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Raw shells
Collectors who do not understand Latin and Greek will possibly be interested in the meaning of the scientific names of some
well known cowry species. Most scientific names are Latin, but a few are Greek (marked by an asterisk *) or even other
languages (marked by two asterisks **). Most names can easily be understood, but a few need further explanation. These have
been put in brackets. If we restrict the explanations to living species and well recognizable subspecies of true cowries
(Cypraeidae), and omit the hundreds of varietal names and synonyms of minor importance, we can arrange the scientific names
according to their meaning as follows:
1. Most names refer to the characters of the shells;
There are some general designations, as gracilisgraceful, pericalles*very beautiful, pulchellarather beautiful (not: [a]
small pulchra!), pulchrabeautiful, stolidafoolish, vastacoarse, and venustacharming like Venus. Far more names refer to
the size: immanisvery large, or are descriptions of the general shape: angustatanarrowed, colobastunted,
cylindricacylindrical, depressadepressed, latiorbroader, pyriformispear shaped, teresoblong, tortirostriswith a tortuous
beak. Some names recall peculiarities in morphology: acicularisneedle shaped (referring to the lateral pittings),
edentulanot denticulate, erosaeroded (at the margins), esontropia*keeled within, eunota*with solid dorsum (more probably
than badly compounded by eu*well and notusknown), granulatagranulate, marginalis and marginatamargined, microdon*small
tooth (with small teeth), minoridenssmaller tooth (with smaller teeth), obvelatasurrounded by a sail, semiplotahalf ...
(not intelligible, possibly misspelled for semipolitarather polished), serruliferabearing a small saw (in front of the
columella), sulcidentatawith furrow-like teeth.
One published article advocated the collection of dead, beachworn and fossil shells only. Not only would such restrictions be
impractical but they would retard progress of science. Conchology in one way or another may continue to flourish, but
malacology and several related subjects of anatomical study of invertebrates would cease to exist. The pearling industry
would close down, no new species or genera would be discovered and natives depending on molluscan food would go without.
Curators would in time have no new collections to curate and the classification of beachworn shells would present a taxonomic
problem. Furthermore, the manufacture of drugs such as vincaleukoblastine derived from Littorinidae and used to combat the
cancerous disease choriocarcenoma would have to be suspended. Once restrictions are imposed, they should be applicable to all
and not only a chosen few. About 90% of recently described species have been collected by amateur collectors and made
available to professional malacologists for description; new genera have been established on the basis of anatomy and a
scientific treatise on the reproduction of prosobranch gastropods is in progress. Such valuable work has only been possible
through the generous cooperation of the field-collector with the malacologist, and should not be discouraged with the motto
"Look, but don't touch."
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