivary glands)combine to make octopuses well-armed predators.

How prey is secured depends on th~ octopus in-volved. Some species seem almost invariably to useambush techniques, "sit and wait" strategies.Others actively forage, expanding their interbrachialweb (a web of skin between the arms which canreach to the arm tips) as a cast net to capture fleeingvictims. Regardless of the tactic, the suckers are theprimary means of securing prey.

Suckers can exert considerable force (Dilly et aI,1%4), enough to open small bivalves and removeabalone from rocks (Nixon, 1979a; Pilson andTaylor, 1961). Each sucker is independently pow-ered by three sets of muscles, each set being per-pendicular to the other two. These muscles allowsuckers to grasp firmly even the smoothest surfaces.Several suckers can pin a crab's legs to its body,immobilizing it before dragging it to the mouth.

Eight suckers encircle the mouth at the base ofthe octopus' arms. In the heart of the circle, beneaththe papillated, retractable lips (Emery, 1975) is thechitinous beak. Shaped like an upside down parrot'sbill, the octopod's beak shields the buccal mass,which includes the radula and the salivary papillawith its evertable tip, all bound together by muscles.The salivary papilla is crucial in killing prey andpreparing it for digestion. It delivers venom fromthe posterior salivary glands to the prey (Nixon,

"Department of Ecology and Eyolutionary Biology Univer-sity of Arizona, Tucson, Arizon 85721

PREDATION BY OCTOPUSES:

Octopus fitchi Berry, from Playa Hermosa, Puerto Penasco, S,

I 979b; 1980). The radula and the beak primarily

function in manipulating food and moving it into the

esophagus.Octopus venom is a mixture of paralyzing agents

and digestive enzymes (Nixon, 1984). Paradoxi-

cally, it also contains octopamine which may, once

in the blood-stream, strengthen and stabilize the

heartbeat of the victim (Nixon, 1984). Some oc-

topuses produce such potent venom that it need not

be injected to be effective; when merely released in

the water near a crab, paralysis results (Sutherland

and Lane, 1969). The crab may absorb the venom

across its gills, through pores in its carapace, or

through the arthrodial membrane (Nixon and Boyle,

1982).How octopus venom works is not well known,

but its effects are similar in crabs, humans, and

even other octopuses. For example, the bite of the

Australian blue-ringed octopus, Hapalochlaena

maculosa Quoy and Lamboid, can kill adult humans

(Sutherland and Lane, 1969; Sutherland, 1983). Full

body paralysis can begin as quickly as 5 minutes

after envenomation, with death following due to

suffocation, the result of paralysis of the diaphragm.

The heart is apparently unaffected by the venom, as

-""C:.nora, Mexico. !"-' 1J1'~J~)\~Vi"; ",oto: Burch

in crabs, its beat may even be stabilized by oc-topamine. The heart eventually stops due to a lack

of o~ygen.To survive the bite of a blue-ringed octopus, the

human victim must get to a respirator quickly. Re-covery will usually follow without complications; ifadequate levels of oxygen in the blood are main-tained, the body will break down the venom andoverride the paralysis. Some survivors report that,throughout paralysis and respirator dependency, theymaintained complete mental awareness of their

paralysis.Fortunately, only octopuses of the Australian

blue-ringed group are known to be lethal to humans.However, several octopuses from North Americanwaters are aggressive enough to bite while beinghandled. The small Octopus digueti Perrier andRochebrune, from the Gulf of California, is excep-tionally aggressive. Its bite resembles a severe beesting, and is followed by local redness and swellingfor up to a week, although without serious long-term effects.

Within a species, bites can have more severeconsequences. Octopuses housed together often

(Cont'd on Page 6)

HA W AllAN SHELL NEWS May, 1988Page 2

~ a«.I-aUaIe S ~ ~4-ISSN 0017-8624

announcement noted. "Collecting will be pennittedthere only for study purposes."

The larger park runs 260 kilometers along thewestern shore of the North West Cape peninsula,from Exmouth to Amherst Point, some 1,200 kilo-meters north of Perth. Jurisdiction extends 10 nauti-cal miles to sea.

According to Perth sources, this area has beenseverely damaged by excessive shell collecting. Inthe future collecting will be pennitted only for re-search and educational purposes.

Editors Emeritus E. R. CROSS.STUARTLILLICO

Editor OR. TOM BURCH

Associate Editors OLIVE SCHOENBERG. BEATRICE BURCH

Science Advisor OR. E. ALISON KAY

Science Consultant W. O. CERNOHORSKY

Editorial Staff LYMAN HIGA. STAN JASWINSKI.RAY McKINSEY. WALTER SAGE

Editorial Assistants GEORGE CAMPBELL. BUNNIE COOK.BILL & TRUOI ERNST. JIM ROHRBACH.

WES THORSSON. OOROTHY WENOT

Corresponding Editors MARGE BRAONER. OONALO OAN.FR. AL LOPEZ S.J.. HENK K. MIENIS. PETER van PEL.

AURORA RICHAROS. THORA WHITEHEAO

Index Editor RAY McKINSEY

Back Issues Manager BUNNIE COOK

HAWAIIAN MALACOLOGICAL SOCIETY(Founded in 1941)

P O. Box 22130 Honolulu. Hawaii 96822

President DAN McNALLY

Vice President JIM ROHRBACH

Treasurer GEORGE COOK

Recording Sec'y BUNNIE COOK

Corr. Sec'y OOROTHY WENOT

Office Manager KAREN CABRAL

Directors

NEW CLIMATE THREATA new threat to the earth's climate from a poten-

tial change in a major ocean current was suggestedrecently by geologist Wallace S, Broecker of Co-lumbia University.

Broecker suggested that warmer global tempera-tures caused by the widely reported "greenhouseeffect" could change the Pacific and Atlantic inter-ocean current. The huge interocean current, Broeckerexplained, carries warm surface water southwardfrom the North Pacific through the Indian Ocean tothe Atlantic, where some of its heat is transferred toArctic air. Warm water evaporation in the NorthAtlantic then increases the salinity and density ofthe surface water, which sinks and flows in thereverse direction to rise and eventually be heatedagain in the Pacific.

"When this conveyer belt is altered for any rea-son, climate will be affected. The balance is pre-carious," he said.

The earth's climate system generally tries to resistchanges, up to a point, according to Broecker. Butonce that unknown threshold is reached, abruptchanges can occur: the current ocean transfer of heatfrom the tropics to the poles could be stopped orslowed which would alter the heat balance of the

planet.

MUSSEL GLUE

The glue used by mussels to fasten their byssus torocks has been used in tissue cultures to attach cellsto plastic plates and has been used experimentally torepair corneas and retinas. Dr. J. Herbert Waite ofthe University of Delaware has isolated the gluecomponents and determined that it is a protein witha sequence of ten amino acids which is repeated 75to 80 times.

The glue can harden and hold when under waterand, if it could be produced in large enough quan-

~tities, it might even prove useful in repairing ships

without dry-docking suggests Sea Frontiers (Inter-national Oceanographic Foundation). Unfortunately,the necessary commercial production - probablyusing recombinant DNA technology - has not yet

been developed.

BOB OAYLE TRUOI ERNSTBARBARA KUEMPER RAY McKINSEYSTUART LILLICO CHRIS TAKAHASHI

Honorary DirectorsOR. ALLEN ALLISON BRUCE CARLSONE. R. CROSS DONALO DANThe Society currently meets the first Wednesday of eachmonth in Honolulu.

VISITORS WELCOME!

Hawaiian Shell News is issued free to members of theSociety. Postage rates have been computed and added tomembership dues. Individual copies of any issue may beobtained, free of charge, by qualified individuals for bona fideresearch projects

Members outside the United States are asked to pay with abank cheque (not a draft) payable to HMS on a U.S. bank(Be sure your name and address appear on the cheque.)

