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Houo to Know Afjierican Seashells 85
NAMES AND NOMENCLATURE
In order to discuss the various kinds of moUusks, we must use stand-
ardized names which are understood or recognized by students in every part
of the world. For this reason, Latin names, or latinized forms, are employed
as the official medium for nomenclature. It is not at all necessary to have a
knowledge of Latin or Greek in order to label a seashell. Nor is it supposed
that one should attempt to remember the names, although it adds to the
enjoyment of the study to absorb those of a few commoner species. In fact,
it is not difficult to remember such scientific names as Venus, Mitra, Oliva
and Conus. It may be of interest to beginners to know that few professional
malacologists can remember more than a hundredth part of the total number
of names. They, too, consult books to refresh their memories.
Popular va?nes. Popular or vernacular names in seashells are in great
need of standardization and, while their use sometimes has its drawbacks,
there is no reason they cannot become as acceptable to the amateur as have
the popular names of birds, fishes and wild flowers. It is true that one species
may be known by one name in New England and another in Florida, but
these are generally names which are in use by local fishermen and not necessarily
accepted by amateur shell collectors. In the face of so much name
changing in the scientific literature because of legalistic technicalities, the
existence of a few provincial popular names seems little enough excuse for
not attempting to standardize the common names of seashells. Throughout
this book we have presented both scientific and popular names. The latter
have been derived from several sources and listed only after careful con-
sideration of the evidence. Private collectors, shell dealers, professionals and,
in some cases, many popular books, both recent and old, have contributed to
the final choice. In a few instances, alternate popular names which are well-
entrenched along wide regions of our coast have been listed. Popularization
of patronymic names, such as Clark's cone for Conus clarki, has been simple.
Direct translations of the Latin have in many but not all cases been advisable.
Many obvious direct translations have been avoided in order to avoid con-
fusion with names already used for shells in other regions of the world. It is
interesting to note that many popular names in use today were recorded by
early eighteenth century writers, and that a few popular generic names are
to be found in the writings of Aristotle and Pliny. We have not, of course,
employed the rule of using the name first employed as is done in scientific
nomenclature (rule of priority). It is hoped that this first listing of iioo
popular names of American seashells will bring fuller enjoyment to the many
amateurs who do not desire to "wrestle" with scientific names.
Scientific names. A mollusk is given two parts to its scientific name
the genus, which is akin to a surname, such as Smith or Jones, and the species
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