wew YORK SHELL CLUB NOTES No. 236 November 1977 __ Page 7 
dns tage SPECIMEN OF MUREX (HEXAPLEX) CICHOREUM 
(Gmelin, 1791) DISCOVERED IN THE PHILIPPINES 
Robert Janowsky 

The specimen of Murex cichoreum (Gmelin, 1791) illustrated was col- 
lected in the fall of 1976 by a fisherman near Zamboanga Island, the 
Philippines. It is one of the perhaps fewer than ten known sinistral 
specimens of this species. The specimen appeared to be fully adult 
in size (height: 58.7mm) and quite regular in every other respect. 
This species is collected in the Philippines in great quantity and 
is considered to be one of the most common of the Philippine Murex. 
It is surprising then how few sinistral specimens have surfaced con- 
sidering the great quantity of shells of this species brought in 
every year. 
MALACOLOGICAL ARTICLE OF THE MONTH 
On Pages 403-409 of the Bulletin of Marine Science 26 (3) 1976 ap- 
pears an article entitled, "Predation on Littorina irrorata (Mollus- 
ca: Gastropoda) by Callinectes sapidus (Crustacea: Portunidae) " by 
Dr. Paul V. Hamilton. He points out that the Blue Crab, Callinectes 
ee swims to the surface in the intertidal zone during hig 
ide and removes the Marsh Periwinkle, Littorina irrorata, adhering 
bove the water line. nails are carried 
and eaten. or ae rules vad each 
of the morphologically different chelipeds (= the legs whic ear 
the ey during Bier opening are indicated by laboratory observa- 
tions. Moving up the plant stems with rising tides probably serves 
Littorina irrorata as a defense against predation by Callinectes 
Sapidus and other predators. 
to plant stems near to and a 
to the bottom, cracked open, 
Henry D. Russell 
