(I tried to send the second part of my message 3 days ago, but
apparently it bounced again. It seems that Conch-L's server counts all
formatting tags as part of the message, making it longer than what you
see in HTML email. Here is my last trial, in plain text, without
formatting. I apologize to those who received it repeatedly)

(continuation from previous message)

In the meantime, Pat Burgess, following Kay's advice, described
several new cowries, including renaming a few, like Pustularia
(Annepona) mariae Schilder, 1927, which under the single genus scheme
was preoccupied by a previously named cowrie, Cypraea camelopardalis
var. mariae Schilder, 1924. The replacement name was Cypraea mantellum
Walls and Burgess, 1980. See Biraghi 1981, Rosenberg 1997 for more
detail (http://www.conchologistsofamerica.org/articles/y1997/9709_rosenberg.asp).
As Rosenberg pointed out, the name Cypraea mariae should not be used.
If you accept a single genus, then the name should be Cypraea
mantellum Walls and Burgess, 1980; if you accept several genera, then
the correct name is Annepona mariae (Schilder, 1927).

The ICZN has no jurisdiction about the use of a single genus or
multiple genera in the Cypraeidae (or Conidae, or any family), so
there is no right or wrong, it is a matter of personal choice. Some
collectors prefer to keep all of their cowries arranged in a single
genus; most researchers now prefer to use multiple genera, because
species within each genus are more closely related to each other than
to species in other genera, so it makes communication easier.
Alternatively, you could use Cypraea for all species and the different
genera as subgenera.

Given the increasing amount of information available in the last 50
years since Kay (1957b) proposed returning to the use of a single
genus, we now know a lot more about relationships in the cowries, so
even Bradner and Kay (1996) recognized 31 "patterns" of cowrie radular
(in their atlas of cowrie radulae), which are remarkably similar to
the systematic arrangement of Schilder and Schilder (1971). The
molecular work by Chris Meyer (2003, 2004) is probably the most solid
work in the Cypraeidae, and his molecular data DOES support most
genera previously defined by conchological and anatomical data.

My two cents.

Fabio

------------

Biraghi, G. 1981. Where is Linnaeus? We need him now! Hawaiian Shell
News 29(12): 3.

Bradner, H. and E. A. Kay. 1996. An atlas of cowrie radulae (Mollusca:
Gastropoda: Cypraeoidea: Cypraeidae). The Festivus 28: 1–179.

Kay, E.A. 1957a. The systematics of the Cypraeidae as elucidated by a
study of Cypraea caputserpentis and related forms. Ph.D. dissertation,
University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI.

Kay, E.A. 1957b. The genus Cypraea. Nature 180: 1436-1437.

Kay, E.A. 1960. Generic revision of the Cypraeinae. Proceedings of the
Malacological Society of London 33: 278-287.

Meyer, C. P. 2003. Molecular systematics of cowries (Gastropoda:
Cypraeidae) and diversification patterns in the tropics. Biological
Journal of the Linnean Society 79(3): 401–459.

Meyer, C. P. 2004. Toward comprehensiveness: increased molecular
sampling within Cypraeidae and its phylogenetic implications.
Malacologia 46(1): 127–156.

Schilder, F.A. 1922. Contributions to the knowledge of the genera
Cypraea and Trivia. Proceedings of the Malacological Society of London
15: 98-122.

Schilder, M. and Schilder, F.A. 1971. A catalogue of living and fossil
cowries. Mémoires de Institut Royal des Ciences Naturelles de Belgique
(2éme Series) 85: 1-246.

Steadman, W.R. and Cotton, B.C. 1946. A key to the classification of
the cowries (Cypraeidae). Records of the South Australian Museum 8:
503-530 + 13 plates.

-------------------------------------------------
Fabio Moretzsohn, Ph.D.
Assistant Research Scientist
Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies
Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi
6300 Ocean Drive, Unit 5869
Corpus Christi, TX 78412-5869
Phone: (361) 825-3230
Fax: (361) 825-2050
mollusca [at] gmail.com

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