|
|
Melo
If Mr. deVaul knew what repercussions his taking of 37 Murex insularum on a Christmas weekend 1965 would have, I am certain
he would have given up shell collecting right then and switched over to philately. No less than four articles were published
condemning his action, and before Mr. deVaul's enthusiasm for shell collecting turns to sour grapes, we might try to view the
matter more objectively and see if the guilt of "Over-collecting" can be distributed more equally.
The taking of over 1200 specimens of Voluta deshayesi in New Caledonia and several hundred Cypraea coxeni in New Britain is
legend among collectors, and details need not be repeated here. Hugh Cuming and Andrew Garrett, both celebrated Pacific
collectors who somehow avoided making headlines on "Over-collecting" during the last century, were both indiscriminate
collectors. Garrett did not blush when he wrote that he collected 1,500 specimens of Mitra papilio at Raiatea "in a few days"
(1880, Journ. Conch., 3:27).
Dr. Maria Schilder in her little book "Die Kaurischnecke" (Leipzig, 1952, 1-47), gives us an insight on over-collecting; the
figures quoted by the author were extracted from entries in old business ledgers on the export of Cypraea annulus and C.
moneta to West Africa.
The erroneous and often forged locality data one so frequently encounters on shell labels, has prompted me to write this
short note. Traveling shell-collectors are aware of the existence of the Suva shell market in Fiji, and are probably aware
that this market is occasionally the source of shells foreign to Fiji and also of plain simple forgeries. One will encounter
cowries of various species, which have been mechanically ground down, buffed and polished, until the dark purple layer of
Cypraea eglantina Duclos, or the chocolate brown bands of C. mauritiana Linnaeus are exposed. These specimens are sold to
souvenir hungry tourists as genuine deep-water species from between $3 to $5. Such forgeries, however, are too simple to be
taken seriously, nor can they be the cause of an inadvertent description as new species. A more serious problem, however, is
the appearance of Volute shells at the market-stalls which, according to the vendors, have been collected on the Suva reef in
deep water. Although species of Volutidae do occur in New Caledonia, this is about the family's most eastern limit of
distribution (with the exception of New Zealand). Amateur collectors apparently are ignorant of this fact, since local shell
collections contain Voluta hunteri Iredale, V. zebra Leach and other Australian volutids, all of which have been purchased at
the Suva shell-market with the assurance of having been collected on the Suva reef.
This regrettable circumstance is the outcome of a visit by an Australian shell collector to Fiji, who brought with him a
number of Volutes for exchange with local collectors. There was no demand for these shells in local shelling circles and the
lot was disposed of through sale to the vendors in the Suva shell-market. The same shells were sold for triple the price to
unsuspecting collectors with a verbal "Suva reef" label. Even the East North American species Busycon contrarium Conrad, has
been offered for sale at the Suva shell-market for $5 - $10, although it is worth only about 25 cents in its country of
origin. These chank-shells are of religious importance and are being used in local Hindu temples, and must have been imported
at one time or other for this specific purpose. Shells originating in the Suva shell-market should never be accepted as
genuine records for faunal lists. Indeed they should not be purchased by locality-conscious collectors in the first place.
melo,capis shell,hawaiian,components part,inlay,green shell heishe,lambis scorpio,leis pukka,chama lazarus,melo
Melo black tab shell inlay leis puka mitra - mitra frogshell shell pendants pearls spondylus tsenensis rapa - rapana silver mouth wallets conus literatus landsnail raw blacktab murex torrifactus shells jewelries white shell leis.
melo
Shell
Bracelets
|
