Hi, Shea...

I haven't heard Makua Reef called "brokeback" before, but it looks that way when
it's out of water. Or, possibly, you are referring to some diver's experience
there during high surf?...

Yes, that's where I've taken many of the small Cypraea gaskoini, in mated pairs,
but I've also collected the larger (up to 1 inch) variety there, also.

You might find the last "stop" on the "tour" of Hawaiian Cypraea "islands" to be
of interest since it treats on the subject of C. gaskoini. There are a couple of
'animated' graphs which show differences in the North Shore populations and the
Waianae coast variety. It is at http://www.cowrys.org/research/gassy.htm .
Since this page is the last of a string pages on different Hawaiian cowries,
not many visitors make it all the through them to find it. That is somewhat
puzzling to me since all of these are written with the same witty repartee and
piercing insight that I put into most of my work. ;-)

Anyway, a more extensive article about C. gaskoini, written early in the '90s,
is also on-line at http://www.cowrys.org/research/gaskart.htm .

Aloha,

Bob Dayle
http://cowrys.org/capcowry/  The Captured Cowry homepage

+++++++++++++++++++
Quoting Night Diver <[log in to unmask]>:

> I've heard of these shells, they come from Brokeback Makua.
>
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