Hi Tom and others,

Nice to teach us something about scientific names, but unfortunately, you
make a few mistakes. Within the Strombidae there is also the genus
Terebellum (which you omitted), Olivella is no longer in Olividae, but in a
family of its own, and I reckon that among specialists there is some
agreement that the family Cypraeidae (Cypraea should be pronounced as
Kup-rea, but that's another story) has more genera that just the one genus
Cypreae.
When people start to me about scientific names, I always reply by simply
saying: Ficus, Begonia, Anthurium, Sanseviera, Petunia, Geranium.... What
are these?
I always get the reply that they are names of plants. Indeed they are! And
they sound very Dutch (NOT!).

Gijs

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> Van: Thomas E. Eichhorst <[log in to unmask]>
> Aan: [log in to unmask]
> Onderwerp: Re: archives and common names
> Datum: donderdag 26 augustus 1999 21:55
>
> Nancy,
>
> Just a quick blurb on Latin or scientific names.  For most things in
life,
> common names work fine.  If you are a hunter you can easily remember mule
> deer, white tail deer, black tail deer, black beer, turkey, etc.  A
birder
> can do pretty much the same for the 600 or so species of birds found in
the
> U.S.  However, when you start collecting shells you have opened up an
> immense box!  No one knows how many species of shells there are; and I
don't
> mean they are off by a hundred or a thousand.  Estimates range from
50,000
> species to 100,000+ species of mollusks!  The ones that are shallow water
> and commonly come in contact with man are most likely to have a common
name.
> But the vast majority of shells only come into contact with man if we go
> looking for them.  Most of these do not have a common name.  Even those
with
> a common name can be really tough to identify as the same common name is
> used for many different species around the world or one shell may have
many
> different common names.
>
> In the U.S. when we say conch we generally mean a species of Strombus.
But
> many folks on the east coast call almost any big shell a conch.  Thus a
> Busycon carica is sometimes a whelk and sometimes a conch.  However, it
is
> always a Busycon carica and if you are buying one from a dealer or
trading
> with someone, you both must be certain what you are talking about.  The
> common name issue is really compounded if we talk of countries other than
> the U.S.  For instance, in Japan there are some very lyrical common names
> that we would never use here.  But both countries recognize the
scientific
> name.  Thus if you look at it in a world wide perspective, the scientific
> name is really the common name.
>
> Please do not despair!  These names actually get pretty easy with use.  I
> repeat, with use.  Do not be overwhelmed or worry that you do not know
them
> all up front.  Just pick up the ones you are interested in and the rest
will
> gradually follow -- especially if you join a club.  If your interest is
in
> cowries or Cypraea (sip-rea), then you have a great start as you could
spend
> the rest of your life just collecting and learning about that one family.
> As you do this you will run into many other names and they will
eventually
> become common names to you.  To Cypraea it is easy to add Conus (cone
> shells), Ficus (fig shells), Oliva (olive shells) and Strombus (true
> conchs).  With just those few genera you have close to 1,000 species
> represented.
>
> Now just drop a few letters at the end and add an "idae" to each of these
> and you have the family name (obviously this doesn't work with all genus
> names, but it does with these).  Thus you have the families: Cypraeidae
> (genus Cypraea), Conidae (genus Conus), Ficidae (genus Ficus -- plus
another
> we'll ignore), Olividae (genera Oliva, Olivella, Amalda, Ancilla, and
some
> others), and Strombidae (genera Strombus, Lambis, and Tibia).
>
> So we started simple with just a couple of names, added some and got a
bit
> more complex and now let's stop!  You can just stick with Cypraea for a
> while -- at least until you see that pretty shell in the dealer's case
and
> add a new family (and a new name).  Right now (as a beginning shell
> collector) it probably seems like many shell people are talking over your
> head and throwing around those Latin names just to show their expertise.
In
> point of fact, if you give yourself just one year with a couple of half
> decent books and especially with a membership in a club -- you'll find
those
> names sounding pretty common to you.
>
> A last note (yeah, I know, many of you are saying thank goodness!).  I
> stumble over those names all of the time and I have yet to be made to
feel
> embarrassed or ignorant by a fellow shell collector.  Of course this
could
> be my thick skin or dense cranium -- but I like to think it is because
this
> is a good group.  Despite the recent (rather humorous) tirades on the
list,
> this is really a wonderful group of people who are eager to help without
> making you feel dumb.  So hang in there and you will learn the language,
I
> promise.
>
> Tom Eichhorst in New Mexico, USA