>In a message dated 8/22/1999 3:36:16 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
>[log in to unmask] writes:
>
> I asked one  native what
> the shells was and she said "puca" shell, at least that is what it sounded
> like.   Do any of you know what that shell would be?


Dear Tall,

Hawaiians use the term for the crown of a cone shell, a discoidal chard
that is the product of post- mortem (usually by natural forces)
decapitation of the very posterior portion of the shell.  Viewed from the
posterior ("top") it is the entirety of the spire except
(characteristically) the apex, which is destroyed in the same process thus
rendering the donut-shaped puka ready-made for stringing as a decorative bead.

Harry
Harry G. Lee
Suite 500
1801 Barrs St.
Jacksonville, Fl. 32204
USA   904-384-6419
<[log in to unmask]>
Visit the Jacksonville Shell Club Home Page at:
http://home.sprynet.com/sprynet/wfrank/jacksonv.htm

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