Does anyone have answers to Nancy's questions below?  I was sort of
interested in the answers myself.

Beth DeHaas
Whitefield, ME, USA
-----Original Message-----
From: nansaidh <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Sunday, May 27, 2001 9:39 AM
Subject: [CONCH-L] egg cases


>Hi folks,
>
>Yesterday I decided to keep a few egg cases I found on Sea Oat Island (FL),
>in the Gulf of Mexico...   first ones I've brought home.  :)     One is a
>long string that I believe is probably Busycon sinistrum and the other is a
>football sized and shaped clump of triangular cases... not sure about that
>one yet.
>
>They have me really curious...   how do the mollucs produce such large
>cases??  I mean...  exactly how?  The sizes are amazing in comparison to
>the size of the animal making them.   Is each case strung to the next after
>it is "excreted" (?) or are they produced together in the string as
>found?  Is one string the work of a single mollusc or several (they seem
>too well organized for this).    They also appear to be (and logic says
>they must be) very strong...  what are the cases made from?
>
>I have more questions but will cut this short, having mercy on whomever
>chooses to reply.  :)
>
>Best regards to all and great shelling,
>Nancy Smith
>Boynton Beach, FL
>
>webSmith of....
>www.icshells.com
>www.browardshellclub.org (coming soon)
>
>