Probably the indiviual who has the "Most Strange & Unusual Lots" is
none other than your American Conchologist Assistant Editor, Charlotte
Lloyd.  At the August, 1997 Jacksonville Shell Club Show, Char exhibited
about 20 linear feet of unusual items entitled "Molluscan Connections" which
included such items as a "Batmans Belt"  with attachments from the
Philippines.  Believe me, it was a display that you had to see to really
appreciate what strange things can happen in the sea.

Naturally, Charlotte garnered virtually all the votes from other exhibitors
in the competion for the "Exhibitors Choice Award."

Bill F.

----- Original Message -----
From: Monfils, Paul <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, September 01, 1999 11:23 AM
Subject: Re: Strange and Unusual Lots


> A few unusual specimens come to mind.
> A friend has a green glass beer bottle with a slipper limpet (Crepidula
> fornicata) inside.  The shell is about 2.5 inches (6.25 cm) in length and
> almost 2 inches (5 cm) in width.  The bottle opening is about 3/4 of an
inch
> (1.9 cm) in diameter.  Apparently the larval limpet swam into the bottle
and
> settled on the inner surface, then grew to maturity there, attached to the
> glass.  The bottle must have served as its private greenhouse, growing
algae
> to serve as its food.
> Then there was the "bivalve chain" I had a few years ago - a large Lima
lima
> vulgaris, to which was attached a large Chama brassica, to which was
> attached a medium-size thorny oyster (Spondylus variegatus), to which was
> attached a medium-size cock's-comb oyster (Lopha cristagalli), to which
was
> attached another, smaller, Chama brassica.  The whole thing curved around
> into sort of a horseshoe shape.  Too bad it didn't remain in the ocean
long
> enough for some other bivalve to fill in the gap and make a complete ring!
> Xenophora (carrier shells) are always a good source of the unusual.  You
> never know what they will attach to themselves.  I have seen two specimens
> with land snails attached.  One specimen attached a piece of wood about 2
> inches in length, with a nail sticking through it.  One had a bottle cap
> attached.  One carrier attached an auger (Terebra) shell, the other end of
> which was attached to a large chunk of another carrier shell.  But my
> favorite was the specimen with the built-in collection data.  A Xenophora
> pallidula from the Philippines had attached a triangular piece of brown
> glass, with the single word "Philippines" printed across it in white.  The
> source of this carrier costume component was later identified as a San
> Miguel Beer bottle.
> Regards,
> Paul M.