Michael,
  I agree with Andrew. You might want to check these two references:

 Pilsbry, H.A. and J. Bequaert. 1927. The Aquatic Mollusks of the Belgian
Congo. With a Geographical and Ecological Account of Congo Malacology.
Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 53:69-602. Plates
10-77, 94 figures.


 Brown, D. S. 1994. Freshwater Snails of Africa and their Medical
Importance second, revised edition. Taylor and Francis. London, Great
Britain. x + 605 pp. 147 figures.

Regards,
Charlie

******************************************************************************
Charlie Sturm, Jr
Research Associate - Section of Mollusks
                     Carnegie Museum of Natural History
                     Pittsburgh, PA, USA

Assistant Professor - Family Medicine

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On Fri, 29 Aug 2003, Andrew Grebneff wrote:

> >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!
> -----------------------
> Q: Because it reverses the logical flow of conversation.
> A: Why is top posting frowned upon?
>