284 
PACIFIC SCIENCE, Vol. XI, July, 1957 
These geographic ranges are based primarily 
upon an exhaustive examination of the entire 
Indo-Pacific collection in the U. S. National 
Museum. In the interest of accuracy, only 
records by collectors known to be reliable 
are included. If a range is represented solely 
by specimens in the Museum, this fact is 
indicated by a phrase such as "U. S. N. M. 
collections are from.” If the Museum collec- 
tions contain but a few specimens of a given 
species, the specific localities are enumerated. 
In order to expand the distributional pat- 
terns for many species, dependable published 
sources were consulted. Unless otherwise 
specified, the Australian records are based 
upon Allan (1950), Hawaiian records upon 
Tinker (1952), records from the Philippines 
upon Faustino (1928), from "southern Japan” 
(this term refers to Kyushu Province) and the 
Ryukyu Islands upon Kuroda and Habe 
(1952). Formosan records were taken from 
Kuroda (1941), and records for East Africa, 
the Seychelles, and Madagascar are from von 
Martens (1880). Particularly useful in com- 
pleting the ranges of the Terebridae, Mitridae, 
and Conidae were the publications of Daut- 
zenberg (1935, 1937). Where the nomencla- 
ture of a species is in doubt, only National 
Museum records are cited, with no reference 
to published reports. 
Each species is described as "common,” 
"fairly common,” or "uncommon” in Micro- 
nesia, based upon the frequency of its occur- 
rence in the National Museum collections. 
These terms lack precision but give some in- 
dication of relative abundance. 
DISCUSSIONS OF THE SPECIES 
Family PATELLIDAE — Limpets 
Genus Patella Linne, 1758 
Patella stellaeformis Reeve, 1842. 
Hirase and Taki (1951) pi. 57, fig. 2. 
Characteristically 1 to 1.25 inches long and 
bright yellow within. 
P. stellaeformis typically is found attached 
to exposed rocks of intertidal reef flats, fre- 
quently nestled in rock crevices. It is found 
most commonly on seaward reefs along, or 
just shoreward of, the reef edge, but occasion- 
ally it occurs near the edge of lagoon reef 
flats. Adaptations to its precarious environ- 
ment are its muscular foot, with which it 
clings to the rocks, and its streamlined shell, 
which offers little resistance to the breaking 
waves. Ordinarily its shell is camouflaged by 
an overgrowth of coralline algae, vermetids, 
and other encrustations so that it blends with 
its similarly encrusted rocky substrate. Like 
most limpets, P. stellaeformis is herbivorous, 
and uses its radula to scrape algae from the 
rock surfaces. 
geographic range: USNM collections 
are from southern Japan, and from the Mari- 
ana, Marshall, Gilbert, Caroline, Loyalty, Sa- 
moan, Cook, Society, and Tuamotu islands. 
Reported from Formosa and the Philippines 
but not from Australia or Hawaii. Common 
in Micronesia. 
Family TROCHIDAE-Top Shells 
Genus Monodonta Lamarck, 1801 
Monodonta labio (Linne, 1758). 
Hirase and Taki (1951) pi. 66, fig. 8. 
Characteristically 1.25 to 1.5 inches long, 
with purple and black beading and silvery 
white within the aperture. 
The. recent Micronesian collections contain 
only two specimens. Both were found living 
among intertidal rocks on the beach at Tomil 
Harbor, Yap. 
GEOGRAPHIC range: USNM collections 
are from the south China coast, southern 
Japan, the Ryukyu, Philippine, and Caroline 
islands, Borneo, and northern Australia. Re- 
ported from Madagascar but not from Ha- 
waii. Uncommon in Micronesia. M. labio 
apparently is found along continental shores 
and high islands but not along the shores of 
atolls. 
