Micronesian Gastropods — Demond 
303 
motu islands, and from southern Japan and 
Hawaii south to northern Australia and New 
Caledonia. Fairly common in Micronesia. 
Cypraea (. Erosaria ) helvola Linne, 1758. 
Tinker (1952) p. 152, 4 figs, on p. 153 
[poor]; Morris (1952) p. 181, pi. 5, fig. 
9 [poor]; Kira (1955) pi. 19, fig. 14. 
Characteristically about three-fourths inch 
long with brown and white spots over a 
bluish-gray dorsum, pitted orange-brown 
margins with violet extremities, and an orange- 
brown base. 
Several specimens in the recent Micronesian 
collections were found under rocks and loose 
coral in shallow water on both windward and 
leeward ocean reef flats of Bikini and Eniwe- 
tok. Two other specimens were found living 
on the leeward side of Onotoa; one among 
coral on the seaward reef flat, the other in a 
cranny on a small reef in a pass through the 
leeward reef. In Hawaii, Ostergaard (1950) 
collected living specimens in shallow water 
on Waikiki reef. 
GEOGRAPHIC range: USNM collections are 
from East Africa eastward through the Indian 
and Pacific oceans to the Tuamotu and Mar- 
quesas islands, and from southern Japan and 
Hawaii south to New Guinea and the Loyalty 
Islands. Also reported from northeastern Aus- 
tralia. Common in Micronesia. 
Cypraea {Erosaria) poraria Linne, 1758. 
Tinker (1952) p. 152, 4 figs, on p. 153; 
Hirase and Taki (1951) pi. 94, fig. 10; 
Kira (1955) pi. 19, fig. 17. 
Characteristically about 0.5 to 0.75 inch 
long with irregular white spots over a brown- 
ish dorsum, a violet base, and pitted violet 
margins and extremities. 
Ordinarily collected among rocks below 
low tide line on seaward reef flats. One speci- 
men in the present collections was found 
living among dead coral branches of a small 
reef on the sandy lagoon shelf at Ifaluk. The 
top of this reef was usually 2 to 3 feet below 
the water surface at mean low tide and was 
never exposed even during spring tides. Ab- 
bott (1950) reports C. poraria living under 
boulders on the seaward portion of the barrier 
reef at Cocos-Keeling Atoll. According to 
Ingram (1947) this species is extremely rare 
in Hawaii. Over a period of several years, he 
collected only one living specimen, taken 
from the branches of living coral at a depth 
of several feet on Waikiki reef, in a moder- 
ately heavy surf. 
GEOGRAPHIC range: USNM collections are 
from Ceylon and Cocos-Keeling Atoll in the 
Indian Ocean eastward through the Pacific 
to the Society Islands, and from southern 
Japan and Hawaii south to New South Wales, 
Australia, and New Caledonia. Reported from 
Mauritius. Common in Micronesia. 
Subgenus Monetaria Troschel, 1863 
Cypraea {Monetaria) annulus Linne, 1758. 
Morris (1952) p. 181, col. pi. 5, fig. 4 [as 
C. annulata Linne]; Kira (1955) pi. 19, 
fig. 20. 
Characteristically 0.5 to 0.75 inch long. 
Grayish white with a dark orange ring en- 
circling the central dorsum, which is com- 
monly a darker bluish gray. 
The collections studied include only four 
lots of this species on which there is ecological 
data. Most of the specimens were found a few 
feet below low tide line in beds of turtle grass 
on sandy lagoon shelves. A few were living 
intertidally in rocky pools on lagoon reef 
flats. According to Allan (1950), large num- 
bers of C. annulus commonly occur together 
on the coral reefs of northeastern Australia, 
under stones in shallow water. She also re- 
ports their occurrence along the rocky shore 
of southeastern Australia, at and below low 
tide line. 
geographic range: USNM collections are 
from East Africa and the Red Sea eastward 
throughout the Indian and Pacific oceans to 
Samoa and Palmyra Atoll, and from southern 
Japan south to northeastern Australia and 
New Caledonia. Not found in Hawaii. Un- 
common in Micronesia. 
