SOOPYSHELL wrote:
 
Dear conch-l
Can somebody help me with the name for one of my shells?  I went to a
gift shop and they had a big box full of tiger cowries.    One of them is
skinnier than the rest, and in my book I see the panther cowrie that is
like a skinner tiger cowrie, so my question is could this be the panther
cowrie, and how do I tell the differnce?
 
Soopy,
 
I am sure one or more of the cowrie buffs will provide a better answer
but as I can remember having the same problem, I thought I would give it
a go.  The trouble with many books is that they only show the dorsal or
top side of the shells in question and that can make positive
identification difficult.  The two shells can look quite a bit alike.
For years I thought maybe, just maybe, one of my Tigers was a Panther.  A
quick way to tell if your elongated shell is a Panther is to turn it over
on its back and let it go.  Be careful you use the center part of a table
for this so it will not roll off.  A Tiger Cowry will balance on its back
or at most wobble around, roll onto one side, and occasionally right
itself.  The Panther Cowry, on the other hand, will quickly right itself.
 No ifs, ands, or buts, it rolls right over.  You can not get it to
remain upside down - or at least I have never been able to do so.  I
suppose there is the odd Panther Cowrie out there that balances upside
down perfectly.  Most do not.
 
Good luck,
 
Tom Eichhorst