Travis,
 
At 09:28 AM 3/2/99 -0600, you wrote:
 
>There are two species in the genus, M. pomum and M. ringens and perhaps
>one subspecies, M. pomum noronhensis.
 
Malea noronhensis is a good tonnid species that apparently occurs only off
the Brazilian oceanic islands of Fernando de Noronha and Atol das Rocas
(Atlantic Ocean). It does resemble M. pomum (Pacific Ocean), but is a much
smaller species, with teeth on outer lip not split in two (not bifid), a
distinctive pattern of columellar folds, and other conchological
differences. In 1982, during my first visit to Rocas, a small atoll located
about 120 miles off the NE Brazilian coast, I collected about 35 dead
shells of M. noronhensis on one of the sand bars that comprise the emerged
portion of the atoll. Subsequent visits yielded only dive-collected shells.
 
Best regards,
 
Jose
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Jose H. Leal, Ph.D.
Director, The Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum
Editor-in-chief, THE NAUTILUS
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