HMS DUES FOR 1987Includes delivery of HSN

-U.S. Zip Code Addresses (Handled as bulk mail,not forwardable to new address) $17.50

-Canada and Mexico (First Class mail) 22.00-All Other Countries (First Class mail) 24.00

OPTIONAL DELIVERY OF HSN BY AIR MAIL(Dues included)

-U.S. Zip Code Addresses 2200-Bahamas, Bermuda. Caribbean Islands. Central

America, Colombia & Venezuela 28.00-Europe (except USSR, Latvia, Lithuania, &

Estonia), Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia. Libya,Egypt, Malta, and South America (exceptColombia & Venezuela) 30.50

-Africa (except North Africa), Australia. NewZealand. Asia, USSR, Estonia, Latvia,Lithuania, Israel, Middle East, Indian Oceanand Pacific Ocean Islands lacking U.S. ZipCodes 33.50

-ASSOCIATE MEMBERSHIP (For familymembers; HMS card but no HSN) 1.00

Articles of interest to shell collectors are solicited. Con-tents are not copyrighted. Republication, with credit to HSN,is invited.

The opinions expressed in signed articles in HawaiianShell News are those of the authors and do not necessarilyrepresent policies of the Hawaiian Malacological Society

Advertisements are accepted at the rate of US $20.00 percolumn-inch per issue, payable in advance. Discounts areoffered for six and twelve insertions

Typesetting, composition and printing of Hawaiian ShellNews is done by Fisher Printing Co.. Honolulu.

Two New Marine ParksIn West Australia

The state of Western Australia recently formallyestablished two marine parks, to which the publicwill have access but in which shell collecting andrecreational fishing will be restricted.

The smaller of the two parks is along the IndianOcean shoreline of Perth's northern suburbs. Thecontrolled waters extend seaward three nautical

miles."This area encloses some of the most beautiful

underwater scenery in the State and includes a popu-lation (now decimated by commercial and amateurcollectors) of Cypraea (Zoila) venusta," the

Shellfish PoisoningsOver a hundred Canadians became ill and three

died after eating mussels contaminated with domoicacid according to the March 1988 National Fisher-man.' The source of the toxin was chondria, a"relatively rare" seaweed in Atlantic waters.

"There's speculation," said a spokesman for theCanadian Department of Health and Welfare, "thatan unusually hot summer led to production of thisseaweed in greater concentration. ... " He also

reported that' 'this toxin primarily affects mussels"and that "nearly 100 per cent of the people madesick had eaten mussels."

The Canadian government placed a ban on allmussels, clams, oysters, and quahogs harvested onthe Atlantic seaboard on December II. No newillnesses have been reported since the outbreak earlyin December, and all areas were reported to be openfor harvesting except Prince Edward Island.

Domoic acid works much like paralytic shellfishpoison (PSP), a toxin that can kill by paralyzing thenervous system and causing asphyxiation. PSP issuspected in the deaths of 18 whales found on aMassachusetts beach in December, their stomachsfull of toxin-laden mackerel.

HMS Tee ShirtsAt last! A 100 percent cotton tee-shirt to show

that you belong to the Hawaiian Malacological So-ciety. The big triton (club emblem) is on the backand a small design is on the left front. The colorsare pink, blue, yellow, and beige and the sizes aresmall, medium, large, and extra large.

Page 3HAWAIIAN SHELL NEWSMay, 1988

Photo: Cross

fiftieth wedding anniversary. Now back to the early

years.The next assignment for the vagabond newspa-

perman and his bride was to editorial work in theNew York and Washington, DC areas. This era inStu's life, from 1938 into 1942, paved the way forhis entry into government work - first with the US

Army Map Service, from 1943 to 1947, then intothe United States Foreign Service. This took theLillicos back on the travel trail, this time to India,Ethiopia, Zanzibar, and Central Africa. In additionto writing and editorial assignments, Stu was activein establishing United States Information Offices,one of which was in Zanzibar where his two-yeartour introduced him to mollusks. At the programpresented to HMS members in March, 1971, Stushowed slides and told about shell collecting duringtheir stay in Zanzibar.

ln the early years of their shell collecting, Stu andHelen were primarily shallow water and beach col-lectors. As a result their interest was mostly inshallow water mollusks. As a youngster of 61, soonafter his retirement to Hawaii, both qualified ascertified scuba divers. This opened new vistas ofcollecting, although Stu admits "I don't dive muchnow. " He has field collected in such exotic and

distant places as the Philippines, Thailand, Guamand the Marianas, Australia, New Zealand, Samoa,Fiji, Tonga, South Africa and, of course, Zanzibar.

In addition to editorial work Stu has made manycontributions to the HSN that has added signifi-cantly to our knowledge and enjoyment of shellsand collecting. His first feature article, "GoldenCowries in the Marshall Islands" [HSN March1972, p I] filled in some gaps on knowledge ofthese rare shells in the Marshalls. Of comparable

(Cont'd on Page 4)

AFTER 15 YEARS ON HSN, STU LILLICO SWITCHES RETIREMENTSBy ELLIS R. CROSS*

The name Stuart Lillico appeared in Hawaiian

Shell News for the first time in April 1971, when

long-time Hawaiian Malacological Society member

Elmer Leehman did a rave review of a slide talk Stu

had presented at the March meeting. The name

showed up again a couple of months later when

Lillico became an editorial assistant on the staff of

HSN. For the next seventeen years it appeared reg-

ularly, first as an occasional author, then from 1973

through 1974 as co-editor with the late Ruth Fair. In

January 1975, when I stepped down as editor-in-

chief, Lillico became the full editor. In the years

that followed, his editorial voice has carried far.

For the next eleven years Stu continued to keep

Hawaiian Shell News in the forefront of all shell

club publications. He will be the first to admit that

he had a lot of help and encouragement from mem-

bers throughout the world, but it was the leadership

and guidance of Editor Lillico that made that all-

important difference. In all, Stu performed editorial

magic on 132 issues of HSN. That works out at

about 1,584 pages and an estimated 3,000 illustra-

tions.In addition to his strictly editorial chores, Stu

found time to write some three dozen articles and

commented on or reviewed many more. Some of his

more pointful writings were his thoughtful commen-

tary on Cousteau's jeremiad against collecting or

touching things in the ocean (September 1975), Ha-

waii's live shell collecting laws (January 1978), and

his review of several new shelling books. He also

found time between editorial chores to dive with his

friends, dredge for shells, make collecting trips to

far places, write hundreds of letters to friends and

associates, and to continue studies on subjects rang-

ing from Hawaiiana to oceanography. All of which

Stu used for fuel to keep HSN alive and well.

At the end of 1986, he announced he was hang-

ing up his eye shade and turning the editorial re-

sponsibilities over to Dr. Tom Burch.

In a recent letter Stu wrote me, "I am still at sea

after giving up HSN. It's hard to develop a new

routine and as a consequence things don't get

done." The Lillico 1987 "Annual Report" is anexample of how to go with a "new routine" -

unplanned or otherwise. His account of his and

Helen's 1987 six-weeks tour of Europe reads like a

"retirement" should be. Very busy. A wise man

once told me, and I believed him and I suspect Stu

knows this too, "Retirement is to quit working at

something you don't really like so you can work

even harder at something you do like." In this

context, Stu has been' 'retired" for the past eleven

years.In 1973, Lillico was elected HMS Vice President.

An important aspect of the VP job is that of pro-

gram chairman. Programs for HMS meetings im-

proved under Stu's personal pestering of prospective

speakers. As his reward, the following year he was

*P.O.Box 1267, Port Angeles, WA 98362.

~---,-

Stu and Helen Lillico at 1983 HMS Christmas Party.

named President. Over the years, he recalls, he hasfilled just about every HMS office except treasurer.

