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Mr. Cedric Coucom of Yeppon (Queensland) has sent me 331 cowries which he had collected in 1965 during a short visit to
Holborne Island, about 20 miles north of Bowen, Queensland; the small island is rarely visited by shell collectors. Plenty of
worn, bleached shells have been collected on the sandy beach, but only a few living cowries on the adjacent reefs so that the
animals are thought to live in deeper waters. In the following paragraph the species have been enumerated according to their
frequency, indicated by the number of specimens collected on the beach:
49 carneola (25 to 74 mm long), 33 isabella, 28 labrolineata, 27 erosa, 22 nucleus, 18 pallidula, 16 eglantina, 16 caurica,
14 errones, 14 gracilis, 14 quadrimaculata, 13 cylindrica, 10 vitellus, 10 stolida (large), 8 talpa, 6 annulus, 5 cicercula,
4 argus, 4 lynx, 4 teres, 2 scurra, 2 margarita, 2 caputserpentis, 2 hirundo, 2 cribraria, 1 arabica, 1 staphylaea, 1
limacina, 1 asellus, 1 clandestina, 1 kieneri -- but no specimens of globulus, moneta, xanthodon, subviridis, listeri, etc.
The total of 31 species among 331 cowry specimens is amazing, and the relative frequency of species is unusual in East
Australian waters. The absence of xanthodon points to the insular character of the fauna, and the white aperture of
caputserpentis as well as the large lateral blotches of erosa point to its affinity with Melanesian faunas, as the relative
frequency of quadrimaculata, talpa and argus does.
SCUBA diving around the coast of Sydney, as elsewhere, can only be accomplished at the generosity of the elements. Although
we have few problems with strong currents, we do have to contend with a rather heavy swell. As the greater part of our diving
is done from shore, it is only in times of smooth seas that dives can be made with satisfactory safety measures. When the
water is turbulent the Harbour comes into its own. No matter how rough we can always find a spot to get in, and more
important, to get out in one piece. Visibility is nothing to boast about and at times it is only 2 to 3 feet.
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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