Vol.

XLIII(11): 2011 THE FESTIVUS Page 109

CUMING’S EASTERN PACIFIC LOCALITIES

EUGENE V. COAN

891 San Jude Avenue, Palo Alto, California 94306-2640, USA

E-mail: genecoan@gmail.com

Hugh Cuming (1791-186 5) (Figure 1) assembled the

largest private collection of m ollusks o f his day, some
19,000 species. It was also particularly remarkab le in that
he collected a great deal of material himself on
expeditions to the Pacific coa st of the Americas and to the
Indo -Pacific (Anonymous, 1866, 1868; Melvill, 1895;
Clench, 1945; Dance, 1980, 1986, 2004.
Cuming moved to South America in 1819, settling in
Chile in 1822. In 1827-1828, he left Valparaiso, C hile, to
collect in the Ind o-Pacific on his own yacht, The
Discoverer, his first stop being at the Archipiélago de
Juan Fernández off C hile. M ost imp ortantly for us, in
1828-1829 (or perhaps as late as 1830), he collected
extensively in the Americas, from Chiloe Island, Chile, in
the south to as far no rth as El Salvador. After returning to
England in 1831, he launched a final expedition to the
Philippines in 1836-1840.
In building his collection after his return to England,
he purchased much material at auctions. In this way he
obtained other specimens from the Panamic Province
from stations north of El Salvador, some of which were
then used by auth ors of new species. In some cases,
Cum ing has been cited as the collector of this more
northern material, where as these lots were actua lly Figure 1. Hugh Cuming (1791-1865). From a lithograph dated 1850.
obtained by others. From Dance (1966: 162, fig. 19).
The following list, which is arranged from south to
north, are the stations where Cuming collected in the
Americas, with in several cases a modern translation of In three cases, I am uncertain where the place was, and
the place from those stated by publishing conchologists, perhaps readers may be able to help complete the
together with the latitude of the station. His eastern information. I should also note that in a few cases authors
Pac ific stations were cited in papers by various authors. also listed Indo-Pacific localities along with eastern
Many of these marine stations were noted by C.B. Adams Pac ific ones for eastern Pacific taxa, either as a result of
(1852a: 2 5 0 –2 5 2 ; 1 8 5 2 b : 26-28), then summarized labeling errors or because the specimens seemed to be
more completely but cryptically by Carpenter (1857:179- related. These Ind o-Pacific stations are not included in the
189). Some of them were noted by Olsson (1961: 11-12 ). following list.
Page 110 THE FESTIVUS Vol. XLIII(11): 2011

Locality as given by Brod erip, Modern Place Name Latitude Notes

Hinds, Sowerby, or others

Insula Chiloe Isla Chiloe, Los Lagos, Chile 42-44°S

Valdivia, Valdivia, Chile 38.8°S
Concepción, Bio-Bio, Chile 36.8°S
Valparaíso, Chile
Archipiélago de Juan Fernández, 33.0°S On his first Indo-
Valparaíso, Chile Pacific expedition
Coquimbo, Coquimbo, Chile 29.9°S
Copiapó, Atacama, Chile 27.4°S An inland station
Mexillones Bay Mejillones, Antofagasta, Chile 23,1°S
Iquiqui Iquique, Tarapacá, Chile 20.2°S
Arica, Tarapacá, Chile 18.5°S
Ilo, Moquegua, Perú 17.6°S
Cerro Azul, Lima, Perú 13.1°S
Sinu Callao/Insula St. Laurentii Callao/Lima, Lima, Perú 12.1°S
Huacho, Lima, Perú 11.1°S
Casma, Ancash, Perú 9.5°S
Samanco Bahía de Samanco, Ancash, Perú 9.2°S
Trujillo, La Libertad, Perú 8.1°S
Pacasmayo, La Libertad, Perú 7.4°S
Lambeyque Lambayeque, Lambayeque, Perú 6.6°S
Payta Paita, Piura, Perú 5.1°S
Tumbez Puerto Pizarro/Tumbes, Tumbes, Perú 3.5°S
Isla Muerte, Island of Muerte Isla Santa Clara, Guayas, Ecuador 3.2°S
Bay of Guayaquil Golfo de Guayaquil, Guayas, Ecuador 3.1°S
Isla Puna, Guayas, Ecuador 2.8°S
St. Elena/Sanctam Elenam Santa Elena, Guayas, Ecuador 2.2°S
Salango, Columbiae Occidentalis Isla Salango, Manabí, Ecuador 1.6°S
Bay of Xipixapi/Jipijapa Puerto Cayo, Manabí, Ecuador 1.4°S
Gallapagos Islands/Insular Gallapagos Islas Galápagos, Ecuador
(Lord) Hood’s Island Isla Española, Galápagos, Ecuador 1.4°S
Charles Island Isla Santa María, Islas Galápagos, 1.3°S
Ecuador
Chatham Island Isla San Cristóbal, Islas Galápagos, 0.8°S
Ecuador
Albermarle Isla Isabela, Islas Galápagos, Ecuador
James Island Isla San Salvador, Islas Galápagos, Ecuador 0.3°S
Isla of Plata/Insulam Platae Isla la Plata, Manabí, Ecuador 0.5°S
Monte Christe/Montecristi Manta, Manabí, Ecuador 0.9°S
Bay of Caraccas/Sinu Caraccensi Bahía de Caráquez, Manabí, Ecuador 0.6°S
Vol. XLIII(11): 2011 THE FESTIVUS Page 111

