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.
We commiserated in that:
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