And .... A two-hour reconnaissance of the Tsukiji fish market in
Tokyo in 1988 netted my collection about 40 species of gastropods
from turbinids to volutids, although the highest diversity was in the
Buccinidae.

Many were eaten, and I heard no complaints from the dinner guests.

I'm sure Paul C. can elaborate on the biodiversity culinary aspects
of this observation.

Harry


At 07:16 PM 1/2/2008, you wrote:
>>Gastropods NOT food? What about them pulmonate that folks roast in
>>their shells with garlic butter? What about those abalone that I
>>haven't even gotten a chance to try yet? What about cracked conch,
>>conch fritters, conch cakes, stewed conch, conch salad and those
>>dreamy conch fingers all done up in a coconut batter (best washed
>>down with a frosty Kalik) at that dockside bar and grill in Hopetown
>>in the Abacos?
>>
>>Not food?
>>
>>Ambrosia!
>
>Heh... the Poms eat a lot of Buccinum undatum... there's a thriving
>fishery there. They also eat Littorina littorea.
>
>The Koreans fish Ceratostoma burnetti commercially for food (so why
>are shells so expensive when offered?), as wel l as other spp.
>
>The Taiwanese fish Babylonia spp. The Chinese fisg neptunea spp
>(which is where all those common sinistral N. arthritica are coming
>from).
>
>>The toughest one my mother went through was standing on the reef at low tide
>>and watching a native walk ahead of her and pluck out a fist size Golden
>>Cowrie.
>>She knew the law - if they found it first - they do what they want.  He
>>cracked
>>it in half long wise and slurped down the snail and continued north on
>>the reef
>>towards home. Such is life.
>
>She should've offered him a few dollars for it before he broke it...
>he'd certainly have taken the money. But since when does C. aurantium
>live on reef-flats? Unless it was caught in a storm surge and tossed
>up onto the reef, in which case the shell was probably already in bad
>shape.
>--
>Regards
>Andrew

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