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What happened from that point on is not too clear. I distinctly remember indicating to Betsy that our decompression
time/depth limit had expired and we would have to leave. The time in between the find and that moment is a complete blank. We
both agreed later that neither of us had been so shaken underwater before. The effect was worse than seeing a shark. At least
I had remembered what happened in such cases! After the dive, while sitting in the boat, an examination of the shells
revealed the fabulous beauty of the Strombs. They far exceeded the coloration and loveliness of the fresh fragments that had
been found in earlier diving. The shells were a myrid of color, ranging from the pink-purple of the protoconch, through the
russet rays on the lip, to the blue-brown of the back. The very active and strong animal was cream-colored with round light
brown spots on the foot and a brown proboscis covered with small, white spots. A pair of utterly fantastic almost human-like
eyes gave the mollusk a look of intelligence and personality. Frankly, the enormity of the find left us a bit breathless. We
had truly found the Philippine Strombus in his natural environment!
The construction of the new wharf site near Nukulalofa, Tonga, has been responsible for the discovery of several new
geographical records of mollusks from this region. Mr. H.C. Gay, a fellow HMS member, has diligently searched the dredged
sand-piles for mollusks, and also collected in other parts of the group. The material received from Mr. Gay for examination
contained the following new records:
Strombus thersites Swainson, 1823: A specimen from a submerged reef 5 miles off Nuku'alofa measured 145mm x 101mm; another
specimen measured 159mm x 108 mm (with 11 whorls), while a 160mm specimen from the Island of Ata was immature. The southern
distribution range of this species is continuous from New Caledonia to the Tuamotu Archipelago; the species is known from
Fiji, Tonga and Mururoa Atoll, Southeastern Tuamotus (leg. Daniel Boust, May 1966, in 60 feet; person. communication).
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