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I was extremely distressed to read in the February issue of the Philippine Shell News the article "Three Dozen Murex
insularum." To quote from the article, "...were all live taken during Xmas week at Makua in 45 feet of water." It seemed to
me that the author only added insult to injury when he returned to the same spot within a week, found "Number 37" and
collected that.
One need only do some simple calculations of the acreage of reef area around the coasts of the Philippine Islands to compute
the number of places one might find M. insularum. If all 200 active Malacological Society members in Philippines were to go
to those areas and each were to collect 37 specimens, we should then have in our possession just about every single specimen
of M. insularum in the State. Is that what we really want to do?
Let me start a controversy -- which I hope will stimulate others to contribute their comments. Would the author and collector
of the 37 Murex insularum go up the slopes of Mauna Loa and shoot 37 of what is now known as a "vanishing species," the nene
goose? Perhaps the question is better put another way: would he if he could? In other words: Must we protect all our plant
and animal life by Federal law?
Shell collecting has a long history, as does collecting of birds eggs and butterflies. Bird collecting and butterfly
collecting went "out" by the beginning of the twentieth century. I submit that the shell collector is an anachronism in the
middle of the twentieth century: he is sixty years behind the times. The reason? We cannot afford to exploit our marine
resources as we have those on land.
Vital statistics on the Conus bullatus are as follows: Maximum length 65 mm and width, 28 mm. It is perfect in color,
pattern, and doesn't have a chip or mark on it.
In addition to the Conus bullatus we collected one Cypraea leviathan each, one Conus textile, and two Conus imperialis, plus
a few of the more common shells that I needed to fill out my collection.
Mal Loring and Reg Grim are also members of the Philippine Malacological Society.
probably I. perna L., as well as occasional specimens of Morula granulata. Specimens of the opisthobranch Pupa sulcata Gmelin
and Longchaeus sulcatus A. Ads. were burrowing in the sandy mud. On the low hanging branches of trees near the shoreline
Littornina scabra L. was collected, and on the rocks above the tide line Nerita plicata was again common.
Along the shore near Rikitea Nerita polita L. was fairly common burrowing in sand near boulders above the water line. In the
shallow water on rocks covered with algal growth and corallines I gathered specimens of Modiolus auriculatus Krauss,
Isognomon ?perna L., Morula (Semiricinula) fiscella Gmelin and Strombus mutabilis Swainson, the latter very common. In the
sand an occasional Gafrarium transversarium Desh. was uncovered.
High above the tide line, under debris of all kind, two species of Ellobiids were common: Melampus flavus Gmelin and Melampus
castaneus Muhlfeldt.
On Sunday the 18th of October we left Rikitea, sent on our way with heart warming farewells. We set our course for Tahiti
hoping to visit several atolls enroute. on the first day out we caught a yellow-fin tuna, and three days later a fine
mahimahi, both welcome additions to the rather uninspiring menus we had been reduced to.
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