I was going through some of my old HMS news (in the 70s) and saw several
articles that described people finding one or both of these species in
Hawaii almost as part of a bloom of both species.  From what I hear,
possibly coming from dealers, is that both of these species are now likely
extinct.  If true this would be the first cases that I am aware of a
totally marine species becoming extinct this century (certainly there are
seabirds that went extinct as well, and last century there was the
Steller's Sea Cow).  It has been suggested that run-off sediments from
building developments on the major Hawaiian islands are the main cause for
these extinctions(?), but I would think that the more isolated islands in
the Leeward Islands like French Frigate Shoals wouldn't have been impacted
by development and there should still be populations of these species
there.

So I just wondered if, indeed, these species do seem to be truely extinct
(I realize that there are always possiblities like what happened with the
Ivory Woodpecker) or is it that the species has been depopulated on the
main islands and still exist elsewhere in Leeward islands? And if the
species truely is gone in the leeward islands too if there is another
force that has contributed to their extinction.  It seems hard to believe
that Shell collectors would have been the main force causing this
extinction.

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