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Strombus canarium
Early in September, Mr. Phillip Clover and his family stopped over briefly in Honolulu on their way for reassignment on the
U.S. mainland. Fortunately Mr. Clover had in his possession the photographs you see reproduced above. Here is the story
concerning these two shells with a brief description of the unidentified species.
Some native fishermen caught several "groupers" while fishing with hand lines in 60 feet of water somewhere in the Sulu Sea.
While cleaning these fish, two live-looking cowries were discovered among the stomach contents. Eventually those two shells
came into the possession of a Mr. Porter who was able to identify one of them (Figs. 1-3) as C. leucodon, a "lost species"
considered to be one of the world's rarest and most valuable shells. For almost one hundred years no new specimens of
leucodon have been added to collections. It is reported that Mr. Porter has already turned down one offer of $1,500.00 for
the leucodon.
The other shell (Figs. 4-6), which still remains unidentified, somewhat resembles Cypraea pantherina in dorsal coloration but
otherwise appears to be a new species. Here is a brief description of this specimen: Length 46 mm. Number of labial teeth,
30; number of columellar teeth, 29, (terminal ridge and posterior crenulations excluded). Base bent upwards on the sides,
aperture narrow, teeth fine, shell heavy. Dorsum flesh colored with brown dots and larger chestnut spots near sides. Base
yellow, teeth white, anterior and posterior extremities orange. Base convex. Margin of shell heavily calloused and bumpy.
It is hoped that some "eager-beaver" conchologist will not hurriedly publish a description of this species in order to
immortalize himself as the shells' author. More specimens are needed for study before such action is taken.
On the 22nd we reached Nengonengo, and here again landed on the reef, not without some difficulty. The motu on which we
landed had no palm trees, only low Pisomia trees, and many fairy terns. I spent most of the time with my face mask on the
reef flat behind the outer edge, collecting in 1 to 4 feet of water. Here, where again there was a thin sandy substrate in
many places, the commonest species were Drupa grossularia, Morula uva, Conus sponsalis, and Vasum armatum Brod. Less
frequently the following species were encountered in this habitat: Drupa ricinus, Drupa morum Röding, Morula granulata, Conus
miliaris, Conus chaldeus, and Strigatella litterata. Rear the edge of the reef, where there was more surge and wave action,
Turbo setosus and one specimen of Turbo argyrostomus was collected, while in this same area, in more sheltered spots, I found
Cypraea caputserpentis.
High up on the coral beach, dead and worn specimens of the following, additional species indicate their occurrence here:
Conus tulipa L., Cypraea depressa Gray, C. histrio Gmelin, C. scurra L., C. carneola L., Tonna perdix L., Haliotis
pulcherrina Gmelin, Peristernia nassatula, Asaphis deflorata, and Trapezium oblongum L. Other species were found less
frequently. In shallow water in the lagoon Dick found large specimens of Ostrea sinensis Gmelin common.
REDISCOVERY OF A UNIQUE COWRY Photos - Trostel --- Not To Scale
Figs. 1-3:
Notadusta rabaulensis Schilder, 1964.
Beach shell from Rabaul. Length: 20.4 mm.
When I established Notadusta rabaulensis in 1964 (Arch. Mollusk. 93:141), only the holotype was known. Reproducing its
photograph in H.S.N. (n.s. 59:7, November 1964) I expressed the hope that more specimens would turn up in the future. This
hope was realized sooner than expected.
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