Mar 15, 2006

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Some time ago we had a

discussion about the identity

of the  adjacent shell that I initially

posted as forma tortugana Hollister,

1957 (renamed in these photos).

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The discussion is retained

here since the comments

may be helpful.
 

 

 

10/15/06 Allen Aigen posted:

"Marlo asked that I add this directly to the discussion after emailing it to him. It was in response to his photo that he referred to as F. tortugana.

As I discussed in an article in American Chonchologist vol.30 no 4 (which I need to revise), F. lilium is a distinct species restricted to the Yucatan part of the Gulf of Mexico, a direct decendent from the common Florida fossil F. apicina. Although supposedly common, it is rare in collections. F. tortugana (a distinct species as far as I can tell, as are all the rest) is an offshore species in the Gulf that looks like an elongate F. hunteria with a short canal but with distinct protoconch ribs (1/2 whorl after the initial smooth whorl). (F. hunteria never has ribs.) It is rarely now available from old collections, from shrimpers from off Florida. The easiest way to distinguish it from F. lilium is because it has 2 lines on upper whorls, F. lilium has three (but this is only a rule of thumb...) F. branhamae is an offshore and northern Gulf species apparently derived from F. lilium but elongate with a long canal, and generally more color lines (variable). Rare in old collections, it has 3/4 of a whorl of ribs. F. bullisi looks like an elongate small F. tulipa, but lacks all subsutural sculpture. It also has 3/4 of a whorl of protoconch ribs. Now on the market (at a premium!) from north-east Yucatan, it was named from the offshore Gulf near Florida. F. tephrina is a rare recently named species related to F. tulipa but stepped with a bent, prominent protoconch, found offshore off Honduras. F. hollisteri is the southern Caribbean species which looks like F. tulipa but is canaliculate. Not uncommonly sold from Venezuela, Columbia, and all the lesser Antilles. The Florida form of F. tulipa is probably a separate species from the Caribbean form, but it is beyond my ability to prove it!"

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1/5/12  Marlo:

 

Following is Hollister's review of the various named Banded Tulips as of 1957. He organizes them as follows:

The then most commonly used name F. distans for the Campeche form is replaced with the earlier name F. lilium.

The Yucatan form F. branhamae (photos below) is considered "a geographical race or subspecies" of F. lilium.

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12/11/17: F. lilium and F. branhamae are now Cinctura lilium (Fischer von Waldheim, 1807) and Cinctura branhamae (Rehder & Abbott, 1951) .

The Florida form is designated F. hunteria.

A new subspecies is named F. tortugana.

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