North Carolina Sea Shells

Aquaculture

2007-01-12T11:31:00.000-08:00

I've started a new blog on Aquaculture, and will include photography there, as well as this blog. Snapshots of Seagulls and Beachdrift

I got a new camera which has high resolution, so I'll be making full use of that in the future when photographing shells!

Origin of Cetaceans

2006-09-27T06:01:00.000-07:00

New Addition to Web
The Evolution of Whales
Based on National Geographic's sensational article from November 2001, by Douglas H. Chadwick, Shawn Gould and Robert Clark, The Evolution of Whales. Overview of whale origins. Includes illustrations based on fossil progressions in transitional whales and dolphins. Additional comments from early whale expert and Paleontologist, J.G.M. Thewissen, Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine.

"Pakicetid fossils were important in determining what whales were related to, and they were used to rebuke the idea that whales were closely related to an extinct group of hoofed mammals called mesonychians. These fossils confirmed what was already suggested by scientists studying the DNA of modern whales: that whales’ closest relatives are even-toed ungulates (artiodactyls, such as pig, hippo, camel, deer, and cows). Current research in the Thewissen lab attempts to determine how .. pakicetids locomoted in water and on land."
Source: Origin of Whales, Thewissen Lab Webpage

Wentletraps -Angulate vs. Humphrey

2006-05-25T22:50:00.000-07:00

More Images

Humphrey vs. Angulate?

Gastropod

Auger-Shaped - wentletraps (Epitoniidae)

Angulate Wentletrap Epitonium angulatum (Say)
Description: (1 inch) High, slender, glossy spire. Each whorl with nine to 10 strong ribs, each slightly angled on the whorl shoulder. Smooth spaces between ribs. Round aperture. Operculum. Color: Shiny white interior and exterior. Reddish brown operculum.
Habitat: Occasionally found in drift on ocean beaches.
Range: New York to Uruguay.
Notes: (See brown-band wentletrap Notes) : Also called lined wentletrap. About 24 kinds of wentletraps have been recorded in North Carolina waters. A carnivore, it forages in sand for sea anemones and tears tissue with its jaws. It secretes a substance that turns purple and may anesthetize the anemones. Females lays strings of sand-covered egg capsules. Its young are free-swimming. The precious wentletrap (up to 2 3/4 iches long) from the Pacific Ocean is one of the prettiest shells known.

Humphrey Wentletrap Images

Humphrey Wentletrap Epitonium humphreysii (Kiener)
Description: (3/4 inch) Small, high-spired shell. Very similar to angulate wentletrap in appearance, habitat and numbers, but eight to nine rounded ribs on each whorl thicker and not angulate at shoulder. Also, generally more slender with a thicker lip on round aperture. Smooth spaces between ribs. Operculum.
Color: White exterior and interior. Mahogany-colored operculum.
Habitat: Occasionally found in drift on ocean beaches.
Range: Massachusetts to Texas.
Notes: (See brown-band wentletrap Notes) : Also called lined wentletrap. About 24 kinds of wentletraps have been recorded in North Carolina waters. A carnivore, it forages in sand for sea anemones and tears tissue with its jaws. It secretes a substance that turns purple and may anesthetize the anemones. Females lays strings of sand-covered egg capsules. Its young are free-swimming. The precious wentletrap (up to 2 3/4 iches long) from the Pacific Ocean is one of the prettiest shells known.
Source: Seashells of North Carolina, North Carolina Sea Grant College Program

Common Nutmeg Cancellaria reticulata (Linnaeus)

2006-05-25T17:07:00.000-07:00

This shell came about from beach-combing,and a lady I met on the beach gave it to me. I've never found a common nutmeg shell before, so I had only one shell to share images of. This shell appears to match the shape, description and image found in the NC Sea Grant Seashell field guide.

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More common nutmeg images and further information

Gastropod
Mudsnail-Shaped - nutmegs (Cancellariidae)
Common Nutmeg Cancellaria reticulata (Linnaeus)
Description: (2 1/4 inches) Rough surface on shell. Many spiral cords across many axial ribs, resulting in a lattice or beaded pattern. Elongate aperture with short canal. Inner margin with two strong, thin spiral ridges running into aperture (upper ridge stronger than lower ridge). No operculum.
Color: Banded or splotched with cream and orange or brown.
Habitat: Lives offshore. Occasionally washed onto ocean beaches.
Range: North Carolina to Brazil.
Notes: This species is probably carnivorous because its radula is ideal for feeding on soft-bodied animals.Source: Seashells of North Carolina, North Carolina Sea Grant College Program

Dark Variety Lettered Olive

2006-05-22T15:56:00.000-07:00

I found these lettered olives (Oliva sayana) on the beach today. It was unusual finding an olive this large, but the dark color... love it.

All images posted here

Sally Thomas: Read Orrin Pilkey's How to Read a NC Beach, Chapter 6 pg 113 on the subject of brown and black shells. These are secondary colorations and a result of the reaction of iron to either oxygen (brown or rust of iron oxide) or sulfur (iron sulfide). This may be your answer. Good luck, Sally

Sharon: My dark olives appear to be fading to a lighter color, as they've sat in their box.

Alternate Tellin (Say)

2006-05-22T03:38:00.000-07:00

Sharon: This shell I have is very thin, it's not very wide, the texture is sort of like glass and very shiny.

The closest description I've found in the NC Sea Grant field guide is the Alternate Tellin and the fragile surfclam seems to resemble it also.

Hi Sharon,

Yes, this is Tellina alternata Say. I notice that the shell in image 0014 met its demise as a dinner for Polinices duplicatus, whose radula rasped the rather large hole near the umbos.

Regards,
Paul M.

Sharon: From what I'm hearing, this Polinices duplicatus is a real cold blooded killer (they are cold blooded aren't they?) though to be more precise, should I say poikilothermic?

Hi Sharon,

Yes, all the moon snails are very effective predators upon other molluscs, especially bivalves. But sometimes they also attack gastropods, including other moon snails.

Yes, all invertebrates are technically poikilotherms, though the term is most often used in reference to vertebrates (mammals and birds are homeotherms while reptiles, amphibians and fish are poikilotherms).

Regards,
Paul Monfils

Terri: Beautiful tellins, Sharon. And yes, Polinices duplicatus is a real ectothermic killer! Seems there are always shells on the beach with those radula-drilled holes. There are other gastropods who do the same thing (oyster drills, etc.). I've always enjoyed teaching kids to be "beach detectives" -- to see if they could find molluscs that were murdered by other molluscs! A type of beach CSI!

But this discussion reminds me of a Gary Larson cartoon (one of my favorites) with an alligator sitting on the witness stand screaming "Of course I did it in cold blood, you idiot! I'm a reptile!"

Terri K. Hathaway
Marine Education Specialist
North Carolina Sea Grant
http://www.ncseagrant.org/

About the Contributors

2006-05-21T10:08:00.000-07:00

Sally Thomas works as a volunteer with the North Carolina Aquariums.

Terri Hathaway: I, too, love learning about the natural and life history of marine organisms. They just fascinate me. Guess that's why I went into marine biology (BS degree from UNC Wilmington). I worked as Education Curator at the NC Aquarium on Roanoke Island for 18.5 years before taking this job with NC Sea Grant 2.5 years ago. I now work with teachers across the state, getting marine science into classrooms wherever I can.

www.ncseagrant.org

Sharon: Thanks for those verifications/info, Paul.
Thank you for posting answers on the blog, and I welcome any input, addtl. information -- you can email it to me, and I can publish it into the front pages of the shell entries.

Very curious.. how have you came to be so knowledgeable on marine biology /
shell expertee?

Sharon

Paul Monfils: Hi Sharon,

Thanks for your email. I have taken a look at most of the shells you have posted on your website. Most of them are certainly correctly identified. I do have a few comments on a couple of them but don't have much time to write tonight. Just thought I would take a moment to respond to your email. I'll write more about the shells shortly.

I have been a shell collector for almost 50 years, and a specimen shell importer and dealer for over 30 years. My undergraduate degree was in zoology, and I have taught that subject at both high school and college levels (though I now work and teach in the area of medical research).

I'm located in Rhode Island, so several of my local species are the same as yours - Mercenaria mercenaria, Petricola pholadiformis, Ensis directus, Polinices duplicatus, etc. Of course you can also find some of the more southern species that are not found here, and I have quite a few northern species that you don't have locally.

Regards,
Paul Monfils

Sharon: Good morning and thank you for taking the time to respond. That's an impressive resume.

I'm curious, can you please identify this shell for me. I found a couple of these in beachdrift and we haven't any idea which species it is.

Currently Terri K. Hathaway (NC Sea Grant/Marine Biologist) helps to identify and Sally Thomas, a volunteer from the NC Aquariums. May I count you in as a future contributor for shell identification in the future?

This one (above) hasn't been identified or posted.

Thank you, Sharon Mooney

Paul Monfils: Hi Sharon,

You won't find this one in your seashell books because it's a land snail.
I'm not sure what species it is. I don't know land snails as well as I know marine species, but I do have a fair amount of experience with them. I can probably ID it when I have a little more time.

