Dear List,
I've been following this discussion and I would like to add my approximately
5 cents. I would not (yet) see myself as an Angaria expert, but as an
Angaria collector and of course I've been aware of the many synonyms and
uncertainties in this genus. I am not a hundred percent sure if the names in
current use are valid or not and I'm not too much of an expert on
nomenclature but for my own collection I am using the names of the species
described by Poppe & Goto (1993) plus the newly described species poppei and
javanica (M&M '99 in Gloria Maris). So this would make it 10 species
(delphinus, javanica, melanacantha, neglecta, nodosa, poppei, rugosa,
sphaerula, tyria and vicdani). For some of those I use trinominal names
(probably) without taxonomical value, especially the delphinus (or should it
be delphini?) are highly variable. The reason for this use of names is that
there are real conchological differences between these shells and I
personally do not have too many problems to differentiate between a
sphaerula and a poppei or a tyria and a delphinus, and even the spiniest
black delphinus looks different from a melanacantha, even though I have to
admit that there are some "not-so-glossy" sphaerulas (maybe poppeis?) and
I've also got a melanacantha that has one spine that looks exactly like the
ones on a delphinus. The same is true for neglecta: I recently got a
delphinus from Cebu that – besides its greenish background color – looks
like a neglecta, which is according to Poppe & Goto a Japanese species.
But on the other hand this judgement is based on purely conchological
impressions from my own collection and pictures I've seen on the net. To my
knowledge there isn't much known about the animals besides a few
illustrations and maybe some genetical or at least anatomical research would
be best to solve this problem, but who would do it and (more crucial) would
pay for it...
For some of the problems it might prove sufficient to have more data. If
sphaerula and poppei are the same species and poppei is only the shallow
water form, as stated in Poppe & Goto, then all we have to do is collect
enough specimens to decide from which depth a poppei turns glossy and
develops flattened spines. Judging from my shells this should be somewhere
between 60 and 80 meters. We would also have to check if there are species
living sympatrical without intermediates.
I would nevertheless vote for keeping the names (at least as trinominal form
names) that are in use now because as far as I know a name stays valid as
long as proven invalid.
Waiting for your response,
Roland
P.S.: I've got no idea about A. lilianae (M&M 2000, Gloria Maris). The
pictures in the description look very much like a lot of A. delphinus
formosa (the beautifully colorful ones...) available right now, and I've
never seen a dealer offering lilianae in the last four years.
P.P.S.: I am currently working on a new homepage showing my Angaria
collection. This page will also include a critical comparison of the species
plus pictures of the doubtful shells I've mentioned above.
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