Date:  03/24/1998  11:09 am  (Tuesday)
      From:  Roland Anderson
        To:  conch-L
   Subject:  shell dissolution
 
Hi everyone!
 
Does anyone know a reference for the dissolution of shells in
sea water? As in XX g/day or year? Seems like some shells
stay forever, but they must dissolve sometime? Or does it take
something like the sponge Clione to get rid of shells?
Reason I'm asking is that I'm giving a talk this summer on a
little local (Puget Sound, Wash. St., USA) octopus that lives in
beer bottles and keeps the shells of its prey inside, mostly
Olivella baetica but also Alia spp, Odostomia spp, Eulima spp,
and various small bivalves. There are significantly more shells in
the occupied vs the unoccupied bottles. My question is, how
long have these shells been in the bottles. Of course they are
quite small, less than 1 cm, which may make a difference in
how quick they dissolve.
Hope someone can help, and thanks, if you can.
Roland
 
Roland C. Anderson, Puget Sound Biologist
The Seattle Aquarium
1483 Alaskan Way
Seattle, WA 98101 USA
206-386-4346
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