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Black lip
Before any positive conclusions could be drawn, a return visit to the area which produced the shells had to be made and
additional specimens would have to be observed. The first visit almost ended in disaster! In the excitement and speculation
of what may be on the bottom, I failed to notice that a very strong current was running, one of those little mistakes that
often lead to dire consequences. Before Betsy and I were five feet below the surface we were a hundred feet behind the boat!
We were fortunate to make it to the bottom and work back to the anchor by clawing our way across the coral. If forced to ride
the current out, our first possible point of leaving the water would have been Diamond Head, beyond that…?!! An ominous
reminder that we must never be careless with the sea. Several fine Mitra species were found on this dive but not a sign of
the Strombus hawaiensis could be seen.
However, the second dive on the following day produced the desired results. A third specimen was found seconds before the
expiration of allowable bottom time. This shell, again found by Betsy, was as much more perfect and beautiful than mine as
mine had been better than hers the week before. The specimen was well developed, being quite heavy and thick. Its coloration
was surely the finest attainable in the species. It was certainly the perfect shell. An interesting sidelight was the
discovery of a large piece of a Conus bullatus near the anchor line. Doubtlessly we had solved the mystery surrounding the
exotic Philippine Strombus as to its habitat. Population density, however, was still anyone's guess.
As for the small and tiny cowries, the main collecting area is on the reefs near the outer edge of the lagoon near the open
sea. At low tides a long stretch of reef falls dry (dry water, the locals call it) and it is possible to walk there without
getting wet feet. Plenty of stones are scattered around, under which many kinds of cowries have been found, as well as a
variety of other shells. The first cowries discovered here were labrolineata, kieneri and rhinoceros, but gradually
staphylaea, felina, helvola and asellus came to light. Further exploration revealed the tiny minoridens and an odd fimbriata,
both very difficult to find as they are so small and well camouflaged and the very attractive cribraria, which the kids
christened "madai." Some rather small "madai" turned up which appeared to be somewhat different from the other cribraria, and
experts have identified them now as being catholicorum. They are quite rare, as one may find just one among some 15-20
cribraria, which by no means are common either. Some nucleus, a couple of teres and an old punctata (very small) were also
found in this general area on the edge of the lagoon. And this year in August, a kid of about 10 year[s old] started to smash
soft coral heads, and discovered poraria with a very dark base.
A second collecting area which has been completely overlooked until recently is a small bay, almost wholly surrounded by
hills, and partly cut off from the sea by a little natural island. Even when the wind sweeps through the lagoon and the sea
gets rough, the little bay remains quiet and peaceful. The greatest depth at low tides is only a few feet, one fathom at the
most. I used to get the ecological variety of coxeni (long and slender, without swollen margins) from South Malaita, but when
the weather got somewhat rough in August, people started to investigate the little bay, and came up with a fair number of the
Malaita variety of coxeni. And in company of coxeni, they found also rather large punctata and some microdon granum, in a
proportion of just one each for 10 - 15 coxeni. Incidentally, the three last species seem to prefer very quiet water, and it
would appear that they mainly feed on weeds which are plentiful in the little bay. Some coxeni have a greenish coloring,
especially when the animal is still in it.
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