Form instead of subspecies ? Huurgh ! I suppose it's incorrect...
For me, a form is an extreme variation of one feature, inside a population.
For example, some species of Pectinidae have the brown as average colour,
but they can also tend to a more reddish colour, or a light pale one.
A whole red specimen will receive the name "Genus species f. rubra", an
extreme pale one will receive something like "Genus species f. albicans".
But, I believe, these are forms and only forms because you can find, within
the same population, all the range from the pure white to the brick red, via
the usual chestnut colour. Right ? Regarding hybrids, I never succeed when I
try to think something. Are we sure they do exist in molluscan fauna ?
If so, I stop sorting my shells !

Olivier Caro




----- Original Message -----
From: "E. Heiman" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, February 07, 2006 11:40 AM
Subject: Re: Cyp tigris schilderiana vs tigris


> Shalom Chris
> do you mean an article in # 33(1), 2005? I am personally acquainted with
> the
> author.
>
> People sometimes forget that subspecies, talking about living molluscs,
> are
> geographically separated populations, which differ from other populations
> of
> the same species by statistical shell characteristics. So if one finds an
> unusually large shell of  C. tigris in Kenya this shell, in my opinion,
> should be treated as a huge tigris shell and not as C. tigris
> schilderiana.
> One can find in the literature curious things when geographical separation
> is not considered: Cyp. pantherina catulus or hybrid pantherina  x tigris
> from Hurghada, northern Red Sea (the former is a subspecies described from
> the Gulf of Aden, the only area where tigris and pantherina may meet).
> There
> are many other examples.
> Sometimes a term 'form' is used instead of a term 'subspecies'.  Is this
> correct?
> Sincerely
> Ed
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Chris Takahashi" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Tuesday, February 07, 2006 9:36 AM
> Subject: Cyp tigris schilderiana vs tigris
>
>
>> Aloha Ed,
>> In the case of Cypraea tigris schilderiana Cate, 1961 vs Cypraea tigris
>> Linnaeus, 1758 a very nice article appeared in a recent American
>> Malacologist magazine addressing this confusion & offered some
>> resolutions.
>>  CHRIS:)
>>
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