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Zoila venusta - primoidea , (G. B. Sowerby I, 1847)
Size
61.9 mm
Locality
Leeman, Western Australia
Note
We have just relocated our boat from Busselton to Geraldton and collected shells from the edge of the continental shelf west of Leeman. We were able to collect a number of venusta and reviewing these and other specimens we collected from this area in February 2023, it is obvious to me that they fall into two coexisting and distinctly different forms in similar proportions. The first of these I classify as bakeri (see listing on this auction) . They are very large pink to white shells with little to no dorsal markings. The second is a small mauve grey shell that usually has a tan brown dorsal pattern with a strong mantle line. I refer to this as "primoidea". I now believe that bakeri was the deep water venusta form resident on the Rottnest Shelf during the last ice age and that "primoidea" was the venusta form resident on the Hartog Shelf. I believe that "primoidea" has migrated south along the edge of the continental shell mixing with bakeri as water levels have risen during the current inter-glacial period. They have migrated as far south as Augusta. The offered shell is classic example of the second form. It is a grayish shell with a dorsal blotch of tan markings bifurcated by a strong mantle line. It is a crabbed shell with some dorsal nacre loss as evidenced by the white ring around it's dorsal margin but otherwise gem. Even so it is a really nice example of my "primoidea" form.
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