When Stu Lillico retired to Hawaii in 1970 andbecame a member of the Hawaiian MalacologicalSociety, he brought with him to the HMS and HSNa discerning interest in shells. It was only naturalthat he combine this interest with a lifetime of edito-rial experience to become involved in disseminatinginformation about shells and the molluscan envi-ronment to the world-wide membership of the Soci-

ety.Born in rainy Seattle, Washington, on April 5,

1909, he was christened Stuart P. (for Plympton)Lillico. Like his knowledge and talents he grew fastand tall and, at about a lithe 6'4', finished studyingengineering and journalism at the University of

Washington in 1931.For the next seven years Stu followed his calling

as a newspaperman, editor and foreign corre-spondent in the Far East. These were turbulent yearsin China. Working mostly out of Shanghai as a freelance reporter, he followed stories up and down themany rivers, over an even greater number of moun-tains, across a few deserts, and into cities and vil-lages of China. Occasionally his work took him to

Japan and other Asian countries.While working on a newspaper in Tokyo in 1932,

Stu met Helen Iglehart, daughter of a Methodistmissionary there, and three years later they weremarried in Shanghai. In June 1937 Japan invadedChina and started the conquest of that nation. Thecapital, Peking, and all coastal areas, were underthe control of the invaders by mid-1938. The Lil-licos took a slow boat back to Tokyo where Stucontinued his newspaper work.

To skip ahead a few years, Stu and Helen, in1985, took a fast plane to back Shanghai for their

HA W AllAN SHELL NEWS May, 1988Page 4

Patronize HSN Advertisers

- For Quality and Service -

THOMAS HONKERSpecimen Shells

615 Wiggin Rd., P. O. Box 1011Delray Beach, FL 33444

305-276-9658BUY - SELL - TRADE FREE LIST

(:FNTIMETERS*

10.30

9.90

15.10

10.81

14.10

.. 7.86

6.37

13.37

.. 5.40

6.19

8.55

6.91

6.94

7.64

5.76

4.16

14.63

9.30

5.71

8.96

5.85

5.85

5.50

22.10

4.65

7.33

6.20

4.70

5.86

5.43

5.40

4.09

5.26

4.60

5.36

8.32

4.03

10.40

7.70

9.99

8.67

5.08

9.70

SELLING OUT - PATRICIANA SHELLS

Large personal Philippine land shell collection;Land shells at low prices; Marine shells

James L. Barnett James L. Barnett225 Session Road or 6O201h Support SqfRAOBaguio, Philippines APO San Francisco, 96298

HELP THE CURRENT EDITOR.WRITE AN ARTICLE FOR HSN!

Stu wearing one of the new HMS Tee-shit:ts.Photo: Schoenberg

(Cont'd from Page 3)

(CONTINUED)

general interest was his article' 'Search for a Living This lists more of the' 'New Entries," submitted

Voluta thatcheri" in HSN the following month. as of November 1987 for use in the World Size

Another well remembered and important article, Records supplement to Wagner and Abbott' Stan-

co-authored with the late Ruth Fair, was' 'Mollus- dard Catalog of Shells.

can Egg-Laying - A Survey" in the December, Individuai.s who believe they have record size

1972 HSN. The mass of information presented did shells should have the measurement confirmed by a

not solve many problems, but Stu and Ruth gave professional malacologist or other approved person.

HSN readers a lot to think about regarding the Then send the information to Robert J.L. Wagner,

hundreds of thousands of invertebrates that inhabit 19751 S.W. 79th Ct., Miami, FL 33189.

the earth's oceans.

Probably his most far-reaching article, co- SP~CIES ~_..

authored with Elmer Leehman, was "A Standard ChlCoreus annandalei Shell Grading System." The first tentative outline Chicoreus axicornis for a grading system for dealer shells appeared in Chicoreus brevifrons the March, 1973 HSN. The System was upgraded Ch~oreus cnissodus and standardized in May and July, 1973. For the Chlcoreus cornucervi next two years the many issues regarding grading Ch~coreus crocatus specimen shells were published and commented on ChlCoreus damicornus .. .,.. ... in HSN. A "final" HMS International Shell Grad- Chicoreus microphyllus ing Standard was published in October 1978. It has Chicoreus orchidiflorus celinamarumai

been used world wide since publication. Chicoreuspenchinati While in Washington, DC in 1970, Stu became a Chicoreus rossisteri member of the National Capitol Shell Club. He and Chicoreus stainforthi Helen are also members of the Keppel Bay Shell Ch~coreus venustulus Club in Queensland. Chione californiensis Since becoming a member of the Hawaiian Chione kellettii Malacological Society, Stu has found many things Chione lumens t

h . . Chlam y s austral..s0 engage IS mterests and to keep him active; a I great many writing and editorial challenges, many Chlamys hastata hericia friends, continued opportunities to let shells take Chlamys imbricata him over the world's horizons, and, probably, a Chlamys islandica behringiana better insight into the world of shells and shelling. Chlamys mildredae

Stu recently assumed leadership of a demanding Chlamys multisquamata and important project; chairmanship of the HMS Chlamys sentis 1988 international shell show and auction. All of Chlamys townsendi these things have kept Stu young and (most of the Cirsotrema dalli time) friendly. The Society has gained tremendously Cirsotrema varicosa in many ways from the friendship, the talents, and Clathrodrillia jeffreysii the prodigious energy and ability of this' 'volun- Cochlespira pulchella semiplota teer " Collisella atrata

. Collisella dalliana Collisella discors Collisella instabilis ... Collisella limatula .. ... ...

Collisellapediculus Collisella pella Colubraria castanea. ... Collisella lucasensis Collisella muricata Columbarium eastwoodae Columbarium harrisae Comitas kaderlyi Compsodrillia bicarinata .. Comptopallium radula 'One inch = 2.54 centimeters

May, 1988 HA W AllAN SHELL NEWS Page

RARITY AND AVAILABILITY POISONOUS OLIVESBy JEREMY A. WOOD-ANDERSON.

CLIff ON BEACH, KARACHI - This is in re-

ferrence to Dr. E. Alison Kay's article [USN De-cember 1987, P 8] regarding internal envenomationfrom consumption of Oliva vidua flesh - boiled orotherwise - that resulted in human deaths in

Southeast Asia. This indicates that the venom pene-trated the bloodstream, no doubt, because of itsacidic base, which even causes its absorptionthrough the surface of the outer human skin. Butsurely it is well known and established, as it isamong native fishermen and Hindu collectors in andaround Karachi, that most olive species can be ven-omous, especially O. bulbosa and O. vidua.'

Not unlike cones, olives are rapacious predatorswhich kill their prey by harpooning or drilling andinjecting their acid-borne neurotoxic venom, whichparalyses the victim almost instantly. Often theseolives exude this venom as a mauve or maroonishdye which rapidly spreads in the human skin whenthey are picked up and retained in the hand for toolong [USN June 1987, P 7]. Initially a semi-paralytic numbing effect is felt, which leads to aninternal burning sensation, and, in at least one in-stance a fisherman's relevant armpit lymph glandswelled and fine veins on his inner forearm becameaffected. This clearly demonstrates that, like tritons,olives can paralyze victims without injecting theirvenom through radula penetration. It is presumedthat this acidic venom is purplish, just as inChicoreus and Cymatium and that potentially this isthe same acidic dye-stuff contained in Bolinusbrandaris (Linnaeus, 1758), the dye Murex of theMediterranean. However, the flesh of Chicoreusand Cymatium is edible, unlike that of Oliva, pre-sumably because the former do not possess a similaracid which helps the venom of Oliva to spread

rapidly.

By PAUL F.

MONTEREY BAY, CA - Conus pergrandis

(Iredale, 1937) [HSN November 1986 & April1987] offers an example of how three famous con-temporary writers on malacology - R. T. Abbott,S.P. Dance, and J.M. Eisenberg - handled the

problem of rarity. For example, Abbott and Dance,1982, in Compendium of Seashells considered C.

pergrandis a "rare" shell. They illustrated this"Grand Cone," as it is popularly known, as attain-ing a maximum length of 5 inches (125 mm). Theyplaced it in the stupeUa-smirna-clarus series, al-though none of these come close to pergrandis ineither size or pattern.

