Strawberry Drupes Forever

    Sandra and I spent a delightful portion of Good Friday at Kawaihae.  It seems strange that we can't find a closer place to swim safely in this plague-ridden season,  But apparently it is what it is and we feel lucky to have a place with dependably calm water and the prospect of meeting friends, albeit at a safe social distance.

Trembling Nudibranch, Kawaihae Harbor February 2020,  Photo Bob Hillis 

     On the way, out of curiosity, we stopped in at the Mauna Lani.  Black Sand Beach 49 has been one of our long time favorites and Peter recently told us that they had enjoyed a swim at the regular Mauna Lani beach. Its about ten miles south of Kawaihae and a little variety would be nice, so it seemed to be worth investigating.  The girl at the gatehouse for BSB 49 was very pleasant, but said that that avenue of pleasure was closed to the pubic for the foreseeable future.  Funny thing about this virus, it has all sorts of people referring to a nebulous time just over the horizon, when things like the transfer station and your favorite beach will once again become available.  Just when that might be in actual terms is beyond anyone's ability to predict.

Painted Nudibranch, Kawaihae Harbor,  Good Friday 2020

   We drove around to the beach area run by the hotel, which had a locked gate and a large menacing guard.   Clearly that wasn't an option for today.  One has to remember that a key point of (the pusillanimous) Governor Ige's decree was that we should continue to swim and surf.  The evening
news suggests that these activities continue on Oahu.  Why is it so difficult here?

    We arrived at Kawaihae to find our friend Hai holding his baby while simultaneously guarding a bag of fruit that Marla had left for us.  Lottie was off on a run, but two Kawaihae regulars, Jim and Joy were there, full of gratefulness for the beautiful day and our blessed surroundings.  I guess Jim had been dwelling on his mortality as a kapuna (old guy) because he said that he was experiencing much more happiness of late, appreciating the richness of his life. For those of us that are running this infectious gauntlet, that's a pretty good attitude. 

The fishy equivalent of Mick Dundee shooting the kangaroo hunters.  Go fish!

   The harbor was cool and cloudy, much more so than a few days ago.  Sandra and I swam to the
small mauka reef where we saw nothing of special interest.  The juvenile sailfin tang was nowhere to be seen...he was probably inside a coral head playing video games as befits his status as a teenager.  I have it on good authority that this adolescent tang has found a game in which a cigar smoking fish hunts down spear fishermen with a machine gun. 

  After a pleasant swim across the bay we arrived at the second platform.  Here we quickly spotted a  painted nudibranch, which was soon followed by a second a few columns over.  On our second pass around the platform we found a gloomy.  Although Bob Hillis found a trembling nudibranch a month or so ago, Sandra and I have not seen one this year.  But we keep looking.

A pair of cleaner wrasse dance a tango at Kawaihae.  April 2020.

    Earlier in the week, Peter had scored a life fish, the Citron Butterfly, at the end of the jetty.  this isn't a spot that I work routinely, but I would like to see another citron butterfly before I die, so the redoubtable SKG and I swam out and around the corner.  There were no special butterflies, but there was a pair of hawaiian cleaner wrasses.  The water in this spot was fairly clear and they were cooperative, yielding the picture you see here.

    Just a bit further on, I saw a large drupe attached to the living coral.  It looked like mottled lump about the size of a tangerine, which is small for a citrus fruit but enormous for a drupe.  Hoping for a blood hermit crab, I pried the shell off the coral, flipped it over and waited.  As I watched from about five feet above, I realized that this was an intact snail and inside the aperture, which was surrounded by a luscious pearly purple was the most beautiful operculum  that I have ever seen.  An operculum is a shell-like plate that the snail carries on is foot and pulls behind him as he retreats into the friendly confines of his shell.  Form fitted, it seals off the aperture perfectly.  In his case,  the operculum, which is composed of calcium carbonate and keratin, glowed like gold.  With the gorgeous operculum and the surrounding pearly purple aperture, we had one heck of a beautiful

Strawberry Drupe  Drupa rubusideaus Kawaihae April 2020  4 feet.

drupe.

    Back at the ranch, I worked on my pictures and referred to Hoover's Sea Creatures and Mike Severn's Hawaiian Seashells.  It may be no coincidence that Pauline Fiene, the Queen of Hawaiian Nudibranchs, works for Mike Severns dive company on Maui. The Dream Team of Hawaiian Molluscs!

     I was still not sure about my identification and sent my pictures off to Marta de Maintenon, who has helped us so many times.  She wrote back promptly with the identification Drupa rubusideaus, with the admonition that this species can grow quite large.  It is noteworthy that younger shells of this species are a golden tan and covered with stout projections that John Hoover says defend the animal against crushing predators.  So different did my individual look, with its projections worn down and its surface covered with coralline algae, that I hope you and Dr. De Maintenon will forgive me for requiring additional help in identification. I must also point out that in Mike Severns excellent book,

Mike Severns and Pauline Fiene, the Dream Team of Hawaiian Molluscs

he lists this drupe as up to 38 mm.  At about one and a half inches that is small for a tangerine.  In the
field notes I sent to the doctor, I stated that it was 2 inches, roughly 55 mm., for those of you who are metrically challenged.  The magical waters of Kawaihae grow ultra big gloomies, could that magic apply to drupes, as well?

    John Hoover says up to two and a half inches.  But then he is a Big Island boy, so he knows!  John calls this the Brilliant Drupe and tells us that rubus is Latin for blackberry.   However, strawberry drupe appears to be the accepted common name.  John Hoover is  a remarkable authority, but I guess you can't win 'em all. 

Living is easy with your eyes in the sea.  Strawberry drupes forever.

    Drupes are common on our wave swept shores, so I'm still having trouble with the idea that I am Drupa ricina at Kahalu'u, again with Marta's help.  Two life drupes in 2020.  Not bad.  Wikipedia and several other resources on the internet suggest that rubusideaus is not found anywhere near Hawaii. Perhaps Pauline Fiene needs to get busy and update that reference.  Not only is that baby here, but it is a work of art in its own right.
finding new species of drupes, for me anyway, in sheltered bays.  You may recall that when Bob and Kim visited just a month ago I found

    Before we left we crossed the car park and said hi to Lottie.  She had returned from her run and Hai was taking his turn in the water.  Sr. On was over in the small boat harbor looking for sharks.  Suffice it to say, he is not pusillanimous!

jeff