Bob Lipe's comment about shells with octopus holes reminds
me of a recent shell adventure.

  I wanted to show my sister who had not been there before,
Peanut Island, with the hope of finding the huge colony of
strombus alatus and pugilis that had been there four years
ago when I went there.  It was Memorial Day then and the jet skis
and small boats were out in number, on the flats with their occupants
enjoying beer and loud rock music.  I and two fellow
shellers were on a far flat at this time. As the tide turned,
the strombs popped up in number - hundreds.  Totally ignored
by everybody. we carefully examined and replaced specimens, keeping
a few albinistic and fine specimens of alatus, and a few pugilis,
apiece.

Pan back to last month (January).   We made our way out to the same flat
at lowest tide - hope springing eternal.   However, this time there
were not only
no strombs to speak of, but also not even pieces of them.

Anyway, just as I was about to leave the flats, I saw just  one
perturbation
in the sand.  An olive !  I picked it up and the animal was still in it
although I could immediately tell it was dead.  There on the otherwise
perfect shell, up near the aperture, was a tiny hole - an octopus
hole, I was told.

I'll always prize this olive shell, large, shiny and beautiful - with
its little
octopus  hole.

This trip to Peanut Island was not in vain.  We found numerous lovely
specimens
of Neritina virginea in the beach drift. I'd never seen them on Peanut
before.

In the meantime, I wonder where the strombs went.

Karen

On Feb 10, 2008, at 9:29 AM, Robert Lipe wrote:

> I of course like perfect specimens, but on the rare shells for my own
> collection I will take second grade ones.  My Mentor Dan Steger who
> lived in Tampa had a study collection that I had access to at anytime.
> I could id my shells from his collection, and he had some imperfect
> shells.   I'm mostly on Marginellas now which don't have much damage
> and
> most are F+ to Gem.  I collected Florida and Caribbean shells for many
> years, but Marginellas are my passion for many years now.  I used to go
> with Jim Moore on his boat "The Cavalier"  he let me have his seconds
> and I went through his dredging material after he had gone through it
> and trippled my collection, because he wasn't picking out tiny and some
> small shells.
>
> There are some collectors that don't want a specimen that was taken
> alive.  Some like octopus holes in the shells that proved they were
> dead
> taken.  That's a whole new business.
>
> I'm giving a program for the St. Petersburg Shell Club on "LIVING
> SHELLS
> OF FLORIDA"  It's a power point program with the best picures I have
> taken over the last 40 years, and no Marginellas are included.  That
> was
> a different program. The date is March 14.  You can find more
> information on Stpeteshellclub.org .  Hope to see you there.  I usually
> don't write this much.
>
> The St. Petersburg shell show is Feb 22 and 23.
>
> Bob
>
> Robert Lipe Specimens
> www.theshellstore.com
> 348 Corey Ave
> St. Pete Beach, Fl 33706
>
>
> -
>
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