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Shell necklaces
The rarest fossil shell is the bivalve Ostrea kamehameha Pilsbry, 1936. It is believed to be universally extinct. The two
known specimens were collected near Waianae in a fossil bed 60 to 80 feet above sea level. This species has a large shell,
the type specimen being 210 mm long. The two valves weighed 5 lbs. 9 oz. For further information and photograph of this shell
see Sean Raynon Sabado for April, 1964, New Series No. 52.
The most common fossil shell, at least the easiest to collect, is the bivalve Ostrea retusa "Pease" Sowerby. This shell is
also believed to be universally extinct and is found in the fossil state only at the Waipio Peninsula area and on an island
in Pearl Harbor.
Ostrea retusa is a medium-large shell soiled-white in color. The lower valve has a few radiating ridges that extend to the
outer edge of the shell. When the two valves are placed together the hinge of the shell gaps open.
The third of Oahu's fossil shells believed to be universally extinct is Strombus ostergaardi Pilsbry. This shell has been
found in the fossil state at Kahi Point along the Nanakuli sea cliffs, in Honolulu Harbor, and on Mokapu Peninsula.
Strombus ostergaardi is somewhat similar to Strombus maculatus but is narrower and more delicate, being about half the width
of maculatus.
In addition to these universally extinct fossil shells there are a number of fossils that are now extinct in the Philippine
chain but are found in other Indo Pacific areas. Strombus mutabilis Swainson, 1821 is such a shell. It has been found as a
fossil at Kahi Point, the Nanakuli sea cliffs, and, by Cliff Weaver, at Kaena Point. This shell is listed in Kira, and is in
a few local fossil collections under its synonym S. floridus Lamarck. The easiest way to differentiate this shell from S.
maculatus is that mutabilis has the inner row of teeth in the aperture extending the full length of the columella. Also it
has a more humped shoulder than other similar Strombus species.
The cowrie fauna of the Austral, or Tubuai, Islands needs further research. As the average temperature of the sea in the
coldest month is at least three centigrade below that of the more equatorial areas, it is to be expected that, in the Austral
Islands, many Polynesian species are absent.
In fact, in my catalogue of cowries indicating the exact distribution of living species (Schilder 1965, Veliger 7:171-183) I
have stated (p. 175) that there is one only species (Luria isabella) known from the Austral Islands hitherto. Later on,
however, Mr. William E. Old, Jr. (New York) has informed me by letter that a contact of his, living in Tubuai Islands, sent
him, prior to 1960, six more cowrie species, and that three more species are in the collection of Mr. Stanley Levine (Long
Island City). The provisional list of cowries living in the Austral Islands therefore rises to ten species and is as follows
(1=indicates Hertlein 1937, 2=American Museum (New York), 3=coll. Levine).
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