A Cypraea special: John Batt
"My interest in shells began as a child collecting many different
families but over the years, I have gradually reduced my interest in
many families and concentrated on my greatest passion, the Cypraeidae. Now wiser and over 30, I specialise only in cowries and have a
collection of over 1,300 different species, subspecies, forms and
variations. Most of all I have enjoyed collecting trips to Tahiti,
Raratonga, Hawaii and most recently New Caledonia and Fiji in search of
the more unusual specimens."
Mauritia mauritania Linnaeus, 1758 from New Caledonia. One
specimen is very large for a melanistic mauritania at 103mm with
a slightly rostrated anterior canal. The smaller specimen was self-collected in September 2003 in Goro, on the southern tip of New Caledonia
between large boulders in just 6in of water at low tide. A real
prize – a self-collected melanistic and rostrate specimen.
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.
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.
Lyncina broderipii Sowerby, 1832 92mm. Dived in large rock crevice at 45–50m. A beautiful specimen of this classic rarity.
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.
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.
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.
Zoila jeaniana aurata Raybaudi, 1979 W. Australia. The first
specimen is a hump-backed specimen at 90mm, the second an 88mm shell
with dorsal spotting and the third is a 60mm dwarf. All were trawled by
Taiwanese fishermen in the late 1970s.
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 batavierensis Lorenz & Morrison, 2001, dived off Kalbarri on sponge at 35m.
Umbilia armeniaca Raybaudi, 1993 The typical specimen of 100mm
from the Great Australian Bight; the U. a. brunnea is from Port Lincoln, dived
on sponges at 50–60m.
