After discussing this subject off-list with Cecil, I did some additional
digging,... into Burgess's books The Living Cowries and Cowries of the World.
Also, I used only "cassiaui" in a Google search. Before I list what I found, I
will state that I am not saying "yea" or "nay" as to the validity of the name
or the form(s) it supposedly represents.

Any who are interested should note that Burgess's first book (Living Cowries,
1965) shows the holotype shell and his second book (Cowries of the World, 1985)
show some other shell. Burgess deemed it worth adding, twenty years later in
this second book, a phrase to a paragraph comparing -cassiaui- to other "rough"
cowries. It mentioned the "high polish in the adult state" of -nucleus-, which
leads the reader to easily imply that -cassiaui- does NOT possess a "high
polish" in its adult state. On the next page, however, in the description of
-granulata-, Burgess maintains that the shells of adult -granulata- are the
only ones without luster or polish.

That leaves unresolved just how much "polish" or luster -cassiaui- may have.
This much, though, seems sure: if a -cassiaui- has at least as much luster as a
-nucleus-, it CANNOT be a -cassiaui-, by Burgess's description. If the author
of the "species" makes that distinction, is it worth taking note?

Now, here's that list of Google search results and a few comments of what I
noticed (bear in mind the disclaimer above):

1 shell @
http://park.org/Guests/Shells/Shell_Catalogue/Shell_Pages/G/Shell_Cypraea_granulata_cassiaui.html
the name here seems apropos; this looks like a colorful but juvenile C.
granulata.


3 shells @ http://www.gastropods.com/7/Shell_4567.html
top: good cassiaui-like sulcus but looks like a broad granulata in its top and
bottom views.
mid: looks like a nucleus, sulcus does not look deep OR trench-like, plenty of
encroachment by tubercules and ridges.
bot: sulcus neither deep nor distinct, shape is not that of nucleus.


1 shell @
http://www.perlae.fr/price_list/cypraeidae/cypraea_granulata_cassiaui_18_2/1.htm
nice photos!, but the sulcus IS being encroached upon by tubercules, and the
high gloss of the shell is counter to Burgess's description in his Cowries of
the World (but not The Living Cowries!).


2 shells @
http://www.active.net.gr/aegeanshells/galleryphc/mus-sol-phc-cassiaui.htmfrom
serious
top: shell already mentioned above
bot: sulcus does not conform to Burgess's description; aperture has a curve much
like that of C. nucleus and not like either of the C. cassiaui illustrated by
Burgess, one in The Living Cowries (the holotype) and another in Cowries of the
World.


1 shell @
http://www.topseashells.com/seashell/CYPRAEIDAE/EROSARIA/CASSIAUI/TS12088
inconclusive image; small and not properly exposed (IMHO). sulcus seems fairly
distinct but the overexposured, small image leaves doubts about its condition.


1 shell @
http://www.topseashells.com/seashell/CYPRAEIDAE/STAPHYLEA/CASSIAUI/TS15265
another improperly exposed image, however it seems fairly clear that the sulcus
is rather indistinct.


no shell @ www.gemmedelmare.net/gallery_image.php?id=2844
browser says "Connection refused" so this site must be gone, down for
maintenance, or something...


don't bother with "www.cebufashion.com/wholesale_philippines_jewels.html"
This place rips off shell-related text from serious articles and embeds in their
commercial pages so that search engines will pick them up and include them in
searches that are in no way related to shellcraft needs!


1 shell @ http://www.gauguini.com/dbphotos/4527
small image but this shell seems to have a fairly distinct sulcus but not much
else is discernible.


1 shell @ http://www.cowries.info/sale/cyp/cypgallery.php?id=0%20&page=13
sulcus is indistinct, not "trench-like"


1 shell @ http://www.schnr-specimen-shells.com/7706cyp.jpg
underexposed image; however, when brightened with an image handling program, the
sulcus is rather distinct but seems to have some encroachment by tubercules.

Aloha,

Bob Dayle


_______________________________________________
Quoting Bob Dayle <[log in to unmask]>:

> Cecil and all,
>
> I have compared the image of Burgess's COWRIES OF THE WORLD -Cyp. cassiaui-
> with
> those on your site, and the commercial site given below, and the question has
> to be, "How much encroachment into the sulcus is sufficient to complete the
> offense?" All three of your shells, as well as the "cassiaui" at the link
> below, show pustular imposition into the sulcus, IMHO.
>
> Partly, it is testament to the high quality of 21st century imaging, yours
> and
> the commercial site's. But,... if anyone would know what a representative
> specimen of -Cypraea cassiaui- should look like, it had to be Burgess! His
> image of -cassiaui- is small and not available for enlargement.
>
> The apertures of the suspect shells show the plain front-to-back curve of a
> -nucleus- whereas Burgess's image shows an aperture which bends in the
> mid-section but is rather straight at its ends. Additionally, the -nucleus-
> (top view) shape becomes narrower more rapidly, on its columellar side,
> toward
> the anterior end while the -cassiaui- remains broader, tapering more
> consistently toward the anterior on both sides. But, it isn't that simple...
>
> I found another image of a -cassiaui- in the HSN (at
> http://cowrys.org/archive/NSN396CY.HTM) which shows a wide-margined shell
> with
> a sharp, clearly-defined sulcus. Its top-view shape, however, invokes
> thoughts
> of -granulata-. Soooo,...
>
> There doesn't seem (as usual) to be a clear answer about what is a -nucleus-
> or
> a -cassiaui- or a -granulata-. It pretty much depends on who makes the
> judgement,... and who wants to believe it.
>
> Aloha,
>
> Bob Dayle
>
> ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>
> Quoting Cecil Bankston <[log in to unmask]>:
>
> > Thanks for all the replies.  I was influenced by the prominent  dorsal
> sulcus
> > with no encroachment by the granulations in the middle and right specimens
> I
> > posted on my web page.  That feature is supposed to be a differentiating
> > criterion for cassiaui.
> >
> > Some of the pictures of "cassiaui" on the web also appear almost identical
> to
> > 2 of my specimens, e.g.,
> >
>
http://www.perlae.fr/price_list/cypraeidae/cypraea_granulata_cassiaui_18_2/3.htm
> > A Google search will yield several similar images.
> >
> > Are those specimens probably misidentified?
> >
> > Do all cassiaui have the violet color, or are there color variants, as some
> > of the pictures on the web would seem to imply?  Do all cassiaui have the
> > same absence of gloss that granulata shows?
> >
> > Cecil Bankston
> >
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