VOL.36 z NO.2 z OCTOBER 2OO6

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COVER PAGE

Mikadotrochus beyrichii Hilgendorf, 1877 – Collection J. Batt A beautiful specimen of this seldom seen of measuring 78mm across by 73mm in height Taken in gill nets set on sand near rocks at 150m off the Uraga Strait, Chiba Prefecture, Japan

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A Well Travelled Cowry

After reading the article on Lessepsian Species in the Greek Seas by Linda Young on page 17 of this issue, I decided to look into the that inhabited the area around both ends of the Suez Canal. I know that there are at least three species which have settled in the Mediterranean probably due to shipping through the Suez Canal from the Red Sea under the bottom of ships or possibly by their own natural devices, then forming their own Mediterranean populations. These species are: vitellus (Linnaeus, 1758), gracilis notata (Gill, 1858) and caurica quinquefasciata (Roding, 1798).

Zonaria pyrum pyrum (Gmelin, 1791) is certainly the only Mediterranean cowry species that has been reported as possibly being introduced via shipping through the Suez Canal into the Indian Ocean. On page 114 in “A guide to worldwide ” by F. Lorenz and A. Hubert, 2nd edition, the authors report upon specimens being found in the harbour of Karachi, Pakistan. It would be interesting to know whether or not there is a population living in the Red Sea side of the Suez Canal?

I have two specimens in my collection from Haifa on the Mediterranean side of Israel that differ from other specimens within the collection from other areas of the Mediterranean by having well visible marginal spotting. I would like to find out if the specimens found living in Karachi harbour also have marginal spotting and or if anyone else has heard of this species living in northern parts of the Red Sea? The Editor.

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Collecting in the Surf by Gavin Malcolm

Recently, I obtained a copy of Peter Dance’s “Shell Collecting, an Illustrated History” 1966 which gives an excellent historical perspective on shell collectors, natural history cabinets and voyages of discovery. I decided to follow some of the many references and surf the web looking for copies of some of the original publications. My focus was naturally towards Conus and Olividae which I collect.

Recognition in science of species, subspecies, varieties and forms is governed by the ICZN code (International Commission of Zoological nomenclature) and the code has evolved with time. Today’s version can be found online at (www.ICZN.org). It is founded on the binomial system introduced by Linnaeus in the tenth edition of System Naturae in 1758 whereby each valid name should consist of genus and a species. In many original works, there is a short description in Latin, sometimes with a subdescription in the native language of the author.

Before 1758, books were published using various ICZN invalid systems for naming but many fine colour plates of shells in the cabinets of the wealthy were printed by authors such as Seba, D’Argenville, Gualtieri, Knorr (Picture left).

There are no figures in the works of the early authors who followed the valid Linnaean naming system eg. Linnaeus 1758, Born 1778, and Gmelin 1791 These works did not include plates or figures but referred to these previous publications by Knorr, Rumphius, etc. The illustration shows an example from Linnaeus 1758: Conus marmoreus.

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The text of Linnaeus lacks depth in the description of C. marmoreus and your Latin may be limited. But a picture speaks a thousand words and you can go to the AnimalBase website created by the university library of Gottingen in Germany which is making available the great zoological works from 1600 to 1800 and you can download pages of the plates and text referenced by Linnaeus (www.animalbase.de). Here are two of the figures cited, in Regenfuss and Gualtieri, by Linnaeus 1758 in his description of C. marmoreus . These are downloaded from the 650 digitised works from 1600-1800, available on Animalbase where the Linnaeus document may also be Regenfuss 1758 Gualtieri 1742 found. Plate 5 Fig. 53 Table 22 Fig. D An author, in creating the

description of a species would normally study a group of specimens of the shell, the syntypes, and would select a specimen, the holotype, as representing the name being described. In many cases, these holotypes have been preserved in collections donated to museums. Current authors are expected to place the type specimens in the care of a major museum. In some cases, where a holotype was not selected by the original author, a later learned author can select a lectotype from the syntypes or may even select a figure (lectotype representative) in a publication which was referenced in the original description. In the case of C. marmoreus, Alan Kohn selected a specimen in the collection of the Linnean Society of London as the lectotype. Kohn’s website and many museum websites now publish pictures of the types

