454 NATURAL HISTORY OF HAWAII. 



known to occur in the tropical waters of the globe. Of this number one hun- 

 dred and thirty-three are enumerated by one authority as occurring in the 

 Eastern Asiatic province in which the Hawaiian Islands are included. Twenty- 

 five species and well-marked varieties have been recorded from this group. 

 Specimens of all but three of the Hawaiian species Mr. Thaanum reports having 

 personally secured, chiefly in the vicinity of Hilo, while the writer has secured 

 a similar number of species on the Island of Oahu. In the little collection of 

 common beach shells secured on the four excursions mentioned are ten species 

 ranging in size from tiny shells less than a half inch in length to heavy solid 

 specimens three and a half inches long. Unfortunately most of the beach 

 specimens secured are badly worn, in some cases past positive identification. 

 The great weight of the dead shell in proportion to its size makes its progress 

 over the wave-swept reef much slower and the grinding much more severe 

 than would be the case with a lighter shell that might be caught up and laid 

 down again high on the sandy shore, well out of harm's way, by a single wave. 



The cones are fond of the coral reefs and hide in holes in the rocks on the 

 reef and along the shore. They are carnivorous animals, and move slowly 

 about seeking their food, which is usually obtained by means of curious poison 

 fangs by which they paralyze their prey. 



The most common and without doubt the most beautiful of the cone shells 

 found in the dredgings from Pearl Harbor and Honolulu harbor is a species 

 identified as Conns qucrchius. The shell itself is a delicate tan color and is 

 ornamented with numerous parallel revolving piMi-lines of In-own. Over this 

 in fresh specimens is a thin rich-brown epidermis. They appear to prefer the 

 muddy brackish water conditons at the harbor mouth to a life on the coral reef 

 in the open sea. A more ordinary type of marking is found on the spotted 

 cone shell.- It is about two inches long and has the creamy white ground ir- 

 regularly covered with chocolate spots about the size of a pin-head. These 

 spots are somewhat thickened towards the ends, thus forming three ill-defined 

 bands about the shell. 



The Hebrew cone -^ is so called from a fancied resemblance of the large 

 deep-chocolate colored markings on the white ground to the characters used 

 in the Hebrew alphabet. It is an inch and a half in length and is a reef- 

 dwelling species, found usually on sandy shores with fragments of broken 

 shells and other debris. 



The largest species is the lettered cone,^ which bears row after row of 

 oblong brown characters on its white surface. A yellow undercolor groups 

 these rows into indistinct bands. Specimens seven or eight inches in length 

 are not uncommon, especially on the coast of Molokai, and a number of very 

 large specimens come up in the dredgings of Honolulu harbor. 



Unfortunately the worn specimens of any of the cones can seldom be 

 identified without reference to perfect examples. The local collector should 

 have no trouble, however, in identifying any shell he may secure by use of 



^ Conns piiUrnriiin. ^ Comix hebra'us. *Co)Uis litti'rntiis var. miUepunrfatiis. 



