Dear Ellen,

Albinism is described as a lack of melanin or black pigment. I have
experience with both vertebrates and mollusks.
Several specimens of Oliva that I have received actually had white shells
and animals. I would consider them to be albinos.
A few specimens had white shells or almost white shells and very light
colored animals. They would be considered to be hypomelanistic.

Some so called albino shells may not be authentic. Some shells can be
"baked' as raised temperature tends to fade colors.
Also, the sun tends to bleach out color. Therefore, most beach specimens are
simply "sun bleached'" or faded.

Some of the vertebrate albinos that I have worked with actually may not be
pure white. An example would be an albino corn snake that would be red and
white.
The black coloring or melanin would be missing. It would still have pink
eyes. This (the eyes) would not be detectable in mollusks.

This is a very short version, I hope that this helps.

Best wishes,

Dennis Sargent

________________________________________
From: Conchologists List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
Ellen Bulger
Sent: Thursday, February 26, 2009 9:10 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [CONCH-L] Albino shells

I thought albinism was a vertebrate thing?

If it's not, then I'd think what you'd really need is to see not simply the
shell, but the living animal. But even then, I don't think the pigments used
in the manufacture of the shell are the same ones you'd find coloring the
living body of the animal.

Probably much depends on how you define "albino".
On Thu, Feb 26, 2009 at 7:06 AM, Susan O'Connor <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
Good Morning all; How can you tell of a shell is a true albino? Especially
a beach specimen?
Thanks, Susan

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