Communication in the early days was limited, so authors published descriptions creating duplicate names (homonyms) or published new names citing figures in plates previously used in different descriptions(objective synonyms). Authors did not have access to all C. marmoreus Linnaeus 1758 the previous publications so they would describe new names which LSL lectotype were later considered to be the same species as a previously described name. And so was born the world of subjective synonyms, where a later author, in publishing a review, uses judgement and documents these overlaps and duplicates as synonyms. At the last count, C. marmoreus had at least 10 synonyms.

Many descriptions found their way into literature through catalogues of the great collections which were created to show the wealth of their owners or to reference and describe specimens being sold. Lightfoot described the collection of the Duchess of Portland in 1786 in a sales catalogue and in doing so, created 44 new cone names, many invalid, but 6 survive as accepted species today.

Röding described the collection of the Museum Boltenianum in 1798 and created 123 new cone names, including many homonyms but 5 species or subspecies are still recognised along with 58 synonyms.

Roding 1798 Museum Boltenianum

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The ultimate shell book, covering every shell, has been an ambition of authors for many years and these books were released in editions similar to today’s magazines. An example is the Neues Systematisches Conchylien Cabinet published in Nurnberg by Martini from 1769. The works of Martini were continued by Chemnitz, Kuster, Weinkauff through to 1875 in various editions and publications. Displayed right is Plate 62 of Martini quoted within the Museum Boltenianum catalogue for C. marmoreus (fig.685). The work did not use the binomial system and is considered an invalid source of new names but many later authors referenced the excellent Martini figures in their publication of new descriptions.

The French produced Encyclop- edique Methodique, Histoire Naturelle des Vers started by Brugière who used much of the Hwass collection for the cones and this work was continued by Lamarck, Bory and Deshayes. You will find many of the plates of these publications for sale and pictured on the sites of the reputable antique print dealers. The works of Lamarck are available on the web. The Encyclopedique Methodique (Cones 1792) and its associated plates Tableau Encyclopedique (Cones 1798) are in the future plans of the Animalbase website.

Today, the shell collection of Hwass is in the Natural History Museum in Geneva.

In London, the collection of Hugh Cuming provided thousands of specimens for Reeve and Sowerby to describe as new species. The Sowerby family started with the Conchological Illustrations in 1833 and Thesauraus Conchyliorum in 1857. These kept 3 generations going with updates and releases covering more and more species. The Sowerby family were all skilled lithographers, conchologists and latterly dealers. Sowerby’s 1913 catalogue shows prices slightly cheaper than those at the BSCC Shell Show today!

Sadly, the Sowerby works are difficult to find on the web but a visit to the French website (//gallica.bnf.fr) Gallica will reveal a version of the Conchological Illustrations, and the complete Thesauraus. Gallica was developed in 1995 to give the public access to the great classic books and provides easy download of the full text versions albeit the plates are in black and white. For those of you who remember your school French, a search (recherché) under the subjects (sujet) “coquillages” or “mollusques” should reveal the hundred or so shell books available. There is a health warning however, the file sizes are large and are best tackled by broadband. Surprisingly, this site is the best source of original publications describing British fauna and you will find Jeffery’s British Conchology of 1862, Sowerby’s British Illustrations of 1887 together with Forbes and Hanley 1853 and Thomas Brown 1827….yes in English.

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For those of you who collect and enjoy Conus then the excellent Biodiversity website (http://biology.burke.washington. edu/conus/index.php) being developed by Alan Kohn is now available. Alan has gathered many of the original Conus descriptions, together with pictures of the type specimens, from the museums around the world. You can download the original descriptions, many of which have the original colour plates including Reeve 1845.

Copyright law allows public availability of material more than 75 years old so the content is focussed on 1758 to 1930. Also on offer for download is a spreadsheet database of all cones named both extant and fossil.

