
NEW YORK SHELL CLUB NOTES No. 253 June-July-Aug. 1979 Page 5 
oud te frankly, C. lamberti remains as a great unknown to me, as from 
the very superficial study that I have made of it I tend to think of 
it as belonging to the Conus marmoreus complex. Secondly, though, I 
am not fully convinced that, in spite of the large number of differ- 
pasa that you point out between your taxon and C. crocatus, that 
K o are fully separable as species. I have seen in the past, long 
efore the Conus thailandis boom in Phuket, other specimens of what 
I have considered to be Gonus crocatus very similar in shape and ap- 
pearance to what you call Conus thailandis. One specimen in partic- 
ular comes to mind from American Samoa that was almost identical to 
your species save that it was considerably smaller than any adult 
specimen from Phuket that I have seen to date. 
I do hope that I shall some day have the pleasure of meeting you in 
Bangkok. It is almost impossible to fully appreciate one another's 
ideas in written form. Most probably an hour's face-to-face conver- 
sation wonld do more to close the "ideological gaps" between us than 
would a thousand exchanged letters but, until that time, I suppose 
that we must make do with what we have. 
With my very best wishes and kindest regards, 

Sincerely, 
Robert H. Janowsky 

SPECIES & SPECIATION 
The following paragraphs are those referred to in the correspon- 
dence between Mr. da Motta and Mr. Janowsky. Source: Encyclopaedia 
Britannica Vol. 17, pp. 449 - 455, "Species & Speciation." 
"The concept of morphological species requires that one population 
must defer in some morphological characteristics from another popu- 
lation in order to be described as a new species. That the majority 
of species can probably be described in this way is evidenced by the 
fact that species named on the basis of morphological differences 
also fit the biological species concept. The concept of typological 
species, while it is based on morphological differences, is distinct 
in denying variability within species. The morphological concept 
holds, instead, that variability is the rule rather than the ex- 
ception. 
The biological species is what most biologists have in mind when 
they speak of species. This multidimensional concept recognizes 
that a species may be spread over a wide area and that in different 
areas it may be dissimilar in appearance, may breed at different 
times, or, in the case of migratory species, may leave and arrive at 
different times. The central concern is with what it is that pro- 
duces and maintains the distinctiveness of each species over its 
range. Attention is therefore focussed on the mechanisms that thwart 
successful interbreeding. Although the biological species concept 
is difficult to apply to all species, it seems to be the most suita- 
ble way of regarding species. 
The biological species concept has wide application to the majority 
of organisms. It focussed attention on the really important crite- 
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