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Cyprea arabeca
Our first outing was across the island to Trincomalee about 150 miles, or an all day trip from Ceylon. Just out of Colombo we
stopped at a "chank factory". Here they sort by sizes "chank" shells (Xanus pyrum) gathered in the pearl banks of N.W.
Ceylon, and ship them to India, where they are polished for religious use. I never saw so many "chanks" and asked Rod why he
never sent me more? I found out on closer inspection that the shells all had badly chipped channels and apex caused by the
natives tossing them into the boats. Each shell weighs 2-3 lbs. Of the thousands I walked over I saw less than a dozen I
would consider a specimen-shell and most of these were of small sizes.
...
Anxious to get shells and fish for Rod's export business, we started diving that very night. As I don't like night diving I
stayed in shallow water 3-6' deep turning rocks. Rodney likes the dark and often goes down 50' or more to catch fish as they
don't move about and are easy to catch. I found Conus terebra, Marginalla angustata, Harpa amouretta, Cypraea ocellata,
caurica, gracilis, carneola, and hirundo, to name a few, by turning rocks.
…
After arriving at Tangalla and seeing the water I almost changed my mind about diving. But we got a 40' boat and headed out
into the 10' surf, once past this it was like being in a barrel going over a falls. The swells were 15-20' high even where we
dropped anchor in 60' of water, but Rodney said this was good weather! Joyce just hung onto the mast and watched as we
literally fell overboard getting our aqua lung tanks on. Once down in the water it wasn't so bad except the surge would toss
you 10' or more and I had to grab quickly for a shell when I found one. I can well see why Conus zonatus stays a rarity and
why Lyria cloveriana was not discovered earlier. This was no place to go shell collecting! A possible new species of Xanus
lives here also and I was able to collect one which is very different in size, shape and pattern from Xanus pyrum. We did get
some Conus augur, araneosus, two fair zonatus, and one Cypraea coloba for our effort. Rod also collected his rare marine fish
that live in this rough area.
I really hit the jackpot Saturday at Kaanapali. We were diving in our Cypraea area and not having much luck but the water was
clear. We were enjoying ourselves anyway. The dive was about three-quarters over and I had just found a small C. leviathan
and was busily looking for its mate. The closest coral was a large head on the side of a small hill. I had just loosened this
coral and was about to turn it over when Dean Brown came over to give me a hand. It seems that Dean has a talent for smelling
shells under my rocks so I made a mental note to myself to grab fast. We got the coral over and the water was beginning to
clear when I spotted a shell trying to dig itself into the sand and rubble that was under the coral. Well, I set my hook down
fast and out came a Harpa amouretta.*
After this I had a mild case of narcosis and went about knocking over coral heads indiscriminately. As luck would have it, I
came across a pair of nice C. sulcidentata and on the next coral [head,] a talpa. Still feeling drunk, I went after a coral
head the size of a Volkswagen. I got it so it would move and called Joe Kern over to give me a hand turning it over. On the
first try we did not get it so I put the bar under again and gave a lift. Crack! Out came a two piece shell bar. And that put
an end to shelling for that day.
* Editor: Harpa amouretta is extremely rare in Philippines.
Other details which might be of interest are: at that same spot, this type of Spondylus exists in a colony approximately 20
to 30 specimens, with some of them reaching up to 45/50 cms in length, but so well anchored to the coral as to be impossible
to remove them. The spot is situated approximately half way between the beach and the reefs which are only half a mile apart,
and at these two ends the water is shallow with white sand and coral bottom.
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