If you seek a description written after 1930 then you may have to go to a Natural History Museum Library, most of which allow you to copy one article from any publication for study or scientific use.

Alan Kohn’s website is testing the modern concept of making E books and scientific databases available to all and is introducing video clips and DNA sequencing information about the species. Useful for the scientist, but I think however, I will continue to use shell patterns and pictures for identification at the Shell Show.

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Pleurotomariidae by John Batt

The beautiful specimen of Mikadotrochus beyrichii pictured on our front cover remains a very rare and desirable species, seldom available especially without serious growth defects or worm holes, however, many other species of the exquisite deep water Pleurotomarias have in recent years become available in reasonable numbers due to greater trawling and dredging activities both in the South China Sea and offshore New Caledonia, so with this in mind I made the decision to begin a collection of this unique family. I have, as well as many fellow collectors avoided the collection of Pleurotomaria in the past due to their high prices and lack of availability, but with quite a few species now obtainable for relatively small money I think it is a good time to begin a collection starting with the more common species, but to try and collect them at a good size, with operculum’s and in the best possible condition.

Please do not think for one instance that all species can be easily obtained as there are still many extremely rare species, some known from just two or three specimens and nowadays a shortage of Caribbean material available from dealers. A few years ago on a trip to Barbados I was lucky enough to meet up with David Hunt, a regular trapper of deep water shells using bated traps. He had at that time unfortunately given up this pastime in favour of more lucrative computer work although he was more than happy to show me the remainder of his collection as well as photo’s of some Pleurotomarias including some fantastic specimens of Entemnotrochus adansonianus adansonianus, quoyanus quoyanus and P. gemma (now a synonym of quoyanus but has taller ) collected in his traps, most of which now reside in the collection of Patrick Anseeuw, a well known world authority on the . There have been a few new finds in recent years, some of which I am sure will remain for a long time on collectors wish lists only.

There are two essential publications available on this remarkable family, the first is: The Living Pleurotomariidae by P.Anseeuw & Y.Goto. 1996. The second is: Visaya supplement 1, Pleurotomariidae: An Iconographic Visit, 2005 by P.Anseeuw & G.T.Poppe.

This is an up to date full checklist of all living Pleurotomaria species and subspecies. I have used the symbol * to mark species that are now easy to obtain, at least at the time of writing.

Genus: Perotrochus Fischer,1885 Genus: Harasewych,2002 quoyanus quoyanus (Fischer & Bernardi, 1856) africanus * (Tomlin, 1948) quoyanus insularis Okutani & Goto, 1985 charlestonensis Askew, 1987 lucaya (Bayer, 1965) teramachii * (Kuroda, 1955) atlanticus * Rios & Matthews, 1968 westralis * (Whitehead, 1987) tosatoi Anseeuw, Goto & Abdi, 2005 boucheti (Anseeuw & Poppe, 2001) amabilis (Bayer, 1963) diluculum (Okutani, 1979) maureri (Hirasewych & Askew, 1993) tangaroana (Bouchet & Metivier, 1982) vicdani * Kosuge, 1980 indicus (Anseeuw, 1999) metivieri (Anseeuw & Goto, 1995) poppei (Anseeuw, 2003) caledonicus * (Bouchet & Metivier, 1982) midas (Bayer, 1965) deforgesi (Metivier, 1990) pyramus (Bayer,1967)

Genus: Entemnotrochu Fischer, 1885 Genus: Mikadotrochus Lindholm, 1927 adansonianus adansonianus (Crosse & Fischer, 1861) beyrichii (Hilgendorf, 1877) adansonianus bermudensis (Okutani & Goto, 1983) hirasei * (Pilsbry, 1903) often albinotic * rumphii * (Schepman, 1879) oishii Shikama, 1973 salmianus * (Rolle, 1887) anseeuwi * (Kanazawa & Goto, 1991) gotoi * (Anseeuw, 1990)

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ROBERT DAMON’S SHELL COLLECTION by S. Peter Dance

(Photos by Phil Dance)

