This is no yoke….. errr… I mean joke! The inside of this MORTON’S YELLOW EGG COCKLE is really this yellow! And some of the exterior patterns are just as pretty.
We found quite a few of these on some of the sandy mud flats at Cayo Costa.
There is such a variety of patterns on the interiors and exteriors of these cutie little shells.
Yep, I said “little” shells. Wanna see how little they are?
I would have completely missed these little guys if it hadn’t been for MurexAlice pointing these beauties out to me. I felt so lucky to be able to beach comb with her since she showed me another cutie little shell I would have missed. This is the FLORIDA LYONSIA…
It is so delicate and paper thin I thought I would break the valves apart before I got home to photograph it. But… Yes! It made it home with both valves still attached. I rinsed the shells off but those little grains of sand seem to be attached so I let them be.
I’m not sure if you can see the iridescent shimmer to it, but it reminds me of a tiny little ANGEL WING with a pearlized finish.
Okay, let me back up a bit before I forget to show you this….I mentioned the MORTON’S YELLOW EGG COCKLE in previous post “I’m Telling On Some Tellins” and it reminded me of an orchid plant. I got a comment from Jackie saying that it was the Oncidium orchid that it looks like. Yes, that’s it! I found a photo from Wikipedia that will show you why it these shells remind me of an orchid. Do you see why now?
Those little yellow shells are really neat! :)
They are such beautiful cutie shells!!!
Wow – that yellow is vivid. Just beautiful.
Very cool…bigger isn’t always better…these little guys are awesome! Especially love the tiny irridescent Florida Lysonia. And the little Egg Cockles are very unusually colored and yes they do resemble the orchid! Thanks!
How do you pick up such delicate shells without breaking them? You must have very good fine motor control. Good Job!! Nice shells!!
Little shells never cease to amaze me- love the insides of those cockles :D
My two favorite things!! — Shells and Orchids!
Ah yes, you found some nice ones! The Morton’s Egg Cockle occurs up here too. I remember finding them on a sand beach between the Twin Forks of Long Island, NY. They do get bigger than the ones you found, nearly 3/4 of an inch.
If you look at this Malacolog page:
http://www.malacolog.org/search.php?nameid=12835
You will see that Morton’s Egg Cockles occur from Nova Scotia Canada all the way to Mexico.
The Lyonsia is really nice! We have a Lyonsia up here in NYC too.There’s even something on YouTube, crazy though that sounds, just still photos of a couple of shells.
I saw the egg cockles on your FB page and they are really something! I do like the outside of them more than the inside.
Nice shells, nice photos, nice post. Thanks for the memories.
Hi Pam -I’m a huge fan of your blog and have been reading for at least over a year.
I am in SANIBEL now for vacation. I would love to “run into you” while shelling this week…any suggestions of where you might be shelling this week?
I have posted before – I’m the girl with shells glued to a penny!
I hope I get to see you !!
Rachel
I’ll be in Sanibel tomorrow. If I run into you, I hope you have a medium sweatshirt in your trunk :-)
Beautiful shells! Do the cockles have ridges on the outside of the shell? I found a shell with a simiar zigzag pattern, but very faded. There are ridgesfrom edge to edge of the outside, and the inside is not yellow….at least not THAT yellow!
That sounds as if it could maybe be a juvenile Southern Quahog shell? Pam has a picture of one about 3/4 of the way down her seashell identification page, on the right hand side:
http://www.iloveshelling.com/blog/seashell-identification/
The Morton’s cockles like to live in sheltered bays where there is some mud as well as sand, so you would be unlikely to find them on the regular sandy Gulf beaches, unless there is a sheltered bay nearby.
Thanks!! That is it!
I hope you’re feeling better. My cousin & I had a delightful day trapsing around the island. I met Mother Earth Marilyn & Lois from PA (lady with the shell list) on BP this morning. They are huge iLS fans and send their love.
To add to Susan H…Morton egg cockle in New York area gets to 27-28mm. I havent seen any near that big in FL.
Hi Steve! How are you? We need to somehow get one of those 28 mm shells into the World Record Size shells listings (is that still in operation?) or some other reliable publication, because Gary Rosenberg’s Malacolog only has 16 mm as the maximum reported size for that species! And I am sure that Dr. Jose Leal would like to have the World Record Size shell of that species so he could put it in the new exhibit at the Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum on Sanibel!
Wow, love the close-up pic of them! Sherri from MN
Those egg yolk shells are insane… Do they fade over time? Happy New Year too gorgeous Pam. Hope 2012 rocks! Pruxxxxxxxx
Is a mud flat a sand bar? Are there particularly good mud flats for finding crown conch? Thank you!!