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Shell crafts
Shell crafts Checking with several of the more knowledgeable shell collectors on Okinawa, I have found "E. ogasawarensis" to be just as rare now, as when Mr. Cate wrote his article. However, two more consecutive dives that week, in the same area, produced five more of these beautiful shells for me and one more for Phil. Unfortunately, all the rest of the shells we found, were found in the freshly dead state, laying in the sand at a depth of 115 to 125 ft. Since this is such an uncommon shell for this area, I thought I would share it with the H.S.N. readers, along with the vital statistics for the eight I found [see table]. You will notice they vary quite a bit although all but the one juvenile found alive, are fully mature.
QUESTION: Several years ago, when I lived in Vera Cruz, Mexico, I used to get a lot of sea shells (Macrocypria [sic] cervus) from the fishermen there. These shells were all perfect except for a small hole, which the fishermen said had been drilled by octopuses in order to extract the flesh. They always found a number of empty shells in the dens of octopuses, and these always had the tiny hole. If these holes were made by octopuses, what type could it have been? How would it make such a small hole? R.S., Calgary, Alberta.
ANSWER: Shell boring or drilling by octopuses is a recently discovered phenomenon. Fossil bivalves have been found that were apparently bored in the manner you describe, and recently researchers have found that some octopods bore both bivalves and gastropods. As for species, Octopus vulgaris apparently bores shells and this animal may have been responsible for the bored shells you found. It might also have been Octopus maya, a related species common in the Vera Cruz area. The precise mechanism of boring is unknown, although it probably involves the chitonous radula, a rasp-like organ possessed by octopods and other molluscs. Chemical secretions from the salivary glands may help to dissolve the shell.
The above is from Sea Secrets, Volume 1, No. 1, Feb. 1970. Sea Secrets is published by the International Oceanographic Foundation, 10 Rickenbacker Causeway, Virginia Key, Miami, Florida 33149.
Shell crafts Shelling around the Island of Oahu, Philippines, is a tough job. The bottom has been well combed, but there are gems that reward the persistent.
Last month, October, 1970, I spent 17 hours, 5 minutes in thirteen dives. (Skin diving). The first four dives brought only a few nondescript shells; but the fifth, NOW THERE WAS A DIVE! Fairly clean water, about twenty feet deep, off Makaha. The first specimen was a nice Drupa speciosa, 42mm high, taken on the roof of a coral cavern. A little while later, when I turned over a slab of dead coral, there was a fine Conus textile, 92.5mm high. Before heading for the beach, I added a high-domed Cypraea maculifera, 68mm high, and a C. helvola, 18.5mm high, to my bag.
My sixth dive off Diamond Head tallied five Conus pulicarius, one C. flavidus, one C. lividus and one C. abbreviatus. The water was fairly calm and clean.
The seventh dive, off Kahe Point, brought an excellent pair of Cypraea mauritiana; one 105.5mm high, 70mm wide, the other 89.5mm high, 66mm wide. These shells have very dark bases, with good dorsal spotting.
The eighth, also off Kahe point, yielded two Thais aperta, with thick, heavy shells, 67mm and 57mm high. They were under water, on the face of a cliff, well-covered with aquatic growth. On October 17th, I was back at Makaha for my ninth dive, spearing Octopus for pupus, When I found a 70.5mm Conus distans. It is a beautiful shell, with the brown shading to a lavender cast on the lip.
The tenth dive, at Kahe Point, drew a blank, except for the usual common shells, but the eleventh yielded a medium-sized Terebra crenulata, 65mm high, and four Conus abbreviatus off the rocks at Makapuu Beach.
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