A phone call from Tom Walker, BSCC Secretary, has led to the purchase of a cabinet containing an interesting collection of shells and other objects, brought together in Victorian times. The survival and discovery of such a collection, still in its original cabinet, is worth more than a passing note because its first owner was celebrated in his day as a geologist and as a dealer in natural objects: Robert Damon (1814-89). The son of a hairdresser and outfitter, Damon lived for most of his life at Weymouth in Dorset. For someone whose principal interest was geology Weymouth was a good place to live. In 1860 he published his Handbook to the Geology of Weymouth and the Island of Portland, a book well received in its day and still a reliable guide to Dorset geology. His name also survives in the scientific names given to several invertebrate species, recent and fossil, including the volute now known as Amoria damonii Gray, and Paramelania damoni Smith, a freshwater gastropod from Lake Tanganyika. Damon acquired an enviable reputation as a dealer in fossils, shells, minerals and other natural objects, travelling extensively in Europe, Africa and Asia, to acquire his specialised merchandise to sell to private collectors and museums.

The well-constructed oak cabinet, 29″ high x 23¾″ wide x 16½″ deep, has double doors, while each of its 13 drawers has oak sides and a mahogany base. The drawers contain shells, brachiopods, fossils and miscellaneous curiosities. Most of the brachiopods bear labels in what seems to be the handwriting of the well-known conchologist Arthur Adams (1820-78). The miscellaneous curiosities include the following, each neatly labelled by Damon: ‘Nests of Cotton Worms Antigua’; ‘Wheat from a Bake House in Nazareth, May 1873’; and ‘Tesserae from the dome of St. Sophia, Constantinople, May 1873’. Shells comprise most of the other items in the cabinet.

When purchased, most of the shells were housed in shallow card trays, many with strip labels bearing neat, hand-written information, probably penned by Damon. Certainly his handwriting occurs on the undersides of some trays and elsewhere. Labels bearing specific names were glued onto some of the shells. The cowries, cones, exotic land shells and bivalves occupied a drawer each. The remainder of the shells were in no particular order. The contents of some of the trays had become separated from their labels and some trays contained more than one species. It has been possible to re-unite most of the shells with their appropriate labels. One of them, a specimen of Chama lazarus Lin., bears the printed label of his son, Robert Ferris Damon (1845-1929), and may have been added to the collection after Robert Damon’s demise. Some of the shells had become grubby or had lost their sheen, which was only to be expected from a collection formed in Victorian times.

Generally speaking the marine shells represent species commonly available now. Some, however, were not so easy to come by in Damon’s time, including Lyria delessertiana Petit, one of four volutes present. Another volute, of special interest because it was named in his honour, is Amoria damonii Gray. The most impressive marine shell in the collection, however, is an Damon’s label accompanies this specimen of Lyria delessertiana Imperial Harp, Harpa costata Lin. Perfectly preserved and 80mm tall, it would add lustre to any shell cabinet. By contrast, some tiny shells in glass tubes, labelled ‘Weymouth’, are of parochial interest only. Damon’s fine example of the rare Evidently Damon was fascinated by sites important in Harpa costata measures 80mm classical antiquity, often collecting snail shells in their vicinity.

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A box of a small ‘Helicellid’ species, for instance, is labelled (incorrectly) ‘Helix virgata from the burial mound of the 192 Athenians Marathon Greece May 1877’. He collected shells at various sites when he visited Palestine, in May 1873, and seems to have had dealings with at least one conchologist interested in the non-marine shells of that part of the world. Mixed with those he collected are some labelled in a distinctively ‘French’ style. They include shells labelled ‘Clausilia delessertii. Bourg. Saïda’ and ‘Clausilia cylindrelliformis. Bourg. Liban M. Bourguignat!’ Probably Damon acquired these Lebanese clausiliids directly from Jules René Bourguignat (1829-92) who had described them as new to science in the 1850s, two of the many species he described, often on the flimsiest of characters. They reminded me of my studies of this fascinating man, the bane of French non-marine conchology. (See Journal of Conchology Vol. 27, pp. 63-86, 1970).

