Seashell Transformation Tuesday!!!!!!!!!

The good thing about Tuesday, is that it isn't Monday! Another good thing is that now because of Instagram we have this thing called #transformationtuesday. I've been wanting to do this for a while and today I had some time, so here is how seashells grow and transform!!!!!!

Now we all know that seashells come from egg casings that look like.....

 

..THIS! (Fig shell egg casing)

Or like this! (Horse Conch egg casing)

Or like this! (Whelk egg casing)

Then after the mini shells hatch out, this is what they look like!

These are Whelk babies. So teensy and cute, right? As you can see that mollusks already have their shells. The shells are made out of calcium carbonate.

And now, here is how big a whelk shell can grow! This is a Knobbed Whelk. They are right-handed mollusks and are found usually further north than the similar looking Lightning Whelk that is found more south. Also, the lightning Whelk is a left-handed shell. For my post on left-handed vs. right-handed shells click here

 

And here is the "transformation" part. From just-hatched baby whelk to this nice, 8-inch Knobbed Whelk. I found it on Assateague Island, by the way. :D

 

And now, I took some more "transformation" pictures of my other shells.

 

The Lettered Olive. This shell is pretty abundant and it lives most of its life buried in the sand, with only its siphon stretched out above, over-ground.

The Colorful Moon Snail or Gaudy Natica or Colorful Atlantic Natica. I found the bigger shell at Bowman's Beach on Sanibel Island!

The Lightning Whelk. If you compare this shell to the Knobbed Whelk above, you will see how they open up to different sides. The Lightning Whelk is one of the very few left-handed shells.

These are my beloved Horse Conchs. The baby one is just super tiny! But the juvie one isn't much larger- no more than 4 inches long, when these shells have been known to grow up to 20 inches in length! I am still searching for my grown, adult Horse Conch.

And lastly, the Turkey Wing! They can be found from North Carolina down to Bermuda and Brazil!

 

And I will end our seashell transformation Tuesday on that note!

See ya,

Lava of Ocean Dawn :D

Let's Get Back to Bowman's Beach!! (Sanibel Island #6)

 

I decided to do another post today after making my post on shark teeth. Please enjoy this burst of diligence, because I don't know when I'll do another post... :P

So here is Sanibel Island part 6.

 

I left all of you guys with a small hook as I got to Bowman's Beach.

I came in time for the evening low tide.

 

There was a shell line on the shore...

....but I found most of my shells in the water, in the surf.

There were a few shellers there already.  I headed to the south of the island first.

My first find was this live juvie Florida Fighting Conch who I left alone, safely in the water.

Then... I hit TREASURE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A big Gaudy Nautica!!!!!!!! It's every bit and even more beautifuller than this picture!!!!!!

About 1.5 inches long- I was ecstatic!!!!!!!!!

I stayed at the beach for about an hour and half to two hours.

Here's the inside of my shelling bag.

Do you see that Florida Cone???????? That was another treasure!!!!!!

I also found a lot of Calico Crabs- I really like those guys and for some reason I find most of mine on Bowman's.

 

Well that's it for today. My diligence is wearing of....

 

See ya sometime (hopefully) soon........

Yaroshelllava :D 

A Mini Post on Mini Shells

Ok, I'm sorry!!!! Really, really, sorry!!!
I know that I haven't posted in a few days, but that's because I didn't have any time.
I'm still in school, so between school, homework and after-school activity, oh an sleeping, I have no time whatsoever to do what I'd like: that means blogging.
But, right now, I just grabbed a few moments right before bedtime to give you a small min post on tiny mini shells!
 Here's the first one: an American Carrier Shell.

This shell collects lots of dry rubble and bits of shell on its own shell.

Next, is an Atlantic Wing(ed) Oyster. These small bivalves cling to seaweed.

And this is an adorable Cabrit's Murex! I found it in Fort Lauderdale, back in 2011. It is pretty common on the East Coast of Florida, but maybe even rare on Florida's West Coast.

Finally, the Gaudy Nautica, or Colorful Moon Snail, or Colorful Atlantic Natica or... wait, that's it....

Wow, this little shell has a lot of names. :)

 

Well, that's it for my mini post, gotta go to bed now.

G'night everyone,

Yaroslava :D