Guido, Harry, Emilio P and all,

Guido, you wondered about non-South-African sinsitral cowries. Of course
the genus Cypraeovula, the subject of Emilio's original inquiry, is
limited to South Africa. But Burgess in his 1985 Cowries of the World
(p. 269) provides a brief discussion of such freaks in which he mentions
that "Only seven or eight have been recorded, and only four are
well-documented." Two of these are not South African and are not
cypraeovulids.

He says "Mrs. Glenda Pini of Innisfail, Queensland has a sinistral
Cypraea capensis Gray [Cypraeovula].  Enrico Capponnetto of Vico Equese,
Italy has a C. capensis [Cypraeovula] collected by Viva Armstrong of
Kempton Park, South Africa. Luigi Rabaudi Massilia has two, one a
sinistral Cypraea stolida Linn. variation brevidentata Sowerby,
[Bistolida] live-collected from the isle of Tryon in the Capricorn
group.  His C. capensis [Cypraeovula] is from South Africa, exact
locality not recorded." [The Cypraeovula are the three specimens Harry
mentioned, it would seem...names, places and species match up.] The C.
stolida brevidentata from Tryon Island interests me because it is from
this island that a number of melanistic cowries have come. Something in
the water? (Of course most and best known melanistic cowries come from
New Caledonia.)

Burgess goes on to say that three others are known to exist, one of
which is a non-South African species: "Cypraea declivis [Notocypraea]
Sowerby is thought to be in an Australian museum." He mentions that a
Cypraea edentula [Cypraeovula] and a Cypraea fuscodentata [Cypraeovula]
are recorded from South African beaches.  I do not know if the two beach
Cypraeovula are among those already mentioned.

There is a photo on Burgess' Plat 19 of what appears to be a freak and a
sinistral Cypraea tigris Linne from the Sulu Archipelago in the
Philippines, but Burgess explains that while it is decidedly a freak, it
is not sinistral: the photo was reversed in printing.

Burgess notes that all sinsitral cowries so far recorded (1985) have
been from Southern Hemisphere waters.

Lynn Scheu
Louisville, KY