I'll be glad to help with shell ID. I do this frequently for collectors. A couple of collectors, who don't have the capability of photographing shells and posting images online, mail me a box of unidentified shells now and then and enclose return postage. I identify what I can for them and mail them back.

I don't have a webpage of my own. My customers have been asking me for twenty years when I am going to put one up. But shells are only one part of my life. I already have a mailing list of almost 500 collectors, who send me enough orders to keep me busy for most of my available time. I have nearly 5,000 species of wordwide shells in stock. I also sell shells online sometimes, mainly on www.shellauction.net, and occasionally on a few other online auctions. If I put up a website I would have to do shells full time just to keep up, and I really don't want that. Maybe after I retire from my present full time job.

Regards,
Paul Monfils

Sharon: So, Terri Hathaway was correct. Paul Monfils confirms it is a species of land snail.
I wonder what it was doing in beachdrift? I found two of them at separate times, in fact. Maybe a fickle species of snail that never quite left the ocean? -or trying to return. *smile*

I keyed your land snail in The Eastern Land Snails, and confirmed my findings in the Compendium of Landshells and a couple of other sources. Your shell appears to be Triodopsis tridentata (Say), in the family Polygyridae.

Two likely ways for land snails to end up in beach drift -

1. Snail falls into a fresh water stream, is carried to a river which empties into the ocean. (Land snails are usually light weight - without the buoyancy of water around them, they could not carry a heavy shell around as marine snails do - so they typically float.). Once in the ocean it can wash ashore.

2. Snail lives in grassy zone above high tide level. Once the snail dies, wind blows its light weight shell down the beach into the drift line.

I once had a Carrier Shell (Xenophora pallidula) which had attached a land snail shell to itself. That snail shell obviously managed to sink once it reached the ocean, or the Carrier could not have found it.

Regards,
Paul M.

Humphrey Wentletrap - Epitonium humphreysii

2006-05-13T21:08:00.000-07:00

Beautiful wentletraps! I've found only a few of those myself. I treasure them! Definitely look like Humphrey wentletraps to me.

Terri K. Hathaway
Marine Education Specialist
North Carolina Sea Grant
http://www.ncseagrant.org/

Humphrey Wentletrap Epitonium humphreysii (Kiener)
Description: (3/4 inch) Small, high-spired shell. Very similar to angulate wentletrap in appearance, habitat and numbers, but eight to nine rounded ribs on each whorl thicker and not angulate at shoulder. Also, generally more slender with a thicker lip on round aperture. Smooth spaces between ribs. Operculum.
Color: White exterior and interior. Mahogany-colored operculum.
Habitat: Occasionally found in drift on ocean beaches.
Range: Massachusetts to Texas.
(See brown-band wentletrap Notes) : Also called lined wentletrap. About 24 kinds of wentletraps have been recorded in North Carolina waters. A carnivore, it forages in sand for sea anemones and tears tissue with its jaws. It secretes a substance that turns purple and may anesthetize the anemones. Females lays strings of sand-covered egg capsules. Its young are free-swimming. The precious wentletrap (up to 2 3/4 iches long) from the Pacific Ocean is one of the prettiest shells known.
Source: Seashells of North Carolina, North Carolina Sea Grant College Program

Barnacles, Et Cetera

2006-05-13T19:22:00.000-07:00

Sharon: I find lots of interesting things on the beach, some of it, I'm not always quite sure what it is...

Sally Thomas: lots of different worm snails, hard corals, barnacles on cockle shell, but I guess you already knew that. I see nothing that resembles an urchin test as suggested, more like a riddles bivalve. Not much help. Sally

Terri: top 9 photos have pieces from what I say are Knorr's (or Florida) worm snails. Or these may be actual worm tubes -- some polychaetes form tubes for protection. Hard to be sure without close examination.

Photos 10-19 are of species of hard coral that live in our waters. These are colonial animals, but do not form reefs.
Photos 10, 11, 18 and 19 are of star coral (Astrangia danae) which grows on hard surfaces, including shells.
Photos 12-17 are of ivory bush coral (Oculina arbuscula) which is a branching coral. Each cup (which I think you're calling a "pod") held one individual animal. These animals belong to the phylum Cnidaria and are related to sea anemones and jellies!

Photo 20 looks like an oyster shell with other oysters shells that have been attached to it.

The crossbarred venus looks like it had some coral settle on it, as well as any oyster and/or another bivalve!

Photo 26 -- interesting piece. It could be several things: a piece of sand dollar/keyhole urchin or a piece of a bivalve that has has boring sponge growing on it (and "drilling" those holes through it).

Photo 27 (from the top) is the cockle with some coral that settled on it.

Photo 28 is part of a test of a sea urchin (an echinoderm).

Photos 29-32 are of a cockle with a barnacle that settled on it.
(remember that barnacles are crustaceans.)

You're finding lots of cool stuff!

Terri K. Hathaway
Marine Education Specialist
North Carolina Sea Grant
http://www.ncseagrant.org/

At first, I thought this was a "ram's horn squid" Spirula spirula but after comparing with the image in the North Carolina Seashells field guide, I'm not sure what this interesting shell is.

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Click for 320px image (At the top of the above photo and below, are two similar shell-like formations, only thinner.)

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Click for 320px image (This was something I found that looks more like a fossil than a shell. It's texture and surface looks more like cement that was shaped inside a shell, and it has some shells stuck inside it (above).

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Click for 320px image (I find these often on the beach. They are flat and smooth on one side with holes covering the other.)

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Shark Eye moonsnail, Polinices duplicatus

2006-05-13T16:26:00.000-07:00

Gorgeous moon snails!

Terri K. Hathaway
Marine Education Specialist
North Carolina Sea Grant
http://www.ncseagrant.org/

One of my favorite finds on the beach is the shark eye (Polinices duplicatus) moon snail shell.. though seldom do I find it intact.
If the eye looks nice, I usually add it to my collection. I found a particularly beautiful blueish swirled shark eye (below) and some of the other moon snails I've found featured in this entry.

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Shark Eye Neverita duplicata (Say) (=Polinices duplicatus)
Description: (3 1/2 inches) Smooth, globe-shaped shell with a small spire. Resembles a shark's eye because line winds around the spire. Umbilicus almost covered by a large, buttonlike lobe. Large elliptical aperture. Horny operculum.
Color: Bluish brown or purplish gray with a gray umbilicus, brown callus and a light brown semitransparent operculum.
Habitat: Lives offshore. Commonly washed onto sound and ocean beaches.
Range: Cape Cod, Mass to Texas.
Notes: Also called Atlantic moonsnail. A carnivore, it is a very active predator that burrows rapidly through sand to find prey. It attacks other mollusks, including relatives, by using its radula and acid secretions to drill a beveled hole through the prey's shell. This species leaves tracks over sand in low tide. Females lay eggs under "sand collars," which they form out of mucus and sand grains; these can often be found on beaches during the summer. Young are free swimming.
Source: Seashells of North Carolina, North Carolina Sea Grant College Program

Earlier Related Posts:
Natica, Moon and Ear Shells
Shark Eye Moon Snail
Baby's Ear

Gastropods

2006-05-13T11:07:00.000-07:00

I agree with Sally's IDs. In 5th photo down, a banded tulip on right hand side, and true tulip on left hand side. Most of the gastropods look like knobbed whelk, but may have some lightning whelks (opening on left side) and channeled whelks (channeled groove around top spire) mixed in.
Terri K. Hathaway
Marine Education Specialist
North Carolina Sea Grant
http://www.ncseagrant.org/

Sally Thomas: Looks like a lot of various whelks that are not very old. Banded Tulip is on right end and probably a true tulip is on the left end of that identified photo. Look up channeled whelk for #12 - 13 photos. Lightning has a left opening with the rest opeing on the right for a general sort. I'd really have to pick them up to get any closer to a positive id.

These are some of the larger Gastropods I've picked up and collected at the beach. I haven't found too many of these shells whole or the majority of the shell intact -usually I see a lot of these shells on the beach but they've been busted into pieces. Large pieces litter the shoreline. However, even damaged I normally have kept most of the shells, if most of it is intact, enough to identify the shell.

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The gastropods, gasteropods, or univalves, are the largest and most successful class of mollusks, with 60,000-75,000 extant species known, comprising the snails and slugs as well as a vast number of marine and freshwater species.

Snails are distinguished by torsion, a process where the body coils to one side during development.

They typically have a well-defined head with two or four sensory tentacles, and a ventral foot, which gives them their name (Greek gaster, stomach, and poda, feet). The eyes that may be present at the tip of the tentacles range from simple ocelli that cannot project an image (simply distinguishing light and dark), to more complex pit and even lens eyes [1].

