Oh yeah.  I had a similar experience with some small nerites from the
Philippines.  The major difference is that my shipment was confiscated by US
Customs and then about a week later I had a visit (two hour) by two agents
from the US Department of Agriculture.  They were less than excited about
someone importing live snails, even by mistake.  They were very polite, but
the shells are gone.  I am still not sure they were really still alive, but
cannot say for sure one way or another.  Some nerites can live out of water
for two months.  These had been out at least that long before leaving the
P.I. and are not a species known for long survival times when put up dry.
It was an interesting experience (in the Chinese proverb sense of that
word).


Tom E.

-----Original Message-----
From: Conchologists List [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of
ronald noseworthy
Sent: Thursday, March 17, 2005 10:12 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Mollusc Survival


Hi, Everyone!

I thought that this might be of interest to
some list members who are interested in
mollusc survival in adverse conditions.

Tonight I opened a bag of what I had though
to be sand only from a beach on Cheju Island.
 A good friend of mine who has a knack for
finding interesting material from the many
beaches here had collected the sand on
February 22.  To my surprise, when I opened
the bag, I found in the damp sand several
specimens of Litttorina brevicula which had
been live taken. (The smell told me that!)
However, one of the specimens was still alive
and began to emerge from the shell.

More than three weeks have passed since this
specimen was collected and placed in the bag,
completely covered in sand.  Also, Ziplock
bags are supposed to be airtight and my
friend had ensured that this bag was
well-sealed.  It is rather surprising that
this specimen survived for so long in those
adverse conditions, even though its
companions expired.

Are there any other stories out there about
molluscs that were collected and somehow
managed to survive for a long time, or in
adverse conditions, before being attended to?

All the best!
Ron Noseworthy

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