Well, it may come as a surprise to some, but there really is no easy way to
tell things apart until you get to know the things you want to identify.

How many times have you gone through your collection and discovered within
lots you had already catalogued, species that you didn't know you had? This
happens after you study a particular family, or the difference is pointed
out to you. I think all that identification guides need to point out is
those differences.

I personally hate using the black-box approach of an identification key.
Well, at least some identification keys assume complete ignorance in their
users, but short keys, say for groups or smaller genera, can be useful. I
don't think they should take up more than one printed page. Frankly, who
has the patience to sit and work through pages of questions, when you can
see the shell is a cowrie, you just want a quick skim to see which one has
the cinnamon dorsum and purple teeth.

Patty Jansen
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