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

----------------------------------------------------------------------
[log in to unmask] - a forum for informal discussions on molluscs
To leave this list, click on the following web link:
http://listserv.uga.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=conch-l&A=1
Type your email address and name in the appropriate box and
click leave the list.
----------------------------------------------------------------------