Geoff,

Yeah, I was wondering if others would confirm that it's unusual to make
intertidal finds. Thanks for responding on that. When I stopped at the
marine lab at Panacea, FL, the scientists had collected a live C.
parthenopeum in shallow water from a bay in the panhandle of FL. That may or
may not be unusual for FL but my intuition tells me that it is a less
frequent depth for North Carolina, which experiences generally colder
winters.

My shell is 3 1/2 inches in length. Yours was worn? I guess it partly
depends on the age and these can get quite a bit larger than mine.

In that vein, I was going to ask people about one other notable thing about
my shell: There is absolutely no encrustation at all. There were 2 or 3 very
small filaments of green algae on the entire shell, which may have drifted
into the periostracum and tangled.

But the periostracum was evidently doing a superb job of preventing fouling
organisms. Is this unique to certain species maybe up to a certain age? The
properties of the periostracum would be quite valuable to understand, no?
(Haven't checked the archives whether this particular has been discussed,
but I don't recall it).

David Kirsh



> From: Geoff Macaulay <[log in to unmask]>
> Reply-To: Conchologists of America List <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Mon, 13 May 2002 21:29:55 +1000
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: funny how you find the best shell in the 1st 10 minutes
>
> David
> I have seen a few Cymatium parthenopeum while diving, but only ever one
> intertidally. It was also sitting out in the open on an intertidal sand flat
> at Merimbula in southern New South Wales, Australia, at night.
> It was a pretty grotty worn old shell but quite an amazing animal
>
> Geoff