Thanks a lot for the great information, guys!!  To summarize briefly:

1) For marine shells,  only a small percentage of the total area of the
Philippines has been collected very well - anyone looking outside of
rather narrow bounds, will be almost certain to find a great many
undescribed species.  Moreover, in many areas there is less pollution or
habitat destruction than in many areas of the world, so most of the
original fauna should still be present.

2) For non-marine molluscan fauna, even less territory has been
well-collected. However, much of the primary forest has been either
heavily or completely logged, so many species have either been rendered
extinct or extremely depleted before they could be examined by
researchers or owned by collectors.  Nevertheless, if one is willing to
go to the few areas which still sport relatively intact old-growth
forests, a great many undescribed species can easily be found, both in
the canopy and on or close to the forest floor.

3) For some reason,  many Filipinos seem difficult to motivate when it
comes to collecting in areas or by means where they would have to go
"outside their comfort zones".... Question: is this a cultural thing? I
have heard repeatedly from a variety of sources that Filipino culture is
fairly "laid back" - the hard-driving, money and achievement-oriented
culture of "doing whatever it takes to succeed", as is found more often
in say, Japan or Hong Kong, is more or less severely repressed in the
Philipines.  Why?  Any theories?

4) Many local shell sources do not provide accurate locality data with
their findings, since they are mostly concentrated in a few areas and
folks like to protect their best collecting spots.

So, there are both excellent opportunities, and significant challenges
in finding new shell-bearing fauna in the Philippines, but on the whole
there are quite likely a surprisingly large number of species still to
be found, if one has the means, the time and the motivation.

Questions: -- What is a "lumun lumun net"??  Do they have any advantages
over tangle nets?  How are they constructed?

       -- How many tangle nets does the average "shell fisherman" have
down at any given time?  What is the average rate of loss of these nets?
  Are there localities where there is a significant build-up of lost
nets on the bottom?  Do they entangle turtles or marine mammals sometimes?

 From the chronically damp - but not so cool now - wilderness of New
Scotland,
ross mayhew.

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