Most members have a shell, which is in one piece and typically coiled or spiralled that usually opens on the right hand side (as viewed with the shell apex pointing upward). Several species have an operculum that operates as a trapdoor to close the shell. This is usually made of a horny material, but in some molluscs it is calcareous. In some members, the slugs, the shell is reduced or absent, and the body is streamlined so its torsion is relatively inconspicuous.

While the best-known gastropods are terrestrial, more than two thirds of all species live in a marine environment. Marine gastropods include herbivores, detritus feeders, carnivores and a few ciliary feeders, in which the radula is reduced or absent. The radula is usually adapted to the food that a species eats. The simplest gastropods are the limpets and abalones, both herbivores that use their hard radulas to rasp at seaweeds on rocks. Many marine gastropods are burrowers and have siphons or tubes that extend from the mantle and sometimes the shell. These act as snorkels, enabling the animal to continue to draw in a water current containing oxygen and food into their bodies. The siphons are also used to detect prey from a distance. These gastropods breathe with gills, but some freshwater species and almost all terrestric species have developed lungs. While the gastropods with lungs all belong to one group (Pulmonata), the gastropods with gills are paraphyletic.
... more on Gastropods at Wikipedia

Angelwing Pholadidae and Petricolidae

2006-05-12T19:26:00.000-07:00

To tell you the truth, I'm not too good with these types. I'm really sure about any of them without seeing them up close and personal. Some of what you're calling rupellarias are larger than what I thought they were supposed to be, but since I have never seen one, I can't argue with you!

I didn't see a photo of the mud-piddock. The angel wing and false angel wings are beautiful!

Terri K. Hathaway
Marine Education Specialist
North Carolina Sea Grant
http://www.ncseagrant.org/

Over the past weeks I've been collecting angelwing-shaped shells when I find them, including some of the broken shells because to find an angelwing-type shell on the beach, isn't that easy. I have only found one true Angelwing Cyrtopleura costata, and luck would have it that it was chipped and the tip broken off. These are fragile shells, and rare to find them in one piece.

The following angelwing type shells are of the Angelwing Cyrtopleura costata, Atlantic mud-piddock Barnea truncata, false angelwing Petricola pholadiformis, and the Atlantic rupellaria Rupellaria typica species.

Seems I am missing Campeche angelwing Pholas campechiensis and the wedge piddock Martesia cuneiformis in my collection.

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Angelwing type - Atlantic Rupellaria

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Angelwing type - Atlantic Rupellaria

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Angelwing type - Atlantic Rupellaria

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Angelwing type - Atlantic Rupellaria

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Angelwing type - Atlantic Rupellaria

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Angelwing type - Atlantic Rupellaria

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Angelwing type - Atlantic Rupellaria

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Angelwing type - Atlantic Rupellaria

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Angelwing type - Atlantic Rupellaria

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Angelwing type - False Angelwing

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Angelwing type - False Angelwing

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Angelwing type - Fallen Angelwing

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Angelwing type - Fallen Angelwing

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Angelwing type - Fallen Angelwing

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Angelwing type - Angelwing

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Angelwing type - Angelwing

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Angelwing type - Angelwing	Atlantic Rupellaria

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Angelwing type - Atlantic Rupellaria

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Angelwing type - Atlantic Rupellaria

Angelwing (Pholadidae)

Angelwing Cyrtopleura costata (Linnaeus)
Description: (5 3/4 inches) Fairly large, elongate shell tapers to a rounded point. Strongly resembles the wing of an angel. About 30 sharply beaded ribs. Shells rolls outward on top --this edge not braced by partitions. Very thin shell breaks easily.
Color: Pure white exterior and interior, occasionally pink at the edges. Grayish periostracum.
Habitat: Lives offshore and in estuaries, burrowed as much as 3 feet deep in mud or clay. Occasionally washed onto beaches.
Range: New Jersey to Brazil.
Notes: This is a popular shell with delicious meat. The pink tinges occur when the animal feeds on certain types of algae. It moves up and down in its burrows. If dug up, the fragile shell must be placed immediately into a container of water or it will close suddenly and shatter.

Atlantic mud-piddock Barnea truncata (Say)
Description: (2 1/4 inches) Similar to angelwing but with weaker sculpture. One end squared off and other end pointed. Loose accesory plates above the hinge on live specimens.
Color: White exterior and interior.
Habitat: Lives burrowed into mud, clay or softwood. Occasionally washed onto sounds and ocean beaches.
Range: Maine to Brazil.
Notes: Also called a fallen angelwing. This fragile shell is rarely dug from mud without breaking. It burrows deeply and has long, united siphons.

Angelwing Shaped Rupellarias (Petricolidae)

False Angelwing Petricola pholadiformis (Lamarck)
Description: (2 3/4 inches) Thin, elongate shell resembling a small angelwing but lacks the rolled-out hinge area. Beak at one end of shell. Strong radial ribbing on the beak end. Teeth on hinge. Deep pallial sinus.
Color: White exterior and interior.
Habitat: Lives in intertidal zone, burrowed into hard clay or peat. Commonly found on sounds and ocean beaches.
Range: Canada to Uruguay.
Notes: It burrows into hard surfaces and has long, partially united siphons.

Atlantic Rupellaria Rupellaria typica (Jonas)(=Petricola typica)
Description: (1 inch) Variable shape, usually oblong. Coarse radial ribs. Beak about one-quarter of length from front end. Deep pallial sinus. No good lateral teeth.
Color: Grayish white exterior and brownish interior.
Habitat: Lives offshore in rock, shell or coral.
Range: North Carolina to Brazil.
Notes: Shell shape varies because it does not bore its own hole. Instead, it occupies crevices or holes bored by other animals and adopts the shape of the crevice or hole.

Source: Seashells of North Carolina, North Carolina Sea Grant College Program

Related Posts: Fallen Angel Wing and Angel Wing Shell.

Gray Pygmy Venus

2006-05-12T13:53:00.000-07:00

Sally Thomas: could it be glory-of-the-seas venus? my references say that gray pygmy venus is 1/2 "

I don't think it's a gray pygmy venus -- end of shell isn't squared off enough for me. Not sure about what else it could be -- I'll keep searching.
Terri K. Hathaway
Marine Education Specialist
North Carolina Sea Grant

Paul Monfils: Hello Sharon,

Yesterday I visited your impressive website. I noticed that the shell you have listed as "gray pygmy venus" is actually the spiny paper cockle, Papyridea lata Born, 1778. I'll take a closer look at some of the others shortly, when I have a little more time.

Sure looks like he's correct.
Terri K. Hathaway
Marine Education Specialist
North Carolina Sea Grant

Bivalves
Spiny Papercockle Papyridea soliniformis (Bruguiere)
Description: (1 1/2 inches) Thin, elliptical shell slightly elongated and not deeply cupped. Radial ribs with tiny spines near their ends. Prominent lateral teeth on hinge. No lunule or pallial sinus.
Color: Exterior and interior pinkish white, mottled with brownish orange and pink.
Habitat: Lives offshore. Its short siphons indicate that it lives just below mud surface. Occasionally found on ocean beaches from Cape Lookout south.
Range: North Carolina to Brazil.
Notes: Cockles are commonly eaten in Europe. The animal has a long, powerful foot that allows it to be active.

Bivalves
Gray Pygmy Venus Chione grus (Holmes)
Description: (3/8 inch) Oblong shell. Beak about one-quarter of the shell length from the rounded front end. Squarish back end. Surface with many fine radial ribs crossed by equally fine concentric lines. Lateral and cardinal teeth on hinge. Narrow, heart-shaped lunule. Small pallial sinus.
Color: Exterior gray to white (sometimes light pink) with purplish brown near both ends of the hinge. Dark brown lunule. White interior with purplish brown near one end.
Habitat: Lives in sand and mud in high-salinity estuaries south of Cape Hatteras and also offshore in waters up to 100 feet deep. Attaches to shells in shell-reef areas. Common on ocean beaches.
Range: North Carolina to Florida and Texas.
Source: Seashells of North Carolina, North Carolina Sea Grant College Program

Northern Quahog Venus

2006-05-11T14:07:00.000-07:00

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Sure looks like a northern quahog (Mercenaria mercenaria) to me.
Terri K. Hathaway
Marine Education Specialist
North Carolina Sea Grant
http://www.ncseagrant.org/

Bivalves
Clam-Shaped Venus Clams (Veneridae)
Northern Quahog (hard-shelled clam) Mercenaria mercenaria (Linnaeus)
Description: (4 1/2 inches) Heavy, rounded, somewhat inflated shell. Concentric ridges on surface smooth near the center and stronger near the lower edge. Elevated beak. Strong lateral and cardinal teeth on hinge. Lunule and pallial sinus.
Color: Dull gray exterior, occasionally with purple zigzag markings. Dull gray interior, often with some purple near the pallial sinus.
Habitat: Lives in sounds and mouths of estuaries near the ocean. Commonly found on sound and ocean beaches.
Range: Canada to Texas.
Notes: Also known as the littleneck clam, cherrystone and chowder clam. A large commercial fishery in North Carolina waters, it has potential for mariculture. Nearly all individuals are male the first year, then about half become females. It was a favorite food of early Native Americans, who made beads from this shell's purple edge and used them as money, called "wampum." A form of this species with purple zigzag markings once given the subspecies name Mercenaria mercenaria notata Say, but this clam is a naturally occuring genetic color form of the northern quahog. The purple zigzag patterns occurs in a number of other species in the family Veneridae. Specimens with these markings were once specifically bred by clam growers to identify their stock from monhatchery-bred clams. Clams with these markings may still occasionally be found.
Source: Seashells of North Carolina, North Carolina Sea Grant College Program.

