Dear Conch-lers,
here I have a difficult request for you.

Freyer in 1855 described Pterocera kochi, now considered a synonym of
Lambis chiragra.

This description was based on the specimen illustrated by Kiener (1843) in his

Spécies général et iconographie des coquilles vivantes, comprenant la
collection du Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle de Paris, la collection Lamarck,
celle du Prince Masséna et les découvertes récentes des voyageurs.
Rousseau e Baillière, Paris.

To my knowledge, since then the typical specimen was never illustrated again.

During a visit to the collections of the Natural History Museum of Trieste
(NE Italy), I found that the Lambis chiragra shown in the exposition rooms
was indeed the holotype of this species, complete with its original label.

Despite Freyer's binomial is well considered a synonym, I found of interest
illustrating the type and citing its current location.

To the purpose of this research, I am looking for a photo or a scan (at
least 300 dpi saved preferably as a tiff image) of the plate where this
specimen was originally illustrated.  It is cited in Freyer's original
description as plate 5.

I will be extremely grateful to any of you who may provide the image or
give hints on how to obtain it.

I will cover any expenses encountered.

You may answer to me privately at: [log in to unmask]

Thank you and best regards,

Paolo


Paolo Giulio ALBANO
Bologna, ITALY
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Homepage: http://members.xoom.virgilio.it/pgalbano/index.htm