>Some freak shells are easy to understand, others look like freak but
>are always "deformed" as
>Solaropsis pelliserpentis which has a melted side.
>
>This Ellobium came from Phuket
>
>http://www.wonderphotos.com/shellphotos/ellobium.jpg
>
>It is hard to imagine how this shell could grow like this. And it is
>not a single specimen, I got a
>few more exactly like that.
>
>Marcus

Hi Marcus

The shell has been severely eroded on tle lower surface. I think this
will be because the animal was geronitic and had stopped growing,
hence the shell has been exposed to abrasion on the final underside
(remember the shell rotates around the coiling axis as it grows, but
ceases rotation at cessation of growth) long-term.

I have noted a smooth eroded patch behind the aperture in a number of
largish Recent & fossil operculate shells (eg Penion, Pleuroploca)...
these specimens had ceased growth and the shell had become worn where
it rested on the operculum during the snail's activities.
--
Andrew Grebneff
Dunedin
New Zealand
Fossil preparator
<[log in to unmask]>
Seashell, Macintosh, VW/Toyota van nut

----------------------------------------------------------------------
[log in to unmask] - a forum for informal discussions on molluscs
To leave this list, click on the following web link:
http://listserv.uga.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=conch-l&A=1
Type your email address and name in the appropriate box and
click leave the list.
----------------------------------------------------------------------