Tag: east coast

Seashell Identification – Common Atlantic Shells

Some common long shells found on the beaches I frequent are the pen shell, jackknife clam and stout tagelus.

Pen shells often have an iridescent shine and the ones I find are usually just pieces. An unbroken shell can be close to a foot in length.

According to my Seashell Book, there are three types of pen shell: the sawtooth, stiff and half-naked. Pretty weird names. Contrary to what you might think, the sawtooth is the smoothest looking. The other two have vertical ridges going the length of the top “fan” part of the shell.

pen shells
Pen Shells

The Minor Jackknife Clam Shell

This long, whitish shell is the Minor Jackknife clam. My kids used to call it a fingernail shell. It is also a razor clam.

pen shells and jackknife clam shell
Jackknife clam and pen shells

The longish and wider shells shown below next to my eye glasses are stout tagelus. These are also known as “short razor” clams.

stout tagelus clam shell
Stout tagelus clam shells

Pen shells are related to mussels which are not the prettiest of shells. I have one in my photo below along with a tagelus.

Florida seashells
Broken Crown conch, mussel, clam, tagelus, dosinia, little shark’s eye, and tiny marsh periwinkles (one sits on top of a penny).
Ribbed mussel shell
Open and empty mussel shell

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Seashell Names- Two Little Shells

The seashells you collect will be different depending on where in Florida you search for them.

two little shells
Stripes and Spots – Tiny Florida Seashells

If you go to the beach looking to collect nice big seashells you may be disappointed. Some areas of Florida are known for their seashell offerings (Sanibel Island on the West coast, for instance), but not all Florida beaches are littered with shells.

Many of the prettiest shells you will see are tiny. You must look carefully as you walk along the beach.

These two little sea shells were collected along the gulf coast of Florida when my family visited Sanibel Island.  They are small, only about 1/2 inch in length. I never knew what type of shells they were, but eventually I became interested in shell names and found out their scientific names.

I think these shells compliment each other nicely with matching colors in stripes and spots.

The rounded one with tiny stripes is a natica, which is in the family Naticidae along with Moon Snails and Shark’s Eye shells.

The little spotted shell is a “Babylonia spirata”.  I’ve never collected another shell like it, but then I rarely go to Sanibel.

The shells I find on the East coast of Florida often differ from the ones on the West.  For one thing shells here on the East are not as pretty and there is less of a variety.  They are usually worn and broken from the waves and tides.  The Gulf waters are calmer so shells don’t get as beat up.  Different species like to live in calm water too, and they wouldn’t like it on the Atlantic side.  I find my best (most interesting) shells while out boating in the backwaters.  Often they are home to hermit crabs, so I take a picture and leave it where I found it.

ark shells
Ark clam shells from East Coast beaches

If you visit the drive-on beach area in New Smyrna Beach the ark shells in my photo above are mostly what you will find, along with tiny coquina shells.

shells from the beach
Shells from the Gulf Coast of Florida

You can see how colorful and varied the shells are that I collected on the opposite (West) side of the state!