Questions and Answers with G.

Today I met Malacologist G. and got to see her private collection. (I'll need to be slightly cryptic about this for privacy reasons.)

It was a lot of fun! If I had the opportunity, I could spent the entire day looking at each shell individually, one by one. I got to see the cool local species I haven't found yet and give G. my Physa acuta sample. Got to ask the questions I always wanted to. I should write down all that I learned while it's still fresh in my memory:

1) Q: Is there really Alinda biplicata in Latvia? A: Nah.

2) Q: Is there really Ferrissia californica? A: probably not really, it can't stand sub-zero temperatures, maybe.

3) Q: What's the diference between perpolitas? A: I still can't make much sense of it, will need to look at a lot more pictures.

4) Q: Where can I find Cochlicopa lubricella? A: Check the dry places. Also, it's supposed to be pale when alive?

5) Q: Is there really Monachoides incarnatus in Latvia? A: Probably not really. Didn't even have a sample.

6) Q: Is there Oxyloma sarsii in Latvia? A: Somebody may have found it in a greenhouse.
6.1) Q: But could it be like, totally abundant all over the place and it's just that nobody even bothered to dissect and find out? A: May be!

7) Q: will it be possible to donate my collection to the museum when I'm old and frail? A: No promises or guarantees. Not even with data. (This is depressing. I may just be forced to sell all of it.)

8) Q: Why isn't all the Latvian data on Gbif yet? A: They are working on it. Something-something bureaucracy. Something-something need to hire programmers. (This is depressing. It's overwhelmingly important to get all that on Gbif. Thank goodness my data is in there.)

Never even got to ask about Gastrodontoids.

• Supposedly there are some Hydrobia species in Latvia that there were no samples of and that would be good to find.
• G. is in the camp "no, you can't tell Ambersnails apart based on the shells at all, not even s. putris vs genus oxyloma, no, don't even try, it's hopeless". It's true that God created Theodoxus as a gift to malacologists, and Amebersnails - as a punishment for their hubris. Also, apparently you need to prepare them in some weird way before dissecting them, ie. not in alcohol.
• G. would be interested in Rangia cuneata samples. Oh, I better find some!
• G. is totally aware that Cochlicopa nitens tends to have an S-shaped columella. That's right, Bernhard! It does! It does have it!
• The reason I never found gyraulus crista is that crysta is way, way tiny and fragile. I probably missed it a hundred times. Will need to level my dirt-digging skill for this.

We commiserated in that:

• Pusidium is unbearable pain
• Gyraulus is somewhat bearable pain.
• Radix is sadface.

Publicado el mayo 25, 2023 09:20 MAÑANA por tasty_y