GUIDELINES to the WRS REGISTRY

MEMBERSHIP

A membership is required to search the database and submit a record. Membership can be applied for by sending the following information to jp@topseashells.com

Full name
Phone number
Address, Zip code, City, Country
eMail
desired password

desired membership:
access for one month: 8 €
access for one year: 50 €

All the necessary information on joining the Registry will then be provided to you.

We reserve the right to refuse membership for whatever reason.

SUBMITTING RECORDS

To register shells as records, you have to become a member of the Registry. Applications for membership and the registration of a potential record should be submitted by email to jp@topseashells.com, ideally as a Word file.

There is a fee of 5 € for every submission that we will ask for once it is approved for registration as a record. The work involved on our side is considerable. Multiple submissions of 50 or more records will be discounted.

Each entry should include: the following information (* mandatory)

1. Family* (do not list subfamily names). Refer to marinespecies.org if in doubt
2. genus* (do not use subgeneric names)
3. species*
4. subspecies where applicable
5. forma name, if generally accepted and used also in books or magazines. Names introduced mainly for the sake of selling a holotype will not be considered by our experts.
6. Size in mm*
7. category applicable: max WRS, min WRS, albino, rostrated, etc. (see below)
8. Collecting locality and year (if known)
9. Owner or repository* and preferred listing
10. Reference to a verifying party* (name and eMail of a person known to us)
11. Two photos of the shell*

SYSTEMATICS - Family, species, subspecies

The systematics of the Families, species, und subspecies is intended to follow the World Register of Marine Species (www.marinespecies.org), and a new submission of a species should follow the family and genus status in "WoRMS".

MEASURING and CATEGORIES

Measurements should be reported in millimeters to the nearest tenth (0.1 mm). Specimens submitted for entry as world records must exceed the current records by a minimum of three tenths of a millimeter (0.3 mm). This standard was established by Wagner and Abbott in the past to compensate for factors which may cause unavoidable variances in measurement, such as calipers used, measuring technique, and other distorting factors. The Registry of World Record Size Shells will continue to follow this standard.

Largest ("max WRS")

Specimens must be measured with a vernier type caliper and should reflect the greatest measurable dimension of the shell. For both, minimum and maximum record size shells, measurements must be made in any direction including any processes of hard shell material produced by the animal (spines, wings, keels, siphonal canals, etc.) but not including attachments, barnacles, coralline algae, or any other encrusting organisms. Long, hair-like periostracum is not to be included.

The quality of shells listed as maximum world record do not need to be in perfect condition, but tips, canals and spines must be intact and natural, but not glued back.

In an attempt to standardize the contents of the Registry, several changes have been made regarding abnormal forms. The former approach began to include a plethora of names assigned to shells based solely on color: "golden", "melanistic", and also "albinistic" forms, the latter of which often turned out to be faded subfossils. These non-taxonomic categories presented several problems in the listing of record sizes, and have led to considerably downgrading the quality of the Registry as a reliable ressource.

Smallest ("minWRS")

There are several gastropod families and genera in which it is possible to determine a complete, fully mature adult specimen by the formation of a structure that puts an end to the length growth (usually a thickened outer lip and a callused shield along the columella. Such groups with determined growth may also produce exceptionally small adult shells, which may be submitted for recording the "smallest adult specimen of a species". Spines and canals of such applicants must not be broken, the shells have to be fully intact.

Groups that apply for this category include:
Cypraeidae, Strombidae, Triviidae, the genus Morum (Harpidae),
and with few exceptions, species of Cassidae and Ovulidae.

There are other families and genera with members that have determined growth, but listing their minimum world records make little sense as the species do not show much variation in size (Marginellidae, Cerithiidae, Columbellidae, Nassariidae). The same method of measurement and the 0.3 mm margin rules apply, and only specimens over 5.0 millimeters will be considered for the time being.

Albino

In past issues of the Registry and its predecessors, "albino" forms were included in the belief that albinism may have an effect on the shell also in regard to size. We will come back and consider albinistic shells in some families.

Rostrated cowries

In addition to the largest sizes listed for normally developed cowries, the Registry has published secondary entries for rostrated specimens obviously aberrant. To avoid confusion with regular specimens of a species, entries of rostrate specimens must be noted as such.

Sinistral

Aberrant sinistral specimens are included in the Registry. In many cases, their size is not as important as the fact alone that such specimens exist of the respective species.

Ties

Entries may be submitted for specimens which are the same size or "tie" that of current records. Ties will not be published but kept on file for future reference. Occasionally, a standing record is found to be invalid because of mismeasurement or misidentification of the specimen. In these cases, records on file are checked for a "tie" or the next largest entry submitted which will be published in the next edition. Future issues may include "tie" entries, but for now, only the first submitted will be published.

LOCATILITY and YEAR

General locality data for each entry should be provided if available. It is not necessary to include habitat data such as depth, substrate, etc. All entries not accompanied by data will be listed as "no data" or "unknown". If the year the shell was collected is unknown, then the year acquired should be stated. If neither the year collected nor the year acquired is known, the year of registration will be listed. The following codes are added to the year: c (year collected), a (year acquired), r (year registered). This information is intended to aid readers in identifying trends in time-to-size relationships.

OWNER or REPOSITORY

The owner' s full name, address, telephone number and e-mail address should be provided. A repository entry may also be listed under a nickname or abbreviation of a collection or institution. Please indicate your preference how you would like the repository of your shell to be listed. Because of format constraints, repository listings must be restricted to 21 characters including spaces. Your additional information is confidential and will not be published or passed on.

VERIFICATION OF ENTRIES

Submissions which do not show proof of verification will NOT be published in the Registry of World Record Size Shells. All entries must be verified either by a professional malacologist, a reputable shell dealer, or an advanced collector who is recognized as a specialist in the applicable family, with their contact information. We might contact persons serving as the verifying party to re-confirm submissions for whatever reason.

PHOTOS

Two photos should be added with each entry, at least one of them with a caliper held to the shell so that the dimensions can be ascertained from the photo. The photos must be in .jpg format and not exceed 500 kb each. They must be named to correspond clearly to the respective listed record.

Registrants will be notified regarding the status of their entries.