Dear Vicky,
 
At 11:25 AM 3/10/98 +0500, you wrote:
>Art, stay out of the bars and keep flying...
 
There are eight species of wentletrap shells regularly found ON THE BEACH
on Sanibel, especially "by the lighthouse". They are Epitonium angulatum,
E. tollini, E. humphreysii, E. candeanum, E. novangliae, E. rupicola, E.
matthewsae, and E. albidum (that's not counting the species living offshore
in deeper water). Some of these (e.g., novangliae and candeanum) are hard
to come by, but are there. Other species (e.g., angulatum and humphreysii)
are rather common. Some of the locals, especially Shell Museum volunteers
and San-Cap Shell Club members, are intense and dedicated wentletrap
aficionados(as): collections of more than one hundred wentletrap shells in
one day are not uncommon. In the past, the museum collection volunteers
have gone through a large jar that allegedly contained more than ten
thousand wentletraps. This large number of shells yielded seven out the
eight species known locally. Museum volunteer Mary McHarg has filled the
glass base of a table lamp with locally collected wentletraps. So, Vicky,
please come back and check Sanibel out again for wentletraps; they are here
waiting for you!
__________________________________________________________________________
Jose H. Leal, Ph.D.
Director-The Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum
Editor-THE NAUTILUS
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3075 Sanibel-Captiva Road
Sanibel, FL 33957 USA
(941) 395-2233; fax (941) 395-6706