Dan,
 
I also got your stuff in the mail today.  Put some Cypraea caputserpentis
in just to fill out the box (it is a very small box - the Conus kulkulcan
is pretty but very little).  Hope your wife enjoys the C. mus.  I
purchased it a few years ago and then last month a lady in our budding
shell club gave me a C. mus she had collected in Ven.  I figured I had
better keep the one that was a gift (even though it still has a pretty
strong odor).
 
As to the Xenophora books, I hadn't heard there was a new one!  I do not
have Ponder (I've never seen it for sale) but I get a bit nervous as he
only lists 28 species with a bunch of synonyms.  I am afraid he has
missed a few and a new look at the family will be great.  I presently
have about 15 species of xenophora and I just put a hold on three new
ones that Paul Monfils has on his new list.  I also have two that were
sold as X. senegalensis (a syn. for X. crispa according to Ponder) and
they are different than my other X. senegalensis, my X. crispa, and my X.
mediterranea (another syn. for X. crispa).  These guys are small (25mm),
have an open umbilicus, and have three rings of denticles around the
umbilicus and a rough, bumpy base.  So we may have a variant here or a
new species or maybe the "true" X. senegalensis.
 
Since you have Ponder's book, does he explain what the criteria are for
breaking the species up into three genera?  I understand the Xenophora
(shells that glue other shells on themselves), and even the Onustus (the
only one I have with an operc is X.(Onustus) indica and the opec is
heavily ridged - unlike the thin, relatively smooth Xenophora opercs).
But then the Stellaria all look like Onustus except for S. solaris.
Maybe if I ever get them all I can do some real comparisons with the
actual shells or maybe I'll find the book.
 
Well, enough for now.  I'll let you know when the shells arrive.  See ya,
 
Tom