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Internet Hawaiian Shell News Page 1 Feature Articles October, 2000

October, 2000 Feature articles Index (All items new this month)

Small Turridae from Taiwan Part 15 The Forgotten Species By Chen-Kwoh Chang * 2 Walter O. Cernohorsky by Wesley Thorsson 8

Two Deep Water Terebra From Guam 10

Mitra (Strigatella) Some photos by Don Barclay 12

Mitridae Authors & Synonymy 16

Weaver Volute Expedition to Australia Part 6 (Final) 18

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Small Shells of Classic Turridae from Taiwan Part 15 The Forgotten Species

By Chen-Kwoh Chang * * 1373 Phelps Ave. # 8, San Jose CA 95117 Email: [email protected] Note: this article is laid out for inserting pages back to back in sheet protectors, Odd pages (text) on the left side and even pages (graphics) on the right side .

There are only two reliable articles that listed or described small turrids from Taiwan. One is “A Catalogue of Molluscan Shells from Tai-wan” (Kuroda, 1941) and the other is: “ Small Sea Shells from Lu-Tao” (Shih, 1975) in Chinese. Though Mr; N.P. Shih lacked references before the early 20th century and also had no illustrations for his shells, his identifications were checked by Dr. T. Shikama, so Shih’s report is considered rela-tively reliable. He found only 7 species of small tur-rids from Lu-Tao, among which Rhodopetoma erosa (Schrenck) has not been reported in this se-ries of articles. Kuroda (1941) found and identified 27 small turrids from Taiwan, among which

Lienardia lischkeana (Pilsbry), Eucyclotoma hind-sii (Reeve) and Eucyclotoma trivaricosa (Martens) have not been reported in this series of articles yet. For some of the above species, the copies of illus-trations will be used instead of the slides in this part because I don’t have these specimens on hand to photograph.

Moreover, I also found a few species which I forgot to put in the prior parts. I am sorry that I cannot find the specimens to allow taking a better picture than included slides which I photographed myself ten years ago

Species 232. Rhodopetoma erosa (Schrenck, 1867) This species’ specimen is 13.5 x 5.5 mm and is moderately wide with a straignt-sided spire that is 1.2 times the aperture length. The primary sculp-ture is slightly oblique, convex, low, axial ribs.. The outer lip has a thin edge and the sinus is shal-low. . The color is yellowish brown with lighter areas on the base tip. It belongs in the subfamily Cochlespirinae of family Turridae rather than Oe-nopolinae of family Mangeliidae because its radu-lae have a small rachidian and Y-shaped marginals

Fig. 232 Rhodopetoma erosa (Schrenck, 1867) 13.5 mm from Lutao


Small Turrids of Taiwan, Part 15 Continued

Species 233 Vexitomina melvilli

(Powell, 1968) This shell is 6 x 2.3 mm. and is ovately fusiform and moderately narrow with the spire 1.4 times the aperture length. The teleoconch has 5 whorls and the protoconch has 2+ whorls. Spire whorls have a short concave shoulder with a low, keeled subsutural cord and a larger convex cord below. Cords are noded by weak axial ribs and there are moderately prominent axial threads, par-ticularly in cord interstices. On the body whorl, below these two cords there are 7 convex spiral cords sepa-rated by their diameter and noded by low, convex axial ribs or threads. The aperture is moderately wide and ovate with a broad, notched canal. The outer lip is thin with a U-shaped sinus on the shoulder slope. Its radula has been shown in part 1, but in this article, I would not like to treat it under subfamily Strictispirinae for the reasons given in part 1. The color is orange-brown with some lavendar on the base tip. According to Kilburn (1988), its operculum has a terminal nucleus. so this part treats it under Genus Vexitomina of subfamily Cochlopirinae rather than Genus Paradrillia whose operculum has a medio-lateral nucleus (Powell, 1966)

Species 234. Eucyclotoma hindsii (Reeve, 1843)

This species is up to 12 mm in length and is fu-siform in shape. It has a protoconch with whorls having dense, minutely granulose striae. Teleoconch whorls have a latticed sculpture of 2 elevated, keeled spiral cords on the spire and 4 on the body whorl. Prominent axial, narrow, elevated, widely spaced ribs produce rec-tangular interstices. The colour is white variegated with brown. Fig. 234b is after Tryon (1884) which is stouter than the prototype seen in Fig.234a .

I have a beached specimen, Fig. 234 b, 5 mm long from Lutao which is even stouter than Tryon’s specimen and is probably a juvenile. The first two tele-oconch whorls are prominently keeled centrally. While

the spire is greater than aperture length in adults, it is shorter in juveniles. I am sorry that I have lost this specimen and I could not produce a better slide with a ventral view, but it gives a good illustration of the early whorls.

