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Nasa shell
In the photograph the figures 1-4 represent a shell from Perth with the dorsal spots slightly confused; the other specimen
from Perth (not figured) which has been taken alive (female) has the margins bordered dorsally by a broad pale brownish-grey
zone and the dorsal spots very scarce. In both shells the interior is pale pink. The right photograph (fig. 5) represents the
base of a male specimen from Shark Bay in which the outer two-thirds of the base are suffused by rich orange (not well
recognizable in the photograph). In this shell the dorsum, which is almost unspotted, and the interior of the shell are
white.
The formulae of all these specimens indicating the length in mm, the relative breadth in percent of length, and the absolute
number of labial and columellar teeth (the anterior terminal ridge excluded) are as follows
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.
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