Racking brain over 2 Fulgoraria species

[paul monfils]

I'd say that F. hamillei is uncommon, and F. rupestris "moderately common". In any case, F. hamillei is considerably less common than F. rupestris.  I haven't found books very helpful in this regard.  Some books list very common shells as "uncommon", and vice versa.  The new Philippine Marine Mollusks, while a very useful identification guide with great photography, lists many species as "uncommon" or even "rare", that can be purchased from a dealer for under five dollars.

Here's a shot of a couple of F. rupestris for comparison with your shells.  Another difference I forgot to mention above is that the spiral grooves in the body whorl are deeper and more obvious in F. rupestris.

<a href="http://members.cox.net/natura/Frupestris.jpg" target="_blank"><!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://members.cox.net/natura/Frupestris.jpg">http://members.cox.net/natura/Frupestris.jpg</a><!-- m --></a>