Two of our rare old favorites, C. gloriamaris andC. bengalensis, were "downgraded" by Abbott andDance to "moderately rare" status. They describedthe once "rare" C. milneedwardsi as only "ratherrare." Fainzilber, 1985, called it "no-longer-rare."

Abbott & Dance rated 65 of the 334 cones listedin the Compendium as "rather rare," "moderatelyrare" or just plain "rare." Thirty-five of the forty-seven species they rated as "rare" were discoveredbefore 1900.

The time of discovery (or description) of a shellis important. Our example, Conus (Embrikena)pergrandis, was discovered in 1895 but not de-scribed until 1937. Of the 35 cones described before1900, only 10 were named before 1800.

TABLE I

EXAMPLES OF "RARITY" IN COMPENDIUM,1982

NAME I)ISCOVEREDOR NAMED

"RARE"C. pergrandisC. nobilis victorC. cedonulli caledonicusC. timorensis

"MODERATELY RARE"C. aureus (?)paulucciaeC. nobilisC. barthelemyi

1895

1842

1792

1792A first aid remedy recommended by Karachi

fishermen is to grab hold of a fistful of dry sand,and to replenish it every minute until the acid andvenom have been absorbed. But this will not helpinternally! I mention this only because of the poten-tial danger of envenomation through the skin sur-face, especially with delicate skin and a large adultolive with stored-up venom content.

187717581861 Ventral view of a gem 109 mm specimen of Conus per-

grandis (Iredale, 1937), collected from tangle nets between100 and 200 m from Panglow, Bothol, southern Philip-pines. In the collection of Peter Jamison of New Zealand.

Photo: Jamieson

"RATHER RARE"C. milneedwardsi 1894

Abbott and Dance, 1982 recognized 15 degrees ofa shell's availability, making an effort to distinguishroughly between what I call' 'ecologic availability,"or relative degree of abundance, and availability incollections. Their descriptive adjectives and nounsare: commercially abundant, abundant, locallyabundant, very common, widespread & common,

moderately common, locally common, common,uncommon, locally uncommon, moderately rare,rather rare, rare, rare collector's item, and very rare.

Since Eisenberg is a dealer, his criterion for rarityin Collector's Guide to Seashells of the World.

The salient message is: you should beware oflarge olives, just as much as cones!

'This is not mentioned in any book in my library,including Bruce Halstead's three volume Poisonousand Venomous Marine Animals of the World,published by the US Government Printing Office in1965. I would appreciate letters, articles and refer-ences to literature on poisonous and venomousolives and other mollusks. TB.

'Kirk Anders, Richard M. Kurz, Robert Morrisonand Carol Skoglund, and Mae Lackner and LorraineWipperrnan compiled many of the valuations.

References Cited

Abbott, R.T. and Dance, S.P., 1982. Compendiumof Seashells, E.P. Dutton, Inc, NY, 261 pp.

Dance, S.P., 1969. Rare Shells. London; and Univof Calif Press, Berkeley, 128 pp.

Eisenberg, J.M., 1981. A Collector's Guide toSeashells of the World. McGraw-Hill Book Co,NY, 239 pp.

Fainzilber, M. "The Decline ofC. milneedwardsi,"HSN Jan. 1985.

*G.F. 1/31, Seaview Township, Clifton BeachD.O.C.H.S. 5, Karachi-46.*1123 Los Palos Dr. (#10), Salinas, CA 93901

PATCHICK*

1981, was availability to the collector. His sequencewas: very common, common, uncommon, scarce,very scarce, rare, very rare, extremely rare, and

unique.Eisenberg based the photographs in his book on

specimens he had in stock and in his own personalcollection - using 2,600 species to illustrate

Seashells of the World! So a measure of raritymight be, "If it's not pictured in Eisenberg, it'srare!" Another check would be to look up a speciesthat is not illustrated (i.e., Conus pergrandis) andsee if Eisenberg listed it in his extensive Indexwhere there are an additional 2,400 species. Youcan judge the "apparent rarity" using the prices heshows which are based on 1978 and 1980 price listsfrom four prominent American dealers!. [His indexshows Conus pergrandis with a value of $300-500.]

May, 1988HAWAIIAN SHELL NEWSPage 6

(Cont'd from Page 1)

Bore hole produced by octopus. Note the minute size andovoid outline beveled toward the center (after Nixon &Boyle. 1982).

It is primarily these teeth that bore, not the radula as

had been previously believed (Nixon, 1980). Corro-

sive chemicals may soften the shell to assist in

boring (Nixon et ai, 1980). Once the salivary papilla

has penetrated the shell, it releases venom into the

underlying flesh.

LITERATURE OTEDArnold, 1.M., 1985. .'Shell growth, trauma, and

repair as an indicator of life history forNautilus." Veliger 27:386-3%.

Arnold, 1.M. and Okerlund, K.E., 1969. "Someaspects of hole-boring predation by Octopus vul-garis." Amer. Zool. 9:991-996.

Dilly, N., Nixon, M, and Packard, A., 1964."Forces exerted by Octopus vulgaris." Pub.Staz. Zool. Napl. 34:86-97.

Emery, D.G., 1975. "Ciliated sensory cells andassociated neurons in the lip of Octopus jouhiniRobson. " Cell Tiss. Res. 157:331-340.

Guerra, A. and Nixon, M., 1987. "Crab and mol-lusc shell drilling by Octopus vulgaris (Mollusca:Cephalopoda) in the Ria de Vigo (north-westSpain)." J. Zool. (Lond.) 211:515-523.

Nixon M. 1979a "Hole-boring in shells by Octopusvulgaris Cuvier in the Mediterranean."Malacologia 18:431-443.

Nixon M 1979b "Has Octopus vulgaris a secondradula?' J. Zool. (Lond,) 187:291-296.

Nixon, M., 1980. "The salivary papilla of Octopusas an accessory radula for drilling shells." J.Zool. (Lond.) 190;53-57.

Nixon M. 1984 "Is there external digestion in Oc-topus J. Zool. (Lond.) 202:441-448.

Nixon M. and Boyle P. 1982. "Hole-drilling byEledone cirrhosa (Mollusca: Cephalopoda). J.Zool. (Lond.) 196:439-444.

Nixon, M., Maconnachie, E. and Howell, P.O.T.,1980. "The effects on shells of drilling by Oc-topus." J. Zool. (Lond.) 191:75-88.

Pilson, M.E.Q. and Taylor, P.B., 1961. "Hole dril-ling by octopus." Science. 134;1366-1368.

Sutherland, S.K., 1980. Australian animal toxins:The creatures, their toxins and care of thepoisoned patient. Oxford University Press. Mel-bourne. Chapter 24. Class Cephalopoda, Oc-topuses. pp. 344-358.

Sutherland, S.K. and Lane, W.R., 1969. "Toxinsand mode of envenomation of the common ringedor blue-banded octopus." Med. J. Austral.1:893-898.

Wodinsky, J. 1969, "Penetration of the shell andfeeding on gastropods by Octopus." Amer. Zool.9:997-1010.

May, 1988 HAWAIIAN SHELL NEWS Page 7

Conus sure/us Sowerby II,Rediscovered?

1858

(I) Conus floridanus patglickste;nae, Hololype, (USNM) 25aureolus, hololype (BMNH), 19 mm.

By DIETER ROCKEL*

NECKARANLAGE, GERMANY - Since its de-

scription in 1858, nobody could identify and locate

Conus aureolus, a taxon whose romantic and

melodious sounding name inspired the fantasy. It

has been synonymized in the past with Conus

fumigatus, C. splendidulus and C. macarae and

even with an unknown species from Papua New

Guinea. But all these comparisons turned out to be

wrong after examination of the holotype of C. au-

reolus.

