A Guide to Shells Commonly Found in Victorian Aboriginal Shell Middens

A GUIDE TO SHELLS COMMONLY FOUND IN VICTORIAN ABORIGINAL SHELL MIDDENS

This guide has been developed as an aid to accurately completing the Shell Deposit component form of the Victorian Aboriginal Site Record cards. For the purposes of recording an Aboriginal midden for inclusion in the AAV Heritage Registry, shell material generally needs only to be identified to the Genus level and in some case (e.g Limpets and Chitons) to a Family or Order level, depending on the physical similarity of species. Only in cases where there is no ambiguity in the identification of individual species is recording to the species level expected.

Shellfish can be divided into three classes;

• Polyplacaphora - commonly called chitons, a group of animals covered with eight plates;

• Gastropods - shellfish with a single, generally spiral shell, sometimes closed with a shelly "door" known as an operculum; and

• Bivalves - shellfish having two shells e.g mussels.oysters, pipis;.

The identification chart below provides the scientific grouping, any common names, a description of the shell(s) accompanied by a drawing of the shell or representative species and a description of the type of habitat where the animal can be found. Scientific names are subject to change and revision as research progresses. AAV used the CSIRO Fauna of Australia series for determining current scientific names.

Further Reading: Beesley, P.L., G.J.B. Ross, & A. Wells (eds) 1998. Mollusca: the southern synthesis. Fauna of Australia Volume 5. CSIRO Publishing. Melbourne. Macpherson, J. H. & C. J . Gabriel. 1962. Marine Molluscs of Victoria. Melbourne University Press. Melbourne. Smith, B.J. & R. C. Kershaw. 1979. Field guide to the non-marine molluscs of south eastern Australia. ANU Press. Canberra. Smith, B.J. 2002. A handbook to Autrsalian seashells. Reed New Holland. Sydney.

Images obtained from MacPherson & Gabriel 1962, Beesley et al. 1998 and Smith & Kershaw 1979.

1 A GUIDE TO SHELLS COMMONLY FOUND IN VICTORIAN ABORIGINAL SHELL MIDDENS

This publication may be of assistance to you but the State of Victoria and its employees do not guarantee that the publication is without flaw of any kind or is wholly appropriate for your particular purposes and therefore disclaims all liability for any error, loss or other consequence which may arise from you relying on any information in this publication.

2 A GUIDE TO SHELLS COMMONLY FOUND IN VICTORIAN ABORIGINAL SHELL MIDDENS Gastropod Polyplacaphora Turbo 3

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b a shore -Rock Sh shore Sh R r r o ea ee elt elt cky ding s wh e e sh red red

en or , sa s e

and

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sp sp. sp . .

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sp sp ant . .

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sh Sheltered, rocky R o or cky e.

sh or e

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See

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No i

m age

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nne

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sp th

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ach vy, Dona s. Sh g e in t f a x a e b h tria terio e t oun vy s hab whi a s j

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re he lo

ri re w aks. I or GIN

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shore Sh shore Sh shore Ex posed sandy elt elt e e red red sa sa nd nd y y

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sp. sp

A GUI D E TO SHELL Va K Sh Wit S mark S a how o lid, t ria o S h e w COMMONLY dist lysia per in b

n n are pa l gs onint is e c inc le Mactra rufesc o br Kate l t ours, curved o ow n

FOUND IN VICTOR e ii n lysi (rig ri ge or she a rhy

ne hi ht a l n ng l, ). 1:1 ra d of ens stri t e ll oph y t

e sec . 1: wh n at ora w IAN ABOR ed t it 1 io i e t t h

n. (l e

o eft pu x

te b ) rp r rio and I o GIN le w r . n A

SHELL MIDD EN S

shore Sh sh Sh or elt elt e e e red red sa sa nd nd y y Freshwater Bivalve Freshwater bivalve Bivalve A Vel t An r ap l at ad e 1 ezia hyr s 1 ara

uni

i a

sp sp.

F F mussel B Cockle, Sy Ark Mussel r r l oo eshw eshw dn A Sh d M GUI ey ell at at D u E , er er sse

TO SHELL

a 50 -9 sou e I out F S t in wi gen assoc B Vic tri 150 w Ext F n o x m r r how i h te b te ot va eshw eshw th sli t it e u S er t bi e r t rior he o erall mm. e. COMMONLY he ri i t lv rio o gu a r 5 mm. or d n hi ia Sh i e, r r d h ated withsea ght ast (wh is

ies r at at ous ng . is w is

y F very commo

own er er a i wh Aust An ye

n b e are o a rk . e g

b Sh u h

nd st r mu n e bro ada own ite nd it llo i

new . v e is

a FOUND IN VICTOR o ral an ssel. L w to a a on lv w A ra w of rea n to i e. n is l a. n d d at t t ) an te

bl . mayb V r he

g m

qu h grasses. Shellis a

Fo n erode n in r y a pez ack a s ofeas e Velesunio d ite r M r r y u i g i a ja a d mark nd

u e

mu , ia b i rob i stin rra , e l

n e t ckson sp th 1:2 h te d f

d, y u in ick sh IAN ABOR ct ro te a in ri s

ot l

t iv t or is a sh ug rn h gs on nd a size te t e in s and i

n ape

d ell. 60 - sh bl

t ut

h ell. , GIN uish

ick

A L

SHELL MIDD EN S

Mu stream ri F Mu stream ri F shore Sh ve ve r r eshw eshw elt ddy ddy rs rs e an an red b b s s at at . . d d

o o er er , t t s t t o o

and m m s s