Atacamas Atacames, Esmeraldas, Ecuador 0.9°N

Esmeraldas, Esmeraldas, Ecuador 1.0°N
Tumaco Tumaco, Nariño, Colombia 1.8°N
Panamam Golfo de Panamá, Panamá About 8.9 Presumably on the
N coast at about this
latitude
“Ins. Philip.”, Panama Can’t find this island
King Is.. Isla Rey Isla del Rey, Archipiélago de las Perlas, 8.5°N
Panamá
Is. Tobago Isla Taboga, Panamá 8.7°N
Insulae Sabogae, Sinu Panamae Alternate spelling for Isla Taboga, Panamá 8.7°N
Is. Perico, Panama Isla Perico, Golfo de Panamá, Panamá 8.9°N
Veragua(s) Northern Panamá
Bay of Montejo, “Isle of Lions” Golfo de Montijo, Panamá 7.6-
7.8°N
Guacomayo 7.8°N Uncertain; possibly
on E. shore of Golfo
de Montijo
(Mouth of) Chiriqui Golfo de Chiriquí, Chiriquí, Panamá 7.8°N
Isla Caña Isla del Caño, Puntarenas, Costa Rica 8.7°N
Gulf of Dulce Golfo Dulce, Puntarenas, Costa Rica 8.7°N
Gulf of Nocoiya Golfo de Nicoya, Puntarenas, Costa Rica 10.0°N
Puerto Portrero, “Inner Lobos Puerto Potrero, Guanacaste, Costa Rica 10.5°N Can’t find an Isla
Island” Lobos in this area
Real Llejos Corinto, Chinandega, Nicaragua 12.5°N
Sinu Fonseca Golfo de Fonseca, La Unión, El Salvador 13.2°N
Conchagua, San Salvador Conchagua, La Unión, El Salvador 13.3°N Cuming’s
northernmost
Gulf of Tehuantepec Golfo de Tehuantepec Material received
from another collector
Acapulcae Acapulco, Guerrero, México 16.9°N Material received
from another collector
San Blas, Nayarit, México 21.6°N Material received
from another collector
Mazatlán, Sinaloa, México 23.2°N Material received
from another collector
Gulf of California/Sinu Californiensi Golfo de California, México Material received
from another collector
Guaymas, Sonora, México 27.9°N Material obtained
from Ealing
Page 112 THE FESTIVUS
LITERATURE CITED
ADAMS, CHARLES BAKER
1852a. Catalogue of shells collected at Panama, with notes on
synonymy, station and habitat, .... Annals of the
Lyceum of Natural History of New York 5: 229-296;
297-549 [reprinted: 1852b].
1852b. Catalogue of shells collected at Panama, with notes on
their synonymy, station, and geographical distribution.
New York (Craighead), viii + 344 pp.
ANONYMOUS
1866. Obituary: Hugh Cuming, Esq., F.L.S., C.M.Z.S. The
Naturalist (London) 2(33): 134-135.
1868. [Obituary: Hugh Cuming]. Proceedings of the Linnean
Society of London for 1865-66: lvii-lix.
CARPENTER, PHILIP PEARSALL
1857. Report on the present state of our knowledge with
regard to the Mollusca of the west coast of North
America. British Association for the Advancement of
Science, Report 26 [ for 1856]: 159-368 + 1-4, pls. 6-9.
CLENCH, WILLIAM JAMES
1945. Some notes on the life and explorations of Hugh
Cuming. Harvard University, Museum of Comparative
Vol. XLIII(11): 2011
Zoology, Occasional Papers on Mollusks 3: 17-28.
DANCE, STANLEY PETER
1966. Shell collecting. An illustrated history. University of
California Press, Berkeley & Los Angeles. 344 pp., 35
pls.
1980. Hugh Cuming (1791–1865), prince of collectors.
Journal of the Society for the Bibliography of Natural
History 9(4): 477-501.
1986. A history of shell collecting. Leiden, The Netherlands:
E. J. Brill – W. Backhuys, xv + 265 pp., 32 pls. [see
pp. 110-131].
2004. Cuming, Hugh. Oxford Dictionary of National
Biography 14: 625-626.
MELVILL, JAMES COSMO
1895. An epitome of the life of the late Hugh Cuming,
F.L.S., C.M.Z.S. &c. Journal of Conchology 8(2): 59-
70.
OLSSON, AXEL ADOLF
1961. Mollusks of the tropical eastern Pacific particularly
from the southern half of the Panamic-Pacific faunal
province (Panama to Peru). Panamic-Pacific
Pelecypoda. Ithaca, New York (Paleontological
Research Institution), 574 pp., 86 pls.