Was this from Mark Poland?  He sent me the pictures too and I was just
trying to get the picture into an e-mail when your note arrived.  I told him
it was phosphorescence and we determined the shell was not painted.  That is
now clear from the pictures.  Yes, I think it is Melongena bispinosa.  The
pictures are impressive.  I don't have a sample of M. bispinosa to test.
Does anyone have one to look at in the dark?

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Monfils, Paul [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Monday, October 25, 1999 7:25 AM
> To:   [log in to unmask]
> Subject:      Phosphorescent Seashell?
>
> Hello Conch-L'ers,
> I recently posted a request for help in identifying a shell, a picture of
> which was posted on Bret Raines' web site.  Andrew kindly identified it as
> Melongena bispinosa.  I thought you might be interested in the story of
> this
> shell.  A gentleman contacted the American Museum of Natural History, who
> referred him to me (probably, I suspect, as a result of a recent article I
> wrote on fluorescence in shells).  The man said he has a basket of shells
> in
> his bathroom, and he recently noticed that one of the shells "glowed in
> the
> dark" for several minutes after the room lights were turned off.  He
> wanted
> to know if I had ever heard of this phenomenon, or if he had made a
> "discovery".  I e-mailed him back and as diplomatically as possible asked
> how much experience he has with shells, and if he was sure the shell in
> question was real, and not a manmade copy.  He was very forthright and
> told
> me he has no experience with shells whatsoever, but that he thought the
> shell looked real.  Subsequently he photographed the specimen and sent me
> several images.  I also thought the shell looked real, but didn't
> recognize
> the species, so I made a composite of his images, and asked Bret to post
> it
> on his site.  So, now I know the species - but I still don't know why the
> shell glows in the dark.  Maybe it is due to some kind of alga or
> microorganism that is dried on the shell?  Or could it actually be a
> characteristic of the species?  I don't have a specimen of this species on
> hand.  Does anyone have a specimen which they can check to see if it
> exhibits phosphorescence?  Most recently, the owner of the shell has sent
> me
> some images which he captured by doing time exposures in the dark, totally
> by the light emitted by the shell.  Incidentally, the difference between
> phosphorescence and fluorescence, in practical terms, is that
> phosphorescence persists after the incident radiation has been removed.
> Regards,
> Paul M.