This holotype, (preserved in the British Museum

(Natural History», is a small (19mm), dead andbroken shell with a relatively flat spire and a color

pattern resembling certain populations of Conus

floridanus Gabb. Coomans et al. (1981:33) did rec-

ognize this resemblance but didn't synonymize it

with C. floridanus because of the different spire

shape.Surprisingly, a new trace to the whereabouts of

C. aureolus resulted from E.J. Petuch's new book,

New Caribbean Molluscas Faunas, in which the

author described the new taxon C. floridanus

patglicksteinae. The holotype, measuring

25 x l3mm, shows the same color pattern and the

same almost flat spire as the holotype of C. au-

reolus. The only eye-catching difference is the smal-

ler size (19mrn) of the latter. So, it may be justified

to synonymize C. floridanus patglicksteinae with

C. aureolus. The holotype of C. f. patglicksteinae

was trawled from 122 m off Palm Beach Islands,

Palm Beach County, Florida.

What is the taxonomic status of Conus aureolus?

Because of the poor knowledge and material avail-

able until now, a definite decision is not possible

yet. Provisionally, I am inclined to follow Coomans

et aI and to accept C. aureolus as a valid species.

The striking low spire and the more slender shape

are so far from the typical C. floridanus features

that there is reason to believe C. floridanus and C.

aureolus are distinct species.

SL

NECKARANLAGE,GERMANYOne of the figures in my article, "00 the Identity

of Conus connectens A. Adams, 1855" in theMarch USN is labeled incorrectly. The left figureon page 4 is not a specimen of C. circumactus buta specimen of C. daucus from Fernando doNoronha, Brazil. It matches the C connect ensholotyl"" nn I' 1 "nti th..r..fnrP ,.nnfirn.o my iudg-

m..nt

n;p,pr Ri\rl,~l

OKINAWAThe unidentified "Coraliophila" in the February

HSN p 10 appears to be Vitularia miliaria or aclosely rpl~t"d species. It is common in the Philip-['in".

Phillip R. Crandall

BRISBANE, QLDI have just been enjoying the February I988

HSN, which was full of interest, as ever. Is itpossible for those on the Pohnpei trip who foundConus runlus to supply photos of the specimens forHSN? To the best of my knowledge, this species isregarded as an Australian endemic. If this record is""ITect, it would be a tremendous range extension.

[ enjoyed Aurora Richard's "Bivalves of NewGuinea." She is to be congratulated on her sterlingefforts to identify them, never an easy task withbivalves. There are, however, basic misplacementsat the family and generic levels.

THE BEST WASHINGTON SLUG RECIPES.By F. R. Howard, 1983. Published by Frank How-ard, 4925 27th Ave. W., Everett, WA 98203. 32pp, soft cover. $2.95.

Frank Howarad has written a tongue-in-cheekcook book which gives mapy recipes for preparingslugs (shell-less land mollusks). The author statesthat the recipes represent the "best' as judged byvarious narrow-minded groups including: politicallobbyists; some religious cults; Californians; draftdodgers; video game players; and other self-abusers."These recipes are not recommended for humanconsumption," he cautions, "nor are they approvedin principle by the following organizations: ASPCA,

FHA, FFA, NBA, NFL, CBS, AFL-CIO, KKK,Green Peace, or Ducks Unlimited."

The book has sections on gathering and baitingslugs, slug gathering tools, cooking slugs, wine forslugs, and sixteen recipes including deviled slugcanapees, mock escargot, slug-a-roni, slug chowder,sweet & sour slugs, and slugs Rockefella. Eachsection is illustrated with line drawings.

I recommend this book especially to land snailcollectors and anyone with a garden.

TB

SEND IN YOUR RENEWAL!

All HMS memberships expire at the end ofthe calendar year. Send your renewal at once.Remember - No dues. No USN.

*6930 Eberbach, Neckaranlage 6, Germany Thora Whitehead

mm; (2) C. floridanus, (off Sanibel. Florida), 35 rom; (3) C.

I am grateful to Mrs. K.M. Way (BMNH) and

Dr. M.G. Harasewych (USNM) for the loan of the

holotypes of C. aureolus and C. floridanus pat-

glicksteinae.

SHELL ETTERS

-"'- -.. ,- . -.- ~.- -~ o -_OJ J -

.,~--,

J .~.u.~

l ".

I

.

~~,

HMS member Dr. Barry Wilson, Director of Nat-ure Conservation in Western Australia, is revisingtwo of his earlier works, Australian Shells by Wil-son and Gillett (1971), and the smaller version,Field Guide to Australian Shells (1979), bothstandard works for scientists and collectors.

"These books are sadly out of date now, as wellas out of print," he writes. "The new book will bedifferent in style and much more representative ofthe Australian marine gastropod fauna."- Appealing to Australian collectors for assistance

in the project, Wilson said he "desperately needs"access to specimens from Queensland of the follow-

ing groups:Trochidae, Ovulidae, Cerithiidae, Turritellidae,

Epitoniidae, Naticidae, Muricidae (especially

Tha:ids), Columbellidae, Buccinidae, Nassariidae,Marginellidae and Turridae.

"At the moment 1 am grappling with the Cerithii-dae, of which there are many small species inQueensland," he goes on, "I need informationabout (and specimens of) the most common speciesthere. Obviously, 1 don't need specimens illustratedin the original books."

Wilson's address is Director, Nature Conser-vation, P.O. Box 104, Como, Western Australia6152.

May, 1988HAWAIIAN SHELL NEWSPage 8

~

SHELLS FOR SALE

SHELLS. CABINETS. BAGS & BOXES. BOOKS

THE SHELL STORE440 75th Avenue

St. Petersburg Beach, FL 337061 Phone: (813) 360-0586

SHELLS ARE OUR BUSINESS- AND OUR PLEASURE

Robert and Betty Lipe

Send $100 (Applied to your first order) and receive a COMPUTERPRINTOUT OF OVER 900 LOTS OF SPECIMEN SHELLS (Most families

represented.)

TOM SHEPHERDDealer in Marine SpecimenShells. Buy Sell Exchange2222 Beech StreetVirginia Beach, Va. 23451(804) 481-7341

'- I

DARYL E. FOOTEP. O. Box 86424

North Vancouver, B.C.Canada V7L 4K6

Worldwide Specimen ShellsFree List

By CAROLE M. HERTZSAN DIEGO, CALIF. - Two recent articles

discussed soon-to-be-named new molluscan speciesand consequently created potential problems for fu-ture taxonomists. In both, the proposed names wereused before the descriptions of the species appearedin the scientific literature.

The January 1988 issue of Las Conchas, newslet-ter of the Pacific Shell Club in Southern California,carried an article by HMS member Father Al Lopez,"Two new Agaronia species." It named the twonew species and briefly discussed them and, inbroad terms, noted their relationships to previouslynamed species. The December 24 postmark wouldhave to be taken as the date of publication. It pre-ceded the January 4, 1988 paper in the Veliger (vol30(3):295-304) by Lopez, Montoya and Lopez, "Areview of the genus Agaronia (Olividae) in thePanamic province and the description of two newspecies from Nicaragua."

The Los Angeles Times for January 2, 1988,carried an interview with Dr. Peter Ward of theUniversity of Washington concerning a new speciesof Nautilus (which was figured) on display at theSeattle Aquarium. It had been captured by Dr. Wardoff Vanuatu, (New Hebrides), in December 1987.Dr. Ward was quoted as stating that he "is thinkingof naming the new species Nautilus vanuatuensis

~

PHilLIP W. CLOVER ~~ Conchologist I~. P. O. Box 339

Glen Ellen, CA 95442Dealing in worldwide seashells since 1960. Spe-cializing in /atiaxis, murex, marum, marginel/a,mitra, conus, cypraea, va/uta, cancel/aria andout-ot-print sea shell books. Free price lists.

