Recent Article

** Publication of two new books 2022 - Published : Apr 13, 2022

I'm proud to announce the publication of two books : CONE SHELLS OF THE SEYCHELLES and CONE SHELLS OF THE MARQUESAS. The first one is the second version of my earlier work (2019). The book have been re-written. The number of pages has doubled! The number of plates has increased too!

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Beginners

** Shelling equipment to go snorkeling - Published : Sep 17, 2012

Some of you may want to know what is the best equipment to go shelling if you have the opportunity to travel to tropical islands ? Here is my way of snorkeling :1- Classic snorkeling equipment 2- Shirt (anti-UV and dry fast one) : first of all to protect from sun and also against injuries. you can wear a 3mm diving suit of course !3- One of the most important thing : bumbag (fanny pack). Always avoid plastic bag as stings of cone shells can hit you. Inside you can place many tools. 4- Watch : always give to someone the time you'll be gone, just in case... your hobby can sometimes make you loose the meaning of ime".....5- Gloves : as important as the bumbag, this will be inevitable if you want to flip dead coral plates manually

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Miscellaneous
** Cone Shells Hunting Videos - Published : Jun 22, 2010

This page is dedicated to videos that shows Cone Shells hunting habbits.

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Website News

013 january 2024

Deux new articles have been uploaded today :
Darioconus crocatus (Lamarck, 1810) collected in the Seychelles
Maldives expedition 2023

You can jump into at :
http://www.seashell-collector.com/articles/xenophora-pdf-files.html

01 january 2024

!! HAPPY NEW YEAR 2024 !! Happy Shelling :)

13 august 2023

Dear conchers, one article (pdf) have been uploaded at :
https://www.seashell-collector.com/articles/xenophora-pdf-files.html
Articles are written in french and english, enjoy!

A la poursuite des Darioconus
In pursuit of the Darioconus

05 april 2023

Dear conchers, four new articles (pdf) have been uploaded at :
https://www.seashell-collector.com/articles/xenophora-pdf-files.html
Articles are written in french and english, enjoy!

01 january 2023

!! HAPPY NEW YEAR 2023 !!

03 march 2022

The XENOPHORA articles (pdf) have been updated with 8 new pdf. Most are in French.

07 march 2022

I'm pround to anounce the publication of two other books : Cone shells of the Seychelles 2nd version and Cone shells of the Marquesas.

07 january 2022

Two news books are now listed in the book section. An addendum have been added foe the CONE SHELLS OF THE SEYCHELLS (2019).

02 december 2021

The Xenophora (pdf) page have been updated with le name of the new articles published.
I wait to get authorized to publish them online.

02 december 2021 : Updates

A new page have been added : BOOKS.
https://www.seashell-collector.com/books/
You will find a link to our last published books!

12 january 2020 : Updates

New videos uploaded at WWS :

Shelling in South Of France (Porquerolles)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbE23tZ6ENs

01 january 2020 : Updates

!!! HAPPY NEW YEAR 2020 !!!

19 may 2019 : Updates

New articles in french (pdf) from XENOPHORA n°164 :

Vous avez dit frigidus ?

https://www.seashell-collector.com/Html/xeno/xeno%20164%20frigidus.pdf

Escapade en famille à Maurice

https://www.seashell-collector.com/Html/xeno/xeno%20164%20maurice.pdf

New videos uploaded at WWS :

Shelling in Dubai Madinat Jumeirah Beach 2019

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhUoSoLBqPI

Giveaway Results ! Win a Book Content ! And the winner is...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlOiFPH2fMw

Cone shells of the Seychelles Giveaway & Book review. Contest : Win a book !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jg3a54Pwkmo

15 march 2019 : one video have been published! Paris Shell Show 2019

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9fqS_R3BRI

14 march 2019 : two new videos have been published! Paris Shell Show 2019

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAx3Ifyqr7k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVNHMHcgElA

21 february 2019 : A new video have been published at WWS : La Garde Shell Show 2019

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5fKp9L0bQI

20 january 2019 : A new video have been published at WWS : Shell Books Review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mS4cSiRxz2g

15 january 2019 : You my have a few bugs browsing the website since the end of november. I apologize but we have been attacked by hackers-sapmmers and we had to change version of website but it broke a lot of links and galleries etc... we are working actually to get back our "friendly url" and we'll work again on galleries. Happy Shelling DAVID

13 january 2019 : A new video have been published at WWS : Shell Books Review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRR9q_V39jc

01 january 2019 : !! HAPPY NEW YEAR 2019 !!

