I found this 1 5/8 inch ROCK SNAIL SHELL this week. This is only the third one we’ve ever found so it’s not such common shell on Sanibel. I’m not sure there’s going to be too many people disappointed they can’t find one because… well, it’s not the prettiest shell. All three of ours look a little beat up just like this one but for me, it’s a cool treasure.
This little teenie tiny ROUGH SCALLOP was a true treasure to Stephanie (Ft Myers).
I met Stephanie and her mom Judy at Blind Pass Captiva and they were thrilled about the absolutely gorgeous day and that they found a few goodies.
Here’s just a handful of Stephanie’s finds.
I saw some RED DRIFT ALGAE this week too. I didn’t have any coughing spells, throat tickles or any reaction to it so I looked up the difference between RED TIDE and RED DRIFT ALGAE. Mote Marine has an easy to read chart for us to learn about them both. CLICK HERE for the link. Maybe we’ve had both in the last few weeks? And yes, it’s really that red/magenta/fuchsia.
Oh, and BTW (funny story)… Stephanie from Ft Myers told me a guy that lives down the street from her looked a little familiar so she asked him if he was a sheller. He looked at her a little funny and said “yeees”. Then she pointed at him, laughed and said “You are Donnie Benton, aren’t you!?”. It was! She met her neighbor Donnie from reading iLoveShelling! LOL Don’t you just love that?
Oh no! Donnie is gonna have to keep his Junonia under lock & key now that Stephanie knows where he lives! ;) That Rough Scallop is really nice.
I put it in the Alligator Snapping Turtles cage…and I barely feed him…lol.
Funny story…a did catch a Florida Chicken turtle laying eggs in my yard Monday…the girls and I built a cage around the nest so no predators can get into it…and Alyssa is using Pams Iloveshelling calendar to count down the days until they hatch. Hatch time should be 45-70 days…the girls are excited…meanwhile I am supposed to build an amusement park for the baby turtles to play in after they hatch ;-)
Your girls must be thrilled to have a turtle nest in their front yard. We tied off our front entry way when a Swallow nested above our front door. The neighborhood kids and even the mail man checked in daily to see how those babies were doing. Be sure to take lots of pictures!
I want to see a picture of the amusement park when you are done. :)
Rock snails are pretty common up here. I have found that they have a lot of build up and was very surprised at how pretty they were after a bath in muratic acid. Some of mine had pretty stripes & 1 even looked like it had some dots of colors.
Tana, remind me where you are?
I was very excited to find a rock snail shell on our October trip– first one ever, for me. I was standing on the sandbar island at Blind Pass, when a thin sheet of water swept across carrying this tumbling little rock snail. I snapped it up before it could roll away. It’s very pretty, with no wear at all.
I found one there about a year ago too.
I have met both Stephanie and her Mom…great people…and neighbor.
The story is true…the shelling world got smaller…lol.
This shelling community you provide Pam…is a great place to be ;-)
Thanks Donnie, It’s a small shelling world after all. ;)
I agree…..visiting here is the highlight of my.day. I’m so very thankful to Pam for keeping us all in touch with a place that is near and dear to so many and for all the things about shelllng that I have learnt here and the people that I feel connected to even though we’ve never met. Thanks again Pam and Clark.
Yes, thank you so much Pam and Clark, this site means so much to so many people.
Hello, fist of all AWESOME website, thank you for it! I’m so excited, 4 days and counting down until I get to enjoy my shelling adventure. I last visited in 2003 and shelled near Captiva but had a very hard time finding a parking place. In the map section I see Alison Hagerup Beach and Sanibel’s Blind Pass has parking labels but I don’t see (with google satellite view) any lots in that area. Is there parking lots in those areas? Is this even a good area to go this time of year? Thank you so much for your time and recommendations.
There are parking lots at Alison Hagerup, Blind Pass Captiva and Blind Pass Sanibel. I doubt you’ll have trouble finding a space…but if one’s full, try the next. Options are good!
Aha, another member of the notarious Shelling Gang busted! Donnie, you’re no longer incognito!
Congrats on all the great finds.
LOL….I am still shelling in the dark ;-)
Fabulous photos Pam! The red algae sunset and the fighting conchs sunset are both breathtaking – I literally gasped when I viewed the first one enlarged. So beautiful!
When I was there in December, searching the heap that was on West Gulf Drive then, the shelling lady next to me found a rock snail shell. It was quite fresh but the lip had a major chip. By the way, the link ROCK SNAIL SHELL should go to
http://shellmuseum.org/shells/shelldetails.cfm?id=76
It is currently a circular link.
I looked it up and these rocks snails eat oysters, mussels, barnacles and feather-duster worms. But they do generally prefer to live on hard surfaces, so I guess Sanibel just doesn’t have enough rocks for them to be common.
That is so funny you guys are neighbors! Maybe you can carpool and save on that six bucks and the parking lot fees!!!
The rock snail and the tinted cantharus look similar, or are they the same shell? Was moving some of my old shells into a new basket and found a shell that looked the same.
Saw the waves the other day, there must be some good shells rolling in.
The rock snail is often a whole lot larger than the tinted cantharus. The cantharus shell is also white inside, whereas the rock snail is orange inside. Also the cantharus has a little tooth on the inside of the opening near the top that the rock snail does not have. And the rock snail tends to be a thicker shell and is way broader at the shoulder.
Thanks, I learn something new here everyday.
You’re very welcome CShells. If you had one of each kind in your hand you could see the difference and feel the difference easily, but in pictures they kind of look the same.
What Susan H. has said is correct. Although the shells tend to look similar, most/all of the Tinted Cantharus (aka Gemophos tinctus), http://shellmuseum.org/shells/shelldetails.cfm?id=80 I have found on Sanibel Island have had a size range from 2.0 to 3.0 cm. Whereas the Florida rock snail, (aka Stramonita haemastoma floridana), http://shellmuseum.org/shells/shelldetails.cfm?id=76 have been over 3.3 cm in maximum dimension. The Florida rock snail is a muricid, and the Tinted Cantharus is buccinid. Although there are many subtle differences, they often do look similar, especially after they have been beat up in the surf.