>  > The term "Florida horse conch" is precise, accurate, and perfectly
>>  understood by everyone, even the snottiest of taxonomists. What I find
>>  amusing is those that sneer at common nomenclature while arguing about
>>  what it should be called. Big thingamajig? Humongous snail? Big hard
>>  brown shell with orange flesh?  How about "Florida horse conch"? The
>>  latter we all understand.
>
>That's right. We can also use "Almeja" for all Venerids, a name that we all
>understand, isn't it?
>By the way, this could simplify taxonomy a lot, which maybe it is not a bad
>idea.

Yes... and let's have:

pipi for mesodesmatic clams
horse mussel for Atrina
mussel for unionid clams
fan shell for pectinids
circular saw for Astraea
clam for Tridacna
whelk for Littorina littorea
limpet for Crepidula
turret shell for turritellids... and turrids
cowrie for Trivia
screw for cerithiids, potamidids, turritellids and terebrids
worm shell for vermicularia and vermetids
otemate for Ancilla
nautilus for Argonauta

"common" names suck big-time.
--
Andrew Grebneff
165 Evans St, Dunedin 9001, New Zealand
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Seashell, Macintosh, VW/Toyota van nut