Folks,

I am trying to get an overview of possible geographic variation in the presence and/or thickness of the periostracum in some western Pacific Fusinus species. F. longissimus, in particular, seems to have a thicker and more persistent periostracum the further north you go in its distribution. The few specimens from Japan that I have seen (it is very rare there) have a thick periostracum with the usual crowded lamellae that bear tufts, but all the Philippine specimens seen to date have no periostracum at all. This is likely because the dealers and/or fishermen burned it off with bleach, but I really would like more information. So: if anyone can confirm having seen fresh examples of the following species with a periostracum from anywhere other than Japan, I'd like to know what color it was, how thick and how well distributed over the shell:

F. longissimus
F. undatus
F. colus

Regards,

PC.

Paul Callomon
Collections Manager
Malacology, Invertebrate Paleontology and General Invertebrates
Department of Malacology
Academy of Natural Sciences
1900 Parkway, Philadelphia PA 19103-1195, USA
Tel 215-405-5096
Fax 215-299-1170
Secretary, American Malacological Society
On the web at www.malacological.org

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