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Cyphoma rhomba C. N. Cate, 1978 Bullroarer Cyphoma |
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By SCUBA, Dry Tortugas 8/2/2011. Digital images copyright 2011 by Cynthia Abgarian. |
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Comments by Harry G. Lee |
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I believe that both the images depict Cyphoma rhomba C. Cate,
1978, the slender one being a juvenile. These are a most welcome
addition to our website as the identification of western Atlantic
Cyphoma species is often difficult and may require examination
of both animal and shell. Aside from character sets for both
features being variable, in some instances the shells can be
taxonomically ambiguous and in others the mantle coloration and
pattern tend to converge from one species to the next. Perhaps what
Cynthia has provided here may be juxtaposed on these pages with
color-correct images of living C. sedlaki C. Cate, 1976 and
C. mcgintyi Pilsbry, 1939 to determine an accurate method of
identification that obviates the sacrifice of the animal. There appears to be only one published photo of the living animal of C. rhomba (Lorenz and Fehse, 2009: 589; fig. A205). The authors identified it as C. sedlaki C. Cate, 1976 in the plate caption and in the text (Idem: 92). Other than the image itself, which is close to the text description (Idem, 92) and that of Cate (1978: 165), the only indication of a mis- identification is in the index (Idem: 648), which places this figure with C. rhomba. Cate, C.N., 1978. A new species of Ovulidae and reinstatement of Margovula pyrulina (A. Adams, 1854) (Gastropoda. The Nautilus 92(4): 160-167. 30 October. Lorenz, F. and D. Fehse, 2009. The living Ovulidae A manual of the families of allied cowries: Ovulidae, Pediculariidae and Eocypraeidae. ConchBooks, Hackenheim, Germany. Pp (1)-651 |
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