David,
I guess Eduard confirmed what I thought, that M.
histrio isn't supposed to occur there. M. depressa
is never cylindrical, and M. maculifera usually comes
to a peak toward the spire from the middle of the
dorsum, although the few I found in Samoa showed
a less distinct peak than the ones I have from Hawaii.
And then again, I have some shells from two different
sites in American Samoa that I call "deprabica." I
haven't done DNA comparisons on them, but they
seem about evenly split on characteristics of M.
depressa and M. arabica. I've always figured they
were hybrids/interbreeds. If you move outward
toward the reef edge from where they live, you find
M. depressa, and if you move inward you find M.
arabica. The "deprabicas" mostly occur in the
overlap area. Some of them show dorsal patterns
typical of M. arabica, and some look very much
like an inflated M. depressa. Average size is between
30 and 40mm, although a few were as small as the
one you found.
If you have Burgess' Cowries of the World, look on
page 68. That live animal photo isn't C. depressa,
it's one of my "deprabica" shells. (I guarantee you I
could take you within 50 yards of where it was
collected.) That is the typical shape, although as I
said, the pattern ranges from mostly lines to an
almost-typical depressa pattern.
I didn't see a scan of the shell you're talking about
but if you have it up on the web, let me know the
address, or e-mail the photo?
Cheers,
Don Barclay
Cut -n- Shoot, Tx
[log in to unmask]
----- Original Message -----
From: "David Kirsh" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, October 22, 2006 11:48 PM
Subject: Re: little cowrie
> Don,
>
> This is nearly cylindrical. I don't whether this showed up on the scan
> (due to foreshortening).
>
> No trace of dark smear. And the teeth are short, unlike the images of
> C. depressa I've seen. I don't know the extent of variability with
> these.
>
> Does C. histrio range into the Marshalls to your knowledge?
>
> David
>
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