I found some shells in an antique shop today, apparently they are being sold on consignment for a friend of the owner.  He used to be in the Merchant Marines, got all these things 20, 30 years ago, and is selling em halfway cheap now.  Only problem is, there's no collection data with them, so now I get the fun job of figgering out what they are.  One of the shells I picked up appears at first glance to be an orange form of Vexillum regina, with a very peachy orange color on the top half of the whorl, and very dark brown line, then white bottom half of the whorl, with a fine brown line in the suture.  However, this description could also very match Ve. taeniatum.  I was wondering if someone could tell me the differnce between these two shells, and how you can tell them apart.  Cuz frankly, all the pictures I can find of them both look like individual variations on one species, to me...  ANy help would be appreciated!  Thanks!

 

~Stever~