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Queen Conch Seashell Coloring Page Download

This large conch shell is called the queen, or pink, conch. Both names fit as it is a biggie and it’s a beautiful pink inside.

Pink conch shell on porch railing
Pink or Queen Conch Shell

Please help yourself to a copy of this coloring page. Download and print out for personal or homeschool use. Do not re-distribute or sell as the images are mine, and are copyright protected.

queen conch pink coloring page download

My Pink Conch

This large seashell is one I bought over thirty years ago while visiting Sanibel Island. I didn’t know any better at the time and I bought a large sea biscuit sand dollar as well. Shells for sale in shops have usually been acquired by killing the snail or living creature. I would never buy a shell these days.

My pink conch is now very faded, but once it was extraordinarily beautiful.

queen conch

I’m all for collecting seashells, but not at the expense of the living creature inside. During my trips up and down the ICW (Indian River) near my house I have found some beautiful shells which could not be collected because they were inhabited. I take some photos and leave the creature to go about it’s life.

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Sand Dollars

Sand dollars are found in groups along the sandy bottom of the ocean. When alive they have a dark appearance and can be brown, black or purple. I have only ever found one living sand dollar, at Three Sisters islands.

keyhole sand dollar alive in the wild
Living Sand Dollar

We always picture them as being white but that happens when they are washed up on shore and bleached by the sun. Those are the ones we search for. You should never keep any living sand dollars…live and let live.

Coloring Printables

These sand dollar images were drawn by me and are offered as a free download. It is meant for personal, home or homeschool use and can not be re-distributed or sold. If you are interested, see my coloring page here.

sand dollar coloring page printout download keyhole
Sand dollar drawing for coloring

I have a lot of broken pieces but very few whole sand dollars. The waves can easily break the dried sand dollars into bits.

One day while walking along the beach at Ponce Inlet, a woman walked up to me and gave me a sand dollar she had found! Read that story here.

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Jingle Shells and Their Curious Alternative Name – Mermaid’s Toenails

Jingle shells (Anomia ephippium) are not hard to find on the beaches of Florida.  They can also be found from Massachusetts to Brazil according to my seashell ID book.

They have been given the nickname “Mermaid’s Toenails” and I can see why.  They are wrinkled and polished looking and come in a variety of translucent colors from shades of orange to dark gray, with white and off-white being common as well.

Jingle shells in pretty peach, yellow, white and silver colors
Jingle shells come in pretty colors.
black and silver jingle shells
Jingle shells which have turned black due to being buried in sediment before eventually washing ashore. Read more about black seashells here.

Do Jingle Shells Jingle?

The “jingle” part of their name comes from the fact that they (supposedly) make a jingling sound when grouped in your collecting pail.

Their thinness does not mean they are fragile, in fact they are very sturdy little shells that measure around one to two inches across.  The pretty variety of colors makes them perfect for display or creating crafts and they add interest in a jar of shells.

The mollusk that makes the shell usually attaches itself to something – a rock or even another larger shell – in the ocean.   It also takes the form of the item it attaches to which would explain it’s bumpy appearance.   Then, when the bivalve shell splits apart – for whatever reason, only one half washes up on shore.  The other half is still attached to the place where it lived, or breaks since it is the thinner part of the shell.  Read more about this shell in this article at the Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum site.

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