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EDITORIAL
I would like to begin by thanking the numerous club members for their valued support of our magazine through the many articles that I am now receiving.
This particular issue should contain something of interest for everybody. I was glad to be able to include “The Little Shell Collector” by Inga Joseph for the enjoyment of our younger members and the adults alike. I am pleased that I have never had the misfortune to bump into a shell dealer like this and that luckily the story did not put Julian off collecting shells.
I hope that all members will be present at the May convention and I know that John Fisher has many interesting items for sale in the auction.
Once again I urge members that have not tried out one of the informal summer get–togethers to please come along and enjoy these fun days with us.
Please do not forget that the date for the usual April convention has changed for this year only to 2nd May 2009.
The Editor
Dates for your Diary
Plans are already in hand for future Club Meetings. Members may like to note the following dates:-
Saturday 2nd May 2009 - Shell Convention and Auction at Theydon Bois Community Centre
Saturday 13th June 2009 - The Whichers’ Shell Day at Deighton, York
Saturday 8th August 2009 - Editor’s Get-together at Yateley, Hampshire
Saturday 31st October 2009 - Annual Shell Show at Theydon Bois Community Centre
2010 TO BE CONFIRMED - Scottish Shell Show in Edinburgh
! SECRETARY’S NOTES
The BSCC Committee met for its annual meeting in January, and one of the items discussed was the Club’s policy concerning protected species. It was agreed that no action was needed concerning species on the CITES lists, as this document is concerned purely with international trade. However, it is now an offence to possess molluscs on the European Protected Species Annex IVa list. Most of the shells on this latter list are rare European land shells, and the only species likely to affect members are Gibbula nivosa, Anisus vorticulus, Lithophaga lithophaga and Pinna nobilis. It was agreed that Club policy would be that no listed species will be permitted in the auctions, and that all table hirers be informed that listed shells would not be allowed on their tables, even if those shells had been obtained either prior to the cut-off date in the regulations or from territories outside Europe. An appropriate article would be prepared by John Whicher and Tom Walker for publication in the October edition of Pallidula. I will have a full list of species available for anyone to see at the meeting on 2nd May.
Please don’t forget to log onto THE BRITISH SHELL COLLECTORS’ CLUB website and check out our regular updates and articles. http://www.britishshellclub.org.uk
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As should already have been drawn to your attention, this year the Club’s spring Convention will take place on Saturday 2nd May. As usual it will be at Theydon Bois Village Hall, starting with doors opening at 7:30am for dealers and 9am for everybody else, and going on until 5pm with the Hall vacated by 6pm. Unfortunately the Hall was double-booked for the last Saturday in April this year, but we understand this should not happen again, so everything ought to be as normal again in April next year.
The usual wide array of dealers will be present and the day will feature the Club’s notoriously short and (generally) uneventful AGM followed by what promises to be an excellent auction, with lots already being amassed by the Club’s Auction Manager John Fisher. If you have any lots for this or future auctions then do get in touch with John.
Donations are always welcome for the ‘Bring & Buy’ box which proved very popular at the 2008 Show; it’s always worth a look too, even if you don’t bring a donation for it.
Lastly, if you are interested in bringing along an informal exhibit and would like some table space reserved then please let the Show Secretary know in plenty of time as space is limited.
I look forward to seeing you there.
Simon Taylor, Show Secretary.
Auctioneer’s Report
I think you will all agree that the 2008 auction was one of the best in the history of the BSCC. The overall takings amounted to £2,528.50 of which £386.85 went into club funds. I hope that this will encourage members to contribute items for future auctions.
The auction plays an important part in raising funds to offset the ever increasing expenses of printing Pallidula amongst other things. The cost of the 2 issues now exceeds the membership fee and if we are to keep the latter at its current level we need to raise money elsewhere and the auction helps towards achieving this goal.
Once again advance bidding via Email proved a huge success and about one third of the lots had bids placed on them in advance of the Show. In future, if you are making a bid in advance of the show, would you please state your bid together with your maximum bid. You will then be notified if your maximum bid has been exceeded prior to the show.
The 2009 auction has once again been well supported and on behalf of the club I should like to thank all those who have generously donated items for the auction. Special thanks are due to the following: John Batt, Fernand de Donder, Koen Fraussen, Graham Gorrod, Alistair Moncur, Hugh Morrison, Rosemary O’Driscoll, Yves Terryn, and Alex Thompson.
John Fisher
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Following the success of the new Photographic category in the last Show and the excellent exhibits it prompted, this has now been added as a permanent section of the Show, in addition to the usual 9 categories. It will also remain as the part of the show decided by a member ballot. Individual photographic exhibits will be limited to a total area of 15” x 12” including all frames, captions, etc.
The classes for the 2009 Show, to be held as usual at Theydon Bois Village Hall on 31st October are:
1. One Species. 2. One Genus or Family. 3. British – includes marine, land or freshwater. 4. Foreign – includes marine, land or freshwater. 5. ‘Spots & Dots’ 6. Geographic: Caribbean 7. Shell Photography 8. Shellomania – any entry that does not fit into any of the above classes. 9. Junior: 16 & under 10. Junior: 11 & under
The geographic category makes an overdue return with an area which includes a wide variety of attractive and rare shells, many of which it is hoped will make an appearance. ‘Spots & Dots’ is very much open to interpretation by members, so feel free to get creative. And for the really creative types, don’t worry, ‘shell art’ categories will be making regular appearance in future Shows. Please also remember that if you have an exhibit in mind which does not fit easily into any of the specified categories, whatever it may be, the Shellomania section is there just for that purpose.
