At 02:30 PM 6/26/98 -0500, you wrote:
> Can you more experienced conchologists/malacologists out there
> help me with a few questions concerning the age of shells.
>
> 1) I was wondering how long it takes most cones and cowries to
> reach their adult size? That is when the shell is considered
> adult and no longer juvenile.
>
> 2) Can you determine the age of a shell? I know with some
> bivalves, you can count the number of growth lines to determine
> its age. How do you tell the age of gastropods such as cones or
> cowries?
>
> 3) Are giant sized shells very old shells or are they ones which
> just grew bigger?
>
> Thanks in advance for any and all responses.
>
> Ted Hu
> Montebello, California USA
>
Ted, I'm not sure about all species but all of the Lambis show old age by
the marked thickening of the lip.
Horatio