>Hello all,
>
>since several years I am puzzled with three shells my aunt collected in the
>Belgian Congo some 46 years ago. Though she swears she collected them near
>Matadi, which is a bit upstream from the Congo river estuary, they look like
>Terebrids to me. The most similar species I found in the Compendium (and the
>internet) is Hastula cinerea (Born, 1778) from the Western Atlantic. So this
>is my question: is there a subspecies or a close relative of H. cinerea on
>the eastern side of the Atlantic, and do Trebrids possibly live in brackish
>waters?
>Many thanks in advance
>Michael

Sounds like Melaniidae to me. These are cerithioids which do look
much like terebrids. These usually have a thin but dark
olive-greenish periostracum; the shell itself is often flesh-colored
with axial brown markings. They may develop a thick metallic-seeming
black coating. Some are smooth, others gemmate or nodulose. Very
closely related to Thiaridae and like them live in slightly brackish
and entirely fresh waters. Common in many areas in the tropics.
--
Andrew Grebneff
Dunedin, New Zealand
64 (3) 473-8863
<[log in to unmask]>
Fossil preparator
Seashell, Macintosh & VW/Toyota van nut
I want your sinistral gastropods!
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