Dear Lynn, Guido, Emilio P and other cowrie and/or sinistral freak freaks,

The sentinel discovery of all the left-handed cowries was that of Jack
Aitken, who took a sinistral C. stolida brevidentata off Tryon Island,
Queensland, Australia in early 1967.  It was reported in the 6/67 Keppel
Bay Tidings and illustrated in the 9/67 number of that periodical (photo by
Don Byrne).  That specimen has changed hands at least twice, last
dispatched by Luigi Raybaudi Massilia.

Cypraea declivis:  To my knowledge, The earliest mention of a sinistral
specimen is by S. Peter Dance in the 2/72 La Conchiglia.  This item has
been cited by countless authors since then, but I know of no hard data, not
even a photograph.

C. angustata:  Mrs. Peg Altorfer (Port Macdonnell, South Australia) found a
living example "in daylight, under rocks [sic] during an average low tide"
at Racecourse Bay (in her home town) during the second week of February,
1977.  She reported it to be "only the second Notocypraea angustata found
in the area over the last twenty five [sic] years."  It is reported at
<http://home.sprynet.com/~wfrank/reverse.htm>. The whereabouts of the older
find remain a mystery to me.  Perhaps it is the same shell as the C.
"declivis" cited above.

The exclusivity of the Southern Hemisphere was finally terminated with the
(illustrated) report of a sinistral Cypraea mus apparently collected
(apparently alive) by Royce Hubert in Venezuela.  It the time of
publication (HSN 4/85; Burgess was probably "in press"), it was in the
possession of Alex Kerstitch (Tuscon, AZ).

Aside from the stuff in my earlier posting, I have no other records on file.

Harry


At 02:39 PM 6/29/00 -0400, you wrote:
>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

Harry G. Lee
Suite 500
1801 Barrs St.
Jacksonville, FL 32204
USA   904-384-6419
<[log in to unmask]>
Visit the Jacksonville Shell Club Home Page at:
http://home.sprynet.com/~wfrank/jacksonv.htm

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