Species 235 Eucyclotoma trivaricosa

(Von Martens, 1880)

This shell is about 15 mm long with the spire about 1.3 times the aperture length. There are about 5 teleoconch whorls. Tryon,(1884)original description was “four or five revolving ridges on the body whorl with intermediate close revolving striae, no longitudinal ribs except on the upper whorls of the spire subcontinuously three-varicosa. Light yellowish white.”

Species 236. Kermia subcylindrica (Hervier, 1897)

This subcylindrical shell is 6 x 2.4 mm and has a slightly convex-sided spire that is slightly longer than the aperture and has 3 teleoconch whorls and a proto-conch of 2 smooth, convex whorls. On this specimen the first whorls are much smaller in diameter. It is sculp-tured by shallow, rounded, slightly oblique ribs crossed by convex, closely spaced spiral cords. There are about 7 ribs and 7 cords on the penultimate whorl. Spire whorls are convex with a subsutural cord making them slightly sinuous. Axial ribs are almost obsolete on the first teleoconch whorl. The aperture is moderately nar-row. There is a prominent varix and the outer lip is fimbriated. The sinus is prominent with its entrance narrowed by a large parietal callus. I separated this specimen from Hemidaphne cyclophora (Deshayes) seen in fig. 236b which is narrower with its outer lip, not as recurved inwards and with less prominent ribs. Fig. 236b shell also has a paucispiral protoconch of 2 smooth, convex whorls.



Fig. 233 Vexitomina melvilli (Powell, 1968)

6 mm from Lutao

Fig. 234a Eucyclotoma hindsii

(Reeve, 1843) Type specimen.

Fig. 234b Eucyclotoma hindsii

(Reeve, 1843) after Tryon (1884)

Fig. 234b Eucyclotoma hindsii (Reeve, 1843)

5 mm from Lutao

Fig. 235 Eucyclotoma trivaricosa (Von Marten, 1880)

15 mm from Tryon (1884)

Fig. 236a Kermia Subcylindrica

(Hervier, 1897) 6 mm from Lutao

Fig. 236 b Hemidaphne cyclophora

(Deshayes, 1863) 10 mm after Hedley,



Species 237. Kermia sp. G This 4.8 x 2 mm shell is moderately wide, ovate-subcylindrical, with a spire that is 0.9 times the length of the aperture and with 3-1/2 teleoconch whorls. Whorls are angulate and somewhat turreted. Shoulders are straight to concave. There is a trochoidal protoconch of 2-1/2 smooth convex whorls and a low domed apex. Sculpture consists of low, convex, slightly oblique, axial ribs crossed by spiral cords causing nodes at intersections. There are about 14 ribs and 4 cords on the penultimate whorl. The aperture is moderately narrow and the outer lip is variced and curved inwards. The sinus is subsutural on the shoulder and open. The color is white with yellow tints. I changed this shell from species Eucithara angiostoma (Pease, 1868) because that species as shown by Kay’s figure 116-B (Kay, 1979) has broadly round ribs and is not reticu-lately sculptured.

Species 238 Lienardia goubini (Hervier, 1896)

This specimen is 4.8 x 3 mm and is moderately wide, ovate biconic with 4+ teleoconch whorls and a tall protoconch of 3 smooth, convex whorls. It is sculptured by strong, convex, slightly keeled axial ribs crossed by narrow, prominent, spi-ral cords. There are about 7 ribs and 5 cords on the penulti-mate whorl. The aperture is narrow. The outer lip is variced and has 5 stout denticles on the inner margin. The columella is primarily straight and the anterior canal is un-notched. The color is rosy-brown with a narrow lighter pe-ripheral band This specimen is similar to Hedley’s figure (1922) which is more detailed than Hervier’s original figure (1976).

Species 239. Lienardia sp. E This is a fairly wide, 4.2 x 2 mm specimen that is ovately biconic with a spire slightly longer that the aperture and having 4 teleoconch whorls and a protoconch with smooth whorls. The sculpture includes convex, prominent axial ribs crossed by two moderately separated, convex spiral cords. There is a prominent concavity in the suture area. The color is white stained with brown. The aperture is narrow and almost triangular with a prominent denticle on the lip below the sinus. The columella has folds or pleats that are mostly indistinct. I took these specimens out of my file of Lienar-

dia marchei (Jousseaume 1884) [see fig. 163] because (a) its nodules are spirally shorter and more prominently round with wider interstices than in L. marchei (Jousseaume, 1884) where nodules are spirally elongate due to wider, more closely spaced ribs; (b ) its apex is much more narrow than in L. marcei (Jousseaume, 1884); and (c) folds on the columella and nodes on the lip interior are much less promi-nent.