Members may be interested to note that the ‘Foreign’ category has been very under-represented in recent years, not because there have been no foreign shells on show, but because those shells have been in other categories such as ‘One Species’ or ‘One Genus’. Some exhibits can fall under 2 or 3 of the category headings and it is the choice of the exhibitor as to which they enter.
The judges last year did an excellent job, but it is desirable to rotate the judging amongst a number of people, to avoid any personal preferences for particular mollusc families becoming apparent, for example. If any club member who has not judged before would like to give it a try, do please contact the Show Secretary.
Finally, as noted elsewhere in this magazine, it was very encouraging to see multiple junior entries in the 2008 Show and it is hoped that this will continue into 2009. It would be particularly nice to see some teenage entries this year, although we all appreciate the time constraints imposed by secondary education and the numerous other distractions present at that age.
As is now customary, the entry form will be included with the next issue of Pallidula. Can exhibitors please let the Show Secretary have full details of their entries in advance of the Show, as it makes the job on the day much easier and avoids unnecessary confusion.
As ever, if any potential exhibitor has any questions at all about the Show, please feel free to get in touch.
Simon Taylor, Show Secretary
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The Club enjoyed another successful visit to Theydon Bois Village Hall for the annual Show last October. Following a relatively panic free start (no dealers queuing to get in the Hall before it was opened – almost unheard of!) by mid morning the hall was full of the usual hustle and bustle of a Club day in full flow. The Show itself had the largest number of entries for some years, particularly with the introduction of a photographic category, and dominated the centre of the main hall. The exhibits were expertly judged by Terry Wimbleton, John Fisher and Derek Howlett, to whom the Club extends its thanks. The outcome was:
One Species 1st Angela Marsland: Chicoreus dunni 2nd Brian Hammond: Siratus alabaster 3rd Koen Fraussen: Stavelia subdistorta 4th Kevin Brown: Cancellaria cooperi 5th Graham Saunders: Mimachlamys varia
One Genus/Family 1st Selina Wilkins: Fusinus 2nd Graham Saunders: Flexopecten 3rd John Fray: ‘Unconchous’
British 1st Koen Fraussen: Palliolum tigerinum 2nd Tom Walker: British Conchophilately 3rd Graham Saunders: ‘Lochs and Sounds’
Fossils 1st John Whicher: Ammonites of the Scunthorpe Ironstone
Shell Photography =1st Tony McCleery: ‘Alien’ =1st Chris Ward: Bassina 3rd Andy Wakefield: Dog whelks and mussels 4th John Whicher: Ammonites
Shellomania 1st Chris Ward: Shell close-ups
Junior: 11 & under 1st Theo Tamblyn: Self-collected Greek shells 2nd Adam Ward: Three Black Shells 3rd Christopher Wilkins: Shell Aerodrome
COA Award (Best overall exhibit): Koen Fraussen - Palliolum tigerinum
Peter Oliver Cup (Most educational exhibit): Selina Wilkins - Fusinus
John Fisher Trophy (Best junior exhibit): Theo Tamblyn – Self-collected Greek shells
Scotia Shield (Best promotes interest in British Conchology): John Whicher – Ammonites
Walter Karo Trophy (Shell of the Show): Adam Ward’s perfect black Hexaplex cichoreus
It was particularly good to see Koen, one of our overseas dealer’s, supporting the Show (and scooping one of the major awards for what the judges thought was a truly stunning exhibit and a perfect example of how less can sometimes be more) and to have multiple junior entries, one of which walked off with the Walter Karo trophy no less! Thanks for helping the day go ahead smoothly are due to so many as ever, but particularly to Selina Wilkins for overseeing the catering and to those who kept an eye on the Club table, particularly our dedicated treasurer Daphne Howlett. Thanks also to Judith Nelson who again ran the ‘Bring & Buy’ box (and to all those who provided contents) which provided significant income for the Club as well as some very low budget shells for our members.
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Finally, a quick thank you to the Theydon Bois Drama Society who, as last year, were in the throes of holding a week of evening performances in the Hall but went to appreciable effort to enable us to go ahead with the Show, including using the main serving hatch in the foyer for our refreshments.
Simon Taylor, Show Secretary.
Koen Fraussen – winner of Selina Wilkins – winner of Theo Tamblyn – winner of The COA Award The Peter Oliver Cup The John Fisher Trophy
John Whicher – winner of Adam Ward – winner of Koen Fraussen with his The Scotia Shield The Walter Caro Trophy exhibit of Palliolum tigerinum
Fusinus exhibit by Selina Wilkins Self-collected Greek Shells - Ammonites – exhibited by exhibit by Theo Tamblyn John Whicher
Winner of the Photography class was Tony McCleery for ‘Alien’
Haminoea cymbalum (Quoy & Gaimard, 1833), Cook Islands, in shallow reef flat pools, shell length 8mm.
