On 03 Jan 2005, at 21:58, Monfils, Paul wrote:

> Do you mean that the soft parts are covered with a ferruginous layer?
> Or
> just the shell? Iron is capable of replacing calcium in ionic
> compounds.
> Therefore molluscs which live where there is an unusually high level of
> dissolved iron often develop a reddish-brown ("rust-colored") shell.
> This
> is often seen in molluscs which live in association with shipwrecks.
> On Cape
> Cod, Massachusetts, two large suspension bridges cross the widest
> manmade
> canal in the world, the Cape Cod Canal.  Specimens living on the
> concrete
> supports of these bridges often show such a red-brown color, due to
> the iron
> washing down from the bridges.  Specimens on the rocks a hundred feet
> away
> in either direction are white.
>
> Paul M.
>
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