Good morning,
It just so happens that I read it last night on his homepage :
A new subspecies of Cribrarula cribraria from Sri Lanka
(Gastropoda - Cypraeidae) by Felix Lorenz
Published in: Schriften zur Malakozoologie, 10:1-3
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An aberrant type of Cribrarula cribraria characterized by conchological
features resembling either
C. catholicorum Schilder & Schilder 1938 and C. esontropia Duclos 1833 and a
well defined range
has recently been discovered in the Sri Lanka area. Several persons have
drawn our attention to
shells of this apparently isolated population said to come ³from the
southern tip of Sri Lanka²,
³India² ect., but until now its exact range was undisclosed and sufficient
shell material was not
available. Due to comprehensive collecting carried out by Dr. Herbert Ganter
along the western
Coast of Sri Lanka the spot where all specimens known so far seem to have
come from could be
pinpointed, the new subspecies is described in the discoverer¹s honour.
Cribrarula cribraria ganteri, n. ssp. (left: Holotype, right: Paratype 1)
Description:
Oval, very callous, slightly depressed shell with slightly produced
extremities. The labral margin is
steplike and indistinctly pitted. Base very callous, convex. There is a
slight depression on columellar
side towards the anterior end, giving the shell a slightly distorted outline
in dorsal view. The aperture
is equally narrow throughout. The labral teeth ectend regularly onto the
middle of the labrum, on
columellar side they are short and somewhat finer. The fossula is rather
produced, showing four
distinct denticles, the peristome is distinctly ribbed. Ribs and denticles
are prolongations of the teeth.
The dorsal ground colour is pale olive, covered by a reddish brown coat
forming large, regular
lacunae. The dorsal line is irregular, rather wide towards the extremities.
The white margins are very
callous on both sides, distinctly spotted with brown. The marginal callus is
bent up on columellar
side. The spots form slight depressions.
In the paratypes the above described features vary only slightly, the
characteristic brown spotting
along both sides of the shell can be rather dense and conspicuous, in very
callous specimens it may
be obscured partly by callus. In some specimens the spotting is produced
also towards the middle
of the base, in most specimens at least some spotting is visible on basal
view. Some specimens have
a distinct doral line. The marginal depression towards the anterior on
columellar side is another
characteristic and relatively constant feature which in some very callous
specimens becomes less
conspicuous while in others it is even exaggerated. In two additional
subadult specimens the
marginal spotting is already formed on both sides. In a very callous
specimen there are only faint
traces of spots underneath the milky white callus.
Material: (length x width x height (mm) (labral : columellar teeth))
Holotype: 24,5 x 15,8 x 12,2 (17:16) coll. HNC, Cismar No.
Paratype 1: 24,5 x 15,0 x 11,4 (14:16) coll. F. Lorenz, jun.
Paratype 2: 25,4 x 15,7 x 12,0 (16:15) coll. F. Lorenz, jun.
Paratype 3: 26,5 x 16,8 x 12,5 (16:17) coll. F. Lorenz, jun.
Paratype 4: 26,1 x 15,9 x 11,9 (16:19) coll. F. Lorenz, jun.
Paratype 5: 25,5 x 16,1 x 12,5 (16:16) coll. F. Lorenz, jun.
Paratype 6: 25,4 x 15,4 x 11,2 (17:17) coll. F. Lorenz, jun.
Paratype 7: 28,7 x 17,4 x 13,2 (16:16) coll. F. Lorenz, jun.
Locus typicus:
All specimens known so far seem to come from a strip of beach at Mount
Lavinia, 10 kms south of
Colombo, Sri Lanka. There is a fringing barrier reef offshore the sandy
beach which might be the
habitat. Amongst the type series there are both, livecollected and fresh
beached shells, the existence
of the latter suggests that the habitat cannot be too far offshore.
Discussion:
The dense and distinct marginal spotting formed on both sides of the shell
is a characteristic feature
in the new taxon never seen to similar extent in Cribraria cribraria and its
various subspecies.
Occasional specimens of C. cribraria comma Perry 1811 from East Africa and
C. cribraria var.
zadela Iredale 1939 from the Philippines may have traces of spots along the
dorsal part of the labral
margin. However, in no variant of C. cribraria known so far the spotting is
visible also from basal
view, neither is there conspicuous spotting all along the columellar side of
the shell. In all other
spotted specimens of C. cribraria the spots form slight elevations but no
depressions as in C. c.
ganteri ssp. nov.
The new taxon is assigned to Cribrarula cribraria only on provisorical
basis, as features such as the
distinct marginal step and the formation of the extremities are similar to
eastern Indian Ocean and
western Pacific specimens of C. cribraria cribraria. The callous margins and
general outline closely
resemble the eastern Australian C. cribraria melwardi Iredale 1930, which
never shows marginal
spotting, however.
The locus typicus of the new subspecies does not bear typical populations of
C. cribraria cribraria
Linne 1758, but specimens of C. cribraria cribraria typical for this region
in the Indian Ocean have
been found nearby, whereas related ³spotted² specimens do not occur anywhere
else near the
type-locality. If this state of present knowledge can be supported further,
we may consider C.
cribraria ganteri ssp. nov. a very restricted endemic taxon.
Dense marginal spotting is typical in species such as Cribraria gaskoinii
Reeve 1846, C. esontropia
Duclos 1833 and C. catholicorum Schilder & Schilder 1938, all of which are
smaller in average,
and easily distinguished by their different shapes. The considerable size,
the formation of the margins
and the dental structure implies closest relationship to C. cribraria rather
than any other species in
the genus. Especially C. esontropia deserves further consideration as this
species is very variable in
shape and has proved to be far more widespread than previously thought. Most
authors concorded
in considering C. esontropia an endemic species to the Mascarene Islands.
Only recently its
presence in Madagaskar, the Persian Gulf and the southeast African coast was
confirmed. In this
species, however, the labrum is not steplike, there is no marginal
depression anteriorly on the
columellar margin and the dentition is less produced.
References:
F. Lorenz, jun. & A. Hubert (1993): ³A Guide to Worldwide Cowries² Christa
Hemman Verlag,
Wiesbaden, p. 176 ff., Pl. 69-70
D.P. Sharabati (1981): ³Saudi Arabian Seashells² Doreen Phillips Sharabati,
p. 99
C. M. Burgess (1985): ³Cowries of the World² Seacomber Publications, Cape
Town, p. 241
Regards,
Roger Van den Berghe
Manila
At 06:25 PM 5/10/99 -0400, you wrote:
>Hello!
>
>Does anyone know where Lorenz published his description of;
>Cypraea cribraria ganteri Lorenz 1997
>or is it
>Cribrarula cribraria ganteri Lorenz 1997
>or is it
>Cypraea (Cribrarula) cribraria ganteri Lorenz 1997 ?
>
>Can you e-mail a copy of the description, range, etc?
>
>--
>
>Later,
>
>Emilio Jorge Power
>
>Please visit;
>"The Liguus Home Page"
>http://pw1.netcom.com/~ejpower/lighompage.html
>West Melbourne, Florida USA
>
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