Dear Moshe, dear Conchlers,

There is also a form called mus tuberculata and such one I have got for the
museums collection.
In the last time I have looked into the rules of nomenclature, but we
havn't found any text which
doesn't allow to nominate forms or something else. But the different forms
should not have a
taxanomical value but can be described. I only have two specimens of
Cypraea mus in the museums
collection, further an old one of an old collection, where is missing a
part of the colored upper layer
of the shell and mus tuberculata. The last one (mus tuberculata) is colored
like donmoorei
and I don't see any difference to a figured donmoorei. Maybe I will keep
all under mus. The tubercle
maybe only want to be only a sickness, but not a geographical cause. I
would be interested as Moshe
for other opinions.
with best shelling greetings
Helmut

Helmut "Helix" Nisters
private:
Franz-Fischer-Str. 46
A-6020 Innsbruck / Austria / Europe
phone: 0043 / 512 / 57 32 14
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
website: www.netwing.at/nisters
office:
Natural History Department of the
Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum Innsbruck
Feldstrasse 11a
A-6020 Innsbruck / Austria / Europe
phone: 0043 / 512 / 58 72 86 - 37
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
website: www.tiroler-landesmuseum.at


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Shalom to all,
I am wondering about the status of the different Mouse Cowries.  In the
Guide to Worldwide Cowries by Lorenz and Hubert two subspecies are
mentioned: mus mus and mus bicornis.  Regarding the taxon (?) donmoorei
they write: "In view of the immense variability of all cochological
features within this group it has become common usage to call all the
large, mostly tuberculate mus by the name donmoorei, which is, however, not
allowed according to the laws of nomenclatural priority.  There can be no
doubt that the specimen described and illustrated by Sowerby in his
Thesaurus Conchyliorum as Cypraea mus var. bicornis belongs to this complex
and therefore represents the valid name, replacing the widely used
donmoorei."  So it is clear that donmoorei is regarded here as a senior
synonym of bicornis.
However, on his Cowrie Sales Catalogue, Dr. Lorenz lists a "mus donmoorei -
the true form, dense, course dentition".  So is there a clear cochological
difference between the two after all?  And if the answer is 'yes', is
donmoorei a form of mus or of  bicornis, a subspecies of mus or a separate
species?
To complicate the mus mess, I have a specimen taken at low tide on eel
grass which is tuberculate and therefor bicornis.  However according to the
Guide bicornis is restricted to deeper water.
Sincerely, Moshe Erlendur
_________________
Moshe Erlendur Okon
    Jerusalem, Israel
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