Species 240 Lienardia lischkeana Pilsbry, 1904

This shell is 5.8 x 2.5 mm, solid and strong. Sculpture is of strong, rounded, axial ribs about as wide as their concave interstices. Rather coarse spiral cords pass over these ribs and their interstices, 4-5 of them visible on the penultimate whorl in this illustration. There are about 6 teleoconch whorls besides the protoconch. The aperture is narrow with a deep rounded sinus above The outer lip has a large black-brown spot within below the sinus and another near the base. There are several (usually 3) low teeth in the inside of the lip (Pilsbry, 1904). The color is orange with a black band below the suture terminating behind the lip-varix, and an ill-defined brown band below the periphery.

L. lischkeana Pilsbry in (Oyama,1957) looks like my species 146, Lienardia sp. B in part 11, but it is quite different from the type specimen in shape, sculpture and protoconch.

Species 241. Lienardia gradata (Nevill, 1875)

This specimen is 4.2 x 1.6 mm and is oblong ovate. has 3+ convex teleoconch whorls with prominent concave suture areas. The spire is about 0.8 times the aperture length. Sculpture has 9 narrow, raised, straight ribs on the penulti-mate whorl. Ribs are roughly aligned on the spire and con-tinue to the base on the body whorl. Ribs are crossed by narrow, moderately prominent, spiral cords. The aperture is narrow with columella, slightly rugose centrally. The outer lip is thickly variced with minor denticles on the interior edge. The sinus is subtubular on shoulder slope with a wide, rounded parietal callus and a thickened lip segment narrowing it slightly. The anterior canal is short, notched, and is slightly recurved dorsally. This lost specimen was very beach-worn but it is very similar to the figure of L. gra-



Fig. 237 Kermia sp. G 4.8 mm from N.Taiwan

Fig. 238 Lienardia goubini (Hervier, 1896)

4.8 mm from Lutao

Fig. 239a & 239b. Lienardia sp. E Ventral and side views. 4.2 mm from Lutao

Fig. 163 of part 11b Lienardia marche

(Jousseaume, 1884) 4.6 mm from Lutao

Fig. 240 Lienardia lischkeana (Pilsbry 1904)

Type specimen 5.8 mm

Fig. 241 Lienardia gradata

(Nevill, 1875) 4.2 mm from Lutao

Fig. 146 (part 11) L. lischkeana Pilsbry in (Oyama,1957)



References Bartsch,P.,1944 Phodopetoma erosa (Schrenck) Proc. of Biological Soc. of Washington

57: 59 Cernohorshy,W.O.1978 Eucyclotoma hindsii (Reeve), Tropical Pacific Marine Shells p.161 Hedley, C.A., 1922 Hemilienardia goubini Hervier, Hemidaphne cyclophora, (Deshayes)A

‘revision of the Australian Turridae, Record of Australian Museum 13 (6); p.259 and fig. 103

Hervier, J.,1897 Glyphostoma goubini Hervier, Clathurella subcylindrica, Jour. De Con-chyliogie, 1896 pl. II-17; 1897 pl. III-4

Kay, E.A.,1979 Eucithara angiostoma (Pease) Hawaiian Marine Shells, Bishop Museum Shop Press, Figure 116B

Kilburn, R.N.,1988 Paradrillia melvilli Powell, Turridae of Southern Africa and Mozambique Part 4. Subfamilies Drilliinae, Crassispirinae and Strictispirinae, An-nals of the Natal Museum 29(1): pp.227-230 figs. 16,17, 170, 171

Kuroda, T, 1941 A Catalogue of Molluscan Shells from Taiwan, Mem. Fac. Sci. Agr. Tai-hoku Imp. Univ V.22(4). Geol. 17 pp.126-128

Oyama ,K.,1957 The Molluskan Shell, Lienardia (1) - 10, 11 Pilsbry,H.A.,1904 New Japanese Marine Mollusca Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phildelphia Vol.56:

12 and pl. II-14 Powell,A.W.B.,1966 The Molluscan Families Speightiidae and Turridae, pp.26-27 Shih,N.P.,1975 Small Sea Shells from Lu-Tao Bull. Chin. Malacol. Soc. 2 : 33-46 Tryon, G.W.,1884 Mangilia gradata (Nevill), Daphnella trivaricosa Martens Pleurotomidae,

