Re Mr. Poland's amusing Marginellid adventure- it is gratifying to know
i am not the only one who has used his oral orfice for short-term
mollusc storage!  I often do this when picking up little critters in the
few moments between the time a load of benthic sediment bearing molluscs
comes sloshing on board, and the time it is irretrievably dumped
overboard again.  This tends to gross out the fishermen, but their
penchant for slurping down almost-live Pecten parts doesn't do much for
me either!  I figure there probably aren't any germs in the ocean that i
need worry about...
        I did get a real charge out of one of my little charges once, however.
A Macoma calcarea i was holding by the lip gave me an honest-to goodness
electric shock!!  I have no idea how it did this, nor have i ever heard
any reports about electic bivalves, so this has to go into the books as
a truly unusual occurance.  Any takers on the cause of this phenom??
                                                                                -Ross M.