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BOOK REVIEWS
Encyclopaedia of Marine Gastropods by Alain Robin, published price: !72
Philippine Marine Molluscs, volume 1 by Guido Poppe, et.al, published price: !90
Here we have a newly published volume from the always reliable people at Conchbooks. The book is roughly A4 size and contains 480 pages, illustrating about 5,500 species of mollusc. Obviously, a book this size is a tremendous effort to produce (although much easier these days with the advent of digital cameras and desktop publishing programmes) and all I can say is that Mr. Robin has done a superb job. The photographs are excellent, printed on black and the text is in white and easy to read. In a book with so many species illustrated, it is not possible to go into details of species range, habitat etc. due to space limitations. Therefore, the details beside each species are limited to the size of the specimen shown and its locality, which is, to be honest most of the information needed. All the shells on the same plate are normalised for size so that the picture of a 4mm shell is a similar size as that of a 94mm shell.
All of the common genera are illustrated and listed in the usual taxonomic order starting with Pleurotomaria and finishing with the Opisthobranchs such as Bullla and Siphonaria. The blurb on the back of the book states (in French as well as English) that the book shows most of the species likely to be found when one begins to collect. This is not strictly true as this book lists far, far more than many of us have in our collections! Another useful feature is that it shows not only species from the more common genus’ but also many species that I had not come across in other books of this type. For example, most interesting to Cone collectors will be the photographs of many of the examples of this genus found around Cape Verde. Likewise, the Epitonium and Ovulid sections contain far more species than often illustrated in other encyclopaedias. It is also very nice to see a book with so much information for such a reasonable price.
Guido Poppe’s Philippine Marine Molluscs volume 1 (co-written with 30 authors who helped with individual Genera; and, once again published by Conchbooks) is another excellent book with some truly amazing photographs showing some species that many of us will not have heard of before. This first volume covers only the groups Archeo- and Caenogastropods with the remainder of the class Mollusca to be covered in volumes 2 and 3. This is another very substantial (and heavy!) book which illustrates around 3500 species and contains 766 pages with 312 plates. The facing pages contain the photographs, which are printed on black for clarity with the text on the pages opposite. Many of the species in volume 1 (volume 2 was due out just after the Shell Show in October 2008) are paratypes and holotypes of recently described species collected during Mr. Poppe’s years in the Philippines. Therefore, this is invaluable to those who specialise in this area. Also illustrated are numerous smaller species that are less than 10mm in size and so are often overlooked in encyclopaedias. This is most useful, especially to those of us who have boxes of microshells to identify! I have spent many hours looking through this book finding it tremendously helpful for this purpose. Obviously, it is not possible to illustrate every single species found within the Philippines but this book (and the anticipated second and third volumes) should cover around 12,000 species many of which are new to science. I look forward to obtaining these books in the future, as they will no doubt become famous in the shell world as important books to assist with identification.
The Encyclopaedia of Marine Gastropods, listed above, combined with Abbott and Dance’s Compendium and Poppe’s Philippines Marine Molluscs (when that is completed and published) should enable most of us to identify the vast majority of the marine shells that we are likely to come across during our collecting lives.
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AN INTERESTING POPULATION OF Nucella lapillus L.,1758 by John Llewellyn-Jones
In the October 2003 Vo1.33 No.2 of Pallidula John Fisher wrote an article entitled "The Newquay Nucella" with a beautiful coloured illustration of the various colour forms he found.
This was re-emphasised by Peter Dance in his book brought out in 2005, entitled "Out of my shell" p15 with another coloured photograph of the different colour forms that he found, also at Newquay. In his article John Fisher asks the question as to whether there are any other locations around the British Isles where a full range of colour forms occur. The answer is "Yes John" there are a number of places around the British Isles where a full range of colour forms occur.
I have collected Nucella further down the coast at Woolacombe Bay where the whole range of colour forms can be found. But another beach where one can find all the colour forms is Palm Bay, Margate, Kent. During the winter months, after they have mated and produced their egg cases with eggs in during the summer months, one can find all the colour forms as dead shells on the strand line.
This article though is about a different population of Nucella lapillus. This population was living on the mussel beds attached to the chalk and flint boulder beach at Hunstanton, Norfolk. The mussels were also covered in large numbers of living barnacles. I visited this beach on a beautiful sunny Saturday February 9th 2008. This population of Nucella lapillus were, as far as I could see, all yellow, bright yellow, orange and red. I didn't find any other colour forms. My observations were confirmed by Steve Wilkinson who led a Conch. Soc. Field Meeting to the same beach on Sat.5th of July 2008.
A selection of Nucella from Hunstanton Looking eastwards along the sand dunes Hunstanton beach
Mussel beds looking landwards Nucella on barnacle covered mussels
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COLLECTING NERITES by Chris Moncrieffe
Interest amongst collectors in this group has slowly increased over the last few years, limited most probably by identification problems due to the shortage of illustrated material available.
The two Compendiums provide colour illustrations of a reasonable cross selection from the main families. The Sally Diane Kaicher Card Set [Pack #47 – Neritidae Part 1] provides B & W illustrations of 105 species mainly from the US National Museum. The Standard Catalogue of Shells, Nerita versicolor and Nerita.peloronta (1978-3rd Ed Abbot & Wagner [from van Nostrand’s (black variation with red dashes) in my aquarium during an assignment in Grand Catalog 1st edition published in 1964] lists 60 names but Turk, Turks & Caicos Islands. Littorina many of these are cited as synonyms. Another publication commonly share the same habitat. to be released soon illustrates 109 species.
