Hello Emilio,
Yes, I am here - lurking in the back-ground. Actually I have just been on 2
weeks leave and am trying to catch up on all the correspondence. But you are
right - this finding of the "mother-load" certainly deserves a comment from
a S. African dealer.
As I am the only one with email and on Conch-L, I think I should do the
honours :
Well, the first point I can make is that the Mozambique form is quite
different to the S. African (fultoni fultoni) form. The latter being more
elongate, darker, usually having larger black markings and fewer teeth.
The second observation is that the S. African form is just as RARE as it was
10 years ago when it cost $10 000 for a Gem specimen. The reason for this is
that (I am taking an educated guess) the Mozambique specimens must live on a
flatter, more sandy
sub-strate, which makes them easy to trawl or dredge. I have never heard of
a dredged or trawled S. African form; only dived (rare) or ex pisces. This
means that they must live on heavy reef which makes trawling for them
impossible !
So, how does this affect the price ?? Well, as they are 2 distinct
sub-species, I think they should have 2 distinct pricing structures. So, if
I got a Gem fultoni
fultoni - I would still offer it for $2000 - $3000 which is what they are
worth if you take the rarity into account.
Any comments on this ?
(Now can I go back to working and lurking, Emilio ?)
brian
At 09:58 PM 99/01/11 -0500, you wrote:
>Hello!
>
>Hi,
>
>Though somewhat "related", Cypraea teuleri and fultoni (and also Cypraea
mus) that is,
>they are a far cry to being morphological look alikes, both in color and
shape. I
>suppose a very unobservant newcomer to shell collecting could be duped, but
for the
>money asked a bit of research would be a prudent thing to do prior to buying.
>
>I believe Mr. Amorim may have a load from the "mother lode" off East
Africa. I am
>surprised to "hear silence" from the South African dealers on this subject
as the
>fultoni have been on a "more abundant" increase as of late. Heellloooo
Brian are you
>there???
>
>--
>Later,
>
>Emilio Jorge Power
>
>Please visit;
>"The Liguus Home Page"
>http://pw1.netcom.com/~ejpower/lighompage.html
>
><HTML>
>Hello!
>
><P>Hi,
>
><P>Though somewhat "related", <I>Cypraea</I> <I>teuleri</I> and <I>fultoni</I>
>(and also <I>Cypraea mus</I>) that is, they are a far cry to being
morphological
>look alikes, both in color and shape. I suppose a very unobservant newcomer
>to shell collecting could be duped, but for the money asked a bit of research
>would be a prudent thing to do prior to buying.
>
><P>I believe Mr. Amorim may have a load from the "mother lode" off East
>Africa. I am surprised to "hear silence" from the South African dealers
>on this subject as the fultoni have been on a "more abundant" increase
>as of late. Heellloooo Brian are you there???
>
><P>--
><BR>Later,
>
><P>Emilio Jorge Power
>
><P>Please visit;
><BR>"The Liguus Home Page"
><BR><A
HREF="http://pw1.netcom.com/~ejpower/lighompage.html">http://pw1.netcom.com/
~ejpower/lighompage.html</A>
><BR> </HTML>
>
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