~

Using the names of new taxa in this way, prior to Itheir publication in the scientific literature, is an I.

unwise practice. In some cases, such news could Iinadvertently become the "official" publication of .

the taxa. iAccording to the third edition (February 1985) of i

the International Code of Zoological Nomencla- Itore a new species to be "available" (for use as a iscientific name) need only fulfill the following re- t_-

quirements [paraphrased]: Mrs. Barbara Pringle purchasing a s~all shell amulet made. .. by the Tuaregs of Mal,. Note the sliver bracelets that the

(1) be publIshed for the pennanent scIentIfic rec- trader has in his other hand. In the background are the

ord by a method that assures numerous identical mud-brick buildings of Timbuctu. Photo: Pringle

copies that are obtainable, when first issued, free or

by purchase;. (2) have a name spelled in Latin letters and used

as a valid scientific name when published;

(3) follow the principles of binomial nomencla-

ture; and

(4) be accompanied by a description or definition

that states in words characters that are purported to

differentiate the taxon.

Fortunately, the fourth requirement is not met by

the newspaper account of Ward's new Nautilus,

which has only a photograph, and also is not met by

the Las Conchas mention of the new species of

Agaronia.

'Adapted from The Festivus, newsletter of the San DiegoShell Club."Editor of The Festivus.

Close-up of the Mali shell amulet donated to the HMS forinclusion in the November shell auction. Photo: Schoenberg

Nevertheless, authors and scientists must use cau-tion in allowing the names of new taxa to appear inany literature prior to their formal descriptions inscientific journals. Such taxa should be discussedonly in general terms, and be given informal"common names," or called "new species A."

ShellettersBAMAKO, MALI

When UMS wrote about Bob becoming ambas-

sador to Mali, [USN December 1987 p 2] the editor

suggested that being transferred to "landlocked and

semidesert Mali [was] likely to interfere" with shell

collecting.That is not true. The amulet, shown in the ac-

companying photos is worn by Tuareg women in

northern Mali. The three cone shell tops duplicate a

pattern made in bronze or brass which used to mark

bundles destined for Timbuctu on the camel trains

across the Sahara.

I am donating this amulet for inclusion in the

November 1988 HMS shell auction.

Barbara Pringle

~i

May, 1988 HAWAIIAN SHELL NEWS Page 9

(CONnNUED)

By HELEN DUSHANE* PARVISCALA OeBOURY, 1887

[Type species: Scalaria algeriana Weinkauff, 1866

(SO)]Shell small, pyramidal to acuminate, suture usu-

ally narrowly fenestrate, rarely simple; umbilicusclosed (or very narrowly fenestrate); axial ribs coro-nate, intervals with spiral threads.

Note: following Kilburn's (1985: 314) suggestionof synonymising all the many subgeneric namesbased on spirally sculptured species, the subgenusParviscala deBoury, 1887 which preceded Asperis-cola deBoury, 1909 by many years, will be used inthis paper. The final determination of generic or

subgeneric placement must await additional study ofthe family.

Librariscala miUecostata, Kapoho, Hawaii Island, DuShaneColi., L 2.5 mrn, W I mm. Photo: Draper

Librariscala millecostata, holotype Br. Mus. (NH)1961170, L 9 mIn, W 6.5 min.

Kay, E.A., 1965. "Marine mollusks in the Cumingcollection, British Museum (NH), described byWilliam Harper Pease." Bull. British Mus.

(NH). Zoology Supplement 1:1-96, pIs 1-14.-, 1979. Hawaiian Marine Shells. Reef and

Shore Fauna of Hawaii. Section 4: Mollusca.Bernice P. Bishop Museum Special Publication64(4) 653 pp, 195 figs.

Kilburn, R.N., 1985. "The Family Epitoniidae(Mollusca: Gastropoda) in southern Africa andMozambique." Annals of the Natal Museum

27( 1):239-337.

Robertson, R., 1980. "Epitonium millecostatumand Cora/liophila clathrata: two ProsobranchGastropods Symbiotic with Indo-Pacific Polythoa

(Coelenterata: Zoanthidae)." Pacific Science34(1):1-17,13 figs.

Smith, E.A., 1901. "On South African MarineShells, with Description of New Species."Journ. of Conch. London 10(4): 104, 116, I pl.

LIBRARISCALA KILBURN, 1985

(Type species: Scalaria millecostata Pease, 1861)

Shell pyramidal to acuminate, with convex

whorls, simple suture, thin peristome, umbilicus

open or closed, sculptured by dense, tubular axial

riblets and interstitial spiral threads.

EPITONIUM (UBRARISCALA)

MILLECOSTATUM (PEASE, 1861)

DESCRIPTION: Shell short, white; protoconch

3 whorls, glassy; teleoconch 5-6 whorls, contiguous,

convex, rapidly enlarging; suture indented; costae 40

or more, threadlike, reflexed to form small tubes,

continuing into the small umbilicus, microscopic

spiral striae hidden by the tubelike costae; lip thin,

reflexed; aperture circular. Hawaiian specimens

measure length 0.05-3.2 mm, width 0.05-1 mm.

TYPE LOCALITY: Hawaii (Sandwich Islands).

DIMENSIONS: Length 9 mm, width 6.5 mm

(holotype).TYPE MATERIAL: British Museum (NH) type

collection 1961170.

RANGE: Hawaii, Okinawa, Japan, Great Barrier

Reef, Red Sea, Natal (S. Africa), Sri Lanka,

Seychelles, Maldive Islands.

MATERIAL STUDIED:

Burch Collection: Stations 75025, 77017, 80093,

Mamala Bay, Oahu; three specimens, 36-2.16 m,

sand and Pinnas.

DuShane Collection: Ten specimens, .Puako Bay,

Hawaii (W. side) and Kapoho, Hawaii (E. side),

collected by Hemmes and Goldsmith, 1983.

Hemmes Collection: Two specimens, Sand Island,

Oahu, 72 m, S. Jazwinski, 1987. Seven speci-

mens, Puhi Bay, Oahu, 6-10 m, 1983 and 1987.

Natural History Museum, Los Angeles County.

Seven lots from Hawaii, Okinawa, Fiji, Philip-

pines, Australia, Thailand, and Pakistan.

DISCUSSION: The holotype was not figured

with the original description. E. A. Smith (1901 pi

II, fig 5) gave a good figure of the holotype,reproduced here (See fig.) Kay (1965:42, 43, pI

6, figs 5, 6) discussed and illustrated the holotype.

Kay also (1979: 155) reported live specimens found

on reef flats and embedded in the soft coral Zoan-

thus. She illustrates the species in figure 54H.

Robertson (1980) described the morphology, ecol-

ogy and reproduction of this species, a prosobranch

symbiont of Polythoa. Kaicher, 1980, Card Pack

23, #2342 figured the holotype. Kilburn (1985:302)

created a new subgenus Librariscala, type species

(OD) Scalaria millecostata Pease, 1861 to accept

species with axial ribs whose crests are rolled over.

REFERENCES CITED

Kaicher, S.D., 1980. Card Catalogue, Pack 23,

(millecostatum) #2342.

'Research Associate, Los Angeles County Museum of Nat-ural History, Los Angeles. CA 90007.

PARVlSCALA CRlSPATA (PEASE, 1867)

DESCRIPTION: Shell light, thin, elongate,white; protoconch 3 whorls; teleoconch 8 whorls,convex; suture deep, costae 35-40, small, thin, cre-nulated, continuous over the sutures, spiral striationsbetween costae 14-17 continuing into small um-bilicus; lip continuous, aperture large, oval, oper-culum unknown. Hawaiian specimens measurelength 5.5-9.75 mm, width 3 mm.

TYPE LOCALITY: Paumotus (Tuamotu Ar-

chipelago).DIMENSIONS OF TYPE: Length 29 mm,

width 10 mm (lost).TYPE MATERIAL: Lectotype ANSP 19575

selected by Rehder, but never published; herein des-ignated, length 15 mm, width 6.5 mm. Two brokenspecimens recatalogued ANSP 352472.

RANGE: Japan, Hawaii, Tuamotu Archipelago,Indo-Pacific, Indian Ocean and the Red Sea.

MATERIAL STUDIED:Burch collection. Mamala Bay, Oahu, Station

79024, 1979, 42 mm, sand and Pinnas, one spec-imen length 9.75 mm, width 3 mm.

