I have collected many Crepidula convexa here, and have never seen anything that looked like nodulose ribs, even faint ones. Maybe I never looked close enough. I'll have to stick a few specimens under the scope. I have always considered it a smooth species though. The pronunciation of "Crepidula" is governed by what is often called "the antepenultimate rule", which states that [Latin] words of more than three syllables are pronounced with the emphasis on the third-from-last syllable. (last syllable = ultimate; next to last = penultimate; third from last = antepenultimate). Crep-ID-u-la, Thatch-ER-i-a, Gyr-IN-e-um, Cusp-id-AR-i-a, Struth-i-o-LAR-i-a. Unfortunately this gets a bit complicated in pronouncing genus names because many genus names are not actually single Latin nouns, but compound words comprised of two or more nouns, or a noun and an adjective. For example, "Trigonostoma" is a combination of "trigono" (triangular) and "stoma" (mouth). "Stoma" is a two syllable Latin noun, and as such is pronounced with the emphasis on the first syllable - "STO-ma". Adding a modifier doesn't change the pronunciation of the noun. Therefore, Tri-gon-o-STO-ma would be correct. Many collectors automatically but incorrectly apply the antepenultimate rule here and say "Tri-gon-OS-to-ma". So you have to have a sense of the derivation of the word in order to determine the correct pronunciation. Paul M. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [log in to unmask] - a forum for informal discussions on molluscs To leave this list, click on the following web link: http://listserv.uga.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=conch-l&A=1 Type your email address and name in the appropriate box and click leave the list. ----------------------------------------------------------------------