As opposed to last year, this spring  was a bit on the slow side for
Gyroscala rupicola, brown banded wentletraps, on the shores of Great South
Bay here in New York, on the lee side of the Fire Island, a very long
barrier beach island offshore.....they were nowhere near as numerous on the
beach and on average, not terribly big. i dont think we got any over 20mm.
that is typical shelling, of course, never the same. But even in this slow
year every  visit to the beach in season  netted at least 10-20+ unbroken
individuals.

my last visit for the year to the best beach was yesterday, and only one
rupicola was found;  almost no shells in the drift. except for those of one
species...a newcomer to this beach. wherever there was drift there were
tons of itty bitty blue mussels. and in the areas where there were hard
surfaces exposed, they were covered with the tiny juvenile mussels. i dont
think i ever noticed them in this habitat before.

a sheller friend has just pointed out that the breaches of Fire Island
caused by hurricane Sandy, ie where several new cuts through the island
existed that were not present before), could be in play here. it will be
interesting to see if the habitat changes and/or if rupicola abundance
drops... Blue mussels are open coast species, but they are ridiculously
common in other bays here.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
[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.
----------------------------------------------------------------------