A new video have been published at WWS : Shell Books Review : New Caledonia & Mayotte Shell books !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77C75HwTlxI

24 december 2018 : !! MERRY CHRISTMAS !!

A new video have been published at WWS : Shell Books Review ! 6 Books about sea shells today !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41JO0oMOt9I

15 december 2018 : NEW BOOK : CONE SHELLS OF THE SEYCHELLES

I wanted to announce the imminent publication of my book on Seychelles cones. Two versions will be published in January 2019: a French and an English version. This is the result of a year and a half of work.

This is a 173-page guide that will delight the beginner but also the specialist. 70 plates representing 278 specimens are presented to you. The book is in A5 format. It is easy to take on vacation. Of course, this book can be used throughout the Indian Ocean because most of the species is found throughout this geographical area! The texts are numerous (one for each species). Part is dedicated to certain identification keys for beginners.

If this book interests you, it is offered at a reduced price of € 29 for pre-orders (*) of this first draw (excluding shipping costs). For French readers, it will be possible to withdraw it on the Stock Exchange to get it back on the Toulon-La Garde Stock Exchange in February 2019.

For any pre-order please send me an email to david.touitou83@gmail.com.

(*) the pre-orders will end on 31-01-2019.

07 december 2018 : A new video have been uploaded (Beachcombing In Mauritius ! What is That ? Shell Identification Help)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSvrXMDA5TQ

15 october 2018 : A new video have been uploaded (Snorkeling in the South Of France 2018. Fishes & empty shells !)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFj-16_bi-0

25 september 2018 : A new video have been uploaded (Snorkeling in Mauritius : fishes & shells of the lagoon (part3)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2OUyx7SOrg

08 september 2018 : A new video have been uploaded (Snorkeling in Mauritius : fishes & sea shells of the lagoon (part2)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSdtnbqmuy0

15 august 2018 : A new video have been uploaded (Snorkeling in Mauritius : fishes & sea shells of the lagoon (part1)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDg41eRdg-k&feature=youtu.be

30 july 2018 : A new video have been uploaded (Dangerous Snails of the Seas : the truth about cones, a venomous sea shell family)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUO8NPekVVY

24 july 2018 : This is the redone version of an older footage with a smaller thumbnail. The visibility of the shells is improved

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0BQ1p9_bX8

21 july 2018 : A new video have been uploaded (The Mauritius Seashell Museum : 8000 sea shells, 750 species exposed!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rB9welUHtos

15 july 2018 : A new video have been uploaded (Flipper : the Shell seeker Robot ! Mayotte Trip Training)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FudvTX0zaD8

07 july 2019 : A new video have been uploaded (Harpa shell Vs crab ! Night attack !)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tV6hE644dYU

28 june 2018 :  A new video have been uploaded (Snorkeling with the New Caledonian cowries !)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FI7gnVTx0w0

25 june 2018 : A new video have been uploaded (Live Cowrie Shells in low tide pools (volcanic rocks) : Mauritius 2018 !)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rT3_n6S76Vo&t=1s

11 june 2018 : A new video have been uploaded (Cone shell Venom extraction (milking) on live Conus consors)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBVaMrfyamY&feature=youtu.be

05 june 2018 : A new video have been uploaded (How to store seashells (Acrylic boxes & cotton)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zu7T3qPKeY

28 may 2018 : A new video have been uploaded (How to clean & polish an encrusted seashell)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVdbmXpF7wM&t=78s

