www.cowries.info

[Sleepycat]

I'd be curious to know what is the largest number of cowry species anyone has ever found in a single day's sampling at the same locality. (Include live, dead, smashed to smithereens so long as still clearly identifiable, etc).

I assume the record would be several dozen species in a day - maybe somewhere around 80?

[felix]

Well, my best was 33 species on a reef in the north of Sulawesi. Of those, 15 species were encountered alive. I do not know any place where one can find 80 species of cowries.

[Sleepycat]

I was just over in Japan for a few weeks and we just wandered down to the nearest bit of coast we could get to on Yakushima and found 19 species (nothing rare) washed up in not much more than an hour. From that I was wondering if as you got closer to the equator you could get several times that number, but sounds like it's not quite that easy!

[felix]

well, that is a very good count for a short period of time in a single spot. I do not know Japan at all but from the diversity point of view it appears to be an amazing place. On our trip on board the Empress we cover 1500-2000 nautical miles in Indonesia and Malaysia each year, supposed centres of biodiversity. In cowries our average count at the end of a trip is in the 50ies, rarely over 60, never over ten or twelve on a single dive site. The only times more species are found is by beachcombing as you did (33 sp. as mentioned earlier). That includes moderately rare species such as fernandoi, rabaulensis, martini, and a fragment of hirasei which we once found in grit sample dived from 60 metres. In Tanzania, which I think I know quite well, the species count is in the 40 ies, many more species have been listed, usually based on single finds, but 44 is what I could find or definitely prove to exist in an area of 100 square kilometres in 30 years of collecting in that place.

[Notocypraea]

Interesting post.

The most species I've collected in the same general locality (an island off the east coast of Malaysia) in a day is 10.

over two days diving (incl. brief intertidal) at the above locality was... 13

In Southern Australia (Port Macdonnell) I collected 4 species of Notocypraea (~8 different forms) on the same day once.
comptoni, piperita, angustata & declivis.
(comptoni, comptoni f. casta (pure white and orange pastal colour), intermediate comptoni form, angustata, green overcast angusta, declivs both spotted & unspotted, small white species (species x?) and piperita) Not bad for cold water!

I'm actually heading to North Sulawesi for diving with my wife in October 2008. A week in the Lembeh strait. I was actually hoping to see and photograph my first live species of allied cowries!?

Hopefully I might see some varied Cypraea species as well!?

[ozcyp]

The most cypraea I ever found in a days collecting came to 12. It was a perfect day with an extreme low tide. I had around 5 hours of collecting time.

It started early in the morning at Dingo Beach and Nellie Bay, where I found cypraea erosa, kieneri, walkeri, quadrimaculata and hirundo in and around Stolida Rock.
The kieneri, hirundo and quadrimaculata were found inside tiny dead coral chunks on the sandbanks. The walkeri were only found on seagrass areas.

Then in the late afternoon, I went over to Hideaway Bay where I searched under huge dead slabs of coral. There I found arabica, eglantina, lynx, vitellus, annulus, brevidentata fluctuans and my first ever tiger. I found the fluctuans out on Gloucester reef.

[Sleepycat]

I remember getting 12 spp in a day in northern NSW at Shark Reef near Iluka at least once in the late 80s. I don't have the trip records but it probably looked like this:

vitellus, caurica, erosa, errones, labrolineata, caputserpentis, xanthodon, annulus, listeri, gracilis, clandestina, humphreysii

[ozcyp]

Here's a picture of an array of species collected from Dingo Beach and Hideaway Bay. The brevidentata were found at another location in Mackay, but happened to be on the tray when I photographed these shells.

[benicypraea]

Dear Ozcyp:

Congratulations for this wonderful selection of fresh cowries taken in Qld. Did you get larger cowries, like Mauritia mauritiana, Cypraea tigris...?
Some time ago a friend of mine brought to me a pretty Cribrarula cribraria melwardi from Qld, according to the label it was collected in coral reef in low tide.
I think this species could be find also at Dingo Beach and/or Hideaway Bay. What do you think about it?
Regards.

_________________
I started to collect seashells since my childhood but I decided to focus on cowries in 1990. I like all kind of cowries, freaks, normal, nigers, dwarfs...
Also I collect conidae and Muricidae.

[ozcyp]

Hi Benicypraea,

I've personally never found mauritiana in the Mackay area, but I wouldn't be surprised if some were to be found around one of the many islands adjacent to the coast. One island named "Saint Bee's", is made up of lava rock and would be an ideal habitat for mauritiana.

Regarding tiger cowries, I've only ever come across 2 shells and both were at Hideaway Bay, near Dingo Beach. One was a juvinile, observed at night feeding on seagrass. The other was found in a crack on a reef at lowtide, it had very dark terminals and was fully adult.
There is an abundance of tiger cowries at certain reefs on the Great Barrier Reef, however not many collectors get a chance to observe this due to the high cost of hiring a boat and getting out there.