Bittersweet

2006-05-08T13:47:00.000-07:00

Sally Thomas: I opt for a member of the bittersweet family... most likely the Atlantic bittersweet.

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Sharon: The closest bittersweet in the NC Sea Grant handbook that sounds similar to the Atlantic Bittersweet, is Giant Bittersweet:
Bivalves, Ark-Shaped bittersweets (Glycymerididae)
Giant Bittersweet Glycymeris Americana (DeFrance)
Description: (4 inches) Round, somewhat flat shell. Indistinct broad radial ribs sculptured with radiating scratches. Central beak. Long, curved hinge with 19 to 24 teeth. Scalloped margin. No pallial sinus. Velvety periostracum.
Color: Grayish tan exterior, mottled with yellowish brown. Dark brown periostracum.
Habitat: Lives offshore. Dense concentrations at 75-foot depths off Cape Fear. Commonly found on beaches near and south of Cape Fear. Occasionally netted as incidental catch by offshore fishing boats.
Range: North Carolina to Florida.
Notes: It has a bitter taste, as its name implies, so it cannot be considered for commercial harvest. It has a muscular foot.
Source: Seashells of North Carolina, North Carolina Sea Grant College Program

Cross Hatched Lucine

2006-05-07T19:12:00.000-07:00

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Subject: Verifying Cross Hatched Lucine Shell?
Sally Thomas: Although I have never seen one of these, it looks like a positive id

I'm pretty sure that you have lots of these in your collection. They're one of my favorites also -- so dainty and cute!

Several of them have holes -- so you know how they died! Something like the moon snail drilled through them with their radula and ate them! Beach CSI at work!

Terri K. Hathaway
Marine Education Specialist
North Carolina Sea Grant
http://www.ncseagrant.org/

Clam-Shaped Lucines (Lucinidae)
Cross Hatched Lucine Divaricalla quadrisulcata (d'Orbigny)
Description: (3/4 inch) Small, rounded, plump shell. Pattern of tiny grooves swirl around surface, resulting in a chevronlike sculpture. Hinge teeth. Crenulations on inside edges. No pallial sinus.
Color: White.
Habitat: Lives in shallow to offshore water. Common on ocean beaches.
Range: Massachusetts to Brazil.
Notes: Shells are often used in crafts.
Source: Seashells of North Carolina, North Carolina Sea Grant College Program

Disk Dosinia, Dosinia Discus

2006-05-06T19:44:00.000-07:00

Disk Dosinia Dosinia discus (Reeve)
Description: (3 inches) Round, flat, disklike shell similar to elegant dosinia. Fine concentric ridges --about 50 ridges per inch. Beak curves forward. Cardinal teeth on hinge. Lunule and pallial sinus.
Color: Shiny white interior and exterior. Thin, yellow periostracum.
Habitat: Lives in sounds and just offshore on shallow sand flats. Commonly found on sound and ocean beaches.
Range: Virginia to Yucatan.
Source: Seashells of North Carolina, North Carolina Sea Grant College Program

Sally Thomas: I've been calling them disk dosinias but the two are quite similar. Elegant is larger and has less crowded concentric ridges. The picture by the ruler shows none over 2".

Terri Hathaway: Some of those photos include shells that look like something other than disc dosinias. They look too oblong for dosinia. They're more like surf clams or something similar. Good luck with those. Maybe Sally can ID them?
Terri K. Hathaway
Marine Education Specialist
North Carolina Sea Grant
http://www.ncseagrant.org/

Lady-In-Waiting Venus Clam

2006-05-06T16:36:00.000-07:00

Sharon: Seems to agree with the image for Lady in Waiting Venus

Definitely some Lady-in-waiting venus clams in there.
Terri K. Hathaway
Marine Education Specialist
North Carolina Sea Grant
http://www.ncseagrant.org/

Sharon: There is one shell among these that's caused confusion, and I hope it is a lady-in-waiting-venus too. I took photos of top and bottom of the shell. It's ragged around the edges --very odd looking, it's shaped like the other venus clams... but the ridges almost as pronounced as the Imperial venus, but the distance between the ridges are more like the Lady in waiting... but it doesn't quite look like a Lady in waiting venus.

I'm going with the lady-in-waiting for the strange shell -- seeing the bottom edge so serrated seals it for me. With the imperial venus, the bottom edge is finely grooved, not serrated.
Terri K. Hathaway
Marine Education Specialist
North Carolina Sea Grant
http://www.ncseagrant.org/

Bivalves
Clam-Shaped - venus clams (Veneridae)
lady-in-waiting venus Chione intapurpurea (Conrad)
Description: (1 1/2 inches) Round, thick shell. Many concentric edges closer-set than those on the cross-barred venus. Serrated lower edges of concentric ridges give appearance of being crossed by light ribbing. Lateral and cardinal teeth on hinge. Lunule and pallial sinus. Fine crenulations on bottom edge of shell.
Color: Creamy white exterior, often with broken radial lavender stripes. White interior with purple markings.
Habitat: Lives offshore. Occasionally found on ocean beaches.
Range: North Carolina to Brazil.
Source: Seashells of North Carolina, North Carolina Sea Grant College Program

Imperial Venus Clam

2006-05-06T12:34:00.000-07:00

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Sharon: I'm fairly certain this is the Imperial Venus Clam, but would like a confirmation just for the record.

Looks correct to me. They are beautiful -- I have never found those up here before! Nice find!
Terri K. Hathaway
Marine Education Specialist
North Carolina Sea Grant
http://www.ncseagrant.org/

Imperial Venus Chione latilirata (Conrad)
Description: 1.5 inches, Rounded, triangular and inflated shell. Large, heavy concentric ridges rounded and often sharply shelved at the top. Ridges fragile on dry specimens. Bottom edge of ridges not serrated. Bottom edge of shell finely grooved. Cardinal and lateral teeth on hinge. Lunule and pallial sinus.
Color: Tan exterior with lavender blotches and radial stripes.
Habitat: Lives offshore, south of Cape Hatteras, in 60-to 120-foot depths. Occasionally found on ocean beaches.
Range: North Carolina to Brazil.
Notes: This species was frequently found among catches of the Atlantic calico scallop fishery.
Source: Seashells of North Carolina, by North Carolina Sea Grant College Program

Sand Dollar

2006-05-05T20:58:00.000-07:00

Sharon: Photographs of two sand dollars I found a few days ago, the larger was busted with a small hole just a little in the top center, and the "stars" were sitting inside, and I've shaken those out... nice photo op for close up magnification. The smaller sand dollar is intact. I'm anxiously awaiting getting photos of those, and identification of the species. From my shell book, it shows several sand dollars and the one favored most it is the "Florida Sand Dollar", unfortunately the author's note is class: Echinoidea, "many species", 1-4" which doesn't tell much.

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The "stars" that you found inside the sand dollar -- were there five of them, and were they shaped like "doves?" These are the five parts of the sand dollar mouth!

I'm sure you've seen the postcards and plaques with the broken sand dollar and the story of the 5 "doves" flying out of the exoskeleton.

I'm anxious to see your other photos -- love to see what you're finding down south!

Terri K. Hathaway
Marine Education Specialist
North Carolina Sea Grant
http://www.ncseagrant.org/

Sharon: There may have originally been 5, but I found the sand dollar with a hole already in it. I didn't know this was the mouth. --I shook 4 of those little doves out of it. (Thanks for the correction too.)

Do the doves "grind" the food, or do they sift small food particles from the water and absorb them?

Sally Thomas: The sand dollar is an Echinoderm as are sea stars, sea urchins, and sea cucumbers and have a hard internal skeleton... members of the phylum have five body sections arranged around a central axis. Most have hundreds of small tube feet, called podia, that work in unison, either to move the anumal over the bottom or to capture food. Sea urchins, sand dollars and sea biscuits specifically have centrally located mouth on the underside. The mouth is a complicated arrangement of five teeth, called Aristotle's Lantern, used for scraping algae and other organic food from rocks (urchins) or under the sand (sand dollars and sea biscuits). The Aristotle's Lantern remains inside the sand dollar which is flat and has a small mouth opening. It primarily grinds its food. Openings in the others are larger allowing the toothy A-L to protrude and scrape/collect food.

Sharon: After photographing the doves, I saw they *appear* they would be effective for straining food particles, but I am not completely sure about that, until I get an official answer from an expert.

Sally Thomas: Paul Humann's Reef Creature Identification Florida, Caribbean, Bahamas is a fine text that may interest you.

