Seashell treasures come in all sizes and colors that can be overlooked so easily. I had to remember that because I was only finding lots of broken shells and live shells this weekend but not the Sanibel Six or anything close. Then I realized that the beach was looking a little different…. a bit darker. I looked a little closer to see there were gobs of JINGLES washing in but instead of being the usual white, yellow or orange (my fave), they were the black ones.
They look like deep, smokey gems to me so I went a little crazy picking them up.
This is how many live FIGHTING CONCHS there were at low tide…
Clark found a live white FIGHTING CONCH. This might be called an albino even though it’s got a little color.
But maybe I should just call it albino-ish.
Even though I found lots of broken shells, I found a really good broken shell… piece of a LION’S PAW.
That still doesn’t come close to the beautiful ALPHABET CONE that 9 year old Zenith (MN) found. Congrats Zenith!
Wow, Pam! I have never seen Jingles those colors! I love them!!! Thanks for sharing! :)
Those jingles would make a nice bracelet or a wind chime. Pretty!
Hi! I too found a good handful of black jingles this past friday here in NJ…LOVE THEM!
If all else fails, there are ALWAYS jingles! :D
I love jingles…They add a bit of “sparkle” to my shell collections when I put them on display. It’s like being a kid…oooooh shiny bits on the beach! I’ve not seen so many in one place! Good observation, Pam.
Will the live fighting conches die when they are on the beach when they are on the beach waiting for high tide? Should we put them back in the water? It seems like such a waste if they were to die.
Thank you for your help.
I’ve wondered too if they survive until the tide comes back in. And on that note, what about starfish and sand dollars? If they are left exposed on the beach and no one puts them back in the water, do they survive until the tide comes back in? I’ve always been curious about that. Does anyone know?
Fighting conchs will survive with exposure in low tides without us putting them back in the water. Most of them try to bury themselves back in the sand but the healthy ones can withstand the time it takes for the tide to come back in. I believe that starfish and sanddollars will survive as well if they are not in the highest tide line with a really low tide. I usually put them back in the water just in case.
Yes, Pam is right that most sea creatures that get naturally exposed during a low tide can stand a reasonably short exposure (a few hours) of air and sunlight without it killing them, assuming that the seagulls or other predators don’t come and eat the critters. However, creatures that get washed up as a result of a storm, or from swells, they may have come from deeper water, and they may not survive being exposed to the light and air, and may not be capable of getting back down into the kind of habit they need to survive.
Thank you Pam and Susan. It’s good to know that they would survive but I’ll put them back in the water anyway. Lots of good info. I’m going to check the link and learn more about jingles.
Maybe this is a question for MurexKen… what are jingles? Are they a bi-valve like scallops (doesn’t seem to be much room for a creature to live inside) or are they the operculum of a gastropod? We found lots of them last Feb at Lover’s Key in a variety of colors. Simple but very pretty.
Hi Katherine. Yes, your first guess was right, jingles are one valve of a bivalve. They are related to oysters. Another relative is the Indo-Pacific windowpane oyster, which is made into lampshades and boxes, jewelry and so on.
With jingle shells, usually you find only the upper valves, which are rather flat and have no natural hole in them, but if you ever find an entire jingle shell with both valves still joined together, you will see that the lower valve has a fairly large hole in it where the animal attaches itself (to a stone or to another live shell) using a byssus.
And yes, they are rather flat, but there is enough room inside for the soft parts of the animal. if you do a Google search for… Anomiidae …and look at Google images, you will see a few pictures of whole shells and live ones too.
Thanks for the info
Thank you Susan H! Great info.
Terry, look up in this post and you will find that I highlighted and bolded the word “JINGLE”. When I do that, it signifies that I have attached a link that will take you to a new page that will explain that particular word and give more info. I love to find out more info on shells too so if I have found something interesting for you, I’ll put a link to it. I linked the word “JINGLE” to the Bailey’s Matthews Shell Museum (which I do often) just so you can see the detail info if you choose. Cool, huh?
You can also find more posts about jingles by looking at the category list on the left and clicking. Here’s a few about jingles and there is one post that shows them attached… http://www.iloveshelling.com/blog/category/jingle/
I love jingles. I’ve been collecting them now for a few years and am filling a small jar. I love all the different colors.
JIngles are one of my favorites – and have lots….but have never seen them black.
I’m so jealous…Janet
I have a question – I collect “moon shells in all colors and love hthem – but sometime you call a very similar shell a “shark Eye” Is there really a difference??
Maybe we dom’t have shark eye here on Arizona water ways, Re”Mexico.
Any comments??
Hello latenitereader,
“Moon snail” is a name that applies to just about any snail in the family Naticidae. They all tend to have round shells which are nearly all smooth and they all live in sand. The different kinds in different parts of the world come in all sizes from really quite large to really minute. They are all voracious predators. They are what drill those perfect holes with bevelled edges that you notice in the shells of other mollusks that live in the sand. The “shark eye” is just one kind, one species of moon snail, that has the scientific name Neverita duplicata. That species lives from Massachusetts south and round the Gulf of Mexico all the way to Honduras.
There is a pretty species of moon snail in England too, but in England they call them “necklace shells”. In one of the Leewards Islands of the West Indies I have found 13 different species in the moon snail family.
Which reminds me, actually, believe it or not, flat thought they are, baby’s ears are in the same family as moon snails!
Ha! I love it Susan H!
lnr- Remember, I usually just go by common names of shells so some of the names will be different in other areas. Just like the colorful moon snail…. I call it “colorful moon shell” but some call it a “gaudy natica” but they are both in the species “moon”. And yes! A baby’s ear too. OMG I just realized I didn’t have either the shark’s eye or colorful moon on my seashell identification page! Woops! Gotta get to work
I love jingles in all colors….it seems to be a miracle to me that they survive the surf to come ashore at all…..a special blessing…I think
My recent trip to Sanibel found me collecting jingles more than any other shell. I put the white ones and black ones in clear glass salt and pepper shakers. I think they look really neat on my kitchen counter.
It sure is fun to have kids hold a handful of jingles and here them jingling! I especially like the orange ones but also love the black. I only starting picking them up a year ago.. I would love to see a close-up picture of your cute wormie display that is iin the pic!