I'm with Dick.  Some people have collected in the Galapagos
in recent years (in limited areas) by permit, but most of the
Galapagos shells on eBay and available from dealers are not
recently collected.   I bought a nice Cypraea (or Pseudozonaria)
nigropunctata recently off the internet.  It had good color, and
I didn't have any idea how long ago it was collected, but...when
I received it, it still had the original data tag with collection date:
6 December, 1934.


----- Original Message -----
From: "Richard Petit" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, November 13, 2006 4:52 PM
Subject: Re: Galapagos shells and shelling


> Ms. Clark's statement that "Shells from Galapagos that are being sold were
> almost certainly collected illegally" is simply not true.  Although I have
> heard that some collectors have brought specimens out illegally in recent
> years (a practice I certainly condemn) there are many specimens collected
> years ago that are still circulating.  Just last month I purchased the
> Cancellariidae collection of a deceased COA member and it contained
> several
> endemic Galapagos species, all collected by Jacqueline DeRoy in the 1970s
> and 1980s.  Last year there was a very small collection advertised on eBay
> that was stated to contain a Cancellaria with an improbable name.  From
> the
> small photo I guessed (correctly) that it was a specimen of the endemic
> Cancellaria darwini.  When received it still had with it one of J. DeRoy's
> distinctive labels written in her hand on her usual orange paper.
>
> These specimens in older collections will continue to change hands and the
> purchasers (and sellers) should not be condemned for having them.
> Possibly
> dealers should state that an endemic Galapagos species that is offered is
> from an old collection, possibly even giving the name of the collection
> (and
> if the collector handled his/her shells properly the original label will
> still be present) with the date obtained if not the date collected.  This
> record of prior ownership would, in such cases, prove that the specimen(s)
> were not taken illegally.  In any event, such a trail of ownership is
> always
> interesting and often helpful.  Old labels, like bookplates in books,
> should
> never be destroyed.  They add to, not detract from, value.
>
> In any event, it is incorrect to accuse anyone having recently purchased a
> Galapagos specimen to have committed an illegal act.
>
> dick petit

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