Manual of Conchology VII: 262, 305 & pls 25-44, 25-54


Walter O. Cernohorsky By Wesley Thorsson

My most used references on molluscs are authored by Walter 0. Cemohorsky, and include Marine Shells of the Pacific Volume II (1972, Pacific Pub-lications, Sydney, Australia); Tropical Pacific Ma-rine Shells (Pacific Publications, Sydney, Austra-lia); The Mitridae of the World Part I. The Sub-family Mitrinae (September 28, 1976, Indo-Pacific Mollusca, vol 3. No. 17); and: The Mitridae of the world. Part 1. The Subfamily Mitrinae Concluded and Subfamilies Imbricariinae and Cylindromitrinae (13 May, 1991, Monographs of Marine Mollusca, Taxonomic Revisions of the Marine Mollusca of the World, Trophon Corp. Silver Spring, Mary-land.). While I have books about shells from a number of areas, and a number of families, the first two of these references cover Indo-Pacific small and micro shells quite thoroughly, and the last two cover Mitridae more thoroughly than any other ref-erence. They match my current activities very well. I do not have Marine Shells of the Pacific, 1967 (often known as Volume 1) because it is out

of print and hard to find. Rarely does a day go by when I do not use these references to check identification of a specimen. Walter was also a contributing member of HMS for many years. From 1976 to 1990 he had 16 small articles on a wide range of molluscan families in the HSN. This degree of interaction makes one forget that I have never actually met Walter per-sonally. Having not seen Walter’s name on articles for some years, I naturally wondered what he is doing these days. A posting on COA’s List server CONCH-L inquired about his current status for the same reasons, so I requested than anyone knowing his current address please furnish it to me. Gert Lindner mailed Cernohorsky a copy of that post-ing. I was pleased and surprised to receive the fol-lowing letter, which will bring Cernohorsky’s many readers up to date.

Walter 0. Cemohorsky 6 Rapallo Place, Farm Cove, Pakuranga, Auckland 1706

New Zealand

Auckland, July 28, 2000 Mr. Wesley M. Thorsson, 122 Waialeale Street Honolulu, HI 96825,2020 U.S.A. Dear Wes, I had a letter recently from Gert Lindner who sent me a Xerox of your E-mail enquiry con-cerning myself. I had no idea that once I retired from my malacological position people would still be interested in how I am and what I am doing !


Walter 0. Cemohorsky Continued

After my retirement in 1988, we decided to shift to Australia where we lived a couple of years in Tweed Heads, on Queensland's Gold coast. Family circumstances, however, indi-cated that we shift back to New Zealand, which we did in 1990. My last paper on malacol-ogy was the 1993 part II of Mitridae of the world, and after having donated the larger part of my private collection to the Prague National Museum, I ceased writing on the subject of Malacology. I developed a latent interest in Heraldry and medieval history, and have been following the subject for the last 7 years and have written various articles on heraldry, Cen-tral European Heraldry in particular (some examples are enclosed). Healthwise I developed medical problems: first I had a pneumothorax (collapsed lung) and after having it re-inflated, I underwent a lung operation in order to prevent similar collapses in the future. In 1996 I had 2 heart attacks, underwent cardiac surgery, lost 15kg in weight in the process, but with the help of daily medication, I have been keeping fit for the last 4 years. During the last 10 years many of the old time malacologists, e.g. Tucker Abbott, Harald Rehder, Bill Old, Alan Solem (and many I don't know about) have gone to their final resting place. I have still kept up my membership in the Malacological Society of Australasia, but the appearance in various Journals of some atrociously written malacological articles which lack scientific substance make me feel glad that I am no longer active in this discipline. The over naming, and subsequent creation of superfluous synonyms has reached chaotic proportions, and I do not envy malacologists of the future trying to bring some sense into taxonomy and establish what really constitutes a valid biospecies. As you can see Wes, I am still among the living but I very much miss my previous mala-cological contacts and most of all, field work in the Pacific. I also miss the monthly issues of "Hawaiian Shell News", a great pity that it went by the wayside; it was a nice little Journal which kept one up to date with malacological happenings. I hope that you are well and still enjoy your malacological hobby. Take care, best wishes and kind regards,

Sincerely,

Walter O. Cernohorsky ========================


TWO DEEP WATER TEREBRA FROM GUAM by

Richard Salisbury* * Email: [email protected]

Two deep water Terebra from Guam have recently been brought to my attention.

