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PACIFIC SCIENCE, Vol. XI, July, 1957 
Abbott (1950) reports that S. lentiginosus oc- 
curs on the outer beach at Cocos-Keeling 
Atoll. 
geographic range: USNM collections 
are from East Africa eastward through the 
Indian and Pacific oceans to Samoa, and from 
the Ryukyu, Mariana, and Marshall islands 
south to New Guinea and New Caledonia. 
Reported from the Great Barrier Reef, Aus- 
tralia, but not from Hawaii. Common in 
Micronesia. 
Strombus luhuanus Linne, 1758. 
Hirase and Taki (1951) pi. 86, fig. 14; 
Kira (1955) pi. 15, fig. 8. 
Characteristically about two inches long 
with a bright orange-red aperture and black 
parietal wall. 
Lives in sand and coral rubble on lagoon 
shelves at depths of 2 to 12 feet. 
GEOGRAPHIC range: USNM collections 
are from East Africa and the Persian Gulf 
eastward through the Indian and Pacific 
oceans to the Society Islands, and from south- 
ern Japan, the Mariana, and Line islands south 
to New Caledonia and New South Wales, 
Australia. The National Museum has speci- 
mens of S. luhuanus from Palmyra, but none 
from Hawaii. The species is fairly common in 
Micronesia. 
Strombus maculatus Sowerby, 1842. 
Tinker (1952) p. 164, 3 figs, on p. 165; 
Morris (1952) p. 178, pi. 37, fig. 18, col. 
pl. 8, fig. 13. 
Characteristically 0.75 to 1 inch long and 
whitish with yellowish-brown markings and 
a white aperture. 
Found in sandy gravel between the rocks 
of seaward reef flats. 
GEOGRAPHIC range: USNM records are 
from the Mariana, Caroline, Marshall, Gil- 
bert, Phoenix, Line (Palmyra), Hawaiian, 
Cook, and Tuamotu islands, and from Easter 
Island. Uncommon in Micronesia, although 
abundant in Hawaii. 
Strombus mutabilis Swainson, 1821 (syn .floridus 
Lamarck, 1822). 
Characteristically slightly more than one 
inch long and variable in color. Typically 
whitish with brown markings and a flesh- 
colored aperture. 
Fig. 15. Strombus mutabilis Swainson. Saipan, Mari- 
ana Islands (USNM 607947). 
Ordinarily lives buried in the sand of lagoon 
shelves and slopes, among seaweed, from a 
few feet below low tide line to depths of 15 
feet. Also found buried in sand pockets on 
small lagoon reefs and on seaward reef flats. 
At Ifaluk, individuals were found in the 
sandy-muddy sediments of the lagoon shelf 
among turtle grass roots in 2 to 6 feet of wa- 
ter, in the sandy lagoon floor among algae 
( Halimeda sp.) at depths of 10 to 15 feet, and 
in sand on lagoon small reefs. At Bikini and 
Eniwetok specimens were collected from sand 
on the shallow seaward reef flats. Specimens 
were also found at Saipan buried among sea- 
weed on the sandy lagoon bottom of Tanapag 
Harbor at depths of 5 to 15 feet. 
GEOGRAPHIC range: USNM collections 
are from the entire east African coast and the 
Red Sea eastward through the Indian and 
Pacific oceans to the Society and Tuamotu 
islands, and from southern Japan, the Mari- 
ana and Marshall islands, south to northern 
Australia and New Caledonia. S. mutabilis is 
common in Micronesia, but apparently does 
not reach Hawaii, where the closely related 
5. maculatus is abundant. 
Genus Lambis Roding, 1798 
(Syn. Pterocera Lamarck, 1799) 
