Mr. Meinis has pointed out only one of several instances of that type in
Burgess's
COWRIES OF THE WORLD. Errors like these certainly detract from the work's
intended goal. The one time that I spoke with Dr. Burgess in his home, he
was
busily writing errata for this same work. He freely shared the difficulties
of having
this book published in a country so distant from his home, saying that there
had
been "miscommunications" and "misunderstandings" about which images or text
should have been used. Some errors may be his and other not, but either way
I get the sense that his intentions were good.

The great loss in COWRIES OF THE WORLD has to be the section with so many
close-ups of live cowries....... but not a one identified!! A few I know, a
few others
I could make reasonable guesses at, but all those others....... if only we
knew!

Aloha,

Bob Dayle (a.k.a., makuabob)
http://www.cowrys.org

============================================================
Dear ConchLers,

Palmadusta lentiginosa is a Cowry species restricted in its distribution to
the N.W.-corner of the Indian Ocean i.e. it occurs from India and Sri Lanka
westwards into the Red Sea. I recognize two subspecies: Palmadusta
lentiginosa lentiginosa (west-coast of India-Sri Lanka, the Persian Gulf and
the Arabian Sea) and Palmadusta lentiginosa dancalica (Red Sea). The latter
differs from the nominate subspecies by its smaller more slender shell and
the paler colors.

Since 1990 the nominate subspecies P. lentiginosa lentiginosa is known to
live in the Eastern Mediterranean off Israel. In the beginning only empty
shells were encountered but since about three years also living specimens
have turned up (Mienis, 2002). These live specimens were found in waters
ranging in depth from 0.5-20 m, but always among rocks.

Burgess (1985) decribed the animal of P. lentiginosa (lentiginosa) as
follows: " The mantle is shiny, smooth and black. The foot is brilliant
burnt orange. The eggs are orange." However the photograph accompanying the
description shows an animal with orange tentacles, a darker orange-brown
siphon and an almost transparent mantle densely covered with tiny white
papillae!!!!!!! No sign of any smooth shiny black mantle.

Living specimens recently collected in the Mediterranean Sea (0.5 and 15 m
depth) have orange tentacles, a brownish siphon and a bright orange-red
mantle covered with sparsely distributed tiny white papillae! The
egg-cluster of a specimen encountered at a depth of 0.5 m was of a bright
orange-red.

Who can explain the differences in the color of the mantle between the
description and the photograph in Burgess and why are the specimens found so
far in the Mediterranean Sea of yet another different color.

References

Burgess, C.M., 1985. Cowries of the World. 289 p. Seacomber Publications,
Cape Town.
Mienis, H.K., 2002. [More molluscs from the Eastern Mediterranean 8.
Palmadusta lentiginosa does occur alive along the coast of Israel.] Spirula,
327: 66-67. (in Dutch with English summary)

Henk K. Mienis

_________________________________________________________________
Add photos to your e-mail with MSN 8. Get 2 months FREE*.
http://join.msn.com/?page=features/featuredemail