NEW YORK SHELL CLUB NOTES No. 250 March 1979 Page 
somewhat immature) specimen in my capaci 
: pacity as judge at the B 
(Florida) Shell Club Show in February, 1978. Although live-collect- 
ed, there was a strange pitting on the ventral surface of the shell 
ies have seen too in other live-collected specimens of this 
spe ° 
It is very strange to note that to date not i i= 
men of Conus dusaveli has been reported iil die ee. 
locality. Shell collecting is almost a national pastime in that 
country and several other very rare species have been found there 
in the past few years. It is very possible that this species lives 
at very much greater depths in Mauritius than elsewhere, but there- 
is also the distinct possibility that the type specimen was given a 
mistaken locality; it would not be the first instance of shells 
from elsewhere being attributed to the Isle of Mauritius which was 
avery great port of call in sailing ship days. 
Bill 0ld has kindly pointed out to me (and supplied a phostatic 
copy) the description of a new subspecies of Conus dusaveli: Conus 
dusaveli benten Shikama and Oishi, 1978. The authors claim that 
fhe subspecies differs in several respects from Conus dusaveli H. 
Adams, most notably the height of the 
spire, "more distinct brown spiral 
band or (sic) shoulder, wider axial 
brown threads of spire, distinct 
white axial threads of last whorl." 
With all due respect to the authors, 
I suggest that they have been deceiv- 
ed by the immature character of the 
type species and the fact (which they 
mention) that their type specimen was 
collected ex pisce. It is my humble 
opinion that no taxonomic standing 
should be given to this new subspecies. 
Shikama and Oishi's specimen has the 
data of Senkaku Island, East China 
Seas and is apparently, from their 
illustration, a mature specimen 78.8mm 
in size. The type remains in the col- 
lection of the senior author, a prac- 
tice of which I, among others, strong- 
ly disapprove. 
The specimen photographed for this 
article was collected off Punta Engano, 
Cebu, the Philippines, early in 1977. 
There was no exact depth given with 
the shell, but one would presume that 
a depth of 45-90 fathoms can be attri- 
buted to it since that is the depth 
range the tangle nets were set during 

Conus dusaveli H. Adams this period. The specimen is in the 
76mm collection of Mr. A. Brunotto of 
Photograph by R. Janowsky Hacienda Heights, California. 
