Dear Carol,
 
The identity of Turbo margaritaceus Linnaeus, 1758 is a mystery to me.
Henry Dodge (1952-59), in what was a monumental effort (especially for a
barrister who was not financially remunerated fo his excellent research),
reviewed many of Linnaeus' mollusks.  For reasons unknown to me, he did not
treat T. margaritaceus in his Turbo monograph (1959).  Maybe Jim and Linda
Brunner have come across this conundrum in their work on the Linnaean shells.
 
I admit that I haven't read the entirety of Dodge's work; there may be a
simple explanation here.
 
Harry
 
 
At 02:00 PM 9/27/98 EDT, you wrote:
>Hello to all,l
>Can someone help me please with some Turbinidae questions.  I purchased "Turbo
>margaritaceus-Linne" in the 1970's with locality data of Thailand.  It is very
>similar looking to T.argyrostoma but the operc is totally different. This
>operc is smooth, with a white edge darkening to brown in the center.  One
>outer edge of the operc has fine striations, almost like a fingerprint
>pattern.  I have never seen this name in any books.  Recently I received a
>Turbo from Thailand with no i.d. and it is identical to the margaritaceus,
>including the operc.  Is margaritaceus a valid name or a synonym for another
>species?  What is a good book for identification of Turbos?  So many of these
>Turbos look so similar to me.  Thank you
>Carol Brunner
>Miami, Florida
>
Harry G. Lee
mailto:[log in to unmask]
Suite 500, 1801 Barrs Street
Jacksonville, FL  32204
U. S. A.    904-384-6419
Visit the Jacksonville Shell Club Home Page at:
http://home.sprynet.com/sprynet/wfrank/jacksonv.htm
 
oo  .--.  oo  .--.  oo  .--.
 \\(____)_ \\(____)_ \\(____)_
  `~~~~~~~` `~~~~~~~` `~~~~~~~`