Terri Hathaway: I see you've already gotten some in-depth info on the sand dollars (or keyhole urchins) that you found. The scientific name is Mellita quiquiesperforata. The 5 holes are called lunules and may serve a couple of different purposes. They help prevent the living animals from being washed out of the sand (something to do with hydrodynamics of the water currents). And they help the sand move upwards as the animal buries itself.

Their 5 mouth parts form what's referred to as "Aristotle's lantern".
That's the 5 doves you hear rattling around in dead sand dollars.

When alive, they are covered with tiny brownish green spines that help the animal move and bury. Lots of things each sand dollars, including flounders and sea stars.

A couple of good references for sea creatures (including molluscs):

Nature Guide to the Carolina Coast by Peter Meyer
Seashore Animals of the Southeast by Edward E. Ruppert and Richard S. Fox

more later,
Terri K. Hathaway
Marine Education Specialist
North Carolina Sea Grant
http://www.ncseagrant.org/

The Angel Wing Shell

2006-05-05T05:21:00.000-07:00

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I found this particular shell about a week ago, and I'm fairly certain it belongs among the Angel Wings shell group, in the Shell Book, Atlantic, Gulf and Carribean (source for following photo) a similar shell is featured,

Fallen Angel Wing, Barnea truncata, measuring 2-2½", and is found between Massachusetts and South Florida. Though quite different in appearance to my shell, the ribs toward the back of the shell seem to be separated by a large rib, and the rest of the shell appears smooth. On my shell the ribs continue to extend across the entire shell. Their shell, with the shape uplifted toward the back of the shell, is missing from all the shell books, but North Carolina Sea Grant Seashells of North Carolina tells about the Angelwing-shaped - angelwings (Pholadidae), Cyrtopleura costata (Linnaeus). It's habitat, lives offshore and in estuaries, burrowed as much as 3 feet deep in mud or clay. Range, New Jersey to Brazil. Sea Grant notes, "if dug up, the fragile shell must be placed immediately into a container of water or it will close suddenly and shatter."

Sharon: ... left off debating whether or not it was an Angel Wing (Cyrtopleura costata) or Fallen Angel Wing (Barnea truncata)

Sally Thomas: My guess is that it is the Fallen Angel Wing although I have not seen one. The image next to the ruler is almost a perfect match. The rest of the points of identification are fairly diagnostic. Peterson's and National Audubon Society Field Guides are ones I turn to first.

Earlier Posts: Campeche Angel Wing

When Did The First Mollusks Appear?

2006-05-03T08:46:00.000-07:00

Edward T. Babinski: The first billion years of the earth's formation there was no life so far as anyone knows. The earth was being bombarded with debris as it cooled. And the early pre-Cambrian contains no fossilized evidence of even the simplest life forms. Some say that perhaps life or reproducing chemicals formed more than once and were destroyed more than once as asteroids from the early star system continued colliding with earth and the other planets, i.e., before the orbiting ring of matter round the sun had assumed more regular and less dangerous orbits.

Also see, Evolution of Mollusca

Excerpts from PBS The Cambrian Explosion
For most of the nearly 4 billion years that life has existed on Earth, evolution produced little beyond bacteria, plankton, and multi-celled algae.

Beginning about 600 million years ago in the Precambrian, the fossil record speaks of more rapid change. First, there was the rise and fall of mysterious creatures of the Ediacaran fauna, named for the fossil site in Australia where they were first discovered. Some of these animals may have belonged to groups that survive today, but others don't seem at all related to animals we know.

Between about 570 and 530 million years ago, another burst of diversification occurred, with the eventual appearance of the lineages of almost all animals living today.
This stunning and unique evolutionary flowering is termed the "Cambrian explosion," taking the name of the geological age in whose early part it occurred. But it was not as rapid as an explosion: the changes seems to have happened in a range of about 30 million years, and some stages took 5 to 10 million years.

Recently, minute fossil embryos dating to 570 million years ago have also been discovered. Even organisms that hadn't evolved hard parts, and thus didn't leave fossils of their bodies, left fossils of the trails they made as they moved through the Precambrian mud. Life was flourishing long before the Cambrian "explosion".

The best record of the Cambrian diversification is the Burgess Shale in British Columbia. Laid down in the middle-Cambrian, when the "explosion" had already been underway for several million years, this formation contains the first appearance in the fossil record of brachiopods, with clamlike shells, as well as trilobites, mollusks, echinoderms, and many odd animals that probably belong to extinct lineages. They include Opabinia, with five eyes and a nose like a fire hose, and Wiwaxia, an armored slug with two rows of upright scales.

How Do Shelled Sea Creatures Reproduce?

2006-05-02T17:57:00.000-07:00

Terri K. Hathaway: In the top photo and on the left venus in the bottom photo, I think that you have an oyster shell on the cross-barred venus clams (Chione cancellata). Venus clams bury, they don't attach to other things. In the bottom photo, on the shell to the right, it looks like the bottom plates of barnacles, but I can't be sure from that photo.

Sharon: Many of these shell creatures (to my knowledge) reproduce a-sexually ... and I'm curious if that may help explain why they've changed so little over the millions of years. Perhaps it has nothing to do with, perhaps it does to some degree, --how different are cloning and a-sexual reproduction? Basically the same DNA is being passed from generation to generation, or perhaps not? And, where do they get their coloration from? Genetic, or the food they eat?

Edward T. Babinski: About shelled-species, a lot of them reproduce sexually and lay eggs, and the new little hatchlings are free-swimming little critters without a shell, until after they settle down somewhere, gluing themselves to their new home-base and acquiring a shell. Barnacles do it that way. I figure clams, oysters and mussels do things that way too. Crabs and other crustacea have an exo-skeleton, not a "shell" in the sense in which clams and snails do.

Most species do not change considerably over millions of years because evolution is a branching process. In other words bacteria didn't become extinct once multi-cellular organisms arose.

Think of it this way, trees don't lose their roots as they grow up and out of the soil and start growing limbs and branches. Primates branched off into a number of larger brained species, including the extinct species, homo habilus, homo erectus, and homo neanderthalus. But even though larger brained primates like homo sapiens evolved, there are still monkeys and apes. By the way, Answers in Genesis warns modern day creationists in their article on "Arguments Creationists Should Not Use," not to bother using the argument, "If humans evolved from apes, why are there still apes?"

Sharon: Interesting. Starfish reproduce sexually and a-sexually, and have an exo-skeleton too.

Echinoderms are armored animals that have a hard exoskeleton made of interlocking calcium carbonate plates and spines. These slow-moving creatures have a water-vascular system (a rudimentary circulatory system), water-filled channels that go through the body. The oldest-known fossil echinoderm is Arkarua, which lived in pre-Cambrian times, during the Vendian period, roughly 560 million years ago, in what is now Australia.
Some echinoderms include sea stars (also called starfish), brittle stars (which includes basket stars), sea cucumbers, sea urchins, sand dollars, and crinoids (also called feather stars, which have a soft body surrounded by upwards-facing arms). Classification: Kingdom Animalia (animals), Phylum Echinodermata.
Echinoderm

Starfish: First submission
Starfish may reproduce either sexually or asexually. When asexual reproduction takes place, the animal breaks itself into two pieces. ...
Star Fish

asexual reproduction@Everything2.com
Many plants and 'lower animals' reproduce both sexually and asexually; there are some ... When environmental conditions become favourable, the outer shell ...
Reproduction

Sharon: I have noticed some of the shells within a species have nearly identical colors and markings, while other species have shells with a variety of colors / markings.

Terri K. Hathaway: Some markings and colors are under genetic control. The coloration of other species are dependent on their diet, so there can really be no generalizations about marking and colors

Sharon: do any shelled animals that you are aware of, reproduce a-sexually?

Terri K. Hathaway: You need to be specific when you talk about "shelled" animals to make sure everyone is on the same page -- we're talking about the phylum Mollusca. Sometimes people refer to shellfish when talking about seafood -- most of the time the term "shellfish" refers to molluscs, like oysters and clams, etc. and to crustaceans (crabs, shrimp, etc.) which are arthropods, not molluscs.

I don't know of any molluscs that reproduce asexually, but I could be mistaken.

Edward T. Babinski: About shelled-species, a lot of them reproduce sexually and lay eggs, and that the new little hatchlings were free-swimming little critters without a shell, until after they settled down somewhere, gluing themselves to their new home-base and acquiring a shell. Barnacles do it that way. I figured clams, oysters and mussels did things that way too. Crabs and other crustacea have an exo-skeleton, not a "shell" in the sense in which clams and snails do.

Terri K. Hathaway: Again, be careful about referring to "shelled species" -- barnacles are crustaceans, like crabs and shrimp.

With reproduction, molluscs have external fertilization (with broadcast spawning where eggs and sperm are shed into and mix in the water column) and internal fertilization. Some species do it one way, others another. Some species are monoecious (both sexes in one organism); others are dioecious (male and female in separate organisms). I think they're very complicated!

