Art,

I think you are finding that most people do not know more about these little
guys than you!!  For myself, I thought I kind of had it clear between the
Coralliophila and Latiaxis based pretty much on spines (it's nice to be
ignorant).  And then some of the shells I knew as Latiaxis started showing
up with the Babelomurex moniker and I decided to let others worry about it
(like you); I would just go along with the flow.  I just didn't and don't
have the reference for this name change.  Maybe the differences are in the
animal more than the shell.  This makes it a bit tough to key out with just
the shell.

Try describing the difference say, between a Polinices tumidus and a white
Nerita polita rumphi.  If both are without operc it is a bit tough, even
though they are different families; one is a vegetarian, the other a
predator; one has a hard calcareous operc, the other a thin horny operc; one
is an intertidal rock dweller, the other cruises underwater in the sand; one
dissolves most of the interior structure of the shell, the other leaves it
intact, one comes in a rainbow of colors (like the old Stones song), the
other is always white; etc.  However, if you just try and point out the
differences in the shell (especially to someone new to the seashell world),
you quickly find they are a small matter of degree only.  Just looking at
the outside of the two shells there is not a single defining aspect that
can't be found in the other family, yet most of us would never mistake the
two -- even at a casual glance.

After having run on about this I am not sure it has anything to do with your
question, it was just something that struck me the other day when I tried to
tell someone the difference between these two shells.  I also believe I
remember Paul Monfils mentioning a Trochid and a Turban that are almost
impossible to tell apart without the operc.  What a great avocation!!  I
love this stuff!  Every time I think I know something I seem to find a half
a dozen things I didn't know.  It doesn't always take -- but Conch-L has
served to educate me.

Tom Eichhorst in New Mexico




> One mo time----
>         I need (want) to know if there are distinguishing
> characteristics that separate:
>                 babelomurex
>                 coralliophila
>                 latiaxis
>         Someone (most people) probably knows more than me about them.
>             Thanks;
>                     Art Weil
>