Short Subjects from March, 1996
News of the American Museum
The molluscan collections at the American Museum of Natural History were dealt a double blow this year, with the death of Senior Research Assistant and Collections Manager Walter Sage and the retirement of Department Chairman William K. Emerson. Part of the great void left by the loss of these two malacological leaders has been filled by Yae Ri Kim, who has been hired in Walter's position as manager of the volunteer staff who work with the collections. Born in Seoul, Korea, Yae Ri grew up in Hawaii, then did her undergraduate work in biology and marine biology at the University of Southern California, and her graduate work in physiology at Georgetown University.
ARGONAUTA Publishes Cone Articles
Cone collectors are having a field day! Now, along with the new Manual of the Conidae, Vol. 1, everything's coming up cones! The Argonauta, quarterly journal of the International Association of Malacology (A.M.I.), has three cone articles in recent issues. E. Rolán and G. Raybaudi Massila have "Spawning and Development of Mediterranean Conus: aquarium observations" in the Vol. IX (1-6) June 1995 issue, and the whole of Vol. VIII is a Conus number. December 1994 (7-12) contains D. Röckel's Conus tuberculosus Tomlin, 1937, a disregarded Conus species" and the 61-page extensive "New Investigation on the radular teeth of Conus -- Part II" by Rolán and Massila, heavily illustrated with full-page color plates of Conus. (Part I was published in Vol VIII, No. 1-6, along with W. Korn's "An attempt in SEM Studies of Conus Egg Capsules.") For more information about these articles or for a subscription ($50.00 per year to U.S.), write Roberto Ubaldi, President, A.M.I., Vicolo del Fosso del Fontanile, 20, 1125 Acilia, Roma, Italy.
Shells of Belgium
A Delsaerdt, editor of the Belgian Society for Conchology's fine publication, Gloria Maris, and L. Steppe have done a special issue of Gloria Maris on "Shells of the Belgian Coast." With 8 full color plates, and scientific and common name and description for each species, this 20-page publication is a real help in identifying shells from this region. No English edition is available, but Dutch or French versions may be ordered from the senior author, A. Delsaerdt at Stationstraat 10, 3200 Aarschot, Belgium. Tel: 016/56.19.70. No price given.
Lure of the Liguus
If Liguus are your passion, this one's for you. Lure of the Liguus: The Florida Tree Snails by Henry Close has been publishd by Of Sea and Shore Publications. With three color plates and a color cover, 30 black and white plates, maps, tables, figures and more, it should prove a helpful guide for any lig aficionado. It's $19.95, plus $3.00 U.S. postage. Order from Of Sea and Shore at P.O. Box 219, Port Gamble, WA 98364-0219.
Raising Clams
RAISING CLAMS has become a project for the Australian Navy, that is, raising giant clams, Tridacna gigas, up out of artificial breeding grounds off Orpheus Island and moving them to a secret location on the Great Barrier Reef. The object of this exercise, for which the navy used large landing craft, was to help the endangered animals make a comeback. About 3,000 (20 tons) of the clams were moved in this secret maneuver, according to Anne Miller in the Pacific Shell Club Newsletter, in order to protect the clams from poachers who are fishing them to extinction.
New Species Named for COA Members
Donn Tippett's paper in The Nautilus (V. 109, No. 4), Dec. 29, 1995, "Taxonomic Notes on the Western Atlantic Turridae (Gastropoda : Conoidea)," names six new species of Turridae (and discusses and illustrates some previously described species). Three of these species are named for members of the Conchologists of America. Sediliopsis riosi, dredged off Sao Paulo, Brasil, is named for Dr. Eliezer de C. Rios. Clathurella eversoni, collected by SCUBA off Dania, Florida is named for Gene Everson. Fenimorea petiti, dredged in the Gulf of Mexico from Cedar Key to the Florida Keys, is named for Richard Petit.
Land Shell Lovers, Take Note:
South African D. W. Aiken spent many years on his systematic study of South Africa's terrestrial mollusks, but passed away before it could be completed. The Strandloper, Bulletin of the Conchological Society of Southern Africa, has recently published a shortened version of one chapter from the work of Don Aiken on the land shell genus Gulella Pfeiffer, 1856 (Streptaxidae) in its September 1995 number (243). Of these small-to-minute predator/scavengers active in leaf litter in northeast S. Africa, some 50 species are included in this abridged version. The Society has also published the full chapter on Gulella as Special Publication No. 6, at $10.00 U.S. including postage. Both are available from the Society at 7 Jan Booysen Street, Annlin, Pretoria 1082, South Africa.
South African Shells on Stamps
Five exceptionally elegant species of South African shells are featured on a recent set of stamps issued by the South African Post Office. The commemorative stamps, known simply as "Seeskulpe" (or Seashells), are available in strips or full sheets. They have no denomination printed on them, instead bearing the words, "Standard Postage," and they feature Afrovoluta pringlei, Lyria africana, Marginella mosaica, Conus pictus, and Cypraea fultoni.
