Dear Conchlers,

Some of you are speaking of the shell of your dream. But if there is somebody who is remembering
his first shell or one of his first shells. This might be as well interested. Our two fist shells has
been Aporrhais pespelicani and Calyptraea chinensis. The first one dedected my mother, collecting
at the beach of Jesolo, in 1960, my first one was a Calyptraea chinensis, that I found in attached at
a dead Chamelea gallina. I was aged 7  years (in 1960), my mother, 49 years, when we spent our
holidays at the beach of Jesolo together with my father, who didn't collect shells. My mother started
collecting at the beach, but first only for playing with the shells, was also curious about this small hat sitting in a halve bivalve of Chamelea gallina. My mother took the shells home, my father bought her
the first small book by Hallwag: "Muscheln am Meer" and so begun our first collecting. She got
love to the shells and was able to classify the first ones. The first shell we started with number 1 / 1960 in our books and computer databasing is Bolinus brandaris. Later I was teached by my mother.
So what are your first shells. Maybe that very large collectors don't remember their first shell and
this is sad. The first 3 answering me with that story, will win a nice Aporrhais pespelecani from the
Mediterrenea, but collected later and from fishermen of Chioggia near Venice in remembering
of our first Aporrhais pespelecani.
with best regards
Helmut Nisters



Helmut "Helix" Nisters
Franz-Fischer-Str. 46
A-6020 Innsbruck / Austria / Innsbruck
phone and fax: 0043 / 512 / 57 32 14
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
web:    www.netwing.at/nisters/
           (please visit it and sign guestbook)

office:
Natural History Department of the
Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum Innsbruck
Feldstrasse 11 a
A-6020 Innsbruck / Austria / Europe
phone: 0043 / 512 / 58 72 86 - 37