I have personally always been most interested in the best representatives of a given species I can affordably aquire. However, it is clear that there is a large market for freaks based on the prices I've seen (some of these shells being EXTREMELY expensive) for many relatively common species. To the best of my knowledge this is best represented in Cypraea, but also shells like Strombus, Lambis, Cymatium with extra digits, siphon canals, etc also seem rather popular freaks. Anyway, with such an active market it would seem that one could fairly easily generate freaks with live specimens in aquariums after damaging the mantle. I was just wondering if this is just my active imagination or if this is actually going on. After myself running into doctored shells (baked, repaired, etc) I was just wondering if this practice runs into working with the live shells themselves. Thanks. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [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. ----------------------------------------------------------------------