Hello,
I am a new subscriber to Conch-L, my name is Roland Guenther and I’m from
Germany. I’ve been following the conversation for some time and have read a lot
in the archives and I’ve learned a lot. Some short information about me and
my collection: I am now 28 years old and have started to collect about 24
years ago, not very effectively and professional but I still have some shells
from the beginning. About two years ago I started collecting more intensely and
the collection is slowly growing. To pick up a recent topic: I collect just
about everything, every family, species and (almost) every quality, if the
species is rare or new for me. Of course at some point the problem of space
will occur, which is probably the only reason to specialise at some point, but
at the moment there are still a few corners in my flat where I can put another
cabinet or two.
I recently also started a homepage. You can have a look at it under :
http://www.rolands-seashells.de.
And I also have a first question about pinnidae. It seems to be a common
problem that these shells get cracks after some time. I’ve got a P. nobilis, a
P. rudis and an unidentified species from Australia – they all show cracks.
Somebody on this forum suggested some time ago to use oil to prevent breaking,
I will try this on the next shell but I wonder how this might work. Does the
oil somehow minimise the tensions in the shell? And how do the tensions get
in the shell in the first place? If it has something to do with the drying
process then why don’t other shells break or is there a difference in the
chemical structure of pinshells?
Curious,
Roland

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