26 may 2018 : A new video have been uploaded (How to clean and polish seashells !)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3m4RY-VYWY&t=471s

21 may 2018 : A new video have been uploaded (Moon Shell burying at night in Mauritius)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPJ5MddeE98&t=8s

17 may 2018 : A new video have been uploaded (Snorkeling at night in Mauritius)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fL6lI6WrcoM

14 april 2018 : A new video have been uploaded (My Mayotte cone shells' collection)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVc2R_ZML1o&feature=youtu.be

10 april 2018 : A new video have been uploaded (My New Caledonian cone shells' collection) :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZP6PxN8xuUc&feature=youtu.be

02 april 2018 : A new video have been uploaded (My self-collected Caribbean cone shells' collection) :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9EGQRi64gQ&feature=youtu.be

01 april 2018 : The iconography of the Martinique & Guadeloup coneshells have been updated (Conus jacquescolombi) :

http://www.seashell-collector.com/iconography/page_conidae-from-martinique-guadeloupe.html

31 march 2018 : A new video have been uploaded (My self-collected Caribbean seashell collection) :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAKZPh878eE

23 march 2018 : The iconography of the Polynesian coneshells have been updated with 4 images of Conus eldredi.

http://www.seashell-collector.com/iconography/conidae-from-french-polynesia/page_conus-eldredi.html

22 march 2018 : Two new videos about storing seashells !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dawdzW1siQU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_vXunucsus

18 march 2018 : The iconography of the Polynesian coneshells have been updated with the last described specie : Conus easoni.

http://www.seashell-collector.com/iconography/page_conidae-from-french-polynesia.html

18 march 2018 : A new youtube video is now online on How to clean Seashells :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wMeTJo9Huc

14 march 2018 : A new youtube video is now online on How to Polish Seashells :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jf6D8nMCEmo

05 march 2018 : A new youtube video is now online on La Garde Shell Show 2018 (France) :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPgDB--85iA&t=29s

04 march 2018 : A new youtube video is now online on How to identify Seashells :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=712&v=VQTxkOO-_jM

06 february 2018 : I have created our FB page at :

https://www.facebook.com/seashell.channel.3

01 february 2018 :  New video about Sanibel :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqp9mWfa...e=youtu.be

28 january 2018 : New video about Mediterranean seashells : various seashells
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2F3229PkyTs&feature=youtu.be

28 january 2018 : New video about Mediterranean seashells : presenting Erosaria spurca cowrie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEt_8cQ8RBM&feature=youtu.be

27 january 2018 : New video about Mediterranean seashells : presenting Luria lurida cowrie
https://youtu.be/EbN0BP0912c

25 january 2018 : New video about Seychelles there :
http://www.seashell-collector.com/page_videos-utube.html

23 january 2018 : best wishes for 2018 !! And hope you'll enjoy this new video about Maldives !
http://www.seashell-collector.com/page_videos-utube.html

20 december 2017 : Advertising in 2018 is again possible at main site and it's related forum : http://www.seashell-collector.com/miscellaneous/page_advertising-at-seashell-collector-forum.html

13 october 2017 : The XENOPHORA's article about my trip to Maldives have been uploaded (pdf format) there : http://www.seashell-collector.com/Html/xeno/xeno160.pdf

11 august 2017 : More images have been uploaded into the Maldives' article !

31 july 2017 : Our last Trip sum up to Maldives is now online : http://www.seashell-collector.com/articles/general_articles/page_trip-to-maldives.html New images will be uploaded later. Hope you'll enjoy these :)

21 may 2017 : Seychelles iconography : CONIDAE = updated with 6 new imges.

http://www.seashell-collector.com/iconography/page_conidae-from-seychelles.html

28 march 2017 : A new article have been published about Michel Balleton's 3 new books !
http://www.seashell-collector.com/articles/general_articles/page_conidae-cypraeidae-terebridae-of-french-polynesia-books.html

06 January 2017 :  !! Happy New Year 2017 !!

26 December 2016 : The http://www.seashell-collector.com/beginners/page_storing.html (STORING SEASHELLS PAGE) have been updated with a list of trees-wood acidity to avoid the acid action on your shells in wood cabinet.

