At 08:49 PM 10/11/98 -0400, you wrote:
>>Whelks are Carnivorous and Conchs are Herbivorous. That is the main
>>morphological difference. Whelks as well as members of Fasciolariadae are
>>voracious carnivores. Conchs (members of Strombidae) are grazers.
 
>That definition is fine if you live in the eastern USA.
 
>Common names are only helpful in local situations. We need to use Latin to
be sure other
>shellers know what we're talking about!
 
In the eastern USA, Pleuroploca gigantea, a fasciolariid, is known as the
horse conch!
__________________________________________________________________________
Jose H. Leal, Ph.D.
Director, The Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum
Editor-in-chief, THE NAUTILUS
[log in to unmask]
http://www.uwp.edu/academic/biology/bmsm/bm_shell.htm
3075 Sanibel-Captiva Road
Sanibel, FL 33957 USA
(941) 395-2233; fax (941) 395-6706
 
"But fit the facts together in any other way and you get more nonsense
instead of less." -- Travis McGee