On Sat, Dec 27, 2008 at 9:38 PM, Patrice BAIL <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> I can answer. What is your problem?
> Patrice Bail
> 2 square La Fontaine 75016 Paris

Hi Patrice

I am concerned to see "Sorenson" or "Sorrenson" Canyon being used as a
locality. To my knowledge, and that of Bruce Marshall, there is no
such canyon.

We both think that originally it may have arisen as an error for
Saunders Canyon, and is now being used deliberately by a certain
dishonest Australian shell dealer (who, when I e-mailed him politely
to correct it and other obviously falsified NZ "data", sent me an
abusive message and cut me off from his online offerings so that I
could not check on his "data" again).

Saunders Canyon lies off Cape Saunders, which is on the southern side
of Otago Peninsula, Dunedin. There is certainly no Sorenson Canyon off
the Otago Peninsula.

The canyons, from south to north, and: Saunders, Papanui, Taiaroa and
Karitane; all except the last lie off Otago Peninsula, which lies
within the boundaries of Dunedin city.

Also, "Otago Heads" is a colloquialism, and Powell's use of it is to
be regretted. Powell also could not spell Katiki Beach, misspelling it
"Kartigi". There is only one head, Taiaroa Head, which is the south
side of the Otago Haqbor entrance, and is the northernmost part of the
peninsula, the very tip. The north side is set into the harbor and is
the sandy Aramoana Beach.

From Plate 11, Warrington is not on the Otago Peninsula, but some
kilometers north of Taiaroa Head.

Amuri Bluff is a common error for Haumuri Bluff, which is a classic
late Cretaceous fossil locality for marine molluscs and reptiles.

A couple of personal observations on NZ volutes:

Alcithoe arabica reaches comfortably over 200mm in Foveaux Strait
(between South Island and Stewart Island). Some specimens can have as
many as 9 distinct plaits, though most have fewer.

A. aillaudorum, apart from its slightly larger size, has a strong
resemblance to the latest Oligocene - earliest Miocene A. lepida.

A. wilsonae "acuminata" occurs right off Otago Peninsula, and I have
dredged it in and near Papanui Canyon, which lies north of Saunders
Canyon and south of Taiaroa Head, the4 most-dredged of the Dunedin
canyons. My largest specimen is on the order of 90-100mm (my
collection is packed away and not accessible at present), which is
very thinwalled and lacks a terminal varix; it has a strong
color-pattern.

I have quite a few specimens of various "forms"  of A. wilsonae from
the shelf & canyons off Dunedin, and they intergrade. My smallest are
fully-adult smooth specimens about 3cm in length.

From my specimens of A. knoxi, which comes up live in the same
dredgehauls as A. wilsonae, and from a specimen supposedly of A.
wilsonae from the Auckland Islands, I suspect that these two names are
grades within a single species.

I will be most interested to see what Bruce's molecular work brings to light!

I hope this is of some use to you.

Happy New Year!

Regards
Andrew Grebneff
Fossil preparator
Otago University
Dunedin
NZ

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