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Auckland Shell Club |
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Auckland Shell Club |
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October Meeting
Margaret Morley brought in a tray of shells which included a rare deep water member of the Hipponicidae family. The gem 9mm Leptonotus perplexus (Suter, 1907) washed out of seaweed collected at Hillsborough Bay in the Manukau Harbour.
That small beach had recently been replenished with sand dredged from the northland coast near Pakiri. The shell, which was found in late 2010, had been difficult to identify.
Peter Poortman reported on progress with the Shell Auction and next year's Shell Show.
He also mentioned an interesting incident while shell collecting in Northland a few weeks earlier. After five relatively fruitless days he found a very good freshly dead Tonna tankervillii washed up on Puheke Beach. On neighbouring Karikari Beach he found another, but as it was still alive and slightly inferior he threw it back into the sea. On returning to that spot 30 minutes later he found that the same shell had washed up again. He threw it out to sea again then sat down to see what would happen. Sure enough, before he had finished his lunch the hapless mollusc had washed up again. This time it went into the collecting bag. No doubt throwing it back was pointless, and being repeatedly thrown about 10 meters was probably not very good for its health either.
Peter said it was very interesting to observe the washup process in action, and he took careful note of the sea and wind conditions at the time. His theory on the mechanics of washups has now been revised accordingly.
Luen Jones brought in two spectacular trays of shells purchased on the internet - that being the topic of the evening.
Peter began by explaining the method he used to access the internet at the Epsom Community Center. The 3G capability of his mobile phone was being used to connect to the service provider (Vodafone), and bluetooth (short range wireless) was being used to connect his phone, functioning as a modem, to his laptop.
Surprisingly though, 3G coverage at the ECC was very poor, and the intermittent connection adversely impacted the presentation. Michael Barlow commented that even Samoa has better mobile telecommunications technology than New Zealand.
Anyway, a quick tour of our shell club website was followed by a review of our links to other websites. These links are grouped into three categories - Reference, Commercial, and General.
Websites in the Reference category are useful for researching information about specific species or molluscs in general. Of particular interest is the "Checklist of the Recent New Zealand Mollusca" which is an up to date online version of the "Spencer & Willan" checklist that was published in 1995.
The "Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa" link takes you to their online collection site that currently lists about a third of their databased marine gastropods. Although it is still a work in progress, it already contains images of many specimens and can display a distribution map of the selected species.
The Commercial section contains links to websites selling shells by shopping basket or by online auction. Those websites are also useful for obtaining good shell pictures, but be warned that NZ shells are sometimes incorrectly identified. They also sometimes contain "New Zealand" shells that definitely could not have come from New Zealand.
Websites in the General category are mostly links to other shell clubs or individual collectors. One site of particular interest is Conch-L, an international forum for informal discussions of molluscan related subjects.
Of course the internet contains many more resources of use to us shell people than just those few websites. For example it is very useful for researching and planning shell collecting trips. Travel information, tide tables, marine forecasts, weather forecasts, and detailed satellite views of the terrain are all there at your fingertips. You can also find information on diverse subjects such as beach resanding projects, shell import/export regulations, obsolete NZ place names, river water levels, etc. etc.
Next Meeting – Tuesday 13th of November
Epsom Community Centre, 202 Gillies Avenue, Epsom at 7:30pm (doors open 7pm).
Dr. Bruce Hayward will speak to us about his experiences on five research cruises in the South Pacific.
For display, please bring in shells from the South Pacific region.
New Zealand Shell Show 2013
Enclosed is the Shell Show Schedule!
We encourage all members to take part in this shellers event of the year - what is the point of collecting shells if you are not going to show them?
Peter Poortman (petermwp@gmail.com or 09 817 1397) is the contact for more information.
Poirieria Magazine
Unfortunately we do not yet have enough articles to publish a Poirieria this year.
We welcome contributions to our club magazine "Poirieria".
Anything related to shells or collecting would be greatly appreciated - Eg. shelling trips/finds, personal observations/tips, scientific research, historic anecdotes, a notable washup, etc.
Please email articles to Peter Poortman at petermwp@gmail.com, or post to 26 Pendlebury Street, Green Bay, Auckland 0604.
Club Library
We have an extensive collection of books, magazines, and scientific publications available, as well as a biological microscope.
Luen, our librarian, is currently doing a stocktake. Can members please return any library books/videos/etc that they may have, or just let him know what you have. IE. The book name, the club id number on it, and if possible the year of publication.
Luens contact details are: wildhoney@slingshot.co.nz or (09) 834 5195 (after hours).
Items of Interest
. As part of a wider study of the genus Cominella, Hamish Spencer requires some ethanol preserved live taken specimens of the Norfolk Island endemic species Cominella norfolkensis. If you are going to Norfolk Island and would be willing to collect these whelks, please contact Hamish at h.spencer@otago.ac.nz. He will send you the details, including collection materials and the necessary documentation.
. Leslie Crnkovic, a collector in Houston Texas, is interested in trading shells. His email id is leslie@harf.org.
. Items of interest for the monthly newsletter are always welcome - email to petermwp@gmail.com, or post to Peter Poortman, 26 Pendlebury Street, Green Bay, Auckland 0604.
Your club needs you!
Volunteers are required for some of the clubs more active positions - in particular the roles of President, Newsletter Editor, & Porieria Editor.
If you have the time and the skills for any of these positions then we would like to hear from you.
Please contact Peter Poortman at petermwp@gmail.com or (09) 817 1397.
