📋 What was this drill?

Drill: Type scale: build a page using only type for hierarchy (no boxes, no color, no icons). 6 levels deep. Target: hierarchy readable at a glance.

Interpretation: Natural-history museum malacology register — taxonomic rank (class → family → species → specimen row → type note) supplies the deep hierarchy. Serif for taxonomy and notes, mono for catalog data; the untested v6 variable is convention-driven axes: the ICZN code italicizes binomials whether or not it suits the ladder. Warm-paper light canvas, achromatic ink ladder, tallies derived in JS so they reconcile by construction.

Chennai Natural History Museum · Malacology Collection

Mollusca of the Coromandel Shelf

Selected type and station material from three drawers of the reference collection — dredge stations of the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Strait, 1963–1975.

REG. 1971/ML · DRAWERS 14–16 · – SPECIMENS · – SPECIES · CUR. R. VIJAYARAGHAVAN, FLS

Class I

Gastropoda

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Conidae — cone snails

Conus textile1 Linnaeus, 1758 –
68.MM.047Gulf of Mannar, st. 22, dredged · 12 fmleg. V. Sundaram, Mar 1968
68.MM.048Palk Strait, st. 7, dredged · 9 fmleg. V. Sundaram, Mar 1968
71.MM.103off Point Calimere, sand bottom · 7 fmFisheries Bureau trawl, 1971

Shell 92 mm — largest in drawer 14; periostracum intact on 68.MM.048.

fig. Reeve, 1843 — Conch. Icon., pl. 29, sp. 108
Conus geographus2 Linnaeus, 1758 –
68.MM.051Gulf of Mannar, st. 19, dredged · 15 fmleg. V. Sundaram, Mar 1968
74.MM.012Kilakarai, trawl bycatch · 6 fmpurchased, shell market, 1974

Live-taken; animal preserved in spirit, register 1974.1.

Conus betulinus Linnaeus, 1758 –
69.MM.033Chennai (Madras) coast, st. 3 · 5 fmleg. S. Krishnamurthy, Feb 1969

Cypraeidae — cowries

Cypraea tigris Linnaeus, 1758 –
68.MM.060Palk Strait, st. 7, dredged · 9 fmleg. V. Sundaram, Mar 1968
72.MM.005Gulf of Mannar, st. 22, coral rubble · 12 fmleg. T. M. Alagarsamy, 1972

Largest 96 mm; station data from field book 72/C.

Mauritia arabica (Linnaeus, 1758) –
68.MM.063Kilakarai, raked · 3 fmpurchased, 1968
71.MM.110Gulf of Mannar, st. 21 · 10 fmFisheries Bureau, 1971

Turbinellidae — chanks & volutes

Turbinella pyrum3 (Linnaeus, 1758) –
63.MM.001off Point Calimere, st. 12, dredged · 8 fmMadras Fisheries Bureau, 1963
68.MM.070off Point Calimere, st. 12, dredged · 8 fmleg. V. Sundaram, 1968
75.MM.018Nagapattinam, trawl bycatch · 6 fmleg. S. Krishnamurthy, 1975

Sacred chank — traditional fishery, Point Calimere banks; shell cut for the bangle industry.

fig. Hornell, 1915 — Madras Fish. Bull. 8, pl. II
Melo melo (Lightfoot, 1786) –
72.MM.021Gulf of Mannar, trawl bycatch · 14 fmleg. T. M. Alagarsamy, 1972

Bail shell, 214 mm — gallery display specimen.

Class II

Bivalvia

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Pectinidae — scallops

Amusium pleuronectes (Linnaeus, 1758) –
74.MM.030Chennai coast, st. 4, trawl · 8 fmFisheries Bureau, 1974
74.MM.031Chennai coast, st. 4, trawl · 8 fmFisheries Bureau, 1974
74.MM.032Chennai coast, st. 4, trawl · 8 fmFisheries Bureau, 1974

Scallop-fishery bycatch; valves paired, catalogued as single specimens.

Placunidae — windowpane oysters

Placuna placenta4 (Linnaeus, 1758) –
69.MM.041Kilakarai, raked beds · 2 fmpurchased, 1969
69.MM.042Kilakarai, raked beds · 2 fmpurchased, 1969
69.MM.043Kilakarai, raked beds · 2 fmpurchased, 1969
69.MM.044Kilakarai, raked beds · 2 fmpurchased, 1969

Windowpane oyster — shell cut for the glazing trade; meristic study set.

fig. Hornell, 1909 — Madras Fish. Bull. 3

Arcidae — ark clams

Anadara granosa (Linnaeus, 1758) –
75.MM.030Pulicat Lake, hand-dredged · 1 fmleg. S. Krishnamurthy, 1975
75.MM.031Pulicat Lake, hand-dredged · 1 fmleg. S. Krishnamurthy, 1975

Blood cockle; edible — sold at Pulicat market.