Ross,

That sounds like a good idea.

I remember an article some years ago about a group that charted a yacht.
They went to Iron Bottom Sound in the Solomons looking for Conus
gloriamaris, which they found, along with other rare shells.

Russ
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ross Mayhew" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, June 18, 2008 9:39 PM
Subject: [CONCH-L] Thanks Guido - and an "open for all" idea.


> Thanks for this Guido (and Lyle!!): It does seem to be an elusive
> species for "full" data, which is why i asked.
>
> An idea to toss out to all: why don't a group of conchologists get
> together and fit a yacht or fishing boat out for dredging down to say
> 250m, and head out to the Saya de Mahla Bank to look for shell-treasures
> such as Conus primus?  The number of really rare and undescribed species
> found may be incredible!!!  Yes there would be a risk that bad weather
> could cause delays or problems, or that equipment could break or the
> wrong localities could be sampled, but the sheer adventure of it all,
> and the potential for truly wonderful things to be found, would seem to
> make it worth the risks involved. Surely there is at least ONE wealthy
> collector out there somewhere who could be talked into sponsoring such a
> thing, or a group could pool resources...... or as a "plan B", someone
> could make contact with the captian or owner of a fishing vessal which
> trawls there, and persuade them to take them along if they pulled their
> weight.  A few trawls with "net liners" to get some of the smaller stuff
> that normally escapes during deep-water fishing, could yield some great
> surprises!!  I have the time, energy, enthusiasm and at least some of
> the expertise to go in on this, but alas no capital. Whatever happened,
> it would surely be an adventure and if successful would be positively
> "fabled" in the Shell and malacological Worlds!!  (A third way might be
> to persuade a museum or research institute to at least partly sponsor
> such a trip - and i;m sure other ways could be thought up as well:
> where's a Will there are always lots of relatives, and usually also a
> Way.)
>
> From a still soggy, still cool New Scotland,
> Ross.
> http://www.schnr-specimen-shells.com/
>
> Subject:
> Re: Best data set for Conus primus?
> From:Guido Poppe <[log in to unmask]>
> Date:
> Thu, 19 Jun 2008 04:00:27 +0800
>
>
> Dear All,
>
> I don't know if anybody got perfect data. It is a rare species, I had
> only one in the past and I viewed only 3 pieces closely. Two in the
> Baer collection (I got one of these, before he sold his collection)
> and one in the hands of Danila, a little before that. Prices were
> quite high at that time, now about 15-20 years ago.
>
> All are said to be dredged on the Saya de Malha bank. This is a very
> vague indication, but the Russians at that time told me the shells
> came from between 80 and 200 m deep. A classic depth for related
> species to C. primus.
>
> The Saya de Malha is in the Indian Ocean, open sea. It is an eldorado
> for undiscovered species. The Russians dredged there a little and
> came up with quantities of spectacular shells. A set described by
> Okutani was said to come from Surinamia, in fact they are from Saya
> de Malha - he reversed longitude and latitude.
>
> Best regards, Guido
>
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