>Is it the case that none of the species that have been listed thus far are
>used as food?  Solely curio trade items?
>
>-James

In general, if it is big enough the animal may be eaten, and even smaller
species might be used if it is not too much effort to get a sufficient
amount of meat to be worthwhile.  I do not know of any mollusks known to be
inherently toxic for consumption, but some nudibranchs take up stinging
cells from the cnidarians they eat, and certain species might be more of a
risk than others for food poisoning.  Some also can be rather tough,
requiring a lot of cooking effort.

Mollusca: The Southern Synthesis reports excessive harvesting of oyster
reefs (dead or alive) for lime as an historical problem, but I believe most
modern non-shellcraft industrial use of shells (for gravel, antacids, lime
in mortar or cement, etc.) relies on shells harvested for other purposes.
It is cheaper to offer to take away what the fishermen are dumping than to
dredge for yourself.



Dr. David Campbell
"Old Seashells"
Department of Geological Sciences
CB 3315 Mitchell Hall
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill NC 27599-3315 USA
[log in to unmask], 919-962-0685, FAX 919-966-4519

"He had discovered an unknown bivalve, forming a new genus"-E. A. Poe, The
Gold Bug