Allen, Larger & oval holes are bored by the predatory larvae of drilid beetles & there are normally not more than 2 per shell (one entrance, one exit hole). Smaller & circular holes, of which there could be more than 2 per shell, are bored by an unknown organism. The holes you observed may have been in the latter category. Did you take photographs? If you e-mail me your postal address, I will send a reprint of my paper. Aydin snailstales.blogspot.com On Sun, 25 Feb 2007 18:35:30 -0500, Allen Aigen <[log in to unmask]> wrote: >Listers, >About one third of the shells of Sphincterochila fimbriata which I >examined on a hillside above the Sea of Galilee just south of Tiberius, >Israel had miniscule boreholes, most of which did not go all the way >through the shell. I found that many of these thick shelled land snail, >that normally lives exposed on the ground, has one to 6 tiny (~0.1mm) >boreholes on the upper surface. >What can bore such tiny holes, and why? >Thanks, >Allen Aigen NYC >[log in to unmask] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [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. ----------------------------------------------------------------------