Dear Wim,

I'll spend one month in peninsular Malaysia (east coast) in August. I
don't know if there is any limestone on the island because last time
I was there I was all the time in the water but I'll investigate the
jungle this year. I must confess I'm a beginner (certainly not a
advanced collector !) for seashells and I've never collected any
land-snails (but to eat them!) even in France. So your manual could
be very useful ! For ID I've only got something in the two volumes on
Indonesian shells and as far as I remember (I'm in the office) it's
fresh water and not land-snails. So could you recommend me something ?

Among the shells I've collected last year in Malaysia there are two I
cannot find anywhere in the usual literature (compendium, Wilson's
volumes on Australian shells, Indonesian volumes). One looks like an
Umbonium but is not : more flat and on the back the spires are
visible till the center, not fade as on Umbonium. As there is a
little river (very little) with fresh water which runs into the sea
on the beach, I was wondering wether my false Umbonium could be a
fresh water mollusk. I've collected them dead, the size is less than
10mm.
What could you recommend any books for east-asia fresh water ?

Thank you in advance,

 From a real French beginner, Sophie


>dear mr. Sim
>
>You live in a wunderfull countrey for collecting land-snails. If You wish I
>could sent you a manuel how to collect in the tropics. But first of all you
>have to look for some limestone areas, they are the best in the tropics for
>collecting. Do'nt forget Mount Kinabalu. Bouchet and Tillier wrote a report
>with descriptions of a number of new species from this mountain.
>I collected since 1992 once a year in South-East Asia (Sulawesi, Sumatra and
>West Malaysia). If you wish I could help you with some identifications in
>case you collect something.
Wim


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Sophie Valtat
16, rue des Ecoles - 75005 Paris - France