Dear James,
One way to find out which cones (and other shells) have been found near
where you live in Florida is to search the database of a large
collection. One such database is that of the Florida Museum of Natrual
History. Paste the following URL into your web browser address window,
hit return, then enter in information after the page loads on your screen.
http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/scripts/dbs/malacol_pub.asp
This database has many records for cones found in and around Florida, so
it should be a good start towards defining the ranges of both C. spurius
and C. floridanus.
I started collecting shells when I was 14, too. Now it's 30 years later
and I still don't have enough!
Bill Fenzan
Norfolk, Virginia
e-mail: [log in to unmask]