Interesting. I wonder what the mechanism is of changing shell coloring
according to the color of the substrate (sand)?

Previously I thought that the coloring of the shell would either be
determined by genetics or by food source (I remember being told that the
latter was the case with purple and orange specimens of Nucella (Thais)
lamellosa in the Seattle area)

Recently I was in Monterey and saw many color variants of Olivella
biplicata washed up on the same beach -- the typical bluish gray to lightly
striped to dark black-brown.

Alex (in Berkeley, CA)

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