There are some fantastic melanistic shells such as Cyp. tigris and
Cymbiola vespertillio (and Cymatium piliare!) coming out of Thailand
these days - i found a good one at
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1082912352 . The
people who sell them either do not know or seem reluctant to disclose
the locality of these specimens. I have 2 questions:
1) How long have these been coming out of Thailand? I heard of a few
about 2 years ago, but do not recall any highly melanistic shells from
this country much before that. Could it be due to a pollution source
that puts large amounts of nickel & iron in the water?
2) where is this locality? Is there only one, or are there several?
From the great non-nuclear-but-still-wet North,
Ross M.