I believe cribraria can be found occasionally on Gloucester Reef, which is close to Dingo Beach. These can only be found on extreme lowtides or by scuba diving. The majority of cribraria melwardi come from southern reefs below Mackay. An example would be the reef on Wilson Island, which is located out from Rockhampton, just north of the tropic of Capricorn.

Kind regards,
Iain

[Tigris84]

well, it is not very much comparing to the amounts of any of you, but i have found 4 species of cowries on one day at the same reef in the Red Sea while snorkling.. not rare ones as well, but nice specimens i think. the ones i found are:

Mauritia grayana
Lyncina carneola
Erronea caurica quinquefasciata
Luria isabella

all at a max. depth of 1,5 metres.

kind regards, Jeroen
_________________
A just-started Cowry collector (3 years)

[benicypraea]

Dear Ozcyp:

Thanks a lot for detailed and above all, interesting info about large cowries like mauritiana (very hard to get in perfect condition) and tigris (one of my favourites cowries) from Qld, Australia.
One friend of mine has in his coll. several tigris collected in Western Australia more than 10 years ago. He said me that the area of collecting (but I don´t know where is it) was good because the specimens collected from there were really enormous, some of them larger than a good schilderiana... The old times...
Speaking about the old times: I have one tigris from a very unusual locality: Pulau Muara Besar, North Brunei (China Sea). White with dark dots. Probably a very rich area in shells, not only cowries. The area was rich in Tibia melanocheilus, according to my friend, who visited this area while he was working in a ship, a very rare shell some years ago, and found fresh dead in several beaches from this small area after storms.
Unfortunately, the specimen of Cribrarula cribraria melwardi in my collection has not label so I don´t know where it was collected exactly; anyway now I have a good idea about a possible locality for this. Tks.
The collector found only two, but I think is not a rare cowry. Probably they live under coral blocks and stones in the intertidal zone of the reef. He was looking Conus for scientific study (radulae, venom).
Also I have in the collection one eglantina collected in the intertidal area near Proserpine (Hideaway Bay??). I think is also a common shell there.
Xanthodon: Mackay and Stanage Bay. The both were collected time ago. Nice shells.
Tigris84: You found 4 cowries in Red Sea. This is not a bad thing, specially for the depth of your findings. Probably with some effort you could find more interesting species (nebrites, for instance).
Regards
_________________
I started to collect seashells since my childhood but I decided to focus on cowries in 1990. I like all kind of cowries, freaks, normal, nigers, dwarfs...
Also I collect conidae and Muricidae.

[ozcyp]

Hi Benicypraea,

Cribraria melwardi are one of those species which can be found in good numbers if your looking in the right areas. It's possible to collect a good amount of variations from standard looking spotted shells, through to the pure white form which are sought after by collectors, all on the same reef. Another location where they can be found in good numbers is Lamont Reef, a place where you'll also find melanistic and rostrated cowries such as arabica, listeri and eglantina. Lamont Reef is located further south than the previously mentioned Wilson Island reef. Herron Island is situated between both localities.

You asked previously if I had pictures of the melanistic and rostrated cowries I collected at Stanage Bay. Unfortunately my cypraea collection is packed away at present, as I'm soon locating from Australia to the USA. I will gladly share some pictures once I'm setup over there.

You mentioned tiger cowries were one of your favourite families. I'm a big fan of them also, particularly Hawaiian schilderiana's. Here's a picture of some of mine for interest sakes.

Regards
Iain

[Tigris84]

[benicypraea]

Hello Ozcyp:
Wonderful selection of tigris schilderiana and pantherina!
Congratulations. They´re great shells. I have in my collection, above all, tigris from Philippines, Mozambique, Natal, Fidji, Kenya, etc. The specimen of tigris schilderiana from my coll. comes from Aleuwa, Oahu Island, Hawaii archipelago.
About melwardi: Intergrades patterns in this cowry are very interesting. Great remarks. The specimen I have is somewhat typical. Not fully white, with a nice dorsal line and lacunae. I saw only several white shells in some collections but my feeling is that fully white shells of melwardi are not so common (but its only a personal opinion...)
Another interesting cowry for me is Cribrarula catholicorum. I don´t know if you get sometimes this species there, in Qld. Some people told that is very rare in New Caledonia, for instance, and not only for m&r catholicorum. I don´t know about the presence of this cowry in Qld.
The specimen I have in the coll. come from Lamen Bay, Api Island, Vanuatu Archipelago.
Hello tigris84: Very interesting remarks about subfossil cowries from Egypt. Perhaps in the future you can be interested in a nice exchange for one subfossil nebrites. I have, for instance, subfossil cribraria esontropia esontropia, helvola, erosa, and even some fossil cowries. I´m always interested in subfossil cowries, specially in good condition. Good luck in your next trips to Egypt!
Regards
_________________
I started to collect seashells since my childhood but I decided to focus on cowries in 1990. I like all kind of cowries, freaks, normal, nigers, dwarfs...
Also I collect conidae and Muricidae.