Apparently the family Neritidae is currently undergoing revision that will hopefully resolve some of the ‘grey areas’. However no such revision of the terrestrial families is known which is unfortunate as there is a considerable amount of conflicting information in these families even in relatively recent publications by academics.
Tom Eichorst and Bruce Neville are collaborating on a book covering the 2 subfamiles of Neritidae, i.e. Neritinae & Theodoxinae.
Tom Eichorst provides a guide to the genera and subgenera of these two subfamiles on www.listserv.uga.edu. He has adhered to the current groupings (subject to change), i.e. Smaragdia are currently included under Neritidae (Theodoxinae), as is the family Septariidae Golikov & Starobogatov, 1975 which apparently has also not yet been formally approved. One new Genus has been recently introduced. Lisanerita Krunjen, 2005 has been separated from Melanerita. It includes only 2 species found in Easter Island: Nerita (Lisanerita) lirellata (Rehder, 1945) & Nerita (Lisanerita) morio (Sowerby, 1832). It has already been suggested that it should include N. atramentosa Reeve, 1855 and N. melanotragus Smith, 1884. Copulabyssia (type species:Cocculina corrugata Jeffreys, 1883 and Notocrater (type species Cocculina craticulata Suter, 1908 were originally placed under Cocculinidae then reassigned under Shinkailepadidae and have now been reclassified under Pseudococculinidae.
The present families comprising Neritoidea are understood to be:
Marine & Freshwater NERITOPSIDAE Gray, 1847? [Only 2 living species; at least 50 species in the fossil record] PHENACOLEPADIDAE Pilsbry, 1900 [‘Suger Limpets’; circum-tropical; can be found on beaches after storms] SHINKAILEPADIDAE Okutani,Saito,Hashimoto, 1989 [Deep water; circum-tropical] TITISCANIIDAE Bergh, 1890 [Without shells; circum-tropical] NERITIDAE Linné, 1758 [2 subfamilies – Neritiinae & Theodoxinae, circum-tropical marine & freshwater species] NERITLIDAE Martens, 1879 [Small to minute; circum-tropical; brackish and freshwater species] Terrestrial Group HELICINDAE Latreille, 1825 [3 subfamilies and many genera and subgenera] STOASTOMATIDAE Chitty, 1857? [Small to minute; tropical] PROSERPINIDAE Gray, 1847 [1 subfamily - small to minute; tropical] CERESIDAE Thompson, 1980 [2 subfamilies - small disc-shaped; tropical] HYDROCENIDAE Troschel, 1856 [Small, conic-shape found mainly on bushes]
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Several nerites are polymorphic such as Nerita histrio Gmelin, 1791 - this probably contributes to the large number of synonyms in the group. 28 synonyms are listed in Abbott & Wagner’s Catalog under Nerita undata Linnaeus, 1758. Ross Gundersen and Russell Minton (American Conchologist, December 1997) carried out tests on Puperita pupa (Linnaeus, 1758) and Puperita tristis (Orbigny, 1842) demonstrating that salt density affects the pattern, i.e. the same species. In some cases the original material has been lost in museums and lectotypes have to be identified from the original descriptions. One recent instance of this emanates from Dr. Henk K. Mienis who has properly identified Nerita histrio Linnaeus, 1758 which is senior to Nerita squamulata Le Guillou, 1841 designating an Ambon specimen as the lectotype based on the original Rumphius descripton. {ref. Triton No.9 March, 2004].
The following selection comprises some forms, variations or changes that might cause confusion for collectors and a few species not commonly illustrated. I have unearthed about 2,000 specific names for the group including some 50 species of Neritopsis in the fossil record – only 2 known species survive today. Many of these names are junior synonyms and assuming others are found to be unsound it is still an extensive group.
Nerita australis Wood, 1828 Neripteron bensoni (Recluz, 1850) Nerita forskaelii Recluz, 1841 NW Australia; 20-25mm [Recently S. Africa; Size: 9-10mm [Formerly Arabia, Red Sea; 15-20mm Source: NHM, renamed N. erythrodon by Eichorst & Puperita. [It replaces N. reticulata London [Mienis cites as synonym of N. Neville] Sow.]. sanguinolenta.]
Nerita erubescens Reeve, 1855 Nerita fulgurans Gmelin, 1791 Nerita histrio Gmelin, 1791 [Formerly N. [One of the synonyms of N. undata Brazil; 20mm [Unusual orange squamulata – refer to research by Dr.Henk cited in Standard Catalogue of variation] [Another, N. lindae Petuch, Mienis.] Philippines; 15-20mm [Variable Shells,(1978-3rd Ed Abbot & Wagner.] 1988 is now recognised as a form of N. colours and patterning.] fulgurans.]