Distinctive hinge teeth help identify Remarkably, the of A shell of the eponymous Damon’s polished Pleiodon ovatus Anostoma octodentatus opens volute Amoria damonii, on the same plane as its from Damon’s cabinet

Although marine shells are in the majority, non-marine shells are well represented. Of especial interest is a freshwater bivalve, a polished example of Pleiodon ovatus Swainson. A rare African species, it has a multi-toothed hinge somewhat like that of an Arca or a Nucula. Most, if not all, of the known examples are in old museum collections.

The Brazilian Polygyratia The probably extinct Unusually, Damon’s Cochlorina navicula polygyrata is characterised by lacks a spiral band on the body its many tightly coiled whorls Gibbus lyonetianus The very rare Megaspira from neatly ruschenbergiana from Brazil, labelled, presumably a highlight of Damon’s collection by Damon

The exotic land shells included some curiously shaped species from Brazil, such as the ‘Upside-down Snail’ Anostoma octodentatus Fischer, the whirlpool-whorled Polygyratia polygyrata Born, and the boat-shaped Cochlorina navicula Wagner. Damon’s perfect Megaspira ruschenbergiana Jay, a great rarity and probably extinct now, also originated from Brazil. The island of Mauritius would have been the original home of the strangely compressed Gibbus lyonetianus Pallas, now presumably extinct. Most of the colourful land shells in the cabinet, however, are from the Philippine Islands. Among the more noteworthy of these are Helicostyla collodes Sowerby, Calocochlia zebuensis Broderip, and Calocochlia viridostriata Lea. These, too, may be extinct, but I have been unable to verify this. Extinct or not, I am sure, as I think was Damon, that they are all worth preserving for their own sake.

It is remarkable that the contents of this small cabinet should have survived essentially intact for so long. They could so easily have been lost forever. The only available information about the provenance of Damon’s cabinet, so I was told by the man who sold it to me, was that it had come

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‘from a house clearance’. If he had not bought it, the rival bidders at the auction, he had reason to believe, would have jettisoned the contents. The cabinet was all they wanted! I may have been foolish to have agreed to purchase it and its contents, sight unseen, but I know I should have been even more foolish not to have done so!

Helicostyla collodes from the Philippines and probably extinct, Calocochlia zebuensis from Sadly, this lovely Philippine land labelled inside its aperture the Philippines, also possibly snail Calocochlia viridostriata, may also be extinct extinct, with Damon’s label

For calling my attention to the existence of Damon’s shell cabinet I am grateful to Tom Walker. For allowing me to acquire it I am indebted to David Hacker. I thank Hugh Torrens for supplying useful information about Damon. For directing me to websites providing information about land shells my thanks to Harry Lee. My son Phil took all the photos at short notice, for which I cannot thank him enough.

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SHELL MONEY by Ken Machin

In his article "Shell Money" in the April edition of Pallidula Tom Walker draws attention to the shells depicted on the current £10 banknote and at the end of his article he asks for any suggestions. I have a few! My attention was first drawn to these shells in 2003, but as newsletter editor of the Milton Keynes Geological Society I looked at them from a different viewpoint and concluded that they were in fact ammonites. I quite agree with Tom that they are very Spirula-like and he mentions their ammonitic shape. Like some ammonite species they appear to have a keel around the venter and all the whorls are in contact. Features not seen in Spirula spirula. By the way there is a larger specimen in the top left corner behind the word 'Bank'. There is other evidence to suggest that they are in fact fossils. To the right of the Queen's head there are several rows of sectioned gastropods and what I can only think of as trilobites. Then there is the reverse of the note depicting Charles Darwin, the grand-daddy of evolutionists. On his voyage around the world in the Beagle he did of course study all aspects of nature including conchology, but he took a particular interest in the geology and palaeontology of the countries he visited and collected many fossils. So my vote goes to fossils, but perhaps the only way to be certain would be to contact the Royal Mint.