Terebra pseudopertusa Bratcher & Cernohor-sky, 1985 (Figures 1-4), size 21.70 mm x 4.16 mm x 4.26 mm. Dredged off Agana Bay, Guam 400 ft, leg. Mr. Barry Smith, specimen in the collection of Mr. Paul Merrill, Merced, Calif., - Type locality Reunion Island, Indian Ocean. Distribution: From South Africa to Papua New Guinea in depths to 110 meters. This specimen represents a range ex-

tension to Guam. Terebra species (Figures 5-8), size 20.56 mm x

4.15 mm x 4.96 mm. Dredged in 60-70 fathoms, in sand & silt substrate, 31/Apr/1986, leg. Mr. Barry Smith, specimen in the collection of Mr. Paul Merrill, Merced, Calif. Anyone with suggestions as to the identity of this species please contact the author.

Sincerely Yours, Richard

Figs. 1 to 4 Terebra pseudopertusa Bratcher & Cernohorsky, 1985


Two Deep Water Terebra From Guam Continued.

Terebra species. Figs. 5 to 8.


Mitra (Strigatella): Some Photos by Don Barclay

By Wes Thorsson

Richard Salisbury and I have been working on a CD paper that will examine closely the external animal characteristics of as many species in Mitri-dae as possible. The various species will be illus-trated in groups having similar animal characteris-tics and giving the currently accepted species names.

Some of the genera and subgenera in Mitridae

are used as convenient group names in which to place species. Some of the groups rely primarily on the radulae found in the group. Some of the groups have similar radulae and the subgroups such as subgenera are based on shell characteristics in a family that is noted for the wide range of shell characteristics within a species.

The Mitridae work is far from complete, but we have noted that in Genus Mitra our groupings by animal characteristics produce different groups than in the current subgenera. But it will be a while before we are ready to publish results.

In our studies, Don Barclay was asked to give us as many animal photos of Mitra (Strigatella) from Samoa as he could (among other groups in which our photo files were missing species). This is one part of a long investigation and it includes some of the Email (shortened) that passed between the three of us. Portions not indicated as Email are Thorsson comments. Wed, 26 Jul 2000 03:16:06 +0100 From: "Don Barclay" <[email protected]> Here are a couple of photos of Strigatella species that I finally got around to collecting. I'll send you several views of them if these are species that you need. These are the easiest ones to collect, but I'll be on the lookout for the others. Don

All photos above are part of a series of digital camera photos by Don Barclay and are:

Mitra (Strigatella) litterata Lamarck, 1811


Mitridae: Strigatella Continued litterata & paupercula.

Mitra (Strigatella) litterata :Lamarck, 1811

Widely distributed from the Red Sea to Tonga, Samoa, and Hawaii, it is usually one of the most common miters in shallow water. It is widely vari-able in shape and color pattern. Length is up to 31 mm. It is a heavy shell with a wide lip callus in adults. The aperture to spire length ratio is from about 1.4 to 2.3. Spire whorls are convex. Sculp-ture includes spiral cords separated by pitted grooves. The lip is prominently thickened in adult stages with a white callus that is widest just below the posterior canal. Usually described as white in color with irregular, wavy brown axial streaks and/or blotches. Most are seen as brown with spiral bands of white, small spots that are round, elongate dashes or blotches and having a white aperture. The columella folds are white and there is brown on much of the columella parietal wall callus and posterior canal. The color pattern is very variable.

The animal has a white foot crawling surface

and foot sides, top and pedestal of brown-red. The siphon is brown red with a white base. Pro-boscis column is mostly red-brown with some white on the sides near the anterior tip. Tentacles are brown-red or lighter brown with a white tip. The eye stalk is usually white and short. This color scheme of the Samoa specimen agrees with my specimens from Hawaii.

When I compared this animal to one I photo-

graphed in Madang, PNG, and had identified as M. litterata in my Madang volume, but filed as M. lit-terata anaiis Lesson, 1842 in refiling the graphic in my overall Mitridae files, I noted that the anaiis form while generally similar, had a much whiter proboscis column and more importantly had a brown-red siphon with many white axial white dashes. In cases such as this, it is possible that the species M. anaiis Lesson, 1842 is different enough

to qualify as a full species or at least a subspecies. Three of my photos follow:

Above 3 photos show what appears to be a variant of Mitra (Strigatella) litterata Lamarck, 1811.

Photo by W. Thorsson.

