Dear Conch-L,
 
Linnaeus (1758; species 658) cited "ad Ilvam insulam" as the "habitat" for
his Patella fornicata.  That means the yet-to-be-infamous Mediterranean
island of Elba.  He may have been wrong; three pages earlier he placed his
species 639, Nerita peloronta "in O. Asiae ad Bandam," which is in moden-day
Indonesia.  We now know N. p. from St. Augustine, Florida (C. W. Johnson
1890; 1919; no longer present by personal observations) to Brasil (according
to numerous authorities, but not Rios, 1995).  So you see, information was
sometimes wrong 240 years ago and today is a bit closer to accurate and
precise, paradigms which biology may not fully yield to us.  
 
Harry
 
 
At 10:29 AM 11/27/98 +0100, you wrote:
>About Crepidula fornicata and its appearance in Europe.
>
>Crepidula fornicata Linné, 1758 was imported in England together with
>Amarican oysters about 1880. These date can be found in the following
>literarure aacording to the references given in the book  I consulted. I
>have not seen these references, but I'm pretty sure they will content some
>interesting data . Crepidula fornicata was reproted before 1940 from the
>Netherlands, so there was no need  for Crepidula fornicata to use the fleet
>for the D-day campain to cross the Manche.
>Robson, G.C., 1915: On the extension of the range of the Amarican Slipper
>limpet (Crepidula fornicata) on the east coast of England, Ann. Mag. Nat.
>Hist. (8) vlol 16 p 496-499.
>Burton, E.St.J., 1930: The distribution of the Slipper limpet (Crepidula
>fornicat L.) in Britain. - Proc. Bournemouth Nat. Sci. Soc. Vol. 22 p 56-58.
>So Linné's description was based on an American specimen if these data are
>correct, you will have to see the original description  to find something
>about the place from which this specimen originates.
>In Europe we have several American species: Mya arenaria, Petricola
>pholadiformis, of course Crepidula fornicata, the last one is Ensis
>americanus, which can be found in thousends on the beach. Even the large
>Mactra form the American East coast was life reported from Terschelling (The
>Netherlands) in one specimen but this species not found here anymore.
>                                        Martin Cadée, The Netherlands.
>
Harry G. Lee                
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