A Cypraea special: John Batt
"My interest in shells began as a child collecting many different families but over the years, I have gradually focused my interest. I now specialise in only three families, Harpidae, Pleurotomariidae and my personal favourite, the Cypraeidae, of which I now have a collection of over 5,000 specimens. I have enjoyed collecting trips to Tahiti, Raratonga, Hawaii and most recently New Caledonia and Fiji in search of the more unusual specimens."
![Picture](/uploads/9/5/1/8/95187918/published/jb-02.jpeg?1520902877)
Bistolida stolida crossei Marie, 1869 New Caledonia. Set of five
melanistic and rostrate specimens, the largest being 49mm, the
smallest 33mm; all from Prony Bay, in southern New Caledonia, dived under
dead coral slabs at 3–5m.
![Picture](/uploads/9/5/1/8/95187918/published/jb-03.jpeg?1520902913)
Nesiocypraea teramachii neocaledonica Lorenz, 2002 55mm, New
Caledonia. A beautiful and very rare teramachii from New Caledonia. This
specimen was trawled off Banc Jumeau Ouest on sand bottom at 300m.
![Picture](/uploads/9/5/1/8/95187918/published/jb-05.jpg?1520903250)
Barycypraea fultoni amorimi f. massieri Lorenz, 1991 This is a
special favourite. A very nice specimen with none of the usual
granulation and a fine Maltese cross and a whopping 82mm. Trawled off
Quissiro on muddy sand bottom at 80–100m.
![Picture](/uploads/9/5/1/8/95187918/published/jb-06.jpg?1520903318)
Zoila eludens Raybaudi, 1991 On the right, a specimen 67mm from
the original batch of shells collected at Exmouth, NW Australia. The
specimen on the left is a newly acquired shell from South Murion
Island, Exmouth, dived inside sponge on limestone reef at 22m.
![Picture](/uploads/9/5/1/8/95187918/published/jb-071.jpg?1520903559)
Zoila friendii friendii Gray, 1831 W. Australia. Close up of six of
a great set of 15 variations of this species including a semi-golden
specimen from the Ludwig Gabielli collection. This specimen is pictured
in the Monograph of the Living Zoila by Felix Lorenz.
![Picture](/uploads/9/5/1/8/95187918/published/jb-08.jpg?1520903631)
Zoila jeaniana aurata Raybaudi, 1979 W. Australia. The first specimen is a hump-backed specimen at 90mm, the second an 88mm shell and the third is a 60mm dwarf. All were trawled by Taiwanese fishermen in the late 1970s.
![Picture](/uploads/9/5/1/8/95187918/published/jb-09.jpeg?1520903761)
Zoila ketyana ketyana Raybaudi, 1978 Another shell trawled by Taiwanese fishermen off Point Quobba, W. Australia at 125m. The shell on the right is Zoila ketyana bataviensis Lorenz & Morrison, 2001, dived off Kalbarri on sponge at 35m.
![Picture](/uploads/9/5/1/8/95187918/published/jb-10.jpg?1520903870)
Umbilia armeniaca Raybaudi, 1993 The typical specimen of 100mm from the Great Australian Bight; the U. a. diprotodon is from Port Lincoln, dived on sponges at 50–60m.