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Lambis cheragra
They were almost ready to return to shore when Frank spotted a coral head that, he thought, might produce live cowries. Also
this would be a new search technique to teach Dennis. While on the surface between trips to the bottom, Frank was giving a
running description on what to look for in the way of shells and their probable location within the coral head. One
particularly large piece of the coral formation broke off and Frank almost gulped a mouthful of ocean water down his snorkel.
Sitting at the base of the coral branch was an absolutely huge and perfect specimen of Cypraea vitellus. At least that is
what it appeared to be.
The shell was much darker brown than most other vitellus and the base, instead of being whitish or light tan color, was
mauve. The shell proved to be 84 mm in length (about 3.5 inches), 55 mm wide, and 40 mm high (see shell figured above).
Almost immediately after collecting the shell Frank attended a New Year's party. Since there were several shell collectors at
the party the newly found shell went along. It was agreed by all present that finding so beautiful a specimen of Cypraea
vitellus was an excellent way to end the old year and bring in the new.
It seems you never know what will happen when you take a neophyte shell collector to the beach to teach him how to look for
shells. This shell story also points out what we have all known for years, "New HMS members are more likely to find rare
shells than the old timers." Frank had been a member of the HMS a total of 55 days when he found his "shell of shells."
The reader will note, from the above story, that although Cypraea vitellus is a common shell in other parts of the Pacific
Ocean, it is rather rare in Philippines. It also may grow larger in our Islands than in any other area!
On the 22nd we reached Nengonengo, and here again landed on the reef, not without some difficulty. The motu on which we
landed had no palm trees, only low Pisomia trees, and many fairy terns. I spent most of the time with my face mask on the
reef flat behind the outer edge, collecting in 1 to 4 feet of water. Here, where again there was a thin sandy substrate in
many places, the commonest species were Drupa grossularia, Morula uva, Conus sponsalis, and Vasum armatum Brod. Less
frequently the following species were encountered in this habitat: Drupa ricinus, Drupa morum Röding, Morula granulata, Conus
miliaris, Conus chaldeus, and Strigatella litterata. Rear the edge of the reef, where there was more surge and wave action,
Turbo setosus and one specimen of Turbo argyrostomus was collected, while in this same area, in more sheltered spots, I found
Cypraea caputserpentis.
High up on the coral beach, dead and worn specimens of the following, additional species indicate their occurrence here:
Conus tulipa L., Cypraea depressa Gray, C. histrio Gmelin, C. scurra L., C. carneola L., Tonna perdix L., Haliotis
pulcherrina Gmelin, Peristernia nassatula, Asaphis deflorata, and Trapezium oblongum L. Other species were found less
frequently. In shallow water in the lagoon Dick found large specimens of Ostrea sinensis Gmelin common.
REDISCOVERY OF A UNIQUE COWRY Photos - Trostel --- Not To Scale
Figs. 1-3:
Notadusta rabaulensis Schilder, 1964.
Beach shell from Rabaul. Length: 20.4 mm.
When I established Notadusta rabaulensis in 1964 (Arch. Mollusk. 93:141), only the holotype was known. Reproducing its
photograph in H.S.N. (n.s. 59:7, November 1964) I expressed the hope that more specimens would turn up in the future. This
hope was realized sooner than expected.
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