Micronesian Gastropods — Demond 
325 
Family VASIDAE— Vase Shells 
Genus Vasum Roding, 1798 
Vasum ceramicum (Linne, 1758). 
Hirase and Taki (1951) pi. 99, fig. 8. 
Much larger and higher spired than the 
commoner V. turbinellus . Typically 3 to 5 
inches long. 
The recent Micronesian collections include 
only two specimens, both of which were taken 
alive from rocks below low tide line on the 
windward lagoon reef flats at Ifaluk. 
geographic range: Apparently limited to 
the Pacific and uncommon in Micronesia. 
USNM records are from the Philippine, Mari- 
ana, Caroline, Marshall and Gilbert islands, 
New Guinea, New Caledonia, Fiji, Samoa and 
Niaufou. Reported from the Ryukyu Islands 
and northern Australia but not from Flawaii. 
Vasum turbinellus (Linne, 1758) (syn. nigra 
Perry, 1811; cornigera Lamarck, 1822). 
Hirase and Taki (1951) pi. 99, fig. 9- 
A heavy, low-spired shell, characteristically 
2.5 to 3 inches long. 
According to records with the recent Mi- 
cronesian collections, V. turbinellus lives in a 
variety of habitats. It is apparently most 
abundant on seaward reef flats, both wind- 
ward and leeward, where it lives among rocks 
and in crannies in both living and dead coral. 
The species is commonly found in turbulent 
water just shoreward of the reef edge, but it 
also occurs in tide pools across the entire reef 
flat, ranging into the upper intertidal zone. 
In addition, it has been taken from surge 
channels of seaward reefs, on windward la- 
goon reef flats, on shallow small lagoon reefs, 
along exposed rocky beaches, and among 
seaweed on sandy lagoon shelves. It is fre- 
quently so heavily encrusted with coralline 
algae, Foraminifera, vermetids, and Hipponyx 
as to be difficult to distinguish from the reef 
surface. 
geographic range: USNM collections are 
from the Red Sea and Mauritius eastward 
through the Indian and Pacific oceans to 
Samoa, and from the south China coast, the 
Ryukyu and Mariana islands south to New 
Caledonia. Reported from northern Australia 
but not from Hawaii. Very common in Mi- 
cronesia. 
Family CONIDAE-Cone Shells 
Genus Conus Linne, 1758 
Conus adamsoni Broderip, 1836 (syn. rhododen- 
dron Couthouy, 1839). 
Platt (1949) col. pi. on p. 73, fig. 5 [as C. 
rhododendron ]. 
A very rare species. In the entire USNM 
collections there are only two specimens, one 
taken at Samoa by the U. S. Exploring Ex- 
pedition, the other given by natives to col- 
lectors at Onotoa. There is no specific locality 
or ecologic data for either specimen The 
species is reported from Australia (Platt, 
1949), but not from Hawaii. 
Conus arenatus Hwass, 1792. 
Characteristically 1 to 2.25 inches long, 
coronate, and white with many fine, brown, 
spirally arranged spots that occasionally form 
a zig-zag or banded pattern. 
The recent Micronesian collections contain 
only two worn specimens from Tomil Harbor, 
Yap; one from four feet of water in the harbor, 
the other from among dead coral heads on the 
tidal flat. 
Fig. 37. Conus arenatus Hwass. Cebu, Philippines 
(USNM 303520). 