Sharon: Starfish reproduce sexually and a-sexually, and have an exo-skeleton too.

Terri K. Hathaway: Sea stars belong to the phylum Echinodermata -- they're neither molluscs nor arthropods -- a different group of animals!

Terri K. Hathaway
Marine Education Specialist
North Carolina Sea Grant
http://www.ncseagrant.org/

Shark Eye Moon Snail, Polinices duplicatus

2006-05-02T10:02:00.000-07:00

Yep, you have another moon snail/shark eye. Polinices duplicatus

Terri K. Hathaway
Marine Education Specialist
North Carolina Sea Grant
http://www.ncseagrant.org/

Giant Razor Shell - Jackknife Clam

2006-05-01T21:17:00.000-07:00

I found this shell on the beach last week, and wanted to share before calling it an evening. It's the first one I've seen this big. Most are half the size, usually smaller.

The shell book I am referring to, lists two species, but none are measuring this size.
"Green Jackknife Clam" Solen viridis, 2" measurement, Rhode Island to Northern Florida and Gulf of Mexico.
and, "Jackknife Clam", Ensis minor, 2-3" measurement, commonly found from Florida to Texas.

Correction:

I'm a constant beachcomber (with a degree in marine biology) and hope I can help you.
What I think you have is the Atlantic jackknife clam (Ensis directus) which is found from Canada to SC and grows to 5 inches.
Terri K. Hathaway
Marine Education Specialist
North Carolina Sea Grant
www.ncseagrant.org

Hello Sharon, I am by no means a mollusk expert but I used to live in Nova Scotia and I think the large razor clam you found may be a common razor clam (Ensis directus) that I remember seeing up there as a child. They get quite large 3-8" in length, ranges from Labrador to South Carolina. And external coloration can vary.

I found this on the www.enature.com website.

Common Razor Clam Ensis directus
enature.com wildlife list speciesID 4771
enature.com imageID 19495

enlarge +
enature.com field guides imageID 19495

Common Razor Clam
© E. R. Degginger
enature.com foto gallery ID 631
Photo Researchers, Inc.
enature.com agencyID=7

Family: Solenidae, Razor Clams view all from this family
enature.com field guides FamilyID 646

Description 3-8" (7.6-20.3 cm) long. Elongately oblong, slightly curved; both ends strongly squared off, front lower corner rounded; umbones at front end; a low, flat, broadening ridge runs from umbones to hind end; ligament moderately long, narrow. Exterior whitish; periostracum olive-green, grayish on ridge; smooth except for fine growth lines that become vertical on ridge, and above it turn back toward umbones.
Interior bluish-white; 2 small, vertical central teeth in left valve, 1 narrow central tooth in right valve; a long side tooth in each valve behind central teeth.

Habitat In sand intertidally.

Range Labrador to South Carolina.

Discussion These clams are common on tidal flats in New England, where they burrow vertically into the sand with their strong foot. They make good eating and are frequently sold in local markets. The related Minor Jackknife Clam (E. minor) is smaller, more slender, and paler; it is found from New Jersey to Florida and Texas.

Interesting webpage you have.

Sincerely,
Tina Moore

Atlantic Auger - What's Inside the Shell

2006-04-29T16:52:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I went to the beach and picked up shells, including some Augers I found, and left them setting overnight in fresh water. Today, while cleaning them I found two with residents in them. I'd rather that hadn't happened, but they were laying away from the water on the beach.

Terri at si.northcarolina.edu wrote:
The auger shells have hermit crabs in them, and they're not the original occupants. They moved in after the auger (which is a snail-like animal) died and left the shell behind.
Terri K. Hathaway
Marine Education Specialist
North Carolina Sea Grant
http://www.ncseagrant.org/

I've reduced the size of the pictures to thumbnails, and by clicking on the image a new window will open and you can see image enlarged to 500 pixels.

Here's one of the close up shots, where you can see its little eyes.

Another closeup of the Auger, click on image for 500 px image

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The part of the creature's soft tissue is exposed which it normally uses to move itself around, like an arm. However, when it senses potential predators are around, it withdraws within its shell and closes.
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Interesting... this little guy has claws on its front appendages, *smile* though from the top, he reminds me of a tiny squid.
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Earlier Related Posts: Atlantic Auger

Atlantic Calico Scallop

2006-04-29T09:02:00.000-07:00

This particular shell (the larger of the two) appears it may be classed among Pectens and Scallops.

A shell, quite similar in coloration and shape (Ornate Scallop Chlamys ornatus) is located on page 44, of The Shell Book, commonly located in Southeast Florida and West Indies, as well as slight variation on the shell's hinge (the West Indies species being protruded on the right side and flat on the left), it is unlikely this is the same species featured in my shell book. However it is likely that it is a closely related species.

The smaller shell in the photo (above), seems to have an identical shape with the larger shell, but lacks the speckled colors, it is a solid wine color.

The identification of the specific species of either shell featured above, would be appreciated.

Your scallop shells are Atlantic calico scallops (Argopecten gibbus); up to 3 inches; it's an ocean species and has lots of color combinations. NC also has Atlantic bay scallops which are usually gray or brown and live in the sounds and estuaries.
Terri K. Hathaway
Marine Education Specialist
North Carolina Sea Grant
http://www.ncseagrant.org/

Atlantic calico scallop Argopecten gibbus (Linnaeus)
Description: (3 inches) Similar in shape and sculpturing to the Atlantic Bay Scallop. Both valves cupped. Hinge line with ears. About 20 radial ribs sometimes roughened by growth lines.
Color: Exterior of upper (left) valve dark yellow or pink with striking combinations of red in stripes or blotches. Lower (right) valve whitish with small reddish or purple spots. White interior, often with brown patches on ears and top edge.
Habitat: Lives only in ocean, east of Cape Lookout and southwest of Beaufort Inlet in 100-foot depths. Commonly found on sound and ocean beaches.
Range: Delaware to Brazil.
Notes: It is occasionally fished commercially and popular among tourists.
Source: Seashells of North Carolina, North Carolina Sea Grant College Program

Lettered Olive, Oliva sayana

2006-04-28T21:28:00.000-07:00

This shell (both shape and markings matching the listing in the book) is likely the Lettered Olive Oliva sayana, measuring 2-2.5" and commonly found from North Carolina through Florida and Gulf Coast.

Olive-Shaped - olives (Olividae)
Lettered Olive Oliva sayana (Ravenel)
Description: (2.5 inches) Smooth, shiny, cylindrical shell with a short spire. Narrow aperture extending almost length of shell, continuing around the bottom and ending in a notch on the other side. Suture V-cut and deep. Lower part of whorl just above the suture extends outward and then at a sharp shoulder drops into the suture. No operculum.
Color: Cream or grayish exterior with reddish brown zigzag markings.
Habitat: Lives in near-shore waters on shallow sand flats near inlets. Occasionally to commonly washed onto ocean beaches.
Range: North Carolina to Gulf states.
Notes: This species is named for its dark surface markings that resemble letters. A carnivore, it captures bivalves and small crustaceans with its foot and takes them below the sand surface to digest. Its presence is sometimes detected at very low tides by the trails it leaves when it crawls below the surface on semi-exposed sand flats. Females lay floating, round egg capsules that are often found in beach drift. Young are free swimming. Colonists and early native Americans made jewelry from these shells.

Brown Olive Oliva reticularis bifasciata (Kuster)
Description: (2.5 inches) Very similar to the lettered olive (above) except this species in North Carolina waters has (1) a less pointed spire, (2) a channel suture not deeply V-cut and (3) a lower whorl portion that runs almost directly into the connecting suture.
Color: Similar to lettered olive except in this shell (1) the pattern is lighter and more reticulated than zigzag, (2) the color is yellowish and (3) brown spots that run from the suture "thread" or "bleed" down the shell (in the lettered olive they do not).
Habitat: Lives in deep offshore waters. Found by divers near shipwrecks. Collected on sandy bottom near lions-paw scallops at 100-feet depth off Wrightsville Beach. From Wrightsville Beach to just above Cape Lookout, seems restricted to the edge of the continental shelf at about 300-foot depths.
Range: Cape Lookout, N.C. to West Indies
Source for both entries: Seashells of North Carolina, North Carolina Sea Grant College Program

Atlantic Auger

2006-04-28T21:01:00.000-07:00

This shell seemingly (according to two sources) Usbourne Spotter's SHELLS and The Shell Book, Atlantic, Gulf and Carribean belong among Fusinus and Augers.

Two species are shown which best match, the species which is listed as common to North Carolina would be the Common Atlantic Auger, scientific name Terebra dislocata, measuring between 1.5 to 2", and found between Virginia to Florida, and the West Indies.

