A few Gastropods from Seychelles

[dave r]

Hi, I think the first one is a Syphonaria species not Patellid, I think there is a syphon scar on the top left of the underside but it is very worn.
The second looks like Erronea caurica, to worn to tell which subspecies bit it would probably be dracaena.
The cone could be anything, it is far too eroded to identify.
Hope this has helped.
Dave  

[conchylinet]

Hi again,
I need your assistance again to id these Gastropods.
Sorry for the bad quality of the shells.

1. Patellidae, 24mm long

<img src="http://www.badongo.com/t/640/2427585.jpg" alt="http://www.badongo.com/t/640/2427585.jpg" style="border:0" />

2. Cypraeidae, 21mm long

<img src="http://www.badongo.com/t/640/2427597.jpg" alt="http://www.badongo.com/t/640/2427597.jpg" style="border:0" />

3. Heavily beached Conidae, 25mm

<img src="http://www.badongo.com/t/640/2427603.jpg" alt="http://www.badongo.com/t/640/2427603.jpg" style="border:0" />

Thanks.
Conchylinet.

[conchylinet]

Thanks Dave for your help despite the bad condition of the shells,
It helped. I Will try to investigate the Siphonariidae for the first id.

[paul monfils]

Best guesses:

1. Cellana radiata Born, 1778  It's common in the Indian Ocean, and the brown central area internally is typical.

2. Cypraea felina (Gmelin, 1791) The shape, size, tooth structure and lateral spotting are right. The external pattern is of course completely worn away. Another possibility would be the similar Cypraea listeri (Gray, 1824).

3. Conus catus Hwass, 1792  The pattern (what is left of it) and shape (what is left of it) suggest this species to me.

[david touitou]

Hello,

Effectively the cowrie looks like <i>C. felina</i>. Though it is locally very rare and during all the trips I made I never seen any live nor dead specimen... It is one of the last specie I have to find there....<img src="images/smiley/wink.gif" alt="" border="0" />

I would be interested in knowing on which island you got the cowrie ?

Happy Shelling,
DAVID  <span class="petit">--Last edited by David Touitou on 2007-12-19 20:27:58 --</span>

[conchylinet]

Hi, thanks for the last updates.

The cowrie is exactly from the northern part of Mahé Island, it has been found amongst other dead beached shells.

Isn't it a bit too big for a felina ? I have a few of them from Mauritius, they seem smaller and narrower. How about a caurica (cf previous posts)?

Conchylinet.

[paul monfils]

This is too small for Cypraea caurica. Lorenz & Hubert list the known size range of C. caurica as 18 to 70 mm, with the usual range 33 to 46 mm. The known size range of C. felina is 12 to 30 mm, with the usual range 16 to 23 mm. Also, the teeth of C. caurica are much coarser, and extend onto the base, in the center region about halfway across the base. And the lateral spotting in C. caurica tends to be higher on the sides, so that it usually isn't visible in the ventral view.

[conchylinet]

Thanks for that Paul,
Speaking about felina, I previously identified the Cypraea below as such.


<img src="http://www.badongo.com/t/640/2535107.jpg" alt="http://www.badongo.com/t/640/2535107.jpg" style="border:0" />

<img src="http://www.badongo.com/t/640/2535118.jpg" alt="http://www.badongo.com/t/640/2535118.jpg" style="border:0" />

Can you help with the ID?

Conchylinet

[dave r]

Hi there. I still say caurica for your first Cypraeid pictures, the brown interstices between the labral teeth is indicative, also the teeth are too coarse for felina. I have caurica as small as this but it would be a very large felina.
The second Cypraea pics look to me like fimbriata rather than felina, the aperture is too curved and the teeth are too large. What size are they?
The 'Patellid' does not look like C. radiata, it is too irregular on the margin and too coarsely sculptured. I have a few dozen C.radiata from various localities and none look like this. I still think you should be looking at Syphonaria, note the syphonal groove in the left hand corner.
Dave.