24 December 2016 : The galleries are down and will be restored as soon as possible.

19 December 2016 : The website have been partially hacked in december. We had to load a older version fo files. News since february have been lost but files shall not have been touched by this attack. Thanks to Laurent, the website is online again ! MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL and HAPPY SHELLING !!

24 Feb. 2016 : The Author's Collection have been updated : this concerns the Caribbean collection (100% complete)
http://www.seashell-collector.com/miscellaneous/macollection/page_shells-from-caribbean.html(Seychelles 100% done now)

23 Feb. 2016 : The Seychelles Cone Iconography have been updated with new images, this concerns : Conus ammiralis, Conus bullatus, Conus auricomus & Conus luteushttp://www.seashell-collector.com/iconography/page_conidae-from-seychelles.html


23 Feb. 2016 : The Author's Collection have been updated : this concerns the Seychelles collection (updated at 80%), more images to come.
http://www.seashell-collector.com/miscellaneous/macollection/page_shells-from-seychelles.html

13 January 2016 : The Html version of article with different images is online (french) : http://www.seashell-collector.com/articles/general_articles/page_voyage-aux-seychelles-octobre-2015.html

12 January 2016 : Two (pdf) articles about Seychelles have been published from the XENOPHORA journal : http://www.seashell-collector.com/Html/xeno/xeno%20153.pdf

01 January 2016 : !! HAPPY NEW YEAR 2016 !! AND HAPPY SHELLING !!

24 august 2015 : TCC N°27 have been uploaded today and you'll find a seashell-collector author's article : Conus regius From Martinque: A Magnificent and Very Variable Species

09 july 2015 : New article have been published in the ARTICLES/XENOPHORA folder : http://www.seashell-collector.com/articles/page_xenophora-pdf-files.html It have been published in the last french journal XENOPHORA (july). Hope you'll enjoy ! DAVID

15 April 2015 : Update : Links, Shell Related Websites. A lot of websites are down. They have been deleted from the list. Internet is always moving fast and most of websites are not updated very quickly. Very rare are the websites that survive... Seashell-Collector was one of the first website about shelling... and we are still there !!! 18 years of information !!!!!!!!!!! :)

14 April 2015 : Iconography Conidae French Polynesia : Updated : Deep Water Species added from Tarasoc Mission

13 April 2015 : Iconography Conidae French Polynesia : Updated : Conus conco added & Conus generalis new image

11 April 2015 : A new article is published : 2 Days at Sanibel island (Florida) : Extreme Low Tide

03 February 2015 : A new pdf have been uploaded : Conus pennaceus from Seychelles article published in XENOPHORA N°149

03 January 2015 : !!! Happy New Year 2015 !!! Seashell-Collector was at SANIBEL for christmas !! Awesom Low Tide and what a nice island !

03 december 2014 : New TCC N°26 have been published

27 november 2014 : Forum spamming problems seem to blocked now, registering and reseting password shall work properly.

21 october 2014 : !!! IMPORTANT !!! Databases are actually closed in order to upload and test the new version (worldwide collectors, live seashells,...).

20 october 2014 : A new pdf have been uploaded : Conus legatus article published in XENOPHORA N°148

10 october 2014 : We still have a lot of spammers trying to log in our forum and everyday this blocks our mail account. Tou may not received the confirmation mail. Please contact us.

16 september 2014 : Everything works now perfectly with the forum, even registering and password request. DAVID

12 september 2014 : One may now register at seashell-collector.com again, except that you need to contact me in order to receive your password.

11 September 2014 : IMPOSSIBLE TO REGISTER ON OUR FORUM actually !!

Dear users, We have applied the last update to our forum (MyBB regular update) and this causes a problem while users want to register our forum. Usually you cannot and the forum tells you that you IP adress is detecting as a spamming one.