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Lessepsian Species in the Greek Seas by Linda Young

Hello again from sunny Greece! It’s been eighteen months now since I found my first tiny Strombus persicus (Swainson 1821), synonym Strombus decorus raybaudii, here in Attica. Those of you who read my article ‘Shelling in Athens’ may remember that I was excited that I had found this Lessepsian species in an area previously unrecorded. Well patience paid off and I now have 86 specimens ranging from the smallest juvenile to fully grown adults and many of them complete with the .

Strombus persicus originates from the Persian Gulf and has entered the Mediterranean via the Suez Canal possibly by shipping although there seems to be no definite agreement on how this has occurred to date. The sites I have collected it from range from the tip of the Saronic Gulf at Harakas near Sounio until Agia Lombarda not too far from Athens. The juveniles are particularly beautiful with a lovely gloss and sharp spire.

In addition I have now found a couple of very worn specimens at Astros in the Argolikos Gulf where they had been recorded in 2004. I was recently told that they appear to have advanced as far as Italy although I haven’t seen any publication on this yet. Whatever the method of introduction they certainly seem to like the Mediterranean waters and seem to be flourishing.

I have also been fortunate enough to find two more ‘invaders’ in the nearby Island of Salamina just off the Athens coast. These had been previously discovered by Evi Vardala-Theodorou, a friend of mine at the Natural History museum. Armed with the beach location from Evi, I set off one Saturday to the long sandy beach named Psili Amos (meaning ‘fine sand’) in Elefsis Bay. This entailed a drive to the other side of the city and then some distance North of Athens taking a ferry to the island – the crossing being so short it seemed just long enough to start up and turn round and we were there!

Psili Amos is an attractive, long sandy beach with rocks at either end. It didn’t take long to find specimens of the two species I was looking for – Bulla ampulla (Linnaeus 1758) and Fulvia fragilis (Forsskal in Niebhur 1775). After only a few moments I found many large Bulla ampulla and Fulvia fragilis among the native species of molluscs. Unfortunately the Fulvia were hard to find as a pair and usually one of the valves was missing or partly broken. None of them had the animal inside. The Bulla however were in quite good condition despite the rather fragile outer . I was fortunate to find some of them complete with animal which is orange in colour. Both species seemed to be flourishing and were not hard to find.

A couple of months later I found some more specimens of the Bulla ampulla at other sites in Attica, specifically Harakas and Kalivia – two of the sites where I find the Strombus. It would seem that these invaders from the South are quite at home here in the Mediterranean. During a recent correspondence with Carl Ruscoe after his trip to Halkidiki, he raised the question about what may have traveled from the Mediterranean in the other direction. I have to admit I had never even considered this but it seems logical that species would travel both ways.

It would be interesting to see if anyone is studying movement in the opposite direction. Sadly with the current conflicts in the Middle East I don’t think I’ll be going on a field trip just yet!

Fulvia fragilis Strombus persicus Bulla ampulla

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Notes on Marine and Non-Marine shells at Le Grande Motte, France by Peter Topley

My first sight of Le Grande-Motte in early April did not make me feel too positive regarding the possible presence of shells. Although the town sits enviably on golden Mediterranean sands between Montpellier to the west and the wetlands of the Carmargue to the east, it sprang up in the 1960s and has been described as “exhibiting 1960s architecture in its full horror”, being part of the French government’s tourism development plan for the Languedoc-Roussillon coast at that time. The architect of the town, Jean Balladur, was inspired by the Téotihuacan site in Mexico, choosing the pyramid shape for his buildings. According to a local guide the town is “a symbolic and geometrical transposition of the mountains surrounding the area”, although other may disagree with the result. The town has a huge yacht marina, boasting 1364 berths. On the positive side, apart from the beaches, natural areas of dunes, lagoons, scrub and woodland surround La Grande Motte. I did not have any transport during my stay but I was determined to investigate these habitats on foot as much as I could.

