Bill,

Shrimp dinner sounds good to me too. I can't answer your question but
can add a few bits of information from Zeigler and Porreca's Olive
Shells of the World:

Mrs L.E. Crovo, who was the aquarium keeper and Olive fancier mentioned
in the Olive information I sent to Don Barclay and he subsequently
edited for Conch-L this morning, noted two things of interest here, the
first confirming the two years Bob Lipe mentioned:

1. "It was noted, however, that long continued confinement, in spite of
frequent water changes and sand replacements, resulted in a chalkiness
of the shell with loss of color and sheen.(p. 11)

and 2. "Three olives that have been under Mrs. Crovo's aquarium regime
for 2 years, have about doubled in size, growing from an original
slender 1.5 inches to a fat 2.5 inches." (p. 14)

Note that she does not say they were dead at the end of two years.

And regarding diet, "They accept a great variety of animal food, such as
pieces of shrimp, fish, beef, and best of all, other live mollusks such
as coquina (Donax variabilis), dwarf surf clam (Mulinia lateralis), egg
cockles (Laevicardium mortoni and laevigatum), and small smooth tellins
(Tellina). Large numbers of Olivella placed in the tank were not eaten
alive, but would be eaten after they had died. Bivalves with a rough
sculpture such as Chione cancellata or Pecten irradians were
consistently rejected."  But it seems they love already dead pectens and
"would line up beside a dead pecten 'like little pigs at a trough.' "
(p. 11)

I do think it noteworthy that you and Bob Lipe and Don Barclay have such
good success with the species you keep, and yet, when I was doing all
that reading for Don on Olives, I learned that the very common
Indo-Pacific species Oliva oliva is extremely hard to keep alive in an
aquarium. Other species (miniacea and sayana and several others I
noticed mentioned in research I read) seem to be excellent aquarium
subjects. Wonder why Oliva oliva is so fragile? Does anyone have any
experience that would answer the question?

Lynn Scheu
Louisville KY
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"William M. Frank" wrote:
>
> For over a year I kept about two dozen O. sayana in a small acquarium.
> During normal times (daylight), they would be completely buried in the
> sand with only their siphon visible.  Within a few seconds of dropping a
> piece
> of dead fresh shrimp in the acquarium, bedlam ensued.  The whole gaggle
> suddenly popped up and began a frantic search for lunch.
>
> Although they were fed various mollusks (Neverita duplicata, Donax
> variabilis, or the catch of the day), they always showed more interest
> in fresh shrimp than anything else.  Of course, I too would rather eat
> a shrimp instead of a Neverita.
>
> My acquarium specimens were still going strong after over a year and
> half when the experiment was terminated.  Does anyone have any
> information on the normal life span of this species?
>
> Bill Frank
> 1865 Debutante Dr.
> Jacksonville, Florida 32246
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