>Many Buccinids, expecially Neptunea, have an amazing degree of variability.
>  Buccinidae, and especially cold-water spp, are taxonomically nightmarish
>because of this tendancy towards extreme morphological variability - and
>the radula are also often of little use in species identification, being
>considerably more variable than in most other families, in quite a number
>of cold-water species - a fascinating, vastly under-collected family, in my
>opinion!!
>-Ross M.

Hi,
In my opinion cold water Buccinidae need complete revision.
Some "valid" species should be considered as forms and some forms should be
considered as separate species. Especialy N. lyrata seems to be problematic.
I have some almost completely smooth, some with very strong ribs and one
strange specimen from the Kuriles with very long siphonal channel.
I was told that many of the forms from Kurile Islands and western Bering Sea
are different and new species. Also, I was told by Belgian specialist that
on the other hand a lot of names need to be lumped in the N.pribillofensis.
A new, unconventional approach is needed. A couple of years ago I studied
Carboniferous shark teeth belonging to genus Petalodus.
Isolated shark teeth are hard to determine. Their shape and morphology can
change during ontogeny, teeth from the upper jaw can differ from their
equivalents in the lower jaw. Also, two specimens  belonging to the same
species can have different teeth in certain parts of the jaw.
Therefore ontogenic, dignathic and monognathic heterodonty is present. Thus
it was imposible to determine them on the basis of morphology. The only way
to solve the problem was to study their microstructure.
Considering the molluscs, maybe to much attention is paid to macroscopic
morphological features. And more expensive DNA study should be done.

Milan

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