Hi,
The ugliest shell in my collection?
I've got 3 upper valves of Pododesmus macroschisma (Pacific false jingle)
and a lower valve of Crassostrea gigas. They're beachworn, dirty,
and the oyster is varnished.
Why do I have them? Simple...thier catalog numbers are 1 and 2.
I just can't throw away the first shells I ever collected, even
if they are hiddeous specimens. When I was a little kid I thought
they were pretty special.
 
Peter Egerton,
Vancouver, B.C.
 
 
 
>Hate to close on an ugly note, BUT - several folks have alluded to
>"ugly but precious" specimens they possess.  Maybe some others would
>care to share about the ugliest shell in your collection, and why you
>keep it.  Dealers - the ugliest shell you have ever sold?  Mine was a
>specimen of Spondylus calcifer, from west Mexico.  The specimen was
>about 9 inches (22 cm) wide, and weighed 12 pounds (5.5 kg), with the
>lower valve about a pound heavier than the upper.  The upper valve was
>almost 2 inches (5 cm) thick, with an additional layer of encrustation
>at least an inch thick.  When closed, it looked like a coral-encrusted
>canon ball.  Sticking out of the center of the upper valve was the
>4-inch lower valve of a Chama mexicana, equally encrusted.  It made a
>handy handle for lifting off the top valve of the Spondylus.
>Eventually someone purchased it, and hopefully it still has a good
>home on a strong shelf somewhere.
>Regards,
>Paul M.
>Rhode Island
>
>
Peter Egerton, Vancouver, Canada
Collector of worldwide Mollusca