102 
The N.Z. Journal of Science and Technology. 
[Mar. 
THE OCCASIONAL OCCURRENCE OF AUSTRALIAN AND 
SOUTH SEA ISLAND MOLLUSCS IN NEW ZEALAND. 
By Miss M. K. Mestayer. 
Of tropical and South Pacific marine shells, the cone shells, belonging to 
the genus Conus , are perhaps among the best known, as they are to be 
found in almost any gathering of South Sea Island shells, and their graceful 
shape and beautiful colouring make them general favourites. 
In his Catalogue of the Marine Mollusca, 1873, p. 23, the late Captain F. W. Hutton 
recorded two species of Conus as belonging to New Zealand, Conus zealandicus sp. nov. 
and Conus distans Hwass, N.Z. (Gumming). The type of Conus zealandicus is in the 
Dominion Museum. 
Dr. von Martens, in his Critical List of the Mollusca of New Zealand, p. 17, writes : 
“ ? Conus. I am not aware that any species of this beautiful genus has been found 
by later naturalists in New Zealand, but among the older conchologists New Zealand 
is mentioned by Favanne, in the third edition of D’Argenville’s Conchyliologie, 1780, 
vol. 2, pp. 536, 606, 691, 700, 702, and 722, as the locality of some species of Conus, in 
which we may recognize C. fuscatus Born, fulmineus Gmel., hyaena, inf or mis, and eques 
Hwass, and by Hwass himself in his monograph of this genus in the French Encyclopedic 
methodique for C. distans Solander. As all these are species belonging to the Indian 
Sea or to the intertropical Pacific, we may infer that they were collected on one of 
Cook’s voyages elsewhere, but not in New Zealand; G. v. Frauenfeld enumerates 
C. marmoreus, hebraeus, eburneus, virgo, cajpitaneus, mileo, striatus, and textile. (See 
above.) ” 
In the Manual of New Zealand Mollusca, 1880, F. W. Hutton, p. 41, the only 
addition to the original description of C. zealandicus Hutton is the remark, “ A single 
specimen from the Bay of Islands is in the Wellington Museum.” 
Two fossil species were recorded and described by Captain F. W. Hutton in his 
Catalogue of the Tertiary Mollusca and Echinodermata of New Zealand, 1873, p. 10— 
C. ornatus and C. trailli from Awamoa. These types are in the Dominion Museum. 
In Trans. N.Z. Inst., vol. 14, 1882, p. 169, “ Notes on New Zealand Mollusca,” 
Mr. Justice Gillies writes : “ Conus aplustre Peeve, add. to the Catalogue (1880). 
I have a single specimen from the Bay of Islands, but it is doubtful whether either 
this or C. zealandicus really belong to New Zealand. They may have been dropped 
from some South Sea whaler, of which many visit the Bay of Islands.” 
So far as I know, there has been no fresh record of the occurrence of this genus in 
New Zealand since the above note was published. Captain Hutton stated that his 
C. zealandicus was allied to C. anemone Lamarck, from Australia ; Mr. H. Suter says 
they are identical. In the Tryon and Pilsbry Manual of Conchology (I), vol. 6, 
pp. 67, 68, pi. 21, figs. 40, 41, Conus aplustre 
Reeve is described and figured, and C. 
zealandicus Hutton is classed as a synonym. 
C. anemone Lamarck is also described and 
figured in the same volume, and seems to 
have more spiral ribs than C. zealandicus. 
Early in 1917 the lighthouse- 
keeper at Farewell Spit picked up a 
living specimen of C. marmoreus Lin¬ 
naeus, which he gave Captain Bollons. 
It is about half-grown, the measure¬ 
ments being—length, 32 mm. ; major 
diameter, 17 mm. ; minor diameter, 
5 mm. The specimen was photo¬ 
graphed by Mr. J. McDonald, of the 
Dominion Museum. It is in very 
good condition, clean and well marked, 
Fig. 1 . —Conus maunoreus Linnaeus, 
Farewell Spit. 
