It isn't a shell dealer's plot.  Shell dealers, by and large, don't
assign taxonomic names.  They just use the names that taxonomists have
applied.  This tendency reached its peak some thirty years ago, and nowhere
was it more pronounced than in the Cypraeidae, thanks largely to a famous
husband and wife team of taxonomists and a few other notorious splitters of
the day.  Those who are old enough (oops, I mean mature enough) no doubt
remember those long lists from Richard Kurz and other dealers, with 400
different taxa of Cypraeidae listed - including 15 to 20
forms/varieties/subspecies of Cypraea caurica, maybe 8 or 10 varieties of
Cypraea gracilis, yes and even a half dozen subspecies of Cypraea moneta,
Cypraea caputserpentis, and Cypraea lynx.  The thing that always annoyed me
was that if you ordered a dozen of the listed varieties of Cypraea caurica,
at least six of them would look virtually identical.  I don't consider
myself a lumper - things with obvious differences should be split (remember
when Cypraea diluculum was a subspecies of Cypraea ziczac?!!).  But I am
relieved that the splitting craze of the 50's and 60's has subsided
somewhat, and we are in a period of relative balance!
        Paul M.