Burch: Stations 780 II, 79043; two specimensdredged in Mamala Bay, Oahu, in 90 m, 1978,length 5.5 mm, width 3 mrn.

Hemrnes Collection: Two specimens, dredged 77 m,Sand Is, Oahu, length 4 mm, width 2 mm andlength 3 mm, width 1.5 mrn.

Natural History Museum, Los Angeles County:Seven lots from Japan, Okinawa, Philippines,South Australia, Fiji, Maldive Islands and theRed Sea taken from the intertidal to 25 m in sandand coral.DISCUSSION: With costae thin and easily bro-

ken, few complete specimens have been seen. It iscollected intertidally and dredged from sand, coraland Pinnas at 21-77 m. This species could be mis-taken for an Amaea except that it has no basal

ridge. Kaicher, 1980, #2385 gives a good photo-graph of this species. Do not confuse with Mur-dochella crispata Kilburn, 1985: 263, n. sp.

(Cont'd on Pal!e 10)

May, 1988HAWAIIAN SHELL NEWSPage 10

HAWAIIAN(Cont'd from Page 9)

Interested in exchanging freak Cypraea, rare tovery rare Cypraea and volutes. I. Yeroslavsky, P.O.

Box 85, Beer yaacov, 70300, Israel.

RAROTONGA, COOK ISLANDS. $579 includes

7 days hotel and round-trip air from Honolulu.

Leave any Friday. Call Barbara at (808) 949-6606.

Use HSN Personal Ads. Three dollars per 25words, plus name and address. One time only!Dealers please use display ads.

DISCLAIMER

HA W AllAN SHELL NEWS does not

knowingly carry original descriptions of spe-

cies and does not wish to be cited as authority

for new taxa.

Parvisca/a crispata (Pease, 1867). ANSP 19575, lectotype, length 15 mm; 2. P. crispata, Burch collection, Mamala Bay,Oahu, HI, length 5 mm, width 3 mm; 3. P. deiFIed (Melvill & Standen, 1903), Burch collection, Mamala Bay, Oahu, HI,length 4 mm, width 2.5 mm; 4. P. deiJica, BM(NH) type collection 1903, 12.15, after Kaicher, 1980 #2385.

Patronize HSN AdvertisersREFERENCES CITED

Kaicher, S.D., 1980. Card Catalogue, Pack 23,

#2385.Kilburn, R.N., 1985. The family Epitoniidae (Mol-

lusca: Gastropoda) in southern Africa and

Mozambique. Annals of the Natal Museum

27(1):239-337.Pease, W.H., 1867. "Descriptions of Sixty-five

New Species of Marine Gastropodae InhabitingPolynesia." Amer. Journ. of Conch. 3:271-290,

figs.PARVISCALA DEIFICA (MEL VILL &

STANDEN, 1903)DESCRIPTION: Shell small, white, glistening;

protoconch 2-3 whorls, glassy, smooth; teleoconch6-7 whorls, rapidly inflating; suture deep; costae11-16, thin, erect, hooked at suture, interspaces spi-rally striate, easily seen without magnification, 21between costae on last whorl; umbilicus small butapparent; lip reflected, with sometimes a smallhook; operculum unknown. Length 2-6 mm, width

1.5-2.5 mm.TYPE LOCALITY: Gulf of Aden, Red Sea.DIMENSIONS: Length II mm, width 4 mm

(holotype).TYPE MATERIAL: BM(NH) type collection

1903.12.15.RANGE: Hawaii, Gulf of Oman, Red Sea.

MATERIAL STUDIED:Burch Collection: Station 65006; one specimen,

Mahukona, Hawaii Is, HI, 1975, 76 m, sand,length 3 mm, width 1.5 mm. Stations 75025,76016, 77017, 768017, 78034, 79028, 79072,79073, 80093, 82005; 21 specimens, Mamala

Bay, Oahu Is, HI, 1975-1982, 32-213 m, length1.5-4.75 mm, width .05-2 mm.

Hemmes Collection: #BI; Puako Boat Ramp, Ha-waii Is (W. side), HI, 20 ft sediments, collectedGoldsmith 1984. #22; one specimen, RichardsonBeach Hawaii Is collected Goldsmith 1984 (length13 mm width 5 mm) intertidal. #28; five speci-mens, Mamala Bay, Oahu Is, HI dredged Burch36 m. #30, #37, #K; IS specimens, Sand Is,Oahu Is, HI, 1986, 80 m. #E; two specimens,Lahilihi Cave, Makaha Beach, Hawaii Is, 90 ft

sediments.DISCUSSION: Melvill & Standen (1903: 343)

remarked that of the many specimens obtained, theirspecies had "considerable diversity of form, somebeing more ovate than others." The only other spe-cies with somewhat similar characteristics is Parvis-cala innesi (Jousseaume, 1912) from the Red Sea,with deeper sutures, many more costae (20-25), anda more oval aperture. See Kaicher Card Catalogue,

1980, 1983.

REFERENCES CITED

DuShane, H., 1979. "The Family Epitoniidae (Mol-lusca: Gastropoda) in the Northeastern Pacific."Veliger 22(2):91-134,6 pIs, 3 figs.

Jousseaume, F.P. Ie Dr., 1911 [1912]. "Faunemalacologique de la Mer Rouge." Extrait desMemoires de la Societe lAIOlogique de France.

24:180-246, pIs 5-7.Kaicher, S.D., 1980. Card Catalogue, Pack 23,

#2316.-, 1983. Card Catalogue, Pack 35, #3577.Melvill, J.C. & Standen, R. 1903. "The genus

Scala (Klein) as represented in the Persian Gulf,Gulf of Oman, and North Arabian Sea, with de-scriptions of new species." Journal de Con-chyliogie, X( 11):340-344, pI VII.

(To be Continued)

May, 1988 HAWAIIAN SHELL NEWS Page II

NUDIBRANCH SURVEY ON THE REEF It Had toHappen Sometime!By BUNNIE COOK*

By AURORA RICHARDS.

MADANG, PAPUA NEW GUINEA - I am

spending a busy holiday at the Christensen Research

Institute in Madang, P.N.G. as an "assistant" to

[HMS member] Dr. Richard Willan, Queensland

University, who is conducting a survey of the nudi-

branch fauna of Madang with Dr. Terrence Gos-

linger of the California Academy of Sciences.

They are collecting at 70 different stations rang-

ing from the intertidal zone to 40 meters depth.

They've found 208 species so far with close to one

hundred undescribed species to date. Many species

collected represent the first record of the species

since the original description. The studies under-

taken surpass every expectation. A field guide and

papers describing new species are in preparation.

My share is processing shells brought in after daily

dives and setting up a reference collection for the

Institute. It is hard work and keeps me busy clean-

ing, scraping, identifying, etc. until late hours; but

it is rewarding to see the growing line-up of shell

vials in the drawers of the collection room.

It is satisfying to be part of a good team.

-Box 417, Kimbe, Papua New Guinea

Morula juscoimbricata (Sowerby, 1915) is notfound alive commonly in the Hawaiian Islands.

Kay, 1979, in Hawaiian Marine Shells p 248

synonymizes this with Morula spinosa (H. & A.

Adams, 1853) but I believe the two are distinct and

that M. spinosa is not found in Hawaii.

These specimens were collected at fifty feet under

a large coral head on solid reef off the Leeward

coast of Oahu.

Morula fuscoimbricata (Sowerby, 1915) from LeewardOahu. Photo: Burch

CO A Award GoingInternational

By DONALD DAN*

WEST FRIENDSHIP, MD - Conchologists of

America has announced the first Australian shellshow to carry the COA award. The well-knownKeppel Bay Shell Club of Queensland, during itsJuly 23 and 24 1988 shell show will give the COAaward to an exhibitor judged to have the most out-

standing display.

Participation in the COA award program has be-come increasingly international. A total of 126 shellshows now give this award, including the annualBritish National Shell Show in London and the In-ternational Salon in Lutry, Switzerland [HSN April1988 P 4].

