Collecting Tropical Marine Shells

by Kevin Brown

Strombus alatus,
Gmelin 1791.
Collected on Peanut Island, Florida in 1990. This is a beautiful and unusual example, as its colour is purple around the mouth instead of the usual orange/brown.
Photo and © : Terry Wimbleton

The aesthetic appeal of tropical marine shells is such that few people can resist picking them up off a beach. This appeal seems to exist across all age groups, to apply equally to men and women, and to occur in all cultures around the world. Nor is this appeal a new thing, for exotic seashells have been found in the Roman ruins of Pompeii, and shell necklaces are among the earliest known human adornments.

For most people collecting tropical marine shells does not go beyond having a glass jar full of shells in the bathroom, or a few larger ornamental shells on the mantlepiece to remind them of an exotic holiday or of happy childhood days at the seaside. For those who wish to take things further however shell collecting can be a fascinating and absorbing hobby, which also gives the opportunity to individuals to make a real contribution to scientific study.

Morum dennisoni
Reeve, 1842.
49 mm. Dredged in 100-120 metres, Guajira, Columbia.
Photo and © : Julian Joseph

For those living in tropical areas, or regularly visiting the same place, systematic collecting over a long time may enable them to build up a detailed knowledge of the shells of a particular region. Indeed many books about shells from specific geographical regions are written by dedicated amateurs, and for ‘out of the way’ places even the shells collected on a single visit may be worth recording.

People collecting shells in the field may be able to record specific details on the biology and ecology of different species – for example habitat preference, what a species feeds on, which animals prey on different molluscs, when and where different molluscs breed (though breeding molluscs, egg cases and molluscs guarding egg cases should be observed but never interfered with). Keeping live animals temporarily in aquaria may allow detailed observations and photographs of the living animals. Some collectors will study the ethnographic use of shells; others will find a challenge in unravelling the taxonomy and classification of shells, delving into historic books and museum collections to aid them in these studies.

Phyllonotus duplex, (Roding 1798) collected at 20m on scuba dive, at Tarrafal, Santiago, Cape Verde
Photo and © : John Whicher

Many collectors focus their attention on a particular group of shells, building up a collection which perhaps explores variation between and within different species, or growth series to show how a shell changes through its life. Tracing references to their chosen group through the conchological literature as much as obtaining actual specimens.

Most museum collections are built upon a foundation of Victorian, or earlier, private collections, and today serious private collectors continue to enrich museum collections through donations or by making specimens available for scientific study.

Gloripallium speciosum
A colourful scallop from Okinawa, Japan

In all these different facets of studying tropical marine shells three things must be remembered:

• Recording data with the shells you collect is important.
  The shells can be identified and named at any time, but details of where and when collected should always be recorded. Without this data the shells are simply pretty objects, with the data they become scientific specimens.
• Publish information to share it with scientists and other collectors.
  You may have observed something unique or previously unknown, but unless you publish details it will remain unknown to the broader world. Whether short notes on habitat of species or longer ‘check lists’ of shells found at a particular site, magazine editors are always looking for articles and will happily advise whether material is of interest.
• Conservation is of prime importance.
  Although habitat destruction and overfishing of ‘commercial’ species are the principal threats to marine life, there are many laws governing the collecting of shells, international, national and local, and even the collection of dead shells from the beach may be banned in some areas. Would-be collectors are advised to check on local restrictions before collecting, and where collecting live shells is permitted to restrict the number of specimens collected

Whatever your interest in collecting tropical marine shells, joining a club or society – and there are many around the world – to meet and correspond with likeminded collectors could help you to get more out of this fascinating study. While not ‘official’ functions of the Conchological Society, individual members may be able:

• to help with identifying tropical marine shells;
• to recommend recent literature on shells from different regions or on molluscs from different families;
• to advise on the disposal of old collections of shells or of books on conchology.