Hi Keith,

I would probably blow a gasket just seeing a Cassis cornuta in its natural habitat, let alone four! My wife and I have dove a lot on both Maui and the Kona Coast and never saw a helmet or triton, just huge manta rays! I did find one beach where there were so many Terebra maculatas that the sand looked like a city map of New York.

Best regards,
Jim


-----Original Message-----
>From: Keith Zeilinger <[log in to unmask]>
>Sent: Jun 17, 2014 3:22 AM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: [CONCH-L] Cassis cornuta  behavior
>
>I was diving on Maui last week in an area of silty sand with occasional
>large basalt boulders at about 100 feet.  I saw a mature C. cornuta
>upside down next to one of the large boulders.  I could see it from a
>distance because of it's shiny yellow bottom and I'm thinking:  Oh Boy,
>freshly dead helmet shell.  What I discovered was 3 more live helmets
>arrayed around it, pointed at it, only a couple of inches away.  The
>upside-down individual was quite visibly alive so I set it right-side-up
>and checked each of the other three.  All four shells appeared to be
>male by their shell and spine shape.  I could not figure out if I was
>witness to a slow-motion brawl or a slow-motion rescue.  Either these
>three had pinned number four against the boulder and flipped him over,
>or he was putting out a signal that he was in trouble and they came to
>help.  I have been diving in Hawaii for 41 years and I have never seen
>this behavior before.  Comments please.  Keith Zeilinger
>
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