If you need to register, please contact me at pharma.collo@gmail.com and I will create your account manually.


Happy Shelling, DAVID

08 September 2014 : New article have been added from Michel Balleton from Tahiti : http://www.seashell-collector.com/articles/general_articles/page_conus-auratinus-sur-tahiti.html

29 August 2014 :  Forum adress is definitively  forum.seashell-collector.co and is working, if you have trouble reaching it please wait a few days or flush your temp DNS (that keeps the old DNS-adress). DAVID

29 August 2014 : Forum adress is changing from www.seashell-collector.com/forum to forum.seashell-collector.com, the forum could be temporarly unreachable though. DAVID

28 August 2014 : Forum is online and everything works

28 August 2014 : Forum is online but one cannot login. We have spoted the trouble and are repairing it at the moment. Within the 24 hours the bug shall be fixed. DAVID

22 August 2014 : the website & forum are now fully operational again. DAVID

22 August 2014 : the website & forum are actually 50% unreachable as we changed main adress in server and all shall be ok during the day. Most links are not active yet. DAVID

05 July 2014 : two pdf articles published in the french XENOPHORA journal have been added : Conus gubernator f. leehmani (N°147) & VENOMICS 2013 : Expédition scientifique en Polynésie (N°144) : http://www.seashell-collector.com/articles/page_xenophora-pdf-files.html

27 June 2014 : TCC25 have been published, you may read it there : http://www.seashell-collector.com/miscellaneous/page_theconecollector.html  ;2 articles from seahsell-collecor.com have been published in this newsletter.

22 May 2014 : We have published with JANINE JACQUES the new version of Cone Shells from Martinique & Guadeloupe

23 April 2014 : I have finished the review of my old article from 2002 about Seychelles Cowries. You may check it in the ICONOGRAPHY menu.

14 April 2014 : Actually TCC 24A have been released with our 2 corrected articles on Mauritius & Mayotte. In the next TCC 25 another 2 articles will be published. One about Seychelles cone shells and our last one about Martinique & Guadeloupe cone shells. It will be an exclusive article. Then when TCC25 is released, I will also publish it at seashell-collector.com, in TCC 26 will be published the last one about French Polynesian cone shells. DAVID

19 March 2014 : Laurent have corrected the World Wide Collectors display bug and the system is working fine actually.

18 March 2014 : We have restored the databases (World Wide Collectors & Live Seashells). I have deleted over 200 spammers. Anyway, this database is out of date as you probably noticed. We keep all our efforts on the new one. DAVID

17 March 2014 : We have repaired the links to SEASHELL LIVE DATABASE and WORLDWIDE COLLECTORS DATABASE. These are still hosted on our old server. We are actually working on the next generation of users' pages which will allow a lot more features that the first one. Though you may still access to the old version. DAVID

11 March 2014 : Our New Iconography (Caribbean Cone shells) will be online this month. I am working also on 3 projects : Seychelles Cowries (actually under revision), Mauritius Cowries (not started yet) and New Caledonian Cone shells (not started yet). DAVID

08 March 2014 : We have finished the transfert of the website to OVH servers. I am going to update again the website. I had to wait the end of the transfer. We had to add a domain name in order to proceed to the new system, that is why the forum have the adress : http://forum.seashell-auctions.com/ instead of the older one. We may change it later, the forum is working fine though. David Touitou

27 janaury 2014 : Dealers' list and other links have been splited

14 janaury 2014 : The third version of Polynesian CONIDAE have been published in ICONOGRAPHY folder.

09 janaury 2014 : The third version of Polynesian CONIDAE is about to be published.

01 january 2014 : HAPPY NEW YEAR 2014 and Happy Shelling !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

26 december 2013 : I have updated the ICONOGRAPHY of CONIDAE-POLYNESIA with more than 40 images of live shells, thanks to MICHEL BALLETON

24 december 2013 : MERRY CHRISTMAS !!!!!!!!! Hope shelling will be in all mind with the upcoming year !!!! Actually we are still working on the CONIDAE from Martinique & Guadeloupe (Caribbean) which is very difficult. Hope ti be able to make soon the revision of Polynesian TEREBRIDAE. And welcome to our 2 historical sponsors : CONCHOLOGY & SHELLSPASSION.