Neritina juttingae Mienis, 1973 Nerita signata Maclean, 1822 Nerita scabicosta Lamarck, 1822 var. Sumatra; 18-20mm [Named by Dr. Philippines 10-20mm [= N. reticulata Baja California; 30mm [Less common form – Henk K Mienis in honour of Dr. Karsten 1798 name under dispute - could be renamed var. lineata? There are a Bentham Jutting.] may be reinstated as it is senior to N. few other variations.) signata]
Nerita versicolor Gmelin, 1791 var. Clithon diadema (Recluz, 1843) ? Clithon / Theodoxus Turks & Caicos Islands; 25mm. Not Indonesia, Philippines;10-15mm Bombay, India 8-12mm [Green to yellow; shield var. nigrocincta Usticke, 1959. Yellow [Ilustration agrees with that of Dr. van bordered with narrow, close black lines.] base colour with distinct patterning. W.S.S Bentham-Jutting in her Sumatra Paper.
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NERITILIDAE STAMPS
Clithon pulchella Recluz, ? Smaragdia roseopicta Neritilia rubida Pease, Only about 14 nerites are 1843 Thiele, 1930 1865 depicted on stamps – the Hong Kong; 8-10mm W. Australia 4mm Alison Haynes states that N chamaeleon shown is a Could be confused with C. [Identification unsure – shell probably all Pacific Neritilia collaborative printing with oualaniensis. white covered with thin, wavy, are rubida but Japanese Singapore - both countries pinkish orange lines; aperture research seems to have issued this stamp. golden yellow.] identified several others.
Many publications are available for a modest fee from Universities and Museums and several are made available on various websites. However in addition to the three references mentioned above those considered by myself as essential initial reading are the papers published by Dr. Henk K. Mienis, the papers published by Dr. van W.S.S Bentham-Jutting, the Catalogue of Neritidae Described by Constant A. Recluz by Alan R Kabat & Yves Finet, the findings of the study group Xenophora (Study group of the Belgian Soc. Conch.) in Gloriamaris, and publications by Boss, Jacobson and Clench on various terrestrial families in the group, Guide to Freshwater & Brackish gastropods of Fiji by Alison Haynes (1984).
I would be interested to hear from anyone who can properly identify the two species pre-fixed ‘?’ in the above illustrations.
RARE REVERSALS IN RIBBLE RUBBISH by Carl Ruscoe
My brother Craig and I have spent the last five years accumulating a very comprehensive collection of terrestrial and freshwater shells from the UK and Ireland. Each year, from Spring until Autumn we have been collecting living snails from their natural habitats. During the winter most snails aestivate and it can become very difficult to find the living snails. A good way to collect during the winter is to sample the flood debris of rivers. This debris is sometimes referred to as flood 'rubbish'. The shells of snails living in the river or close to it can be washed up on flood platforms. Most rivers also have many tributaries varying in size from tiny trickles to other smaller rivers. These tributaries will also contribute flood material to the main river.
We are fortunate enough to live just a few miles from the river Ribble in Preston, Lancashire. The river Ribble is a very healthy river. It is relatively unpolluted and supports a good diversity of life. The river meanders it's way through a whole range of habitats with a high diversity of plant life and different types of base rock. Because of this a very good diversity of molluscs are washed in to the river and their shells can be found washed up on the flood platforms.
In January 2008, Craig and I carried out an extensive survey of the river Ribble's flood debris. We took samples of debris from a stretch of the river bank running for about half a mile near the Tickled Trout Hotel at Salmsbury, near Preston, Lancashire. There are two very large flood platforms here which are perfect for accumulating the flood debris after a significant rise and fall in the level of the
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river during a period of heavy rain. Our samples contained more than 70 species of terrestrial and freshwater molluscs.
I am sure that most malacologists would consider this to be a very high number of species for a sample of flood debris from a UK river. Some of the species found are quite uncommon and selective of their habitat. One species in particular is very rare in the UK, and an article about this find can be found in Pallidula Volume 37(2) titled ''A new record for Helicodiscus singleyanus in Lancashire'.
Craig and I are very much interested in reversed-coiled gastropods (for an explanation of reversed- coiled gastropods, refer to my article 'An insight in to collecting Sinistral shells’ (Pallidula 2001, 31(1), 19-22). The majority of species of Terrestrial Gastropods in the UK have a dextral or right-handed shell, for such species a sinistral or left-handed shell is a very rare occurrence and can be labelled a 'freak' by collectors. Craig and I were fortunate enough to find 3 sinistral freak specimens on the flood platforms of the river Ribble!
On New Year's day 2008 I walked down to the river to take some samples. We had previously taken samples of flood debris from high up the bank on the West bank of the river. At this height the debris is scattered along the bank in a narrow discontinuous band, rather like the strand line on a sandy beach. On this day I ventured much further down the riverside path than I had done previously and I came across a huge flood platform. This platform is perfect for accumulating flood debris. It is very wide and almost flat, sloping very gently away from the river. After good winter storms the debris can be found here in abundance. There were thousands of dead snail shells in the debris and I spent several hours here and took some very good samples of fine material containing micro shells. I then walked on even further to find an even larger flood platform. Here I found one sinistral specimen of Trichia hispida (pictured below right, photo courtesy of Simons Specimen Shells Ltd). I was delighted.
In March 2006 Craig found a similar specimen amongst weeds at the edge of a field in Woodplumpton, just a few miles North of Preston, but this was the first Sinistral freak I had found for myself. This specimen is now in the collection of Dave Charlton of Liverpool.
