>Sadly, even keeping them in a closet does not keep them from fading.
I don't know why some pigments fade in the dark. Why should they wait
til the animal is dead before beginning to fade? It's not as if the
shell is living tissue. However it DOES happen.
The one specimen of Exilia expeditionis (=Surculina) I collected was
maroon when it came up from the canyon. 5 years later, stored in the
dark the whole time, it's now peachy. I never took a photo of it when
it was dark.
--
Andrew Grebneff
165 Evans St, Dunedin 9001, New Zealand
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Seashell, Macintosh, VW/Toyota van nut