How to clean minutes sea shells
How to clean minutes sea shells from shell grit. I know how hard it is to deal with tiny shells that are less than 2mm. I use needles of all sort but the best one is the acupuncture ones and it will take care of little grains of sand that are logged in the aperture and siphonal canal. To get rid of sand inside the shells, I put a shell one at the time into a small sealed plastic bag then with my fingers I flick the shell and all the sand will come out leaving a shell free of sand. If the shell is very fragile make sure you flick the plastic...
read moreBivetiella cancellata feeding habits
On the 27 September 2017 I got a Bivetiella cancellata from the sandy bottom of Port San Miquel in Ibiza. I put the living shell in my aquarium and for months I wasn’t sure if it was feeding as there is not much in the aquarium until I got from the fisherman 5 Bolma rugosa that I put in the aquarium with rocks so they can feed on. Then one day I saw Bivetiella cancellata feeding of the Bolma rugosa. So is Bivetiella cancellata a parasite, feeding on the blood or fluids of other molluscs ?...
read moreKeeping shells
If for some reason you can’t display your shells, you can only put them in plastic boxes. I suggest cotton wool to put the shells in and wrap the shells with kitchen paper towels. Don’t wrap any shiny shells with paper as it can damage them by the paper absorbing humidity. Trust me, it will damage Cypraeidae, OIividae, Strombidae and Marginellidae. I have damaged about 10 large Cypraea caputserpentis and other species in this way. It is good to put some humidity absorbent bags in your sealed boxes....
read moreCleaning shells
I use electrical cable – it’s easy to coiled, so it can go a long way inside the shell and it won’t mark the inside of the shell as the cable isolation is plastic. I made the mistake of using a wire and it scratched and marked all the inside. When going in and out of the shell with the cable I do that under running water,it help the organic bits to come out of the shell. I used all sizes of cables and I used telephone cable for very small shells,dental interspace brushes glide does a good job for Trivia shells. Once the shell is clean...
read moreLive shells
If you found a live shell – if small just put in a plastic container. Then poor boiling water on it. Don’t boil any shells under the heat as they will crack. Any shinning shell Cypraea, Oliva, Strombus put them in a sealed plastic container and leave it in the sun. The animal will fall into sleep and die after a short time maybe two hours for thick shells. I do that with large shells and the animals come out easily without leaving organic bit inside. Freezing can work – mind that cracking or blisters can occur on...
read moreName of the shells
I write the name of the shells if I know it. Otherwise I write the maximum details about it, so it can be named after. I write the size, where as in Country, City, Town and name of the beach or reef, if in sand or on rocks, then the depth, water temperature and the date. I also have plastic sealed bags of different sizes that I can write a note like the date, the place and leave it with the shell. And later, at home I will be able to find the right...
read moreBefore the trip
Before you go to your destination anywhere in the world, go to Google earth from there you can see what sort of coast line it will be. Before getting there, it will help you not wasting time to find a good place. You can even scan the aerial view. From Google you can see if the water is not too deep, if it is rocky or sandy, if it is protected from waves. I wished that I had Google earth 20 years ago as before it was no way to found out about the coast line. In sandy area like the beach or a cove,...
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