On the 4th of January 2008 we returned to the first flood platform and took some more samples. We then walked on to the second flood platform. As soon as I got down to sift through the debris I noticed a small specimen of Discus rotundatus sitting proud on top of a mound of decaying vegetation. For one brief second I was baffled as I could not see the aperture where it should have been on the right hand side of the shell. I noticed the aperture was on the left hand side of the shell and I realized I had found something amazing. I had never even heard of a sinistral specimen of this species before and I still do not know of any other sinistral specimens in existence. This is undoubtedly the rarest shell I have ever found and could be the first such specimen found in the UK or even Europe?
During the next few weeks we carried out extensive searches in the hope of finding more sinistral freaks. Craig found a second sinistral specimen of Trichia hispida on the East bank of the river. This specimen is absolutely perfect. It is this specimen which we have included in our photos in the article. Both this specimen and the sinistral Discus rotundatus are now in our collection along with the sinistral Trichia hispida from Woodplumpton and all three specimens can be viewed at any time. It must be understood that reversed-coiled land snails are very rare in the UK and several thousand specimens of Trichia hispida were sampled to find just two sinistral specimens.
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Also in the flood debris we have found several tiny sinistral shells which resemble Oxyloma pfeifferi. Oxyloma pfeifferi is a Succineid snail which lives on vegetation on the river bank. As far as I am aware all Succineids have a dextral shell. There are several species or forms of Physa living in the river and these shells could just be juvenile Physa. The resemblance of these tiny shells to Oxyloma pfeifferi however is uncanny. I have pondered the idea that they could yet be Oxyloma pfeifferi which have contracted a virus and this virus has caused them to produce sinistral shells and they have subsequently died at a very early stage in their life cycle. I have spoken to Dr. Barry Colville of the Conchological society and he has said that my theory could be possible. Without finding a living individual it is impossible to say whether these shells are Oxyloma pfeifferi or just juvenile Physa. We will be spending some time during the next few summers searching for a living individual.
Unfortunately, the summer of 2008 was the worst summer I have ever known. Because of the constant rain it was very difficult to work in the field. Our finds of British shells in 2008 have been very limited. The winter of 2008/9 was vastly different from the previous winter. In December 2007 we had a lot of heavy rain and because of this a lot of flood debris was deposited on the flood platforms of the river Ribble. In December 2008 temperatures were noticeably lower than the previous year and there was much less rainfall. Because of this only small amounts of debris were deposited on the flood platforms. This can be seen in the photographs which were taken in January of this year. I think that due to climate change and ever changing weather patterns in the UK the winter floods of 2007/8 may become much less frequent in the future.
Remarkably, we have covered about half a mile of river bank and yet two of our sinistral freaks were found just a few feet apart on two separate days! Dave Charlton from Liverpool has an interesting theory. He says that because these shells are coiled in an anti-clockwise direction they are spun the same way in the current and get washed up at the same point. Dr. Barry Colville says that these shells could have been washed up anywhere. I am inclined to agree with Barry. It is difficult to imagine a scenario where a large powerful river cannot cope with these abnormally coiled monstrosities and they cause the river to form an eddy. However, I think it is quite possible that these two specimens have been living in close proximity to one another at some point on the flood plain. In the 1960s Dr. Barry Colville discovered a population of CIausilia dubia on a limestone wall in North Yorkshire. Clausilia dubia has a sinistral shell and Barry found one dextral specimen in this population, an extremely rare find! Subsequently, 5 more dextral specimens have been found in the same population. Could it be possible that something in the snails habitat is effecting the way the snails coil, or is it simply a very rare gene which is in the gene pool of this population which is causing the production of sinistral shells? If either of these scenarios is the case with the snail populations living by the river Ribble, then surely more sinistral freaks can be found there in time, watch this space!
I would like to thank Dr. Simon Aiken for providing such high quality photographs of the specimens. I would also like to thank Dr. Harry Lee who has kindly included our specimens on his own impressive web page.
Thank you for reading my article. For correspondence please write to Carl Ruscoe at 10 Acer Grove, Ribbleton, Preston, Lancashire, UK, PR2 6EZ or phone 01772 703380.
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THE LITTLE SHELL COLLECTOR by Inga Joseph
When I was about 9 or 10 years old, I had the most appalling handwriting. In the hope of improving it, my mother used to write stories which she then dictated to me, and I would write out in a large notebook in purple ink. My father Stan Joseph then illustrated them. Around this time I started collecting shells, so naturally I wanted her to write one with a conchological bias. Below is the result. We haven’t had many articles specifically for junior members. I hope they will enjoy this story as much as I did. ______
“Dear me”, said Philip’s mother, reading the newspaper. “Another young person in the district is missing. That’s the third one; it’s terrible.”
Philip didn’t pay much attention because he was absorbed in a book on seashells, his favourite hobby. He had a beautiful collection, and had recently started going to a little shop not far from his home, which always had a fascinating display of many varieties of shells on its shelves. There were scallops and pearly top shells, limpets and cowries and whelk. “You mustn’t go out until they find the murderer” Philip’s mother said.
“But I want to go to the shell shop after tea to get my Murex shell”, Philip said. “I have been saving for it for so long and I have got the right money now.”
