Now you can add this PLASTERED WENTLETRAP to your bucket list of “Find A Rare SWFL Shell”. Isn’t it beautiful?
No, I didn’t find it. Donnie is back in action! He found this WENTLETRAP at Blind Pass Captiva near the bridge. That’s been a hot spot! He knew his WENTLETRAP looked different so he sent me this photo and said it was 1 and 1/8 inches long. That’s pretty big for a WENTLETRAP…
I didn’t recognize it as being any of the WENTLTRAPS we’ve collected or the 5 different WTs I showed on my How To Find Wentletrap Shells On Sanibel post.
Donnie and his daughter Alyssa (who is an excellent avid sheller on her own right) were fortunate to have Dr. Jose Leal, the director of the shell museum, take a look at his special find.
Dr Leal and Smokey Payson were very curious to see it!
After Dr Leal inspected it through the microscope, Alyssa got to do her own investigation of her dad’s WENTLETRAP as well….
After thorough research…
And a meeting of the minds…
Dr Leal concluded that this WENTLETRAP is an Cirsotrema dalli and will photograph it to add to his list for southwest Florida shells. Yippee!!! Congratulations Donnie!
So let’s do this… for us “common-shell-name-folks” like me, let’s call it the PLASTERED WENTLETRAP as they do HERE. Since Dr Leal said this was an excellent and rare find, we all need to keep our eyes “plastered” for the shape of this one to see if any more show up. I’d love to find one too! So if you have a copy of this laying around your house gathering dust, let me know so I can put it to good use to add to my research “library” (haha) too.
I have a few more unusual shells to show you that Donnie and Alyssa took to the Shell Museum… so stay tuned!
To learn more about the other species of WENTLETRAPS you can find on in Southwest Florida as shown in this next photo, CLICK HERE
Oh and Hey! Don’t forget to book your reservations to join us on an iLoveShelling ShellingAdventure!
For info, click on the next image…
Way to go Donnie. I had the pleasure to shell with Donnie and his girls this past September and it was such a blast. Hope to see you again this October when I am fortunate enough to spend the whole month on Sanibel.
Pam…there is a copy of the book for sale on http://www.abe.com but it’s a budget buster at $ 178 plus….get all you site fans to chip in to get it for you…I’m good for $10 !! Now I have to go look at all my wentletraps!!! LOL
Nice to see this story! Congratulations Donnie. Nice to know that anyone can make a rare find!
Love this! Congratulations Donnie! Really cool find and extra special Alyssa shared the adventure with you. Can’t wait to see what else Pam is going to post. :-)
Wow, really cool. Congratulations Donnie!!
I want that book too! The only copy available online that I found is $225!!! Looks like this book is a rare find too!
Actually… if you are interested in learning to get to know and identify the wentletraps of the East Coast, Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean and so on, then your best bet is to buy this book:
http://www.amazon.com/JOHNSONIA-Monographs-Mollusks-Western-Atlantic/dp/B002DIUKLG/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1358876257&sr=1-1&keywords=Johnsonia+volume+2
I see you can get it right now as a used book for only $19.99 which I think is an incredible deal. It’s usually just referred to as Johnsonia volume 2.
OK it’s a scientific monograph and it contains papers not just on wentletraps but also on other western Atlantic mollusks, and the pictures are only in black and white, but it has way more information about wentletraps than the $225 book, and it also has far more images of each species.
Some people may find the text too hard to understand, and would rather just have the color picture book, but OK, if they have $225 to spend and don’t mind only a few lines about each species and only one image, then fine. :)
Hi Susan…Could you recommend some good books on shells ? I get down to Sanibel once or twice a year and need some help identifying my finds! Thanks!
Congrats to Donnie and Alyssa! Memories for a lifetime!
some of my most favorite memories are of going to the beach with my dad. he use to put me up on his shoulders and go REALLY far out in the ocean to jump waves. (to a 5 year old it seemed far out.) we lived on long island at the time and jones beach was the place to go. not alot of shells. hope donnie and his daughter have fun with their special beach memories!
I’m married to a Long Islander and he always talks about Jones Beach!!!
Jones beach is MY beach :)…until i retire in Sanibel of course… But yes, Jones beach is not known for its shelling. But if a winter storm comes in, like it did last Feb, there can be lots of shells there..you just have to bundle up, brrrrr……
Donnie, how exciting for you and Alyssa! So glad it was found by an avid and experienced sheller like yourself who recognized that it was something different and special. Can’t wait to see what else you found!
I think that the most helpful illustrations of this unusual wentletrap are here:
http://www.jaxshells.org/edalli.html
Especially because the one shown at the top is in a similar state of preservation to the one that Donnie found; in other words the outer layer of the shell, which is rather lacy and crunchy, is worn off.
For another couple of images of a whole but juvenile shell, see here:
http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?enlarge=0000+0000+0912+1109
And another, possibly live one, underwater, here:
http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?enlarge=0000+0000+0912+1111
Susan
I love the information you are always posting. The juvi wt looks so different from the adult one. I can’t wait to get down there on Saturday. It’s 16 degrees right now and they’re predicting snow for Thursday night into Friday. I have so many shells to look for when I get there. That was a nice find Donnie-it’s rare in collections!
Pat
Oh you are so lucky Pat! Saturday!! Do let us know what you find when you are there! :)
Nice job Donnie!!
I think I find those here…
Thank you for all the kind words…taking my daughters to the beach and shelling with them is my favorite thing to do…and this day at the museum was definitely a highlight we’ll never forget, Donnie
I just hit the Island (Friday about 6pm.) Can anyone tell me where the current hot spots are? Thanks!!!
Elna from NC
That is one gorgeous Wentletrap. I don’t know why, but it looks prehistoric. Not this particular fella, but the species in general.
Great find, Donnie!
Found a plastered wentletrap this morning South of Blind Pass in the surf line. Excited to see it is a rare find!
1 1/4 inches long
My husband just found a Plastered Wentletrap at Indian Rocks Beach last weekend. Your blog is invaluable and I read it faithfully. We couldn’t identify the shell until I remembered seeing this post. Thanks for providing an excellent resource. Hope to run into you one of these days.
Cindy- congratulations to you and your husband! Thats an awesome find- and so cool you were able to identify it. and you are most welcome- this is exactly what keeps me blogging. Yay!