Actually, if you look at the inner lip of the specimen figured, it has narrow white "teeth" separated by wider black areas, just like in typical C. variegata. If you look at C. tritonis that species has narrow dark areas separated by significantly wider light colored "teeth" - somewhere I learned that is the main diagnostic feature separating the two species. I recently acquired (from an old collection) a specimen from Cuba that looks very similar to the figured specimen (same shape), being light-weight, almost translucent, and with an almost golden/yellowish cast (not a true "golden" color form of variegata, though). I have also previously heard that sometimes specimens of "true" tritonis do turn up in western Atlantic waters, but to me this one doesn't look like one. I do have specimens of "true" variegata from the Mediterranean, though. I also acquired years ago a specimen of tritonis from Hawai`i that if it weren't for the inner lip pattern might be mistaken for a variegata... The two species probably didn't separate all that long ago from whatever common ancestor there was: maybe before the creation of the Panama land bridge barrier about 3 mya there was an open enough flow that had allowed larvae to be transported between the two oceans, but after Panama formed and circulation was cut off, the Atlantic group (including those transported to the Mediterranean) diverged to become variegata?. Anyways, even though to me it looks like a variegata, it does look like a distinct subpopulation variation. Or, since specimens of tritonis do occasionally make it into the West Atlantic, could there be some hybridization going on?
Anyways, just some thoughts.
- Rick Batt
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From: Conchologists List [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Paul Callomon [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Wednesday, November 16, 2011 12:00 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [CONCH-L] two weird Charonias from Cozumel
This is probably Charonia tritonis, which is known to occur occasionally in the Western Atlantic. The very long-lived larvae make it into the Atlantic via the Agulhas Leakage, and can persist up as far as the Caribbean where it is found alongside variegata. I have Alan Beu to thank for this knowledge!
Paul Callomon
Collections Manager in Malacology, Invertebrate Paleontology and General Invertebrates
The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University
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Philadelphia, PA 19103
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From: Conchologists List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Pete Krull
Sent: Wednesday, November 16, 2011 11:54 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [CONCH-L] two weird Charonias from Cozumel
While on a recent cruise to Cozumel I found a Charonia being sold at the local market by a diver. The shell is so different from the typical C. variegatas being sold that it stood out like a sore thumb. At first glance it looks like C. tritonis, being long and slender. However, it was also very thin-shelled. the shell was so light and thin you could almost see light through it. I asked the diver about it and he said that he has infrequently collected other shells like it at a certain location on the reef off Cozumel. Most of the venders selling shells along the road in Cozumel know nothing about them. However, this fellow had a PADI hat on and knew what he was talking about when it came to diving. I believe he collected the shell.
I bought the shell and, being a dealer, I put it up for auction on ebay. I almost immediately got an inquiry from a collector on the west coast who claimed to have an almost identical shell which was supposedly dived in Cozumel back in the 1980's. Two of the same weird shell sounds like a possible viable population of them, so I thought I would bring it to your attention, along with photos of both shells. The two shells are the first 8 photos in the following link. The first three photos are my shell, the next 5 are photos of the shell collected in the 1980's:
http://s849.photobucket.com/albums/ab59/Lysiloma/?action=view¤t=111.jpg
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