06 december 2013 : I am actually working on the revision of the CONIDAE from Martinique & Guadeloupe (Caribbean). The first work was really out of date... 2005 !

19 november 2013 : I have finished the revision of the CONIDAE from Seychelles. I updated the iconography with bigger images. I tried to fit with the scale of shells to show properly the big ones and very small ones.

11 november 2013 : With the help of Eric Le Court de Billot, we started the Iconography of CONIDAE from Mauritius Island (Indian Ocean)

06 november 2013 : With the help of Norbert Verneau and Matthias Deuus, we have published our work on CONIDAE from Mayotte (INDIAN OCEAN) http://www.seashell-collector.com/iconography/page_ressource-sans-titre.html

24 october 2013 : Michel Balleton & I, have finished the revision  of the Polynesian Conidae. We started the job in 2004 with a first checklist. We now have all image for all species and added new descriptions of course. It is there http://www.seashell-collector.com/~ziptric/evo/iconography/page_conidae-from-french-polynesia.html

17 october 2013 : I am actually working on 3 projets : Updating our 2004 work on French Polynesian Conidae Checklist with the help of Michel Balleton. We are actually working with Norbert Verneau on the iconography of Mayotte (Indian Ocean) Cone shells and I am abour starting a similar project (Conidae checklist) with someone from Mauritius (Indian ocean).

13 october 2013 : As several of you asked me the creation date of website... We created this website in 1997 ! As you can notice, rare are the websites (from all kind of hobbies) that still exist from that period. I have seen hundreds of shell related websites that have been created and deleted... that is the main problem with internet. Things never go on for a long period. I just used a programm to check broken links. I had to delete hundreds of links to external pages !!
Remember that Seashell-Collector was one of the first shell related website to be launched ! Were less than 10 website in 1997 !! Incredible ! Time have passed and many more have been launched. But will they remain for years ? who knows....

11 october 2013 : I have changed the banner, I hope you will appreciate this big banner showing a diver (me) face to a nice Cypraea Luria lurida lurida from France !

10 october 2013 : 2 articles have been corrected (image link errors) : Bistolisda Complex 2005 & Cribarula complex 2005; Beginners/identification updated and corrected (image link errors); Wallpapers error link corrrected

10 october 2013 : added links to several offline articles published in xenophora&TCC, waiting 2 pdf files from xenophora that will be uploaded soon concerning : Voyage aux Seychelles & VENOMICS 2013 : Expédition scientifique en Polynésie

10 october 2013 : Sum up of genral articles have been corrected, display bug in the list.

09 october 2013 : A new article have been added : It sum up our last VENOMIC Trip to French polynesia last april (2013). Language is french but you may read it in english on the TCC n°23 (miscellaneous/The Cone collector menu)

08 october 2013 : The TCC (The Cone Collector newsletter) is ready for download in the miscellaneous/The Cone collector menu

07 october 2013 : We are experiencing a big late in the progress of development of the new version of the website, so I am going to update this one with a lot of new articles soon and update it very regulary. Happy Shelling, DAVID

23 may 2013 : Dear members, we had to change the forum as the old one was hacked too often. We of course kept all messages and accounts, but it could ask you a new password.

Book/Interview/Iconography

** Terebridae From French Polynesia - Published : May 12, 2004

Terebra affinis Gray, 1834 One of the most common species in our lagoons. It has a white pattern with clear to chocolate brown spots, except on the subsutural band where we can only see the brown axials grooves. Terebra affinis f. peasei Deshayes, 1859Can be distinguished from the first one by a pattern having numerous axials grooves, showing a much more corrugated pattern.Terebra affinis f. puncticulata Deshayes, 1859

Read more...