Hi Dan
..Quite a nice shell to have!!!
When Fred Thompson helped me to identify my Belize, Guatamala& Honduras
materials he labeled it as:
Pachychilus glaphrius (with the added "i" in the ending as shown)
It is a fresh-water shell rather than a land shell. I do not know the range of
it but it can specifically be found in the Mecal River. Hundreds of these were
dug from the middens at Cahol Pech, which is a Mayan palacial site in San
Ignacio, Belize. The Mecal River runs through the edge of town, which is
located somewhat in the center of Belize (north to south), near the Guatemalan
frontier. It is the Belize highlands, on the other side of the mountains from
the coastal plain which often referred to as the (infamous) Mosquito Coast.
Pachychilus glaphrius is often encrusted and looks somewhat like a large
Pacific Cerithid at first... but with its chestnut periostracum showing, at
second glance it reminds me of a Buccinid.
Hope this was helpful if not amusing.
.. I sure miss those traveling and collecting days!
Leslie
PS - Getting good literature on Mesoamerican land and freshwater Mollusca has
been a bit of a daunting task for me... & I finally gave up. Seems for the
most part it is scattered through a dozen journals, a species or two at a time,
over a hundred + years. There are a few expedition reports that I have
acquired but never a lot of content, (typically new species only illustrated,
with other species only listed), and mainly never from a place where I went...
---------------------------------
To all the exotic landsnail buffs,
Today I received a package from a friend, with a very strange
operculated landsnail, labeled Pachychilus glaphyrum from Palenque,
Chiapas, Mexico. I have searched the internet with that name and come up
empty . Does anyone have any idea of a website where I might compare this
specimen.
Thank you in advance for any help.
Dan Yoshimoto
Dan, Hiromi & Kuma Yoshimoto
1164 Vista Dr.
Eureka, California 95503-6018 U.S.A.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
[log in to unmask] - a forum for informal discussions on molluscs
To leave this list, click on the following web link:
http://listserv.uga.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=conch-l&A=1
Type your email address and name in the appropriate box and
click leave the list.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
|
