Shells on Stamps – Page 2
by Tom Walker
Bivalves have not been forgotten by stamp designers, there being many families represented, of which Pectinidae are the most frequent. It is of interest that no tusk shells have, to date, been shown on any stamp, and only very few chitons. Land and freshwater shells are shown on a good number of stamps.
Molluscs without shells - nudibranchs and cephalopods - are commonly included on stamps, both realistic and stylised; Jules Verne's "20,000 Leagues under the Sea" has allowed many stylised octopi to be shown on stamps. Terrestrial slugs are few and far between.
Fossils are included in over 100 stamps, many of them showing ammonites and other cephalopods, although fossil gastropods and bivalves are present on stamps.
Most molluscs are shown realistically, but the shell on some stamps is very small and stylised and can be difficult to see, let alone identify. Much time can be spent trying to put a name to a particular shell (you cannot always assume that the name printed on the stamp is correct), or pestering more knowledgeable friends for their opinions.