|
Return
to Man and Mollusc Home
Page
|
Return
to Present
"Mollusc of the Moment" |
Go to Previous
"Mollusc of the Moment" |
|
Visit
Schooner Specimen Shells
by Ross Mayhew creator of The Mollusc of the Moment Articles |
||
|
"Lambis
crocatus forma pilsbri"
Abbott, 1961 |
|
|
Species: Lambis crocata Linne Form: pilsbryi Abbott, 1961 Locality: Pemba Is., Zanzibar. Coll. 1998. English Name: None - Very rare species Image: done on a UMAX 1200S scanner. |
|
The Strombus family (Strombidae) is often called the family of the "true
conchs", and the members of their 5 genera are referred to as "conchs"
in many shell books. All are easily distinguished by the presence
of a distinct "notch" near the bottom of the lip, which is called the
"stromboid notch", which the animal sticks its eyestalk out of.
This family is a group of vegetarians (they munch algae), nearly all of
which live in shallow water, in tropical waters mostly - none of them
are found anywhere near Canada!!
The Lambis genus is a rather small one, with only 14 known species - all characterized by long, graceful spines which are probably designed to make them harder to eat! The deep orange mouth of crocata Linne, is particularly attractive. The distinctive pilsbryi Abbott form, was formerly thought to be indigenous (i.e., found only in that particular place, and nowhere else on earth) to the Marquesas Islands, but this specimen from Zanzibar proves otherwise!! |