>Dear Bob,
>
>I looked at your great pages. It is wonderful to see some of these shells
>alive.
>
>I have also recently acquired a specimen of this 'Phyllocoma' convoluta (as
>illustrated in Shells of the Philippines). I severely doubt its generic
>(even family) placement. I was wondering if it should be in the genus
>Tritonoharpa (Plesiotritoninae which is supposedly a subfamily of the
>Cancellariidae). Certainly, it looks little like anything else we call
>Phyllocoma.
>
>Andrew?
>
>Patty


Interesting thought. Not my field of expertise (if I can even be said
to HAVE one)...

P. convolutum (Broderip 1833) is the type species of Phyllocoma, so
it really does belong there. In NZ we have living the subgenus
Galfridus, but I suspect that this is not congeneric.

I hadn't really thought about it before, but P. convolutum and its
consubgeners are rather atypical for muricid shells. My sole specimen
(about 30mm) lacks its protoconch, so I cannot compare this with
plesiotritonines. However I can see no CONCHOLOGICAL characters
separating it definitely from Muricidae. It lacks any sign of
columellar plait or swelling, but not all Tritonoharpa specimens
exibit this plesiotritonine character... at least as visible in an
undamaged aperture. It has more than passing resemblance to some
species of Tritonoharpa. But there will be more to it than this.
Anatomical work is needed (if it hasn't been done) to determine this.

The species is mentioned by Beu & Maxwell, but only very briefly,
noting that it has "3 or more varices per whorl"

I forward this to Dick Petit and to Phil Maxwell and Alan Beu, NZ
paleontologists who have worked hard on this group... in fact the
latter two erected the subfamily in 1987.
--
Andrew Grebneff
165 Evans St, Dunedin 9001, New Zealand
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