mollusk

Pictures of Cone Shells

The cone shell is recognizable by it’s somewhat flattened spiral / spire at the top. Some cone snails are deadly, not only to prey but to humans as well. The geographic cone snail can grow to be six inches long, and it’s venom can be fatal to humans. Ironically, some of those toxins can be used as pain-killing medications.

Here’s a bit of fun info concerning cone shells: Puka shells are really little pieces from cone shells. The ocean is scoured for round sections to make necklaces – if you buy a REAL puka shell necklace. Mostly puka shell necklaces are fakes, but they are still unique.

There are over 500 types of cone snail. The photo above came from the Pixabay site and I don’t know exactly what type of shell it is, but I am guessing it’s in the cone snail family because of it’s shape.

Watch Nat Geo’s “World’s Weirdest – Killer Cone Snail” short YouTube video to see how this sea creature captures and kills it’s dinner.

Cone shells are loved by collectors as they contain beautiful colors and patterns.

The Florida Horse Conch Printable Coloring Page

The horse conch (scientific name: Pleuroploca gigantea) is the state shell of Florida. It can be very large – up to 2 feet long! My photo above shows two empty shells that we found while boating on the river. Read more about finding that 17 inch, huge horse conch shell.

Please feel free to download and print out this horse conch outline to use for personal use only. Homeschoolers especially love these free printouts, and if you search this blog, you will probably find more information about these seashells and the mollusks that made them.

The outline below shows the Living Florida Horse Conch with (bright orange) mollusk inside and operculum that covers the mollusk.

Florida horse conch printable coloring page — Florida horse conch coloring page

Here’s a fun fact: The horse conch eats lightning whelks!

The Wandering Meatloaf Seashell

Have you ever looked down and seen a giant, 13 inch brown thing moving through the water? Sounds a bit nasty doesn’t it? Think a slab of mom’s meatloaf with dents in it. Actually the common name of this shell would be “Gumboot chiton” and it was named for it’s appearance to the rubber sole of boots. The Wikipedia page (link above) says that some people refer to it as the “wandering meatloaf” and looking at this photo, I can see why. It is actually a giant Pacific chiton – pronounced “kite -n” or see here.

Chitons are of the class, Polyplacophora and their common name is “sea cradle”. They are composed of eight plates that overlap one another to cover their topside. These are held in place by a girdle that surrounds them, or in some cases, like the gumboot chiton, the girdle covers the plates.

Chitons are odd looking and not at all what I think of when I hear the word seashell, but the animal lives only in ocean water but can be found in cold as well as tropical seas. It attaches itself to rocks and can be found on top of them or under them. It’s hard shell plates protect the top, but it can roll into a ball, if it has to, for more complete protection.

Although the Gumboot is the largest at 13-14 inches (33 plus cm), chitons can also be less than an inch long and not all of them are brown like a meatloaf. The White Northern Chiton is light colored and the Rough-girdled Chiton has spiky hairs along the girdle.

An interesting note about chiton shells is that the plates will come apart once the animal has died and when they wash up on shore you may wonder just what it is you’ve found. The shape of the plates have caused them to sometimes be called “butterfly shells”. Scroll down the page and see some here.

The book I own and use for reference is the National Audubon Society Field Guide to Shells.

Identify more of your shells at Seashell Identification.