“Never mind,” said his mother ”you must wait till I can come with you.” Philip protested in the way boys do, but to no avail. His mother was adamant. Do you know what Philip did then? He was disobedient. He waited till after dark, which was early as it was winter, when his family were watching television and he was supposed to be in is room doing his homework, and he crept out of the house unnoticed! It was pitch dark and raining as he hurried through the streets till he came to the little shop. A light was shining in the shop window and it made the shells look more transparent and beautiful than ever.
“Hello Philip,” said the owner of the shop, a little old man with silvery hair and rosy cheeks. “I haven’t seen you for a long time.”
“Hello, Mr. Kilham,” said Philip, and took the money he had been saving so hard out of his pocket, and asked for his precious shell. Mr Kilham went to the back to fetch it and wrapped it in tissue paper before handing it to Philip. “Now I will save for a Lambis lambis” Philip said.
I can show you a beauty,” said Mr. Kilham, if you would like to come round to the back with me.” But Philip said he couldn’t stay just then because his mother would be wondering where he was. He promised to come the following day, and hurried home clutching his Murex shell.
As luck would have it, his misdeed remained undiscovered at home, and the following day his mother accompanied him to the conchologist’s shop. Mr Kilham seemed a bit surprised that Philip was not, as usual, alone.
“I have come to see the Lambis lambis shell,” said Philip excitedly.
“I’m afraid I… haven’t got it any more,” said Mr Kilham.
“Haven’t got it?” cried Philip.
“No, I sold it… it went this morning.”
Philip was very disappointed. When Mr Kilham told him to look in some other time Philip hardly heard him. He didn’t even look into the window again, but walked straight home with his mother.
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A week passed, during which a further murder was reported and the bodies of two of the missing people were recovered. Strangely enough, there were no signs of strangulation or gunshot wounds, and the cause of death remained a complete mystery. Because the murderer was still at large, Philip was not allowed out alone, but one day after tea, he sneaked out again, naughty boy.
To his surprise, he found the shop closed. The door was locked. There was no light in the window and the shells inside it looked dark and mysterious. After a while Philip went round to the back. Suddenly he noticed a little window. What he saw was a dimly lit room almost completely filled with a vast tank of water. Inside the tank were the strangest shells he had ever seen; they were a dark chocolate brown with white flecks and about five inches long. Philip had never seen any like it before.
When he got home he looked them up straight away in his shell encyclopaedia and this is what he read:
“Conus geographus. This poison cone is armed with a long, fleshy proboscis which can be protruded well beyond the edge of the shell. It is a pointed organ having a number of barbs, each of which has a venom gland at its base. A jab in the hand from this weapon can have serious results and is capable of causing paralysis and death.”
These were the creatures Mr Kilham had swimming about in a tank at the rear of his fascinating shop in a room Philip had never seen before!
He stayed away from the shop for a time, but soon curiosity got the better of him. He longed to discover more about the Conus geographus. He longed to see Mr Kilham and ask him about it. He had even forgotten about the Lambis lambis he had so longed for.
But next time he sneaked out the shop was closed again, and again Philip went round to the back. As he approached, he heard a shrill scream. He stopped and listened. Then came another scream, then another, and it came from the room he had seen through the little window, the room with the Conus geographus…
In a flash he understood everything. He picked up a stone and hurled it through the window. The screaming stopped, the light behind the window went out, and at that moment two policemen appeared on the scene. They battered their way into the shop, and soon emerged with the rescued girl – and the murderer, who was none other than Mr Kilham with the silvery hair and the rosy cheeks!
The hero of the story of course, was Philip, and he got his reward: Mr Kilham’s entire marvellous shell collection went to him – including the Conus geographus, but only after the animals were taken out. Mr Kilham was sentenced to prison for twenty- five years. He would never be allowed to sell shells again.
Only one question remains unanswered: Why did the old conchologist become a ruthless murderer who lured his victims to the back of his shop and then got the poison cones to sting them to death? Nobody knew. My guess is that the evil creatures he had been collecting turned him into an evil creature himself.
Postscript Some 40 years later, after my mother had become a published author, she read this story to a group of children during the Sheffield Literature Festival. I lent her a monstrous (138mm) Conus geographus for the event. Incidentally one of the first cones I acquired, and which was the inspiration for this story, was a Conus geographus.
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FAMOUS ARTISTS, FAMOUS ETCHINGS by John “Robbie” Robinson
My interest in conchology began with a 13 month posting to RAF Gan on Addu Atoll in the Maldive Islands, way back in 1968. Over the years I amassed a very large collection of shells but after reading Peter Dances books about the history of shell collecting with his insights and thoughts about the great collectors and their libraries, I gradually drifted over to collecting antiquarian shell books and prints. Two of the rarest etchings depicting shells are the subject of this small article, one is by Rembrandt van Rijn, an artist better known for his oil paintings, and the other is by an artist considered by many to be the greatest of all of the exponents of etching, Wenceslaus Hollar.
