
yew YORK SHELL CLUB NOTES No. 262 May 1980 Page 7 
jandensis has a humped appearance almost 1i 
=———sbove : ike a tub = 
gum above the anterior canal; C. fuscorubra is eet cen tena 
the animal has been preserved with this sn 
‘ : ell, and th i 
the a, nbertor that are visible are flesh solored . porstons as 
MME ct tno colors areveg tee ete ae Gee eg 
s s are as they would be in life. I wil 
them here and hope that future field observations will cag anao- 
curate picture of the living animal. Of the portions of the animal 
Oe with brights ay OpBE ress the color is an overall red/brown 
e ed and yellow smal pedo a 
regular distribution. mall granular spots in an ir 
wy good friend and correspondent, Dr. Ronald Plotki 
enough to furnish the following information aboatt ths Sen iw: 
collected specimen which is catalog #10-717 in his collection. It 
was found with its mantle fully extended at 60-80 feet depth in 
December, 1977 in False Bay, Cape, South Africa, on a red sponge. 
"nimal: 1) Crawling surface - creamy white on outer edges, 
yellow in center. 
2) Mantle, white with small black spots, smooth and 
transparent. The shell can be seen when covered 
(by the mantle). 
3) Eyes are black and are on orange antennae." (sic) 
I assume the discrepancy between what I have seen and what Plotkin 
has observed is due to the changes brought about by the materials 
used in the preservation of the specimen I have observed. In all 
other respects the photograph of Plotkin's shell resembles the spe- 
cimen studied here. 
In light of the above evidence I find that I must thoroughly dis- 
agree with Walls' opinion in both his first and second editions of 
"Cowries," that Cypraea gondwanalandensis is a synonym of Cypraea 
fuscorubra. Almost without exception, every characteristic attrib- 
original description of 
ated to G. gondwanalandensis in Burgess! 
dead-collected specimens has been borne out by the live-collected 
shell. Even a "lumper" such as myself can not deny that these dif- 
ferences are consistent and significant enough to justify complete 
specific separation. I am deeply indebted to Mrs. Waverley Harmon 
for the opportunity to make this study. 


: _ Capetown, South 
Cypraea gondwanalandensis Burgess, 1970. 33.3mm 
Africa. Collection of Waverley Harmon, NYC. Photo by R. Janowsky 
