Dear Harry,

The "southern form" shown by Marcus is not restricted to that area of Brazil. I have "slim" specimens from the offshore islands of Central America. Although most of the specimens I have seen represent rather young shells, I have a 12" specimen from the island of Guanaja, Islas de la Bahía, Honduras that perfectly fits the bill.

By the way, I have three records of Charonia variegata from off Louisiana. They were collected in 1971, 2001 and 2010 so they are not really jumping in the dredge. The three specimens are empty baby shells (about 2").

Emilio

----- Original Message -----
From: Harry G. Lee <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Wed, 29 Dec 2010 05:48:19 -0600 (CST)
Subject: Re: [CONCH-L] Charonia variegata (Lamarck, 1816)

Dear Marcus,

The southern form has an uncanny resemblance to Charonia tritonis
(Linnaeus, 1758). How do you distinguish between these two?

Harry


At 06:57 AM 12/28/2010, you wrote:
>We have two distinct forms in Brazil - the regular shouldered form from
>North Brasil, a heavy and thick shell reaching over 300mm
>
>http://www.femorale.com/shellphotos/photos12/24218.jpg
>
>and a Southern form, found mainly off Rio de Janeiro - a much lighter,
>elongated shell. It is usually darker too.
>
>http://www.femorale.com/shellphotos/photos14/29264.jpg
>
>Marcus
>
> >This is a shell everyone knows.    However, for this very reason I can
> >address it quickly and pop out a presentation on a cold day with everyone
> >out for the day but me.  So, here it is and, I hope, with some information
> >and photos about C. variegata you may not have seen, including two
>wonderful
> >videos.
> >
> >
> >
> >http://z14.invisionfree.com/Conchologist_Forum/index.php?showtopic=2047
> >
> >
> >
> >[log in to unmask]
> >
> >
>
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