Mitra (Strigatella) paupercula Linnaeus, 1758

From: "Wesley M. Thorsson" <[email protected]> To: "Barclay, Don" <[email protected]> Thanks much for the photos. These are great pho-tos of the animal. Without photos of the ventral view, it is hard to identify them [files were named with the digital camera file name]. I see the first file as S. litterata, and the second, file as S. retusa due to the relatively longer body whorl, but I can easily be wrong on that (do you have a ventral view of the shell?). While I have photos of these, the additional photos make good backup photos of the animal from another area. The Mitridae project goes very slowly. I had about a hundred slides from Richard Salisbury and scanned about half as adding new data to my files. I had finished the first draft of Mitra subgenus Mi-tra and moved Salisbury’s graphics from a "temp"


Mitridae: M. (Strigatella) paupercula Continued.

file to the permanent species file. I thought I had backed up the "Temp" file to Jazz disks, but only had it on two partitions of the same hard drive. As I was working on something else, the D drive that held the Temporary files started to go bad, and very soon was unusable. The F drive, a second partition on the same 15 GB drive, also went bad. Tried reformatting and even that wouldn't work. So I put in a new 40 GB drive and moved my Jazz

backups to the 4 partitions in that and found that I had no backup to my "Temp" folder for other than genus Mitra. So I will have to get the slides back and rescan most. Bah Humbug.

Aloha from Wesley M. Thorsson The photos of the M.(S.) paupercula from Samoa follow:

Mitra (Strigatella) paupercula Linnaeus, 1758 Five of Don Barclay’s photos of a specimen from Samoa.

Attached is a ventral view photo that Don Barclay thinks is S. paupercula based on the lack of nodules on base cords. I thought it was S. retusa based pri-marily on the large aperture to spire ratio. Don says he has what he thinks are really S. retusa from Tonga that have much larger aperture to spire ra-tios. Don doesn't have animal photos of the Tonga specimens but says they are quite like the Samoa specimens of his S. paupercula. There is a lot of variation in S. paupercula, but do the spires ap-proach this photo’s spire?

Aloha from Wesley M. Thorsson Fri, 28 Jul 2000 09:16:08 -1000 From: "Wesley M. Thorsson" <[email protected]> To: "Barclay, Don" [email protected] Don: Can you send me a photo of the S. retusa from Tonga to include as a comparison? The photos were great.

Wes


Mitridae: M. (Strigatella) paupercula Continued Comparing with M. (S.) retusa.

Sat, 29 Jul 2000 13:05:47 -0600 From: Richard Salisbury <[email protected]> Reply-To: [email protected] Hi Wes, The scanned photo shows a specimen of Mitra paupercula but not a TYPICAL form; it is the form Zebra Lamarck, 1811. I call it a GIANT form. It is definitely not M. retusa.

Sincerely Yours, Richard Sat, 29 Jul 2000 01:59:18 +0100 From: "Don Barclay" <[email protected]> To: "Wesley M. Thorsson" <[email protected]> Hi Wes, Glad you liked the animal photos!

Here are some photos of a pair of S. retusa from Tonga, along with comparison photos of adult-lipped S. paupercula from American Samoa. The photos in PPP [Peter Pechar, Chris Prior, and Brian Parkinson (1980)] and [Springsteen & Leo-brera’s Shells of the Philippines seem to agree with the ID's. The photos should be easy to figure out, as I included one slender and one inflated example of each species, and they look quite a bit different. If you have any questions, let me know. The Samoan miters were collected under the rocks at Faga'alu, and the Tongan shells came from the south coast of Vava'u, a few miles west of Neiafu.

Cheerios, Don The photos comparing the two species follow:

Don Barclay’s photos comparing two Mitra (Strigatella) paupercula Linnaeus,

1758 With Two

Mitra (Strigatella) retusa Lamarck 1811 from Tonga.

The M. (S.) retusa is on the right in all

pairings.


Mitridae: M. (Strigatella) paupercula &. (S.) retusa. Continued Authors & synonymy

Thorsson comments: Getting the ID of Mitra paupercula correct is im-portant, as it is the type species of subgenus Mitra Strigatella. In our grouping by animal characteris-tics, the animal of the type species must have the correct species name. Don’s photos show quite clearly the differences be-tween species Mitra paupercula and Mitra retusa. The aperture to spire length ratios of Mitra retusa are invariably greater than in Mitra paupercula which varies quite a bit. Both species have spiral cords on the base that are faint on the adapical half of the base, but they are more prominent and more noded on Mitra retusa than on Mitra paupercula.. Don’s photos also show the wide variation in width to length ratio of both species. A major difference in adult shells is that the lip of Mitra retusa is crenulate along its entire length whereas Mitra paupercula has crenulations on only the anterior

area. Axial banding is usually much finer on Mitra retusa. Making a species identification of a single speci-men is often a risky project. But when you are fil-ing a photo of the specimen or the specimen itself, you have to call it something. Photos in the refer-ences most of us use to make ID’s are often small, in black and white, and of a small number of varia-tions in the species (Cernohorsky 1976 is better than most). When you are dealing with shells that vary as greatly as Mitridae, the problem is com-pounded. You read the descriptions and often they don’t answer the question you have about the sin-gle specimen in hand. Using the large number of specimens often available in a museum is the best method of determining the range of variation in a species. From an ecological point of view, we don’t recommend many private collections having that extensive a collection of shells.

