The noble volute, Cymbiola nobilis is one of the few wide-ranging volutes (most volutes are very endemic), can be found from the South of Thailand, Vietnam, the Straits of Malacca, Singapore till the Eastern tip of Indonesia and rarely in the Southern Philippines.
They are variable, and most specimens have a dwarf form called “parva”. Some say that this is a sexual dimorphism and the smaller ones are male. Most C. nobilis nobilis have flaring upper lip that creates a handsome tip which is noticeably absent in the “tamariskae” and not prominent in the Bali specimens which I use “octogonalis” just to differentiate them. As I understand the name Tamariskae emerged because the name “octogonalis” was described as a nomen nodum. Further difference is the Eastern Indonesian shells have also prominent knobs on the shoulders missing in all C. nobilis nobilis.
I labelled this specimen as “octogonalis” as I find them different from the Southern Indonesian specimens. I think the northern part of Java specimens and the Southern Indonesian shells warrant another look as they also look very different from one another.
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