Dear Patty,
 
The right name of Natica should be stercusmuscarum (Gmelin, 1791),
as there are more opinions on this name.
In Poppe and Goto: European seashells it is under the name
Naticarius punctatus (Chemnitz in Karsten, 1789). As many Chemnitz
names are invalid it should be also this name, although well introduced.
Another synonym is millepunctata (-us) (Lamarck, 1822).
I have a homepage too: www.netwing.at/nisters/
 
yours sincerly Helmut
 
----------
> Dear all,
>
> In the Indo-Pacific we have a small shell genus called Diala. It's a tiny
> gastropod.
>
> A few years back, Carole Hickman wrote a hilarious article in Australian
> Shell News about the corruption of this name. She cited the Yellow Pages:
> Dial-a-Pizza, Dial-a-Nanny, and so on.
>
> Personally, I can never go past the Muricid genus Fartia without a chuckle.
> I like Helmut's Natica stercusmuscarum (fly shit). I believe the name was
> conveniently synonimised with something less offending. Can't remember what
> it was.
 
>
> I know there are many more ridiculous names out there. I'd love to hear
> about them
>
> Patty
> WWW: http://www.capricornica.com
>
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> Lindfield NSW 2070
>
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>
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>