To All,

I am forwarding this request from a student at Florida State.  As you can
see by my response, I haven't a clue.  If anyone can help, please respond
directly to Natalia at [log in to unmask]

Thanks,

Tom Eichhorst in New Mexico USA (still digging through e-mail)

----- Original Message -----
From: Natalia Regales <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, June 25, 2000 1:48 PM
Subject: Please, a question from Panama


> Hello,
>
> My name is Natalia Regales, I live in Panama, and I am a student of the
> Florida State University. I have to do a scientific research for my
biology
> class about shells from two different kinds of beaches, both located on
the
> Pacific Ocean. The beaches I chose to study are both on the Panama Bay,
but
> considerably apart.
>
> The main difference of the selected beaches are their tides. In one of
them,
> during low tide the ocean goes back only a few meters, while in the other
> one it goes back around one hundred meters. It can then be conclude that
for
> this to happen the first beach must have a much greater slope than the
other
> one. My hypothesis is that even though these beaches are on the same bay,
> the effects caused by the different slopes, will make the kind of
> predominant shells that can be found on them different.
>
> I carried out the experiment and it was true, even though there were the
> same kind of shells on both beaches, the predominant shells were
different.
> I was wondering if you could please give me some more information on how
the
> slope of the beaches affects the shells and their environment, or just
where
> I can look for it. I would really appreciate it.
>
> Thanks again,
>
> Natalia Regales

Natalia,

Your question is a good one but very difficult to answer.  There are a great
number of other variables involved in what shells may be found at any time
on a particular section of beach.  Currents, winds, salinty, etc., can all
effect this.  However, I am quite some species would prefer a gentle slope
over a steep slope or vice-versa.  But after saying this, I have not seen
anything written on this subject.   I will pass on your request to the
members of Conch-L, a list server with a number of professional
malacologists as well as very knowledgable, amateur conchologists.

Tom Eichhorst