The shore was populated with bathers, players of beach volleyball and hospitality marquees. But perhaps I was unduly pessimistic about finding shells; in fact there were an astonishing variety of shells. Walking along the shoreline, there were single valves of bivalves including Donax trunculus L.1758, large Tellina planata (L. 1758) and beautiful red coloured Tellina pulchella Lamarck, 1818. To the east of the marina was an artificial “island” constructed of large rocks piled on top of each other with a viewing platform. Cracks in the rocks had caught large specimens of Acanthocardia tuberculata (L., 1758) as well as shells of the limpet Patella rustica L., 1758. Nearby in a more sheltered sandy area formed by the rocks were top shells, including Monodonta mutabilis (Philippi, 1846) and Gibula magus (L., 1767) and the common Cerithid, Cerithium rupestre Risso, 1826. In the calm water were many living Cyclope cf. neritea (L., 1758), (pictured left) made visible by the winding trails left behind them and their attractive shiny shells. Other Nassarids included large shells of Nassarius mutabilis (L., 1758) as well as the more familiar Hinia reticulatus (L., 1758). Walking further east I came across a large stranding of Mactra stultorum (L., 1758) form alba Lamarck, 1818, together with other associated shells such as Spisula subtruncata (da Costa, 1778), Pharus legumen (L., 1758), the Naticids Naticarius cruentatus (Gmelin, 1791), N. punctatus (Chemintz in Karsten, 1789), Neverita josephina Risso, 1826 and a single valve of a deeper water scallop Argopecten commutatus (Monterosato, 1875). Other shells along the shoreline included Bulla cf. striata Bruguière 1792, Epitonium clathrus (L., 1758), Acteon tornatilis (L., 1758) and Barbata barbata (L.,1758).

To the East of La Grande Motte is a salt-water lagoon surrounded by banks of mud and sand and grasses dotted with pine trees. In the middle of the lagoon is an island, called “La Ponant”, with a hotel and a small yachting center connected to the “mainland” by a small bridge. The shore was

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dominated by shells of Scrobicularia plana (da Costa, 1778), the lagoon cockle Cerastoderma glaucum (Poiret, 1789) and dotted with Bittium reticulatum (da Costa, 1778) like small discarded spines. Also present here was the gaper Mya arenaria (L.,1758) and a more familiar Naticid, Polinices catena (da Costa, 1778). I was also pleased to find many fresh dead shells of the off-shore mussel Modiolus adriaticus (Lam. 1819) with their shiny brown periostracum and iridescent blue interior to the valves. I also found a specimen of what is probably Haminoea cf. hydatis (L.,1758), a herbivorous member of the suborder Bullacea which lives muddy sand bottoms. Washed up in what was probably flood debris was an old shell of a freshwater Physa, possibly Physella acuta (Drap.1805), an indication of the lagoon’s link to sources of freshwater.

This brings me fairly neatly on to finally consider the land snails. At high tide level on the island the Ellobiid Ovatella myosotis (Drap., 1801) was common especially under plant debris. The most obvious snails on the island were large pale and banded varieties of the common Helicid Eobania vermiculata (O. F. Müller, 1774) balanced on the stems of grasses and low shrubs. Under the basal leaves of some plants were to be found aestivating handsome decollate adults of Rumina decollata (L., 1758). In dune areas were many specimens of the small topshell like snail Trochoidea trochoides (Poiret, 1789) again either banded or pale. I also found a single shell of the larger Trochoidea elegans (Gmelin, 1791) which can also be found in a few localities in the south of England. Other snails present and typical of the habitat were the sandhill snail, Theba pisana (O. F. Müller, 1774), pointed snail Cochlicella acuta (Müller, 1774) and Monacha cartusiana (O. F. Müller, 1774). Amongst the roots of pine trees was a small Trichia which I have not been to identify. At the top of the beach to the west of the town, in front of car parks and pyramid shaped flats, another stretch of dunes yielded the fascinatingly shaped Cernuella (Xerosecta) explanata (O. F. Müller, 1774), a flat shaped Helicid like an ochre coloured button with an amazing keel (pictured left), clinging to grass stems, some of them bleached by the sun. Lastly, more at home in the woods of chalk downland in the UK, was the operculate Pomatias elegans (O.F. Müller, 1774), living in small colonies around pavement trees near my hotel!

In summary if you like modernist architecture and shells, Le Grande Motte should be on your list!