Page 54 - Thola Issue 17

52 Conchology Collection
Profundiconus orbignyi elokismenos (no common name), a rare Indian Ocean shell in excellent condition – a true ‘gem’ in the parlance of the passionate shell collector.
Checkerboard bonnet Phalium areola. This specimen is an aberrant form occasionally found washed up on Zululand beaches that evidences an extended ridged anterior end; it is also a particularly fine example of this scarce variety. This mutation inflates the value for the shell collector in much the same way as a misprint on a stamp can produce a rendition priceless to the philatelist.
Pallid carrier shell Xenophora pallidula (top photo: dorsal view, bottom photo: ventral view). An extraordinary species and a denizen of deep waters in the Indo-West Pacific region, regularly brought up by trawlers off Durban. These bizarre gastropods cement stones and the shells of other molluscs to the outer edge of their own shells. Hearing of the resurgence of interest in the shell
collection
collector,
recently
us, including this fine example.
at the Museum, a local Louis van der Westhuizen, donated several specimens to
Seashells are indubitably among the most intrinsically fascinating and exquisitely beautiful objects in the natural world. It is gratifying to see the conchology collection of the Museum coming out of its shell and back into the light.
Westville home. Following an initial joint trip to the KwaZulu-Natal
Museum where Dai and Linda Davis, Mollusca Collection Manager, gave
us a useful overview of the workings
of their Malacology Department, Rina and Jurie rolled up their sleeves and passionately got to work poring over our often shambolic assemblage of shells. The Matthees have over the past months been confirming or updating the identification of each specimen, meticulously recording all available details on an informal label, and placing both specimen and label in an individual zip-loc bag. This has been painstaking and laborious work, and in the process, the Matthees have indelibly engraved themselves onto the traditional roll
of honour of prominent and selfless Museum benefactors that now dates back over more than 125 years.
My role in this process has been relatively minor and has mainly comprised manual labour! The shell collection cabinets, eight in all, were manhandled out of their obscurity
in a cluttered Education Department storeroom on the second floor of City Hall and transported to the Research Centre. This physically demanding task, undertaken over several months, could not have been tackled without the enthusiastic and energetic assistance of several of our Museum volunteers in the form of Ntethelelo Cele, Mxolisi Fakude, Vincent Mangazi, Leroy Nala, Sandiso Ndovela and Khulekani Ngubane. Two permanent staff, namely Thulani Shandu and Nelson Ntuli, also pitched in at critical times. The second operational challenge was for me to intermittently ferry the apparently endless array of individual cabinet drawers and trays of shells to the Matthee’s home, where they could delve into them as and when time was available.
There is still a long way to go but Rina and Jurie have already been through all the most recent material and are
now halfway through the older and less problematic collection. Much in the way of formal labelling, accessioning, boxing and databasing still lies ahead, but we are off to more than a good start.
One real highlight so far has been
the contents of the acquired Marjorie Eva collection. The donation of this collection in 1989 was mentioned in a brief article in an edition of Amuse News, a forerunner
of Thola, which appeared that year. Photographs of some of the gems from this amazing collection accompany this article.
Seashells are indubitably among the most intrinsically fascinating and exquisitely beautiful objects in the natural world. It is gratifying to see the conchology collection of the Museum coming out of its shell and back into the light.
DID YOU KNOW?
The molluscs are the second- largest phylum of animals after the arthropods, relevant to the number of species described.
Malacology is the study of molluscs generally, while conchology is the branch of malacology specialising in the study of mollusc shells.
thola: VOLUME 17. 2014/15
Photo credit: David Allan