Hello Andre: Some nice photos and specimens. Your photo # 1 is Gaza superba superba Your photo # 2 is Gaza superba cubana … but G. cubana in the sense that it has coloration is the umbilicus. The member of the Genus Gaza from the Western Atlantic are: (after Clench & Aguayo, 1943) Gaza superba superba Dall, 1881 Northern Gulf of Mexico, Greater & Lesser Antilles, Columbia, Gaza superba cubana Clench & Aguayo, 1943 North coast of Cuba Gaza superba olivacea Quinn, 1991 Honduras to Colombia & Guiana Gaza fischeri Dall, 1889 Northern Cuba to the Lesser Antilles Gaza (Callogaza) watsoni Dall, 1881 North coast of Cuba After much study of W.A. Gaza, it is my forgone conclusion that there are only 2 species in the Western Atlantic: G. superba & G. watsoni; with G. Cubana, fischeri, & olivacea being nothing more than forms or subspecies at best. There is a tremendous amount of overlap of those varieties. It is very reminiscent of 15 years of research I did on Calliostoma bruneum (Dall, 1981) vs. C. tejedori Clench & Aguayo, 1949; where by it has much the same range and overlap issues, as well as variability in sculpture and other morphological details. Hope this has been helpful. Leslie -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Andre Poremski <[log in to unmask]> To: [log in to unmask] Date: Mon, 12 Feb 2007 11:59:07 -0500 Subject: Gaza superba Dear Conch-Lers I recently received a nice lot of Gaza superba (labeled G. superba cubana) that were dredged from the Mississippi delta in the late sixties. I compared these specimens with one superba that I already had in my collection that was dredged in the Gulf off Florida's west coast...they were slightly different. The new group seemed to lack the iridescence on the spire normally associated with superba. Here are the pictures: Specimen from my collection: http://www.poremski.com/images/study/gaza_1.jpg Sample specimen from new lot: http://www.poremski.com/images/study/gaza_2.jpg [Both specimens are roughly the same diameter.] Is it a periostracum that is causing the difference in appearance? Is the difference influenced by locality? Is there any way to clean the shell further to bring out the classic Gaza iridescence without ruining the shell? Thanks in advance for you input. Kind regards, Andre Poremski ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [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. ----------------------------------------------------------------------