Auger-Shaped (Terebridae)
Eastern Auger Terebra dislocata (Say)
Description: (2 1/4 inches) Long, pointed spire. Whorls not concave. Prominent spiral cord at top of each whorl that winds around 20 to 25 low axial ribs. Smaller spiral cords between axial ribs. Canal at bottom of aperture. Thin operculum.
Color: Varied exterior with bands of pale gray, pinkish brown or orange-brown. Tan operculum.
Habitat: Lives in sounds and offshore on shallow sand flats. Common on sound and ocean beaches.
Range: Virginia to Brazil.
Notes: Also called a common American auger or Atlantic auger. A carnivore, it lacks the radula and poison gland found in most other augers. Hatched young crawl away.
Source: Seashells of North Carolina, North Carolina Sea Grant College Program

Baby's Ear

2006-04-28T20:47:00.000-07:00

These shells can be seen through, (though the lighting was bad in the attached photographs) two species are listed in my shell identification book, with a second verification in another Shells book. Baby Ear is the name of this particular shell.

The two species, are Maculated Baby's Ear Sinum maculatum, measuring 1-2", found throughout the Carolinas and West Coast of Florida.
Common Baby's Ear, Sinum perspectivum, 1-2", and found throughout Virginia through Florida, Gulf of Mexico and West Indies.

White Baby-Ear Sinum perspectivum (Say)
Description: (1 3/4 inches) Flat, smooth, ovate shell. Well-named. Low spiral cords on upper side of whorl. When alive, almost completely covered by mantle; resembles a piece of white gristle. No umbilicus. Large, round aperture. No operculum.
Color: White exterior. Pale brown periostracum. Yellowish cream mantle.
Habitat: Commonly found in shallow offshore waters and washed onto ocean beaches.
Range: Maryland to Brazil.
Notes: Also called Common Atlantic Baby-Ear.
Source: Seashells of North Carolina, North Carolina Sea Grant College Program

Razor Shells, Jackknife Clam

2006-04-28T20:23:00.000-07:00

There are two varieties of species in my shell identification book(s) which fit the shells in the photo. However, the smallest variety, Jackknife clam Ensis minor, 2-3" is listed as commonly found from Florida to Texas.
The larger variety, Green Jackknife Clam Solen viridis, 2" is found from Rhode Island through Northern Florida and Gulf Coast.

Razor-Shaped jackknives (Solenidae)
Atlantic jackknife Ensis directus (Conrad)
Description: (5 inches) Long, slender shell six times as long as high. Slightly curved with blunt ends. Looks like an old-fashioned razor. Cardinal and lateral hinge teeth at back of beak.
Color: Whitish exterior. White and violet interior. Shiny olive to brown periostracum.
Habitat: Lives in sounds and offshore burrowing in muddy sand. Common on ocean beaches, particularly above Cape Hatteras. Often found in shell drift at tide line.
Range: Canada to South Carolina.
Notes: This species is excellent tasting but not fished commercially. It burrown rapidly into sand and swims in an erratic manner. Edges of the shell are sharp.

Minor Jackknife Ensis minor (Dall)
Description: (5 inches, but most are about 1 3/4 inches)
Similar to Atlantic jackknife except smaller, more fragile and possibly more pointed at the toothless end of the hinge. About nine times as long as high.
Color: Whitish exterior. Interior stained with purple. Reportedly paler than the Atlantic Jackknife.
Habitat: Lives offshore burrowed in muddy sand at depths to about 60 feet and in moderate- to high-salinity estuaries. Commonly washed onto ocean beaches.
Range: New Jersey to Texas.
Notes: Also called a dward razor clam or common razor clam. It is often eaten by wading birds. Authorities question whether this might be a subspecies of the Atlantic jackknife. Most small specimens found below the Cape Lookout area should be the minor jackknife.

Green Jackknife Solen viridis (Say)
Description: (1 1/2 inches) Long, slender shell similar to the Atlantic Jackknife but shorter and less curved. Four or five times as long as high. Hinge line almost straight but possibly slightly curved. One cardinal tooth in hinge of each valve.
Color: Grayish white exterior and interior. Yellowish green periostracum.
Habitat: Lives in sounds and intertidal sand bars. Occasionally washed onto sound and ocean beaches in shell drift at tide line.
Range: Rhode Island to Texas.
Notes: See Atlantic Jackknife Notes

Source: Seashells of North Carolina, North Carolina Sea Grant College Program

Related Posts: Atlantic Jackknife Clam

Keyhole Limpets

2006-04-28T19:57:00.000-07:00

I have located a possible semi-positive identification, in Usbourne Spotter's SHELLS. Two such shells with the shape as seen in the photograph. Both are called "limpets".
Keyhole limpets "Unlike other limpets, most keyhole limpets have a small hole in the top of their shell. They have to stay underwater so that they don't dry out."

Classed among Gastropods
Top-Shaped - keyhole limpets (Fissurellidae)

Cayenne Keyhole Limpet Diodora cayenesis (Lamarck)
Description: (1 inch) Shell shaped like a small, low cone or a coolie hat. Many ribs radiating from the small, subcentral keyholelike opening on top of shell. Inside of keyhole opening outlined by a truncate callus with a deep pit on its concave edge.
Color: Exterior white and pinkish gray or brown. Interior white to gray.
Habitat: Lives in inlets and offshore waters attached to rocks or shells. Occasionally found on sound and ocean beaches.
Range: New Jersey to Brazil.
Notes: Also called a little keyhole limpet. A herbivore, it uses radula to scrape algae off of rocks. Its powerful foot creates strong suction to keep waves from washing it off the rocks. Water enters under the edge of the shell and exits through the "keyhole" near the peak. Its eggs are yellow and stick to rocks. Hatched young crawl away.
Source: Seashells of North Carolina, North Carolina Sea Grant College Program

Common Coquina

2006-04-28T19:22:00.000-07:00

Some of the shells featured in this photograph (flat edge) may be the Common Coquina, Donax variabilis measuring .5 to .75", and found from Virginia to South Florida, to Texas.

The two rounded edge shells, are unclear in identification, but may be the Atlantic Surf Clam, located throughout the Eastern U.S., and measuring up to 7" or, they may be the shell classed under Tellins and Semeles, as "Alternate Tellin", Tellina Alternata, which measures 2-3" and found from North Carolina through Florida to the Gulf Coast.

---

Classed under Bivalves
Clam-shaped - coquinas (Donacidae)
Variable coquina Donax variabilis (Say (=D. rœmeri protracta Conrad)
Description: (1 inch) Small, elongate, triangular shell. Smooth exterior with ribbing at beak end of shells. Hinge teeth.
Color: Extremely variable coloration -- white, yellow, orange, pink, red and purple in solids, ringed or rayed patterns.
Habitat: Lives in the intertidal zone of sandy ocean beaches.
Range: New York to Texas.
Notes: Also called a Florida coquina, butterfly shell, wedge shell or pompano. Often seen along the tide line of sandy beaches, where waves continually uncover these shallowly buried clams and wash them farther up the beach. Each time the coquina is exposed, its small, muscular foot immediately emerges and stands the animal on end as it burrows down an inch or two into the wet sand. Coquinas can survive in dry sand for up to three days. They make a delicious broth.
Source: Seashells of North Carolina, North Carolina Sea Grant College Program

Turkey Wing - Ark Shells

2006-04-28T19:05:00.000-07:00

I am not certain, but piecing together the information from two shell identification books, this shell may be called "Turkey Wing" and classed among Ark Shells.

Any further helpful identification would be appreciated.

The turkey wing (Arca zebra) is also called a zebra ark; it's found from NC to Brazil.
Terri K. Hathaway
Marine Education Specialist
North Carolina Sea Grant
http://www.ncseagrant.org/

Classed under Bivalves
Ark-Shaped - arks (Arcidae)
Turkey Wing Arca zebra (Swainson)
Description: (3.5 inches) Elongate shell. Ribs at rear not beaded. Straight hinge line with many small, chevron-shaped teeth. Resembles mossy ark except bottom edge neither crenulated nor strongly concave. Live specimens often covered by a shaggy periostracum and/or encrusting organisms.
Color: Yellowish white or yellowish brown exterior with reddish brown zebra-stripe markings. Whitish to pale lavender interior.
Habitat: Attaches to shells or rocks on offshore fishing grounds or near-shore hard surfaces. Commonly found on ocean beaches.
Range: North Carolina to Brazil.
Notes: Also called a zebra ark. It attaches to objects by a byssus and is often difficult to see because of encrusting growths. Abbott (1974) reports it is served in Bermuda as part of a baked pie.
Source: Seashells of North Carolina, North Carolina Sea Grant College Program

Common Jingle Shell

2006-04-28T18:44:00.000-07:00

Paul Monfils: Yes these are the common Atlantic Jingle Shell, Anomia simplex Orbigny, 1842. Some people call them "mermaids' toenails".

Unfortunately, presently I have no photograph in any of my books, to identify the shell. There is one entry, page 56 in "Seashells in My Pocket", by Judith Hansen which perhaps may be the shell featured in the photograph above.

Common Jingle Shell
This shell is named for the sound that is made when several jingle shells are strung together to make a wind chime. Although these shells are so thin you can see through them, they are not too fragile. They feel and even look a little like a wrinkled toenail. The Common Jingle Shell is almost flat (except for its wrinkles) and is white, gray, or yellowish. This shell is located from Maine to Florida.

