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Natural body jewelry
The construction of the new wharf site near Nukulalofa, Tonga, has been responsible for the discovery of several new
geographical records of mollusks from this region. Mr. H.C. Gay, a fellow HMS member, has diligently searched the dredged
sand-piles for mollusks, and also collected in other parts of the group. The material received from Mr. Gay for examination
contained the following new records:
Strombus thersites Swainson, 1823: A specimen from a submerged reef 5 miles off Nuku'alofa measured 145mm x 101mm; another
specimen measured 159mm x 108 mm (with 11 whorls), while a 160mm specimen from the Island of Ata was immature. The southern
distribution range of this species is continuous from New Caledonia to the Tuamotu Archipelago; the species is known from
Fiji, Tonga and Mururoa Atoll, Southeastern Tuamotus (leg. Daniel Boust, May 1966, in 60 feet; person. communication).
I should like to take this opportunity to point out the available evidence which negates Schilder's conclusion that Stearns'
use of "isabella-mexicana" is to be interpreted as a subspecific {"ternary"} designation of Cypraea isabella Linné:. In the
paper in which Cypraea isabellamexicana was described, Stearns (1893:345, 351, 352) clearly used ternary nomenclature in
proposing the names of other taxa, namely: "Chicoreus palma-rosae Mexicana Stearns" and "Chlorostoma gallina, var.
multifilosa Stearns." These same taxa together with a new species, "Cassis (Casmaria) vibex-mexicana Stearns," were again
cited by him a year later (Stearns 1894, Proc. U. S. Natl. Mus., 17(996): 183 188, 189, 199, 203). Actually there is no
evidence to be found in these papers to suggest that Stearns intended to propose his hyphenated names as subspecific names.
Therefore, under the present Code, they should be cited as non-hyphenated, specific names: {Cypraea} isabellamexicana and
{Casmaria} vibexmexicana. On the other hand, Stearns' taxon, "Chicoreus palmarosae Mexicana," may be cited either as a
subspecies or a species: {Murex} palmarosae mexicana, or {Murex} mexicana.
Editor: Prof. Dr. F.A. Schilder's opinion expressed in The Cowry, Nov., 1964, Vol. 1, No. 7, p. 103, is here reproduced in
full. Readers may decide for themselves which opinion they wish to abide by.
"The name of the West-American species allied to Luria isabella Linnaeus, 1758 is mexicana Stearns, 1893, and not (as many
modern American conchologists write) isabellamexicana. In 1961, I have submitted the case to Dr. Otto Kraus, a personal
member of the International Commission of Zoological Nomenclature: he has discussed the problem with other experts with the
result that "Cypraea isabella-mexicana" is to be regarded as a ternary designation of the subspecies mexicana belonging to
the species isabella; the hyphen connecting the specific and subspecific names has been incorrectly used, in other cases,
also by more modern writers.
"But I agree with the authors Emerson and Old that mexicana is a distinct species."
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