Paul C, Paul M, Bobbi, Tom, and the nice people who replied off-list, Wow, thanks for all the help, book and magazine suggestions, websites, ebay opinions. I was intimidated to post on a list like this, thanks for being so nice to a newbie. :D I promise not to post very often, and instead I'll read and learn some things. A couple of you suggested shell clubs, and that would be fun. I looked online. The nearest one is more than an hour away, and their link didn't work anyway. But then in 5 months I am moving to an uninspiring state with no seashells or clubs in it. Don't ask why lol. But then in the summer I am going to Alaska for a week...I wonder if I might find some nice shells there. Kind of cold maybe! Then in January...Hawaii for a week or two! (I want to learn more about looking for shells in Hawaii.) Here’s one more question, just curious. There was a gentleman on the list who asked for help with an ID for a couple of murex from Mozambique. So when someone needs help like that, what do others on the list do? Is there usually someone who happens to have the same shell and knows what it is? Or do you all get out your reference books? Or can you make educated guesses based on how it looks similar to something else? Or what happens? For fun, I looked at one of the mystery shells, and then was googling Mozambique murexes to compare them, but anyone could do that. It's fascinating to me that someone who obviously knows a lot about shells, needs to know what one might be. How do you all figure it out? Are there a lot of unknown species still? Corynne _________________________________________________________________ Don’t just search. Find. Check out the new MSN Search! http://search.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200636ave/direct/01/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [log in to unmask] - a forum for informal discussions on molluscs To leave this list, click on the following web link: http://listserv.uga.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=conch-l&A=1 Type your email address and name in the appropriate box and click leave the list. ----------------------------------------------------------------------