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Pyrum
The somewhat confused description of fischeri by Vayssière, and the lack of substantiated records of C. gaskoini from outside
the Philippine Islands, led some writers to believe the species to be endemic to the Philippine Islands (Kay, 1961, Proc.
Mall Soc. Lond., 34(4):188, and Kay & Weaver, 1963, Sean Raynon Sabado, 2(23):88). Schilder (1965, Veliger, 7(3):183) in his
latest distributional list of Cypraeidae, also shows C. gaskoini to be endemic to the Philippine Islands, with a note on an
artificially introduced record from the Marshall Islands.
The lack of further material of the Melanesian C. gaskoini does not permit a tabulation of morphological differences between
the Philippine race and the race from Melanesia. The Fiji shell, however, is not ovate but elongate-subpyriform, with a lower
more depressed dorsum (resembling C. cumingi Sowerby in outline), and larger lateral spots; the species C. cumingi, however,
has far more numerous teeth (formula 40:34). The Fiji specimen is appreciably more slender than the Philippine gaskoini (55%
of L and 62% of L respectively); both labial and columellar teeth are as numerous as in Philippine specimens, but more
numerous than either the holotype of fischeri (formula 13/61, 21:18), the specimen from Lifu (12/57, 20: 20) or the specimen
from unknown locality in the Dautzenberg collection (11/64, 22:17).
In contrast to Cribraria cribraria (Linnaeus) and C. esontropia (Duclos), the siphon of the Fijian gaskoini is serrated and
not smooth.
If any one word could describe the collecting possibilities in the area of this month's diving and collecting chart it would
be "terrific." Habitat characteristics range from shallow sand-covered bottom, through coral reefs and ledges with
spectacular caves, to lava outcroppings that soar toward the surface out of deep water.
In their present condition the dorsum of the shells is light fawn in color and sparsely spotted with dark brown; a faint 5 -
6 mm wide central band crosses the dorsum, and in one shell two narrow bands extend onto the base. The labial margin is
sharply angulate, centrally recurved towards the dorsum and bears from 5 - 12 dark brown spots; the canals are light pink
interiorly and extremities are dark flesh in color and marked with a pair of irregular brown spots. Teeth are numerous and
lined with brown; on the columellar side only the posterior half of the teeth bear brown striae.
The measurements of 4 of the specimens examined are as follows: L: 20.0 mm, W: 10.7 mm, Lab. T: 29, Col. T: 33 and L: 17.4
mm, W: 9.1 mm, Lab. T: 29, Col. T.: 31 (coll. H. C. Gay); L: 18.7 mm, W. 10.0 mm, Lab. T: 28, Col. T: 31 (coll. W.
Cernohorsky); L: 18.1 mm, W: 9.6mm, Lab. T: 25, Col. T: 28 + 1 (coll. J. Pincott). The only other known specimen of superstes
is the badly worn holotype from the New Hebrides (16.6 (54), 28:29). The discovery of the 5 recent specimens confirm the
specific characters of superstes, especially in characters of dentition. The eastern insular species N. superstes which
ranges from the New rides to Tonga, has appreciably more numerous labial teeth ( formula of 5 specimens 18.2 (53), 32:35
reduced) than the continental species N. martini (Schepman, 1907) (formula of 9 specimens 15 (52), 25:33 reduced), which
ranges between the Philippines and North Australia along the Indo-Australian continental shelf. N. katsuae (Kuroda, 1960),
which is confined to the Japanese region, has even more numerous labial teeth than N. superstes (formula of 4 specimens (56),
34:29), but fewer columellar teeth than either N. martini or N. superstes.
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