Hairy Triton
I was on the beach near Gulf Side City Park at 7 a.m. to catch the negative .7 low tide. The first person I saw was my friend Julie. She is an avid sheller but I’ve never run into her on the beach before since she always shells in the early mornings. Now that I’ve put on my big girl panties and get out to see the sunrise over the seashells (at times), I see different people. I’m so glad I ran into her because I was very excited to see a shell I’ve never seen before….. A HAIRY TRITON.
Hairy Triton aperture
It has so much hair, to me it looks like a werewolf ROCK SNAIL . Julie reassured me it was a HAIRY TRITON because her husband had found one a few years ago and entered it into the Sanibel Shell Fair and Show. Here’s Julie holding her rare treasure!…..
Julie (Sanibel)
Okay, I have to show you a close up of the “hair” on this shell.
Hairy Triton close up
That’s wild, huh?
Teresa and Alexandra (Indianapolis)
I met other avid shellers Teresa and Alexandra combing the beaches filling their bags with all sorts of goodies.
Alexandra with her shell collection
Today Alexandra was collecting BUTTERCUP LUCINES and EGG COCKLES. Shell crafters love those BUTTERCUPS for making shell flowers and I even saw a Christmas tree made with BUTTERCUPS this year.
Buttercup seashells
Maybe I don’t pay enough attention to the bivalves as I should so I didn’t know the name of the EGG COCKLE. I don’t see them often…. is it just me?
Velvet Egg Cockle
It was obviously an exciting morning to be at the beach. Enjoy the rest of the scenery…
Golden Sanibel Sunrise
True tulip (live and put back in the water)
Cockle shells at sunrise
Wow – the hairy triton is such a special looking shell…and the true tulip is gorgeous. Looks like another amazing shelling day in Sanibel!!
We just spent another wonderful week at Sanibel and found some amazing shells. Our shells included a couple of nice alphabet cones, a King’s crown, some banded tulips with beautiful coloring and a perfect true tulip that is the brightest orangish red. If those weren’t enough my daughter found a hairy triton! It took us a while to figure out what it was finally making the determination using your blog. Thank you
Wow, whole Buttercup Lucines, Egg Cockles and Cockles!!! They look amazing!! We’ve only found whole Cockles, and never the Buttercup Lucines and the Egg Cockles!!!! How fortunuate to have found these…they are so beautiful!!! And that Hairy Triton and the True Tulip are really wonderful finds!!!
WOW!! WOW!! WOW!!! Thank you so much for sharing all of these finds!!
See…. those big girl panties have a pocket in the back for a 230 lumens LED flashlight. I’m hoping to be at the pass early Tuesday. That tulip is huge! I have so many shell pieces from the last storm. I knew there had to be a big’n somewhere.
I found lots of those Buttercups when I was there last month. I didn’t know what they were! I was planning to put them on a wreath. Beautiful scenery!
I took advantage of our negative low tide up here in the Chesapeake over the weekend to go sea glass hunting and found my first bottle stopper! ~ Maria
Oh that sunrise is so beautiful! Okay – in Alexandra’s picture, you named the “buttercup lucine’s” and “egg cockles” but I am dying to know what that beautiful shell is on the very left of her collection. ?? It’s neat looking!
Kelli: The shell on the left is a lightning whelk.
Thanks! I looked at the pictures in the Lightning Whelk link and it makes sense now… it’s the top view of it. It looked like some sort of fancy snail thing. They sure are pretty shells!
I am so glad that you came to visit!
I am totally jealous that you can go shelling and find those gorgeous shells any time that you want!
I would love being able to do that.
Rhonda
Awe, hi Julie!
I met Julie on the beach several years ago, and run into her from time to time, but haven’t seen her on my last few trips. I would like to find her on fb!
Nice find Julie!
I did not know what that funky piece of something was that I found on the beach yesterday – thank you for letting me know! (welk casing?) I knew it was some sort of flora from the sea – but the name eluded me.
What great finds!! Tell me, do you know if you loose the “hairs” when you clean the shell?? I would imagine you would!! Happy New Year Pam and all!! Looks like it’s a good one so far…for you lucky ducks in Sanibel that is!!
The Giant Hairy Triton, or Cymatium parthenopeum, http://shellmuseum.org/shells/shelldetails.cfm?id=59 and http://www.gastropods.com/4/Shell_844.shtml is a member of the Triton or Cymatium family. Many of the members of this family have a “hairy” covering or periostracum, which is the organic, outermost coating of the shell. Another member of this family that lives in the Florida Keys is the Atlantic Hairy Triton or Cymatium martinianum, http://www.gastropods.com/3/Shell_1873.shtml. Here is a link to an image of a live specimen, http://www.jaxshells.org/2983.htm.
The Giant Hairy Triton is an uncommon and excellent find on Sanibel Island. Although I have found them elsewhere, I have not (yet) found one on Sanibel. As for cleaning the shell, there are two ways to do so. Placing the shell in bleach will remove the periostracum or hairs and show the nice shell underneath. To preserve the periostracum (my preference), Do Not Use Bleach! Use water and a toothbrush and gently remove the debris from the periostracum. Without further treatment, the hairy periostracum will dry out, crack and peel off during the coming months. To preserve the periostracum, use a 50% solution of glycerin to coat the surface of the shell. Let the shell sit for a day or two, and then gently wipe off the excess. The operative word is “gentle”, since the periostracum is rather delicate. Using this method of cleaning/preserving, the periostracum should remain intact for many years. Hope this helps.
Awesome finds! I’m curious – does the hairy triton actually feel hairy? Or are the ‘hairs’ hard? Happy New Year, and happy shelling!
Good question. The “hairy” surface is quite soft.
Thank you!
I am so jealous… I wanna hairy triton! I don’t remember ever finding paired egg cockles and buttercups– only single valves. So I have bi-valve jealousy too.
Very interesting, thanks. Did not see a shell like this before. Say, where do you recommend to go shelling on Sanibel if you are there for only one day? Thanks,
That is my question. If we only have 1 or 2 days where would be the best place to go. And are the beaches very crouded in March during spring break. usuallly the second week of March.
Thanks and I love your site. wow WOW ALL THE BEAUTIFUL SHELLS.
As you can see by each of my posts, the beach changes every day. So I can’t really tell you exactly where the best shelling will be on a certain date. That’s why I started this blog…. if there is a treasure trove of shells on a certain beach in Sanibel or Captiva that I know about, I will let you know so you will have the best advantage to find the best shells.
If you can’t follow my blog the days leading up to your visit, then I would suggest reading my tips at http://www.iloveshelling.com/blog/faqs/
As much time as I have spent on the beach, it never ceases to amaze me what will wash ashore. There is always something different and something new to learn.
I found some of the Velvet Egg Cockle’s in front of Sundial when I was there a 3 weeks ago and wondered what that were—thanks again, Pam, for the beautiful pictures and info.
Wow!!!1 thats a very pretty shell!!!
i have a shelling poem i’d like to share with you
the waves crash on the shore,
and you wish nothing more,
to find the perfect shell,
a thought on which you dwell,
you see something in the distance,
through the morning mist and,
and there right in front o’ ya,
the perfect shell- a junonia!!!
emma