If a better identification is available for this shell, your comments are appreciated.

Oyster-Shaped Jingles (Anomiidae)
Common Jingle Anomia simplex (d'Orbigny)
Description: (1 1/2 inches) Irregularly oval or round shell, thin and almost translucent. Top valve convex. Bottom valve flat and fragile with a slotlike hole near the hinge. One large and several small muscle scars close together. No hinge teeth.
Color: Exterior top (convex) valve whitish to yellow-orange to silvery black. Translucent bottom (flat) valve. Pearly interior.
Habitat: Lives from the low tide to shallow offshore waters, attached but not cemented to rocks, oysters and other hard surfaces. Commonly found on sound and ocean beaches.
Range: New York to the West Indies.
Notes: A large byssus protrudes through the hole in its lower valve and attaches to other objects. The top shell oftens takes the appearance of the shell it attaches to. These shells are sometimes strung up and used as wind chimes.

Prickly Jingle Anomia Squamula Linnaeus (=A. aculeata Gmelin)
Description: (3/4 inch) Similar to common jingle but much smaller with tiny spines on upper valve. One large muscle scar above two smaller muscle scars on bottom valve.
Color: Exterior opaque whitish tan. Interior shiny purplish white.
Habitat: Lives in high-salinity estuaries and offshore waters, attached but not cemented to hard surfaces such as stones, shells or floating objects (buoys). Occasionally found on ocean beaches.
Range: Labrador, Canada, to North Carolina.
Notes: See common jingle notes.

Atlantic Falsejingle Pododesmus rudis (Broderip)
Description: (1 1/4 inches) Oval Shell. Surface roughened by fine irregular riblets, primarily near valve edges. One valve seems cemented to the bottom with a large hole for the byssus. One large and one small muscle scar on inside of the the other valve.
Color: Cream exterior. Interior may have some brownish purple near the muscle scars.
Habitat: Lives offshore. Found attached to arks and bittersweets at 100-foot depths in the Cape Fear area. Collected by scuba divers from metal rubble of sunken shipwrecks south of Cape Lookout. Rarely found on ocean beaches.
Range: North Carolina to Texas to Brazil.
Notes: Also called a false jingleshell.
Source: Seashells of North Carolina, North Carolina Sea Grant College Program

Campeche Angel Wing, Pholas campechienis

2006-04-28T18:26:00.000-07:00

The image most closely resembles False Angelwing (comparing to a photograph in NC Sea Grant's "Seashells of North Carolina".)

Angelwing-Shaped- rupellarias (Petricolidae)
False Angelwing Petricola pholadiformis (Lamarck)
Description: (2 3/4 inches) Thin, elongate shell resembling a small angelwing but lacks the rolled-out hinge area. Beak at one end of shell. Strong radial ribbing on the beak end. Teeth on hinge. Deep pallial sinus.
Color: White exterior and interior.
Habitat: Lives in intertidal zone, burrowed into hard clay or peat. Commonly found on sounds and ocean beaches.
Range: Canada to Uruguay.
Notes: It burrows into hard surfaces and has long, partially united siphons.

Angelwing Cyrtopleura costata (Linnaeus)
Description: (5 3/4 inches) Fairly large, elongate shell tapers to a rounded point. Strongly resembles the wing of an angel. About 30 sharply beaded ribs. Shells rolls outward on top --this edge not braced by partitions. Very thin shell breaks easily.
Color: Pure white exterior and interior, occasionally pink at the edges. Grayish periostracum.
Habitat: Lives offshore and in estuaries, burrowed as much as 3 feet deep in mud or clay. Occasionally washed onto beaches.
Range: New Jersey to Brazil.
Notes: This is a popular shell with delicious meat. The pink tinges occur when the animal feeds on certain types of algae. It moves up and down in its burrows. If dug up, the fragile shell must be placed immediately into a container of water or it will close suddenly and shatter.

Campeche angelwing Pholas campechiensis (Gmelin)
Description: (3 3/4 inches) Resembles the angelwing except it is smaller, with weaker ribbing and numerous braces supporting the rolled-back hinge on its top surface.
Color: White exterior and interior.
Habitat: Lives offshore, burrowed deeply in stiff mud. Occasionally washed onto ocean beaches near and south of Cape Fear.
Range: North Carolina to Uruguay.
Notes: Live specimens rarely are found.

Atlantic mud-piddock Barnea truncata (Say)
Description: (2 1/4 inches) Similar to angelwing but with weaker sculpture. One end squared off and other end pointed. Loose accesory plates above the hinge on live specimens.
Color: White exterior and interior.
Habitat: Lives burrowed into mud, clay or softwood. Occasionally washed onto sounds and ocean beaches.
Range: Maine to Brazil.
Notes: Also called a fallen angelwing. This fragile shell is rarely dug from mud without breaking. It burrows deeply and has long, united siphons.
Source: Seashells of North Carolina, North Carolina Sea Grant College Program

Related Post with images: Fallen Angelwing

Univalves - Common Slipper Shell

2006-04-28T18:11:00.000-07:00

Presently, the only shell available in the book(s) I have on hand, categorizes a similar shell (all white in coloration), under "Other Univalves".

It is listed as the Common Slipper Shell, Crepidula fornicata, measuring .75 -2" and is found from Canada to Florida, to Texas.

Venus Clams, Chione

2006-04-28T16:45:00.000-07:00

This particular shell apparently falls under the category of "Venus Clams".
At least two species appear in my shell identification book, and sharing many similarities.

Chione mazycki, Dall 1-1½", commonly found in the Carolinas, Georgia and N.E. Florida.
and the
Cross-barred Venus, Chione cancellata, 1-1.75", found from North Carolina to Florida and the West Indies.

Your venus clams are cross-barred venus (Chione cancellata). Nice specimens, nice stripes!
Terri K. Hathaway
Marine Education Specialist
North Carolina Sea Grant
http://www.ncseagrant.org/

Naticas, Moon and Ear Shells

2006-04-28T15:55:00.000-07:00

It's difficult to pinpoint the exact identification of this shell at the moment. Shells that share resemblance, are categorized under Naticas, Moon and Ear Shells. In my shell book there are two species that closely resemble this particular shell. In fact, Morocco Natica, the latter appears to be identical to the shell which I have featured in this entry. I say the species is likely different, due to the common location of the shell. (Florida and West Indies).

#1 Shark's Eye, Polinices duplicatus, which reaches 1-2½", commonly found in Florida and Gulf of Mexico.

#2 Morocco Natica, Natica marochienis, ½-1" commonly found in Florida and West Indies.

Would appreciate comments from anyone who can identify the species of this shell.

Next is the moon snail (Polinices duplicatus), also called a shark eye. It's a carnivore, eating lots of bivalves. You may have seen some of its victims -- bivalve shells with perfectly round holes in them, usually near the hinge. You also may have seen their egg cases which look like sand collars when they wash up on the beach.
Terri K. Hathaway
Marine Education Specialist
North Carolina Sea Grant
http://www.ncseagrant.org/

North Carolina Cowry Shell

2006-04-28T14:59:00.000-07:00

I may be wrong on this, and would like if somebody can provide a better identification or verify if the listing I'm giving is correct.

The closest listing I located in my shell identification books, was the "Atlantic Yellow Cowry", or Cypraea spurca acicularis which measures between ½ - 1¼" and found commonly Southern Florida, Yucatan and the West Indies.

However, it's likely this particular species, is identified among the Cowry shell. For images of Cowry shells, click here.

Your "NC cowrie" is a common Atlantic marginella (Marginella apicina), found from NC to Brazil. Grows to 1/2 inch.
Terri K. Hathaway
Marine Education Specialist
North Carolina Sea Grant
http://www.ncseagrant.org/

Elegant Dosinia, Dosinia elegans

2006-04-28T13:25:00.000-07:00

Here are three photographs of what I presume are a type of clam shell I found on the shore of Holden Beach, NC.

According to The Shell Book, Atlantic, Gulf, Carribean, this shell most strongly favors the listing on p.52. This shell is common to North Carolina, known as the "Chalky Buttercup Shell", under Lucines and Bittersweets.

If this is the correct identification, then this particular shell's latin name is Anodontia philippiana, with measurements of 2-4" common from NC to Eastern Florida, Cuba and Bermuda.

Correction:
Your "chalky buttercup shell" is probably an elegant dosinia (Dosinia elegans) which is pretty common on NC beaches. Lots of times, you can find them still attached at the hinge. They grow to about 4 inches.
Terri K. Hathaway
Marine Education Specialist
North Carolina Sea Grant
http://www.ncseagrant.org/

Linking with other Shell Collectors?

2006-04-28T13:05:00.000-07:00

Hi, I live in Coastal North Carolina, and if you are a sea shell collector, and / or able to help identify the shells I collect off the area beach(es) and post pictures of, please contact me so we can link our blogs together!

Thanks