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Shell accessory
Shell accessory Where are veligers found and how are they captured? Veligers are found in nearly ail relatively calm marine surface waters on days which are not overcast. On cloudy days, arrow worms, ctenophores and rather plain micro-crustacea predominate. On sunny days, where the surface water is not excessively turbid and choppy, one obtains colorful amphipods, marine worms and a variety of veligers. Areas which yield the highest diversity of prosobranch veligers are those clearwater areas between turbid inshore areas and clear, out-to-sea regions where channels funnel water through a defined region.
A nylon plankton net from 1/2 to one meter at its widest diameter is towed from a slowly moving boat for at least 10- 15 minutes. Mesh size of the net should be no larger than 0.33mm. A wide-mouth jar approximately one liter in volume is secured to the net by means of a hose clamp or twine which may be obtained in most hardware stores. The contents of the sample should be poured through a small fish net (mesh size of 1-2mm) into a bucket containing a few centimeters of fresh sea water. This separates large components such as algae, jellyfish, arrow worms, etc. from the desired smaller components. Then a centripetal effect is introduced by swirling the bucket a few times. After waiting a few minutes for the sedimenting organisms to collect at the bottom, the supernatant sea water and organisms are poured off into another bucket. By repeating this procedure several times, one is able to obtain a reasonably pure sample of veligers.
Photos - Taylor
Fig. 2
Protoconchs of veligers,
Kaneohe Bay, Oahu.
… 1. Cypraea sp.…
o. Cypraea isabella.…
s. Trivia sp., without outer
part of protoconch.…
It is desirable to separate the components in this manner as soon after collection as possible because veligers, especially common species such as Crucibulum spinosum, are capable of secreting appreciable amounts of mucus, which not only aggregates the veligers, but also causes other organisms or pieces of debris to adhere to them. This makes later scanning with a dissecting microscope more difficult and time-consuming. Take one or two buckets of fresh sea water back to the laboratory for subsequent filtration with a piece of nylon cloth which has a pore size of 12µ ( =.012mm). Water filtered in such a manner can be stored for 1-2 weeks without spoilage.
Shell accessory From Fiji we flew to New Zealand and her coldwater beaches where time only permitted me to beach collect pectens and whelks. I was given Voluto, a growth series of Haliotis and also of Papulosa. People everywhere were so generous with shells that I ended up buying two extra bags, hand-carrying one all over New Zealand and Australia and mailing home four big boxes. Such wonderful people!
Photo - uncredited
Perhaps not the
Cypraea marginata
Virginia lost her heart to, but
similar specimens of this rare
and beautiful cowry are available
from Australian dealers at prices
ranging from $50.00 to $200.00,
depending on size, quality, and
condition of specimen.
Before leaving Honolulu I had corresponded with shell dealer Lance Moore of Sydney. On my arrival he invited me to a meeting of the Conchology Section of the Royal Zoological Society of Sydney at the Sydney Museum where he gave a great talk on world cones illustrated with several big cases of fine and famous cones. I saw particularly fine specimen of Conus prometheus, C. dalli, C. betulinus and C. circumactus to name a few of the well-known cones. People in Sydney are keen and ecstatic over Conus bullatus – aren't we all?
I took along with me only endemic Philippine shells for trading. Among them were some five-inch Philippine Cypraea tigris, also C. granulata, C. sulcidentata, C. gaskoini, extra-nice C. tessellata and some Murex pele. These were very well received and I brought back with me a Cypraea tigris, granulata, sulcidentata, gaskoini, tessellata, teulčrei, a four and one-half inch C. hesitata howelli, a rare C. mus tuberculata, a very rare C. onyx nymphae from the Seychelles, C. eglantina niger from Noumea, New Caledonia and C. verconis from southwest Australia. Also Murex, Conus, Lambis, Strombus, Latiaxis and Rapa. Some of the above I traded for (I didn't bring home any of my Philippine shells) and some I bought.
Lance Moore and his shell family of Marine Specimens Pty., Ltd. were delightful and like everyone I met Downunder, were tremendously hospitable and generous. Marine Specimens is a meeting place for shell lovers and there I met people from France, Canada, New Caledonia and lots of Australians. There I saw a gorgeous Cypraea [( ]Zoila[ )] marginata which unfortunately I had to leave behind but I am still hoping! I also met and was graciously entertained by Noel and Vera Gomersall of Sydney who have a fantastic world wide collection especially strong on Murex, volutes and pectens.
So at the end of September back to Honolulu with my goodies from this wonderful world of Downunder but good, too, to return to the home of the tessellata (Cypraea that is) and pele (Murex and otherwise.)
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