Hi Conch-L'ers,
 
I waited a couple of days to post the initial results of
the cone experiment because I wasn't sure exactly
how some of the situations had turned out, and I'm
still not completely certain, but here's how the evening
unfolded:
 
I dropped all five cones mentioned in the last installment
into the aquarium, along with the ten cowries.  One of
the first things I learned was that fifteen molluscs intro-
duced into a 55 gallon aquarium can produce a lot of
slime (or "snial slobber," as I believe one young lady put
it).  Within an hour, all the fish were running circles and
gasping for air, so I took my skimmer and dipped out
all the slime that I could catch, and repeated this ex-
ercise several times during the evening.  It worked, and
eventually the water cleared up, and the slime bubbles
stopped covering the surface.
 
It looked like things were shaping up for an absolute
cowry slaughter from the very beginning.  The cowries
immediately hit the aquarium walls and headed for
the top, and the big textile cone, Art, was the first to
take chase, followed immediately by brothers Tom and
Mark Episcopatus.  All three headed for different
cypraea cauricas, and the first to reach one was Tom.
It just so happened that this was the caurica which
had shed a piece of his foot earlier.  His reaction made
me realize why cowries aren't extinct.  The cowry had
crawled right to the water line, and positioned himself
parallel to the water's surface, with about a third of the
shell above the water line.  As Tom climbed up on the
cowry, looking for an appropriate spot to harpoon his
dinner, the cowry withdrew most of his foot into the
shell, clinging to the glass only with the part of his foot
that was above the water.  Tom spent several minutes
trying to figure out where he should sting the cowry,
and then...crawled away!
 
Art Textile had been climbing toward a cowry not far
from the one Tom went after, but as he approached
his prey, I suppose Tom's cowry either looked or
smelled better.  About the time Tom decided the
situation was hopeless, Art thought he would give
it a try, but the results were the same.  He didn't
seem to find a place to harpoon the guy either, so he
turned his attention to a big fat arabica a few inches
away.  The arabica stayed stationary while Art
climbed up on him, and just when I was sure he
was about to be eaten, the arabica released himself
from the glass.  Both he and Art tumbled to the
bottom, breaking their union.  While Art seemed a
bit disoriented, the arabica crawled over to the glass,
and climbed straight back to his perch at the top of
the aquarium.
 
Mark Episcopatus was also on the prowl at this time,
and I got a bit more education by watching what he
did.  The third cypraea caurica was easing along
near the water line when Mark approached him from
behind.  Just as Mark touched him with his siphon,
the caurica seemed to realize he was in danger, and
sped away from the cone!  From watching these
cones and cowries interact, it appears that all of
the cowry species in my tank are capable of moving
about five times as fast as any of the cones, at
least moving horizontally on a vertical pane of glass.
 
Mark turned around and headed back toward brother
Tom, and as they met, they seemed to tip their hats
to each other, and continued on their way.  They were
certainly not in a cannibalistic mood with all the
cowries crawling around, which was just as I suspected.
 
(to be continued...)
 
I had initially refrained from naming any of the cowries,
as I feared they wouldn't survive long enough to justify
naming them, but more tomorrow, including the exploits
of my cypraea lynx, "Helmut."
 
Cheers,
 
 
 
Don