>What kinds of shells take your breath away?

Reversed coiling. Groups of color-variations in some scallops and
Corculum. Spectacular ammonoids. A particular rissoid, Merelina
coronata (yes, a RISSOID). Hexaplex cichoreus with spines full of
nested Spondylus or Chama. The 3 species of Angaria. Allonautilus
scrobiculatus. Typhis panoplus. Giant Bullata bullata. Lots...

>Do you spend more time collecting and caring for shells, or just
>looking at them?

Probably the former.

>Do you display your shells?

Only those too large to fit into my storage cabinet drawers.

>Do you collect books about shells?

Can't get (afford) enough... but a reference collection is an
absolute must... both for Recent and fossil! Costs me far too much,
but I am amassing quite a stack... and also papers, bulletins,
Professional Papers etc. Just splurged out on Okutani 2000... can't
wait for it to arrive.

>Do you talk much about them to other people, or is it a private activity?

Some at work, but mainly on this list... a lifeline!

>Do you appreciate shells for their looks or the way they feel?

The former. Feel... they could as easily be glass, plastic or ceramic.

>Is a living mollusk more beautiful, or a cleaned shell?

Depends. But almost any mobile gastropod or cephalopod animal is
beautiful (have a hard look at a crawling slug sometime... the
picture of streamlined grace).

>Are self-collected specimens more precious, or those that cost a lot of money?

It's a shell... if I collected it myself it may have some particular
memory, of course, but the memory is not the shell.
--
Regards
Andrew

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