Page 6 March 1980 No. 260 NEW YORK SHELL CLUB Notrs 
CYPRAEA KATSUAE Kuroda, 1960 
Robert H. Janowsky 
To be completely honest about it, Cypraea katsuae, athe 2 ae 
rare species, is not one that excited me very cae yas Habe Es a - 
ed to get it mixed up with Cypraea musumea Ruvone ree ag : ' 
and with several other rather small species of elke Sse ich it 
bears a close resemblance. Perhaps some of my fon : yh Ad 
be blamed on the rather nondescript specimen_whic pay: si : ype 
for the species and which is illustrated in ene seene : es ng 
Cowries," page 64, plate 4, figure G. Those sad ape gine: urther 
study of this species are urged to consult page 60 o Ss work for 
an excellent and succinct analysis, in tabular form, enumerating the 
differences between Cypraea katsuae and three other species closely 
akin to it. At the time Burgess published his work (1970) only two 
specimens of CG. katsuae were known: the type specimen, which was 
dredged at a depth of 80 fathoms near Okinawa, and a decorticate 
specimen dredged in 42 to 50 fathoms near Bohol, Philippines. In 
recent years several more specimens have been collected by coral 
boats in the waters off the Straits of Taiwan, at a depth of approx- 
imately 100 fathoms. I acquired a specimen which is now in my own 
collection, but even though this shell was considerably more attrac- 
tive than the type specimen, I still remained rather unenthusiastic 
about the species. 
The specimen illustrated here is the one that opened my eyes to the 
rather subtle beauty of this still exceedingly rare species. This 
most remarkable specimen is in the collection of NYSC member Mrs. 
Waverley Harmon; it was on display (with other very choice specimens 
from her excellent collection) at our November meeting. This speci- 
men is the largest of this species that I have seen and is quite 
possibly the largest of its kind ever recorded. It measures 22.5mm 
in length (2mm longer than the holotype), 12.6mm at its greatest 
width, and 10.6mm in height. The specimen in my collection by con- 
parison measures 20.6mm in length, 10.5mm in width, and 9.9mm in 
height. The shell in Mrs. Harmon's collection was collected from an 
unspecified locality off the southern portion of the Taiwan Straits 
at an unspecified depth in August, 1979. I can deduce that the 
Shell came from considerable depth since it was collected by a coral 
boat (a trawler that collects coral for the Souvenir and jewelry 
trade). The coral boats generally do not operate at depths of less 
than 40 fathoms, and exceed that depth the greater part of the time. 
Cypraea katsuae is a very graceful species, pyriform in shape. The 
shell is narrow at the anterior canal and is Swollen and quite round- 
ly inflated below the posterior canal. The overall color is that of 
very light coffee lightly flecked with orange/brown on the dorsum. 
Two distinct but interrupted bands cross the dorsum just above and 
below its most inflated portion and a third less distinct band is 
present just above the anterior canal. The orange/brown flecks are 
larger and more greatly concentrated at the margins of the shell, 
decreasing in number and in intensity of color as the mid-dorsum is 
reached. ‘The margins are shallow and weakly developed in the middle 
of the shell but are quite pronounced near the canals Several 
large dark brown streaks are present on the labial margin and some 
strong brown spots are evident on the columellar eae The base 
