>Hello Conch-L,
>I am hoping that someone can give me some information on the following shells
>from my collection. I have more cone shells than any other single family,
>about 60 in all. But there are several that I have not been able to locate in
>my various books. I am hoping that someone can tell me if these shells are
>correctly named, and if any of them are uncommon species. Also i am listing a
>few murex shells that I am not sure abvout. Here are my mystery shells (well
>some of them anyway).
>- Murex bicolor (no author name listed) - whitish on outside, with some small
>pink areas, pink inside, 105 mm, short spines, more like pointy bumps, from
>Mazatalan, Mexico. Similar to Murex erythrostomus in my books, which is also
>found in Mexico - could it be a form of that species?
>- Murex saxatilis L. - shaped somewhat like the Murex bicolor, but smaller and
>darker in color, banded with light and dark brown, with dark pink inside the
>mouth of the shell. Small spines around the outer edge of the whorls. the
>spines are hollow inside, 82 mm, from Gabon
>- Murex salebrosa King. - dark brownish with long raised ridges, the inside is
>white with raised bumps like teeth on the outside edge of the mouth, 52 mm
>long, comes from Cape Blanco CR(?)
>-Murex andivia Lamarck - quite spiny, spines are curved and up to 30 mm in
>length. Shell is 68 mm in length, dark, almost black, with two bands of
>white. Locality is ‘Bataan’.
>- Murex pinnatus - slender white shelll with thin ribbed ridges sticking out
>on both sides and on top. A really beautiful shell, all white. The mouth if
>the shell is small. The spire end is tall and sharp pointed, and the other
>end is like a slender curved tube. From Formosa (I guess that is Taiwan now?)
>-Conus obesus Hwass - kind of short and heavy, lots of dark markings crowded
>together all over, but no real pattern. Measures 38 mm. from Andaman Isls.
>- Conus arachnodes Gn. - quite large cone shell with small lines and blotches
>of black all over. It has an operculum, if that helps. 78 mm, from Andaman
>Isls.
>- Conus cinereus (no author listed) - slender gray color with a few lighter
>markings, and very shiny surface, 42 mm, from Philippines
>-Conus lignarius Rve. - rather thins and light weight, medium browen color,
>with very fine encicling ridges all over, 45 mm form Philippines
>-Conus interruptus (no author listed) - off white with rows of small dots all
>over, enclrcling the shell, 32 mm, shiny, from Western Mexico
>- Conus glacus (no author) - short fat species, dark gray with a few rows of
>dark dots encircling, 38 mm, from Philippines
>-Conus concinnus (no author) - small shell, shiny dark brown with a few small
>light markings, spire quite tall, 31 mm, from Taboga, Panama
>- Conus pyriformis Rve. - light yellowish tan all over, rather fat at the
>spire end, but getting slender toward the other end, with a series of rounded
>bumps around the base of the spire, and fine ridges encircling the smaller end
>of the shell, 51 mm, form Panama
>Well i hope this is not too much. But these are all the cone shells i am not
>able to find. So if anyone can help me with even one of them, It would be a
>great help. Thank-you.
>Sincerely,
>Linda Mason
Linda,
Here are a few answers to your questions. Chicoreus
bicolorValenciennes,1837, (white form of chicoeus erythostomus) Yes,
You're right. Vitularia salebrosa King & Broderip,1832, Chicoreus endivia
is Chicoreus cicheus Gmelin, 1791, Pterynotus pinnatus, Swainson, 1832,
Conus cinereus Hwass, 1792, Conus glaucus, Linnaeus, 1758, Conus
lignarius Reeve, 1843
All of these are in Tom Rice's Catalogue of Dealers' Price for marine
Shells. His web page is: www.ofseaandshore.com
The other shells you will probably find in Myra Keen's Sea Shells of
Tropical West America (a great listing of shells from the west coast of
North America and northern South America (Mexico south). I'm sure you will
probably find a copy at your local library. It's a great book.
Good luck on your cataloguing,
Dan
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Dan & Hiromi Yoshimoto
1164 Vista Dr.
Eureka, California
95503-6018
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