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Mon, 20 Mar 2000 10:59:54 -0700 |
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Art,
I think you are finding that most people do not know more about these little
guys than you!! For myself, I thought I kind of had it clear between the
Coralliophila and Latiaxis based pretty much on spines (it's nice to be
ignorant). And then some of the shells I knew as Latiaxis started showing
up with the Babelomurex moniker and I decided to let others worry about it
(like you); I would just go along with the flow. I just didn't and don't
have the reference for this name change. Maybe the differences are in the
animal more than the shell. This makes it a bit tough to key out with just
the shell.
Try describing the difference say, between a Polinices tumidus and a white
Nerita polita rumphi. If both are without operc it is a bit tough, even
though they are different families; one is a vegetarian, the other a
predator; one has a hard calcareous operc, the other a thin horny operc; one
is an intertidal rock dweller, the other cruises underwater in the sand; one
dissolves most of the interior structure of the shell, the other leaves it
intact, one comes in a rainbow of colors (like the old Stones song), the
other is always white; etc. However, if you just try and point out the
differences in the shell (especially to someone new to the seashell world),
you quickly find they are a small matter of degree only. Just looking at
the outside of the two shells there is not a single defining aspect that
can't be found in the other family, yet most of us would never mistake the
two -- even at a casual glance.
After having run on about this I am not sure it has anything to do with your
question, it was just something that struck me the other day when I tried to
tell someone the difference between these two shells. I also believe I
remember Paul Monfils mentioning a Trochid and a Turban that are almost
impossible to tell apart without the operc. What a great avocation!! I
love this stuff! Every time I think I know something I seem to find a half
a dozen things I didn't know. It doesn't always take -- but Conch-L has
served to educate me.
Tom Eichhorst in New Mexico
> One mo time----
> I need (want) to know if there are distinguishing
> characteristics that separate:
> babelomurex
> coralliophila
> latiaxis
> Someone (most people) probably knows more than me about them.
> Thanks;
> Art Weil
>
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