Vicky Wall wrote:

I have two favorite self-collected shells in my collection, Atlantic Carrier
Shells and a Conus cedonulli.  My first real collecting trip was in 1988 to
Eleuthera, among several shelling veterans! We had a great time. Before the
trip, I thumbed through Tucker Abbott's Shelling in the Caribbean book and when
I saw that carrier shells were a possibility in Eleuthera, they immediately went
on my wish list. About mid-way through the week we were shelling off a beautiful
beach near the airport. There were wide sandy areas among the eel grass. I was
just floating around when I spotted 4 carrier shells within a 6 foot area of the
sand. I was amazed! Two were alive and two were fresh dead. I took them in to
shore to show the others. Later that day I found 3 more (one had an old bullet
attached!)  No one else on that trip found any and Alta VanLandingham really
made me feel special about that. As for my Conus cedonulli, I tell my friends
and students that it is the best shell I have ever found and it was found in the
nastiest area I had ever snorkelled. We were in Grenada in 1989 and on a "before
dinner" snorkel near our cottages, I thought I'd give the cove a try. This was
the most depressing area I had ever seen. The coral was all dead and covered
with silt. There were abandoned car batteries down there, oil drums, and other
trash. The bottom was coarse gravel and just a mess. I was on my way back in
when I spotted the live cedonulli crawling on this awful bottom. It was still
daytime and I was in only 5 feet of water. I knew this was a pretty shell and my
first live cone and once again, Alta's praise on such a neat find made my trip.
I guess we shellers are like golfers and tennis players: we can "replay" our
great moments as if they happened yesterday!

Jose Eduardo de Alencar Moreira wrote:

> Erick,
>
> It's a pity that nobody spent a couple of minutes to answer your message.
>
> To receive a box full of shells from a dealer or from a friend that you
> trade shells is exciting for sure, but nothing compared with self collected
> shells.
>
> I don't have good stories, but each self collected shell I have remembers me
> stories. It remembers me each trip I did, together with lot's of small great
> moments. That's one of the reasons I keep collecting. And living land locked
> in Brasilia, more than 700 miles far from the sea, that's why next Saturday
> I'm leaving for a two week vacation where I'll collect some more great
> moments that are also shells.
>
> They remind me a cold beach in California, a sea fan in the Berries
> (Bahamas), a dive in a 100 year old wreck in Recife, a shark encounter in
> Noronha (last April), a large Terebra taurina buried in sand in Alagoas, an
> almost world record Cittarium pica collected in Cartagena, the fear I felt
> in a 1 foot visibility dive and the Siratus I found in that dive, ... No
> good stories but tons of great moments.
>
> Even with all this silence, we are not alone, you bet. Does anyone would
> like to share their moments/stories with us?
>
> All the best,
>
> Eduardo Moreira
> Brasilia, Brazil
>
> -----Mensagem original-----
> De: Erick Staal [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Enviada em: Domingo, 3 de Outubro de 1999 11:54
> Para: [log in to unmask]
> Assunto: [CONCH-L] Question about selfcollected special species
>
> Hi all,
>
> While rummaging through my collection I found a tube with Phenacovolva
> brevirostris, which I collected in South Africa last year. I remember well
> how special that find was to me, because I come from a country (The
> Netherlands) where the shells aren't exactly renowned for their color and
> beauty, and then finding this....Wow!!! And now I am curious: most
> listmembers undoubtedly have a self-collected species in their collection
> which evokes especially dear memories when remembering how or when it was
> collected. Anyone a good story?
>
> Erick
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Sunday, October 03, 1999 3:08 AM
> Subject: Re: Question from Austria
>
> > Dang that send botton!!!!  I had a couple more - here is the full message:
> >
> > In a message dated 10/2/99 10:28:37 PM, you wrote:
> >
> > <<Can anyone else think of any  other animal genera that are the same as
> plant
> > genera. >>
> >
> > Here are a few involving Molluscs, though they are not all currently valid
> > names:
> >
> > Crucibulum - A cup-shaped fungus, and a limpet-like mollusc (family
> > Calyptraeidae)
> >
> > Mycena, Caprinus - These are both names of fungal genera, and junior
> synonyms
> > of genera of land snails.
> >
> > Digitaria - The crab grass that wrecks your lawn, and a marine bivalve
> > (family Astartidae)
> >
> > Zebrina - a vine-like decorative plant, and a genus of land snails (family
> > Buliminidae)
> >
> > Stellaria - common chickweed, and a genus of carrier shells (Xenophoridae)
> >
> > Capsella - a weed called shepherd's purse, and a subgenus of Donax (family
> > Donacidae)
> >
> > Trigonella - a legume called fenugreek, and a genus of margin shells
> (family
> > Marginellidae)
> >
> > Lens - the common legume called lentil, and a genus of fresh water mussels
> > (family Unionidae)
> >
> > Mitella - the plant miterwort, and a junior synonym of Calyptraea (family
> > Calyptraeidae)
> >
> > Phaseolus - the common garden green bean, and a genus in the family
> > Lametilidae (close to Nuculidae)
> >
> > Pisum - genus of the garden pea, and a junior synonym of Pisidium (fresh
> > water fingernail clams)
> >
> > Dipsacus - wild plant called teasel, and a junior synonym of Babylonia
> > (family Buccinidae)
> >
> > Cucumis - the garden cucumber, and a junior synonym of Marginella
> >
> > Paul M.
> >