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Sigay
The original description of this lovely new Strombus appeared in Indo-Pacific Mollusca in April, 1965, Vol. 1, No. 6, pp.
397, 398. Apparently it is found only off the coast of Somalia, East Africa, and is rare even in its type-locality. We are
illustrating it here in the hopes that readers may discover that they have a specimen of S. oldi in their collection. Should
this be the case, please notify Dr. William Emerson, Dept. Of Living Invertebrates, American Museum of Natural History, New
York 24, New York who is anxious to obtain more collecting and locality data on this obscure species. The following "Remarks"
are reproduced from his original description.
"Although the fauna of the Somalian coast is not well known, it seems remarkable that this very distinctive species has not
been previously discovered. it was first brought to light by my associate, Mr. William E. Old, Jr., who was curating small
collection of marine mollusks that as labeled '50 miles north to 60 miles south of Obbia, Italian Somaliland {Republic of
Somalia}, East Africa, November 21, 1956.' Recently, other specimens have been found near Mogadishu {Mogadiscio}. One of
these was kindly forwarded by Mrs. Orville R. Davis for examination.
"Of the known species of Strombus, the shell of S. oldi most closely resembles Strombus (Tricornis) sinuatus Humphrey, 1786,
but it lacks the 3 or 4 tongue-like blades on the upper end of the outer lip and a thickened outer lip. In spire angle and
nodulation and in the spiral ornamentation of the shell, S. oldi closely resembles Lambis (Millepes) digitata (Perry), 1811,
From-the Indian Ocean, but lacks the strong labial and parietal wall ornamentation of that Lambis. This new species is
characterized by the wing-like projection on the upper end of the outer lip, by the relatively high, noduled spire, by the
strong, rounded cords on the back of the outer lip, by the dark-brown blotches within the smoothish aperture, and by the rich
chestnut coloring of the outer shell.
I would like to have stayed six months in Ceylon to cover the dozens of good diving areas including Colombo harbor, where we
found Murex palmarosa and Cypraea interrupta. But after a few more days around Colombo we checked in with the customs-house
people. They were not very happy to see us, as they insisted on checking all of our baggage which consisted mostly of very
smelly sea shells.
My reason for being in Samoa was officially medical. I was the consultant in surgery for the hospital in Pago Pago and the
community in general. Fortunately for my malacological interest there was a slack in the usually high rate of automobile
accidents, scooter injuries, and acute surgical conditions, and so I had ample time to comb the reefs. It was not pure
coincidence that my tour of duty coincided exactly with the lowest June tides!
My primary interest was cowries, but all mollusks were collected. I had good general instructions from Dr. Thomas Richert and
other members of the Honolulu County Medical Society who had been to Samoa on similar duty.
All collecting was done on the fringing reef, which was exposed at low tide and covered only by a few feet (3 feet maximum
tidal exchange) of water at high tide. This terrain proved an ideal collecting area. Dead, flat, circular coral heads had
been thrown up on the fringing reef in abundance. It was under these slabs that an amazingly rich cowrie population was
found. I collected 35 species, and increased the known range of several. I was able to make a detailed and leisurely study of
the animals of several species that I had never before collected or had failed previously to observe carefully. I gathered so
much information new to me that it was necessary to rewrite the text on 20 species for my book The Living Cowries which is to
be out in March, 1966. It was certainly the most successful and most enjoyable field trip that I have ever had.
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