Aloha,
I am new to the group and must admit I am not an avid collector but I do
enjoy
looking up the shells you discuss on the list.  I thought I would share
how
I got all two of the shells in my collection.
 
I worked as a pilot on a tourist submarine in the Caribbean from 1990-96.
 We would take two
passengers down to a shipwreck at 800 feet.  We used two different subs
that had a
maximum depth of 1000 and 1200 feet.  Whenever we did certain maintenance
on the subs we would need to do a test dive to the maximum depth for an
hour.
Another pilot and myself started to collect some of the shells down there
using a pretty
crude scoop we temporarily put on the front of the sub.  It was on one of
these
test dives that I collected quoys slit shell at 950 feet.  It was the only
one we had
ever seen.  At our regular dive site we would occasionally come upon
Adonsons
slit shells and follow their progress for weeks as they made their way
along the vertical face
of the Cayman Wall.  It always seemed odd to us that these Adonsons slit
shells would
always be making their way North to South along the wall.  It was on
Another one of our
test dives that I collected an Adonsons slit shell at 450'.  Our senior
pilot had over 4000
dives to the wreck and once collected a Top shell off of the wreck.  He
sent it somewhere
for classification and it turned out to be a new species of Top shell.  He
decided to name
his new species "Shipwreck".  At the height of our shelling frenzy we came
up with all sorts
of reasons why we needed to do a "test dive".
 
I would like to ask for some assistance from the group.  The book I have
is not very
extensive when it comes to the slit shells.  I do not know the scientific
name and am
not even sure about the common name for either of the shells that I have
and would be
interested in knowing them.  I would also like to have an idea of the
value of these shells.
They are both in excellent condition.
 
Thank you
 
Paul Mayer
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