My seashell collection sits in a big round platter on my coffee table. I like to search through and find my favorites and sometimes I dig down underneath to find a pretty shell I’d forgotten about. The big clams are used to hold the tinier seashells. Often I need to remind myself of a shell’s name.

The broken and old, worn, shells can sometimes be the most difficult to identify. On this page I share some photos of the broken bits to create a fun little game of “identify me”. Not all shells are in my collection. Some could only be mine as photos.

Can you identify the shell names from my pictures here? They are all different, and one is not a shell. The answers are at the bottom of the page. (Some of the photos also link to a page where the shell can be seen.)

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# 1

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# 2

This black shell gave me some trouble until I noticed the unusual way it swirled – hint: to the left.

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# 3

The crab is a Giant Red Hermit but can you tell what type of shell he is living in? At first I didn’t know, but there is a little clue.

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# 4

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# 5

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# 6

These pieces did not all come from the same “shell”. It’s actually not a shell at all.

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# 7

This big worn shell was one I had to give back. A hermit crab was tucked up inside!

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# 8

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Here Are The Answers, In Case You Need Them!

How well did you do? I’ve linked to other posts showing better images of these beach treasures.

• #1 Shark’s Eye
• #2 Lightning whelk
• #3 Crown Conch
• #4 Knobbed Whelk
• #5 Fighting Conch
• #6 Sand Dollar
• #7 Channeled Whelk
• #8 Banded Tulip – this link goes to the Bailey-Matthews Museum.

If you thought this was fun, take another Seashell Quiz by searching online. There are quite a few, which are fun and informative.