Ross -

What I see is a dissolved part of the cone.  If melted the verticle (in
picture dimensions)
would be still there.  It looks as if a predator ?cone? cane and
attached to gain the internals.
For some reason it broke off itself and shows how powerful the mucus is
when wanted.

Martin

Ross Mayhew wrote:
> I love freaks - probably because i'm a bit of a one myself!!  Anyway, i am puzzled about how some of them form: most can be fairly easily tucked away in 6 or 7 categories: developmental, genetic (from rare colors/patters at one end all the way up to Major Mutant), pollution-related, injury-related (shell or mantle), natural contaminants (like nickel in the New Caladonia marine environmnent....), disease-freaks and gerontic features (almost every species has its own particular favorite oddities when it gets old...). (admittedly many freaks could be due to multiple causes, however: combinations of conditions instead of just one)  However, some shells, like some people i guess, you just have to wonder how in the world they ended up that way! This is one:
> http://www.schnr-specimen-shells.com/34146.JPG - the "melted" one on the left.  Any theories??
>
> -Ross M, in sunny New Scotland
>
>
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--
Martin H. Eastburn
@ home at Lions' Lair with our computer lionslair at consolidated dot net
TSRA, Endowed; NRA LOH & Patron Member, Golden Eagle, Patriot's Medal.
NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Founder
IHMSA and NRA Metallic Silhouette maker & member.
http://lufkinced.com/

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