For those interested in the freshwater taxa, many of the Unionidae in North
America would be classified as endangered or threatherned species.  This is
a sweeping generalization, but true in many river systems.  The freshwater
gastropod Tutoloma magnifica was thought to be extinct, there is a relic
pocket and work on trying to reintroduce it in other areas.

Charlie.

--On Friday, July 07, 2000, 8:14 PM -0400 Art Weil <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:r

>    RARE SHELLS. "They aint no sech a thing as a rare shell. We jest aint
>    a'found 'em." Billy Bob Burstein.  We all know about the finding of
>    the secret lair of gloria-maris. And we have seen other "rare" shells
>    ( Cy. tueleri, aurantium) change from rare to uncommon. What we'd like
>    to know if there are any other stories about the finding of secret
>    hiding places.  Conversely, what shells have like O. porphyria (sp)
>    gone from common to uncommon or to rare. I suppose the Manaus green
>    tree snail might fit in.  Q-man