References:
Martin Clayton, Deputy Curator of The Print Room, Royal Library Rembrandt the Printmaker, British Museum Press London 2000
Venceslaus Hollar, 1607-1677 Cone shell from series of 41 shell etchings 1645
Wencelaus Bollar was born in Prague 1606, and in 1636 settled in London establishing himself as a hugely successful printmaker. During the English Civil War Bollar moved to Antwerp, where, in around 1645, he produced a series of 41 superb etchings of shells. All the shells are tropical species, some from the Caribbean, but most from south-east Asia (as far afield as Australia). They must have been brought back to the Low Countries by traders and explorers to form part of an unknown collectors "cabinet of curiosities". The etchings were presumably intended for a book that was never published; the rarities of these great masterpieces is legendary, even in single examples and the only known complete set is in the Royal Collection. A group of 32 was entered for sale at Sothebys on 30 November 1989, lot 109, achieving £39,600. The illustration shows his etching of Conus imperialis reversed, as is the majority of the shells in the series. There is no text on the prints other than the key letters A and B in a few cases, and the B is in the correct direction in each instance.
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Rembrandt van Rijn, 1606 – 1669 The Shell, an etching dated 1650 (state II)
Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn was born in 1606 in Leiden, the son of a prosperous miller. After some early training in the arts, he moved to Amsterdam where he worked under the artist Pieter Lastman before returning to his home town to establish himself. He quickly achieved a high reputation as a portrait painter, returning to Amsterdam in 1631. His greatest achievements were his group portraits and his etchings, one of which is the famous still life study of a shell, which is unique in his printed work. The shell is a Conus marmoreus and it may be that Rembrandt owned an example along with other curiosities in his collection. The shells' striking pattern, sheen and tight spiral base clearly fascinated him as it is captured in great detail. In the 1st state of the etching, the plate lacked all ambient tone except for the shadow of the shell, in the 2nd state illustrated here, the surrounding atmosphere of darks and lights transforms the balance of lighting emphasising the shell details. Rembrandt’s shell is reversed, but notice that the signature isn't, which would seem to indicate a sinistral specimen, but more likely it's just an error which happened often in the early years of shell illustration.
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SHELLING IN THE WESTERN MED by Graham Saunders
Sites working South and West Collioure An interesting looking recreational harbour, but it seems to have only minor fishing activity. Remarkably, I saw no trace of any molluscan life on the rocks and only two shell fragments on the strand lines. One was Acanthocardia tuberculata and the other a piece of Bolinus. At the right hand extremity of the beach there were several dead Gibbula richardi and nothing else. I would have imagined that dived for weed samples would have been worth washing, but no guarantees in view of the absence of everything else!
Sitges This was another site where most records were fragments (and not many of them). There were two fragments of Naticarius cruentatus and single valves of Glycymeris insubrica and G. glycymeris plus something similar but asymmetrical. There were Creastoderma singles which may well have been all one species but there was no morphological consistency. Shape ranges through massively thick globular to paper thin elliptical. One shell looked like Parvicardium exiguum. There were several Acanthocardia tuberculata singles. There were several Donax trunculus singles and one vitatus. Represented as single dead juveniles were Lutraria lutraria, Mimachlamys varia and Nassarius mutabilis. There were a couple of very juvenile Mytillus. There was a thin scattering on the strandlines and deposits in sheltered corners.
Benecarlo 15th November 15.00 There is a particularly useful triangle of beach just South of the harbours. There are lots of species though mainly fragments. There were Epitonids such as commutatum and turtonis, fresh broken Calliostoma granulata, Cassidaria echinophora and Phalium undulatum. The granulata fragments are a bright mustard colour I have not seen before.
The returning fishing fleet is less coordinated than those further South. Boats start to come in from three onwards. Marketing is less well organised. This is a tidy harbour and you need to be there when nets are actually being cleaned. At this point there is a scattering of Bolinus cornutus available. A lorry tyre had come in with the nets and I recovered five perfect Mimachlamys varia, all very spiny, all different colours. There were also spectacular Anomia but I could not remove any intact. There were also a lot of stacks each consisting of about 200 Octopus pots. These had all been too well cleaned to be worth examining in detail.
Burriana 12th November 16.00 North of Valencia The fishing fleet comes in at about 4 as the restaurants would not want fish landed earlier in the day. The catch is landed and sold from two sections of the quay. As far as I could tell only three specimens of Pecten jacobaeus were landed from about eight trawlers. These were big ones. Does this mean that the local populations have fallen below the threshold for successful breeding? There were trays of hermit crabbed shells which were entirely engulfed by five side domed red and green sea anemones. I can only assume that the Anemones were to be eaten as the hermit crab element was small and sometimes missing. As far as I could tell, the host shells were Cassidaria, Phalium and Bolinus. There was some Aporrhais and Turritella trash under foot. My Spanish is negligible. By waving money I obtained a Solenocurtis scopula which was balanced on a cable.
Sometimes blocks of rubble get landed. They range from 20kg to several cubic metres. One large mass at the far end of the quay had probably been there for two months and was a vile compacted aggregate of dead fish, sand rock and shells, baked as hard as an adobe brick by the sun. I needed a pick axe. All my sharp edged equipment had been confiscated by security for fear that I might hijack Eurostar. I had a four inch nail file to work with. Where there was a high dead fish content, it was possible to break off some smaller pieces. A lot of the material was fragmentary. I am still disassembling it with water jets but there is at least one recently live Calliostoma granulatum, a Boreotrophon, a Ringicula and some bivalves which are mostly Venus nux, some recently live, and probably two species of Nuculana of which one was live. There is one Cuspidaria single and one orange Dentalium mutabile. Some of these species suggest deep origin. I will have to examine the sediment and silt very carefully.