www.cowries.info

[Nathan.M]

Hi everyone,

I'm new here, so apologies if I've done anything wrong.

I've recently bought two Cypraea Ocellata off ebay France for a very cheap price of 4,50€ each. I personally really doubted their authenticity but... I was still hopeful

Here are the links for their listings.

https://www.ebay.fr/itm/Cypraea-Ocellata-Papua-New-Guinea-26-8-mm-N-2-Rare/224028620644?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2648

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Cypraea-Ocellata-Papua-New-Guinea-27-9-mm-N-2-Rare/224049627767?hash=item342a660277:g:LIkAAOSwLIJe62Cu&frcectupt=true

The photos aren't very good, but I assure you mine would be worse.

I read Felix's great article on the amended distribution of Cypraea Ocellata, and he mentioned that the supply had dried up from Papua New Guinea after the death of a certain dealer which does sound suspicious...

Just wondering if you could shed any light on the situation regarding Cypraea Ocellata in Papua New Guinea.

Thanks

Nathan

[felix]

as I wrote in Vol. 1, the species has been dredged at Goodenough Is. in PNG, but has not been found in the general area since 1963. I would be mildly surprised if such shells appeared on eBay.

[Nathan.M]

Hi Felix,

Thanks for your response. So you would say they're not real Ocellata from PNG?

What would you say they were then?

Thanks.

Nathan

[felix]

Those in your photo might be from India