In our study of Mitridae, Richard Salisbury sent me a list that was published in Of Sea And Shore some years ago of all known Mitridae species. The list has been updated to a good degree, but nothing stays current for long. I put the list in a data base to allow sorting in a number of ways. Primarily, I wanted to present species by species name, and by genus/subgenus. A fallout was being able to sort by other fields such as by author, valid species names, or synonymized species names by author. Some facts of interest resulted that you Mitridae fans might be interested in.

I should note that to have all species named by

a single author in one sequence isn’t accomplished by sorting a data base, as unless you remove all first parenthesis around authors’ names, you will find the same author in two places. To have the

taxonomic names correct, I copied that field to a new field and removed the first parenthesis in only that field. To get a sort by the author date would require the date to be in an additional field, which I hadn’t provided. Following are some things of note:

There were a total of 860 species names listed,

of which 290 (34%) were considered valid today. About 133 authors or combinations of authors named these 860 species (6.5 per author average). 78 authors named 290 currently valid species names (3.7 each), while 55 authors named 435 cur-rently synonymized species (7.9 each)

Obviously, it is easy, when naming a new spe-

cies to overlook literature that already named the species. Some of the literature is difficult to find,

Mitridae Authors & Synonymy


Mitridae: Authors & synonymy

and descriptions and original illustrations may be very poor. Ideally, an author would like to personally see the type specimens of each named species, but this is be-yond the ability of many authors due to time and finan-cial restraints. A number of type species have been lost (floods, fires, and misplacement). Some species didn’t have a type specimen specified. Where a substitute type

specimen has been named, you might agree with the choice or not.

In decreasing order of the number of shells named,

major authors (10 or more named) with the approximate year are:

Author Approx total Number % Cumulative date named valid valid number valid Reeve 1844 103 63 61 63 Sowerby 1874 54 12 22 75 Lamarck 1811 46 16 35 91 A. Adams 1853 33 13 39 104 Swainson 1821 29 15 52 119 Gmelin 1791 27 14 52 133 Broderip 1836 17 12 71 145 Cernohorsky 1980 17 14 82 159 Roding 1798 14 10 45 169 Kiener 1835 13 4 31 173 Dilwyn 1817 11 1 9 17

Authors and number of species named by approximate dates. Author Approx total number % Cumulative date named valid valid number valid Gmelin 1791 27 14 52 14 Roding 1798 14 10 45 24 Link 1807 10 3 30 27 Lamarck 1811 46 16 35 43 Dilwyn 1817 11 1 9 44 Swainson 1821 29 15 52 59 Kiener 1835 13 4 31 63 Broderip 1836 17 12 71 75 Reeve 1844 103 63 61 138 A. Adams 1853 33 13 39 151 Sowerby 1874 54 12 22 163 Melvill 1888 11 8 73 171 Pilsbry 1921 11 2 18 173

Some conclusions: 187 species of 290 (64%) currently valid species were

named by 14 authors (13.4 each).

By 1888, 12 of these authors had named 171 currently valid species (59% of the total)

The other authors named a relatively few species in Mitridae but they have named 35 % of the valid species.


Mitridae: Authors & synonymy Continued. Weaver Volute Expedition to Australia

References: Cernohorsky, Walter 0.1976 The Mitridae of the World, Part 1. The subfamily Mitrinae by .Indo-Pacific Mollusca, vol. 3,

no 17- Cernohorsky, Walter 0. 1991 Mitridae of the World, Part 2. Subfamily Mitrinae concluded and Subfamilies Imbricariinae

and Cyclindromitrinae Monographs of the World Pechar, Peter; Prior, Chris; & Brian Parkinson Undated Mitre Shells from the Pacific and Indian Oceans: Springsteen & Leobrera’s Shells of the Philippines 1986 pg 196 & 197 fig. 1 to 8.

the animal should be made as soon as a live speci-men is taken to prove there is a difference between it and damoni. We established its type locality as Fremantle, W. A. from museum specimens al-though we personally didn't collect any.

