Remember that rarity has little to do with pricing. This is as such in
shells and as such in stamps and in most fields of collecting. Markets
and pricing are ruled by offer and demand, not by rarity.

But tropical faunas are merely cryptic, so it is very difficult to
find the individuals. It is much cheaper to buy a collection of shells
than to find them yourselves, as many shells that cost a few dollars
will cost the field man thousands of dollars to find them.

About the Morum exquisitum: I got 3 shells in the last 6 years, one of
these came from a famous collection in the Philippines and was
collected 25 years ago. All 3 were collected dead. The species lives
in the vicinity of Jolo Island a few meters deep. The rarity in
collections (probably less than two dozen) is explained by the absence
of divers looking for it (it lives a few meters deep only) and the
political situation: one cannot go there and collect, the risk of
getting either killed or kidnapped is too big.  So material from that
region reaches conchology in little quantities only.  Another
fantastic shell that deserves "rare - rare" is Bursa condita. This
species, with also less than a dozen specimen in collections escapes
the attention of collectors because it lives in a remote area and too
shallow: a few meters deep only. The divers from Olango going there
seldom venture in these shallows, so we got only one piece in 6  years !


Mabuhay from Mactan island, the Philippines.

Guido T. Poppe
Vice President Conchology, Inc.
Scientific Associate, Malacology Section, Royal Belgian Insitute of
Natural Sciences, Brussels.
Scientific Collaborator to the National Museum of Natural Sciences,
Paris.

Conchology, Inc.
Cebu Light Industrial Park,
Basak, Lapu-Lapu City,
Cebu, Philippines 6015

Phone #: +63 32 495 9990
Fax #: +63 32 495 9991

Websites: www.conchology.be
                  www.poppe-stamps.com
                   www.poppe-images.com
                   www.mambele.be

Email: [log in to unmask]

----------------------------------------------------------------------
[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.
----------------------------------------------------------------------