>  I have several shells with predator drill holes in them.  Concave holes are made by moonsnails using a radula.  Vertical sided tubular holes are made by oyster drills.  <

Unfortunately, this is an overgeneralization.  Muricids and naticids can make either shape.


>Does anyone know what mechanism oyter drills use?  <

Both use a combination of rasping with the radula and secreting shell-dissolving chemicals.

    Dr. David Campbell
    Old Seashells
    University of Alabama
    Biodiversity & Systematics
    Dept. Biological Sciences
    Box 870345
    Tuscaloosa, AL  35487-0345 USA
    [log in to unmask]

That is Uncle Joe, taken in the masonic regalia of a Grand Exalted Periwinkle of the Mystic Order of Whelks-P.G. Wodehouse, Romance at Droitgate Spa

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