In summation - - the expedition collected volutes new to science and established the locality of oth-ers. Aulica (Aulicina) reevei appears conchologically to be a good species but a gross morphology on

HAWAIIAN SCIENTIFIC EXPEDITION FINDS RARE WESTERN AUSTRALIAN VOLUTES Part 6 (Conclusion)

by Clifton S. Weaver

From Hawaiian Shell News, January, 1961

Fig 1 Fig 2. Amoria (Amoria) ellioti (Sowerby, 1863)

Taken at low tide on sand bar, Port Hedland, N.W. A; length 93 mm. Diameter 40 mm.

Collected by Pat Seymour and now in author’s collection.

Fig. 3. Fig. 4 Amoria (Amoria) grayi Ludbrook, 1952.

Taken on exposed sand bar, Thevenard Island, N.W A. Collected by the author.


Weaver Volute expedition to Australia Continued.

Below is a revised list of the volutes taken by the Expedition. This list includes Amoria ellioti which I took at Port Hedland on my way home after leaving the expedition. It includes Amoria macandrew repre-sented in the expedition's collection by fragments only plus two new species.

Volutoconu hargreavesi Angas Aulica (Aulicina nivosa Lamarck Aulica (Aulicina) norrisi Gray Aulica (Aulicina) irvinae Smith Amoria (Amoria) damoni Gray Amoria (Amoria) dampieria Iredale Amoria (Amoria) ellioti (Sowerby) Amoria (Amoria) grayi Ludbrook Amoria (Amoria jamrachi Gray Amoria (Amori ) macandrewi (Sowerby) Amoria (Amori praetexta (Reeve) Notovoluta kreuslerae Melo amphorus Solander Melo miltonis Gray Nannamoria (new species) Amoria (new species) The following volutes eluded us Amoria (Amorena) undulata Lamarck Cottonia nodiplicata Cox Volutoconis coniformis Cox Nannamoria guntheri Smith Amoria reevei Sowerby

We established the type locality of Volutoconus hargreavest Angas as running from Geraldton, W. A. to Dampier Archipelago, N.W.A. The Dampier specimens seem to be ecotypes whereas the Gerald-ton shell is more representative of the type, as illus-trated in Zool. Proc., 1872, p. 613, pl. 42, fig. 13. The holotype has been lost.

The shells we thought to be Amoria turneri have

been reidentifted as subadult jamrachi

To the best of my knowledge the forego-

ing represents the volute findings of Mrs. King's Western Australian Expedition for 1960.

1 conclude my diary:

I forgot to mention that Dr. Ray George returned to Perth when the boat put in at Car-narvon and Tom left for a medical convention in Melbourne on the 28th.

June 2nd - This was a red-letter day for

volutes. We left Angel Island at 6:00 a.m. and headed north toward the open ocean. Four hours later we were still on the continental shelf but in 35 fathoms, a respectable depth for this area. We made three unproductive stations, then headed 15 miles east. The first haul, at the same depth, brought in an Amoria dampieri and the second haul, a fine juvenile Volutoconus hargreavesi The hargreavesi was the second rarest shell taken up until this time; the rarest being the unique holotype of a new species of Nannamoria found in the Houtman Abrolhos Islands earlier on the trip.

The day was made so we headed back to

Port Sampson, passing a 15' tiger shark and several sea snakes on the way. Mr. Ball and Jim returned home and we were all in bed by 8:30, dog tired, as usual.

June 3rd - Our cook and 2nd mate desert ship and catch a coastal vessel home, so feeling like Capt. Bligh we grit our teeth and remain in port. This would have been my last day of shelling. There is nothing for it but to help cook and get things packed to leave the next day.

June 4th - Pat Burgess and Tom [Richert]


Weaver Volute expedition to Australia Continued.

arrive at Roebourne Air Port along with Barry Wil-son. As they step off the plane I step on, shaking hands as we pass each other. What with the mutiny on our hands, I feel I am de-serting a sinking ship but Tom took things in hand and the story had a happy ending. However, that story, belongs to Tom and Pat, so I'll let them tell it.

On the plane I settled down in the seat and thought

to myself, what a tremendous collecting trip this had been. But I also thought of Hawaii and home. I slept all the way to Port Hedland with a suitcase of rare shells on my lap, a smile on my face, and many happy memories of Australia and its fine, friendly people.

End of this series of articles. Thanks to Clifton Weaver who did so many things for the

Hawaiian Malacological Society During his lifetime

Documents

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