Dear Don, Tom, Paul,  Peter, and Other Shell Collectors:

I would have written this as soon as I read Don's first email following his
return to Paradise about the Micromelo he found, but I wanted to do some
checking first.  Now I will give you my opinion. (for what it is worth).

I thought the two pictures Don sent were excellent, and I had the feeling I
had seen that shell before.   Checked in the Compendium and found Micromelo
undata, and it said Florida to Brasil.  The shell really looked familiar.
So I went to my collection and looked through my two trays of bubbles.  And
I found it, labeled Micromelo undata (Bruguiere, 1792) intertidal,
uncommon.  The data slip read "In beach drift, Hatillo Beach, N. Coast of
Puerto Rico, April, 1976,  collected by Dick (my oldest son)(No wonder I
had trouble remembering - that was a long time ago.)

I checked out Tom's suggestion of M. lineata and it looked similar but
definitely not the same.  Then I read Paul's note and went and checked
Allison Kay's Hawaiian Marine Shells and that really looked like my specimen.

Then we have Peter, who sent the address of the Sea Slug Forum in
Australia.  Thank you, Peter, that was great.  I am happy to know that it
is there so I can use it again.

The Forum contained pictures of Micromelo undata, M. guamensis (Quoy &
Gaimard, 1825), as well as lineata, and some others with some discussion.
It seem to me the first two are the same species; and guamensis having the
later date should be in synonymy.  Of course there as always the
possibility that some anatomical work at a later date would show up a
difference.   Possibly I should make a return trip to American Samoa to
check this out.

The rest of you may not know that when I visited Don last spring he took us
on a tour of the traffic control facility at the HUGE airport.   When it
was completed I was given a certificate saying this certified that I had
completed a familiarization tour of the Pago Pago Air Traffic Control Tower
and was therefore qualified as an HONORARY AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL SPECIALIST.
So, Don, if you want to take some time off from your airport duties to look
for some Cymatium armatums for me (they only come in deep water and 5 feet
is as far down as I go) I would be happy to come over and cover for you.

Betty Jean, The Tall One

P.S.  For those of you who may never have had the opportunity to see a
living bubble ,I shall quote from Dr. Richard Willan on the Sea Slug Forum
"The beauty of a living Micromelo is a never-to-be-forgotten sight."