Andrew's comment about the paratype of the Conus sennottorum brought
back memories and stimulated a visit to the molluscs.net website and
auction.

In the spring of 1952, in Ft. Myers Beach, Florida, my mother took
me to visit Gladys Sennott, an acquaintance from Rockland County, NY,
where we lived. The Sennotts were spending the winter in FMB in a
trailer park and working on their incredible shell collection.

Mrs. Sennott, took me (a young teenager) under her (angel) wing to show me
how to collect shells ( she took me and my mother to Punta Rassa for
king's crowns and rose tellins - forgive the common names  - , to
dig for angel wings in the back flats, to the pass to the south
of FMB for olives (etc).

She told me how she and her husband John had ship to shore radio
connection with certain shrimp boats who would give them the
shells that came up with the shrimp and how a shell they found
was named after them: Conus sennottorum. When visiting her sometimes
I could hear the static crackle of the radio and voices on it.

She gave me one, not in great  condition, but it was still the distinctive
cone with the small spots, the bulge ("fusiform shape"), and the shine.
She also gave me a booklet, "Some New and Interesting Molluscs from the
Deeper Waters of the Gulf of Mexico", by Rehder & Abbott. Needless
to say I was thrilled with all of this, and 51 years later, I still have
both.  In the article reprint, among the "new and interesting molluscs"
described are Conus spurius aureofasciatus, Conus spurius atlanticus, and
Conus austini.

I took the opportunity to compare the paratype on Molluscs.net. with the
. one depicted in the article. Sure enough- that looks like it, with
the repair and the canal chip. The holotype is also shown; the markings
are not as large or dark, but the distinct shape is obvious. The
description of the shell compares it to Conus clarki, but concludes
that the Conus sennottorum is different. The species was stated as being
originally described from 3 specimens,while 14 additional specimens they
had in front of them and were studying were all in Mrs. Sennott's
collection.

I got the idea myself to go down to the docks and see if I could
find some shells from a shrimp boat. There was one old shrimper
who said he'd send me the shells his boat brought in if I gave
him my address. I did, and for a few years, every now and then
a fragrant box would arrive back in New York.  In this way
I acquired maybe 5 or 6 more Conus sennottorum several of which I
gave away. Several years  ago I was lucky to be given a Conus  sennottorum
that had been in John Sennott's collection.

If anyone would like to see this reprint, please send me your
mailing address and I'll copy and send.   The original article
was in Revista de la Sociedad Malacologia, 8, 2, November 1951.

Anyway, thanks for the memories as well as the opportunity to share
a story.

Karen

On Mon, 10 Feb 2003, Andrew Dickson wrote:

> Did some of you notice the paratype of Conus sennotorum on the auction at
> molluscs.net.  If the holotype looks like that shell then I would say
> that Conus sennottorum is a form of Conus spurius.  The little pear
> shaped dotted cone from Yucutan would be in need of another name.
>