Seashells in the Snow

Happy 2015 everyone! This is my first post of the year and I decided to do something winter-related... with seashells of course.

Luckily, last week, we had a nice snow fall in Maryland and a snow day at school!!!!!

 

So I decided to take some shells out to play in the snow.

 

 

Here are some of my shells; they are sitting on some handmade toadstools of mine. From front to back: a Lettered Olive, a Banded Tulip, a Florida Fighting Conch, and a Lightning Whelk.

 

Here's a close-up. The Lettered Olive is a shell that I commonly find in North Carolina (click here for my post on Oak Island, NC) and of course, on Sanibel. These mollusks prey on Coquinas in the surf zone, where the waves roll up on the sand. However, Lettered Olives will also scavenge if they get the chance.

 

Moving on....

 

Did you know that shells grow on trees??? Well they do, at least in my backyard, that's the case. :D

 

Here is my beautiful Lightning Whelk. I found it in Fort Lauderdale three years ago. I simply love the yellow-orange colors of this guy- it's a treat to photograph, and even more so, to own!

And here's another photo of my Lightning Whelk in the snow. Lightning Whelks live in the sandy shallows, pretty close to shore.

 

More shells in the trees! Florida Fighting Conch in the front and a Banded Tulip farther back. Banded Tulips sometimes fall prey to their larger relative, the True Tulip. I've found lots of these shells on Sanibel!

 

And here are some more shells in the snow. Florida Fighting Conchs get their name from occasional fights that burst out between rival males. However, they don't all fight in between themselves: if you pick one up, be ready for the mollusk to come out and start trying to hit you with its foot and pointy operculum (it happened to me :D). 

 

I hope that your mood has been lifted by my shells in the snow!

 

Have fun,

Yaroshelllava :D

Shellebrating the Twelve Days of Shellmas!

I bring to you some shelliday cheer with the twelve days of Shellmas!!!

 

On the first day of Shellmas, my shelling buddy gave to me one Scotch Bonnet,

 

 

Two Channeled Whelks,

Three Shark's Eyes,

Four Baby's Ear

Five Chestnut Bonnets,

Six Atlantic Thorny Oysters,

Seven Florida Ceriths,

Eight Banded Tulips,

Nine Calico Clams,

Ten Bubble Shells,

 

Eleven Apple Murices,

 

Twelve Lettered Olives,

 

And an Osprey that wasn't in a tree!

 

And that is how I spread my shelliday spirit!

Lava of Ocean Dawn :D

 

An Intro to Shells

My first real post will be about shells.
( I promised something ocean related, right?)

Shells are animals that are called mollusks. In all there are five types of mollusks:

Gastropods, Bivalves, Tusk Shells, Chitons and Cephalopods.

Gastropods are the mollusks with a single external shell. They are the big conchs and whelks, as well as the small periwinkles.

 

This shell here is a Banded Tulip. As you can see its alive. The operculum (trap door) is slightly open and you can see the mollusks body inside. I found it on Sanibel Island at low tide, last March.

 

Next, Bivalves.

These mollusks are kept inside by two shells that are hinged together. Examples are scallops, cockles and quahogs.

 

 

Atlantic Giant Cockles can be up to 5 inches across when adult. In the photo above you can see both shells and the animal inside. The round hole is probably the breathing tube.

 

Tusk Shells, well, look like elephants tusks. I've found them before, but they are so fragile that I never ended up bringing them home. Sadly, I don't have pictures of them.

 

Same with chitons. Chitons are actually made of eight valves that are surrounded by a girdle. They can be pretty small and I have NEVER found one. Chitons are on my "To Find" list.

 

Finally, cephalopods. Only about half a dozen different species from this class have an outer shell. The most well known are the nautiluses. Other members of this class are the squid, octopus and cuttlefish.

Cephalopod shells, such as Argonauts are actually egg cases. But they usually only wash up on shore after storms. Again, these are on my "To Find" list.

 

As a last note, some of you might ask what shells are on my "To Find" list.

Well, all of them, actually!

I have a pretty big shells collection at home, but most of the shells are from the North American East Coast and the Gulf of Mexico. In short, all the shells that I have not yet found and brought home are on my "To Find" list.

 

Happy Wednesday!

Yaroslava :D