The COA award was established by the Con-chologists of America to encourage open participa-tion by shell collectors at shell shows worldwide,and to stimulate improvements in shell exhibits. It isgiven at a juried shell show to a scientific exhibitwhich best furthers the interest in shells and shellcollecting. [It is one of the awards to be offered atthe HMS 1988 show in Honolulu in November.]

HMS MEETINGS

SHELLETTER

Back IssuesThe Hawaiian Malacological Society maintains a

modest stock of back issues of Hawaiian ShellNews. Copies of most issues back to 1960 areavailable although some are in xerox form. Writethe Back Issue Manager for information.

Any shell club interest in joining this award pro-gram should write me.

*2620 Lou Anne Court, W.Friendship, MD 21794, USA.Telephone (301)442-1242.

By JEAN CATE*

RANCHO SANTA FE, CA - This is a true

story; the place, the time, and to whom it happened

are best left untold. Trust me; it really did happen.

The story is about a shell collector I've known for

some twenty-five years or so. We'll call her Sue,

because that's not her name. Being a friendly per-

son, Sue is on good terms with her postman, who

deposits mail every weekday in a cluster of mail-

boxes near the door to her condominium. Some-

times she pops out when she hears him there with

the mail, calling hello, being generally nice in herusual way - possibly even offering him cookies, or

a cold drink on a hot day.

Last year, Sue had the good fortune to go on an

absolutely galluptious shelling trip to Australia and

other great collecting places. Shelling was' 'fab,"

even "beaut," as they say Down Under, and she

brought back a treasure trove of marvelous self-

collected shells; it had been the dream trip of her

life. In due time she unpacked her shells and put

them on her patio, soaking them in a big tub of

water preparatory to cleaning, as shell collectors

everywhere do when they get lucky.

One bright, warm day as he was stuffing the

letterboxes, the postman realized he hadn't seen Sue

for a long time, maybe even two or three weeks.

Since the manager brought in the mail when she

was away, it didn't pile up outside and he hadn't

thought much about it.

But on this unusually hot summer day after Sue

had been home a short time, something suddenly

clicked in his mind and it dawned on him that

something might be terribly wrong. Agitated, red-

faced, puffing, he raced to the condo manager's

apartment and hammered on her door, yelling"Hey, lady - I think something awful's happened

at No. 10. For gosh sakes, bring the key to Sue's

apartment or we'll have to break the door down and

see if she's okay!"What did they find? You guessed it - no dead

human body, but Sue's treasure - a whole tub of

rotting, reeking, unbelievably wondrous shells.

*P.O. Drawer 3049. Rancho Santa Fe. CA 92067.

The March meeting was on "Shelling in NorthBorneo." Bunny and George Cook showed slidesand told of their shelling trip to Brunei and theRusukan Islands off Brunei in the South China Sea.

The April meeting was on a different type ofshelling trip. Dr. E. Alison Kay described her par-ticipation in a study of shells and other animals inan area of the Galapagos Islands which had sud-denly been raised from below sea level to becomedrv land thirtv vear!! a"o-

TUCSON, ARIZONAWe recently flew to Belize and spent a week on

St. George's Island and four days on Glover's Reef.Since there were so many beautiful queen conchshells [Strombus gigas] and so many fishermen de-stroying them for the muscle only, I did not feel badabout collecting seven beauties. I poured alcohol onthem and put them in zip-lock bags until the meatwas rotten and could be flushed out.

We took the 36-mile boat ride from Glover's Reefto a small city called Dandriga for the night. I sentmy 25-year old son, Sean, out for more cotton andzip-lock bags. Ha! Expensive zip-lock bags are notused in poor countries.

Sean came back with a large package of disposa-ble diapers and showed how useful they would be toprotect my beautiful shells. I cleaned out the oldcotton and alcohol, added new alcohol and wrappedthe shells in the diapers with my few remainingzip-lock bags over the diapers.

I came through US customs in Houston with twoheavy carry-on packages full of shells. One cus-tom's officer very carefully opened the diapers onone queen conch and then said, "Go on through!"

Perhaps this story will help someone collectingshells in a remote area. It seems that wherever wego, there are always Coca Cola and diapers.

Dena Cox

May, 1988HAWAIIAN SHELL NEWSPage 12

By ARTHUR WElL.

The author doing it all himself. The candy and bottle in thebackground both have their place.

'-- ~--

Tools of the trade. Note the padded tweezers.

"Delhi Pike, Cincinnati, Ohio 45238.

Measuring Growth In ClamsGrowth of Mytilus edulis was demonstrated by trol plates. The amount of shell growth was deter-

John Davenport and Anne Glasspool using a photo- mined using that data.

graphic technique. The clams and a small square of Growth was very slow at first but there was a

white plastic, attached to a plate of perspex [Plexi- rapid increase in area growth increments when the

glas] with cyanoacrylate adhesive, were placed in concentration of the alga used as food was quad-

seawater. After the specimens recovered from the rupled.

manipulations, the plate was removed from the The authors state "it is probable that inexpensive

water and a 35 mm photograph taken from directly hardware and software will soon be available to

overhead. Photographs were repeated at intervals for follow the outline of shell images electronically

ten days. rather than by hand; this would improve accuracy

The processed negatives were projected on a considerably."

ground glass screen and the cursor of a digitizer was REFERENCEused to trace the outline of the shells and the plastic Davenport, John & Glasspool. Anne F., 1987. "A photo-control plates. A computer software program then graphic .tec~nique for the measurement of short term shell

growth m bIvalve molluscs." J.MoU.Stud 53:299-303.calculated the perimeter and area of shells and con- TB

CINCINNATI, OHIO - Almost everyone knows

what "grunge" is. (That's right, it's the micro-material - sand and silt and stuff - that offers a

home to bottom-dwelling critters.) But do you knowwhat to do with it after you've collected a hatful?Hear me out.

The importance of grunge is that people whodon't live near a beach can gather some in thesummer, take it home, and do shelling when theweather outside is nasty. The lure is that lots of thestuff you see, has been seen by no-one else, andmay never have been identified. The frustration isthat no one can tell you what you have.

This is what you need:Dental tools. Your dentist can give you his old

ones. He replaces them regularly.High intensity gooseneck lamp. The bulb is the

same kind your car uses for the backup light. Thegooseneck lets you get the light right where youneed it.

Tea strainer.Stereo binocular microscope. This is the thing

that can cost. New ones are about $400 and up; buttalk to your doctor or local hospital. They are thepeople who buy the new ones and get rid of used

ones.Little plastic boxes (available from Althor Co.)

or clear size 00 capsules from your local pharmacy.

That's it. That's all you need. And here's a list ofhints to make it easier for you.

1. Strain out the sand. This is when you use .thetea strainer. When the grunge gets dry, strain it andget rid of the sand. What is left is whatever sizedoesn't fall through the strainer.

2. Dump small piles of grunge on a 3 x 5 filecard and move it around on that. Use the dentaltools to sort the material.

3. Use the 3 x 5 card face up. The lines areusually 6 mm apart and will serve as a good gauge

to the size of your material.4. Use low power on the microscope for sorting.

You can increase on most microscopes, if needed.5. Make a good soft set of tweezers by cement-

ing spongy material to the inside the tweezers. Thisis best for picking up material without injury. I findcurved dental tweezers to be best.

6. Keep several small plastic boxes handy to re-

ceive your sorted specimens.7. If your material is in plastic bags, be aware

that lighter shell material will come to the top with

gentle shaking.8. Besides fragments and entire micro-shells,

many other things appear in grunge. Among them

are sea urchin spines, sand dollar fragments, wood,coal, egg cases, threads, etc. - in short, anything

the sea can toss up into tide pools.Even though much of what you find may be

rounded and crushed, you will be amazed at thedelicate thin/(s that appear in perfect condition.

The gooseneck lamp ($2 at a flea market), the binocular microscope, the messed-up dining room table we can't eat at anymore. and the wastebasket which should never be more than a wrist twist away.