American Samoa is hardly a sheller's paradise. It is, after all, a volcanic mountain that rises from deep in the sea exposing only its tip above water. Here's a view of how it looks to a geologist:
Sanibel Island is quite different. That island juts out into the Gulf of Mexico at the edge of a huge, flat, sandy sea bottom extending for hundreds of square miles. The winds and currents push shells across the ocean floor without any obstacle until they hit the Sanibel beaches, where they wash up in droves. The ocean floor off American Samoa drops steeply into the depths; the Tonga trench (one of the deepest places in the Pacific) is but a short distance to the west. Its coastline is either (a) volcanic lava flows into which the waves crash and form blowholes, or (b) small bays ringed with coral reefs upon which the waves strike well out to sea, leaving just a calm lagoon within. Shells tend to either drop down into the deep, or descend into the coral formations, never to be found.
Nonetheless, the mollusks are abundant and some shells do find their way ashore at spots around the island of American Samoa. The south Pacific Ocean is the most abundant habitat in the world for shellfish of all kinds, and they are out here in bewildering shapes, sizes and quantities. From Madagascar in the western Indian Ocean, through the Philippine Islands, on through the Solomons and Australia and out to Tahiti and Hawaii, the shelling can be amazing. To paraphrase Yogi Berra, "you can see a lot if you look."
Without further ado, here are photos of shells I found mainly at small beaches scattered across American Samoa. Of course, I brought them home, cleaned them, and in some cases applied mineral oil to highlight the colors, and they are photographed against a white background with an American Samoa US quarter added for sizing:
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| Vasum ceramicum |
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| Cerithium nodulosum |
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| Turbo petholatus - "turban shell" |
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| Cockle - note the orange joint area |
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| Trochus niloticus - big and solid |
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| Trochus maculatus - smaller, common |
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| Drupa rubusidaea - ugly outside, colorful aperture |
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| Drupa ricina |
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| Nerita plicata |
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| I don't know, but common. That's the operculum, right |
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| Same, bottom side |
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| Small cones |
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| Textile cone, medium size. Poisonous! |
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| Dove shells, I think |
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| I don't know, brittle. Bubble shells? |
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| Clams - like sunrays! |
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| Another I don't know. Probably a strombus variety. |
The next batch are Cowrie (Cypraea) shells, one of the most abundant types. These come in many sizes and colors. The Cowries are unique in that the animals have a type of membrane which covers the out shell to protect it, so when found new they have a natural shine and do not need mineral oil to enhance their beauty. But if they lie on a beach more than a few days out in the sun, they can get bleached out. I don't collect live animals, so these are all beach finds save for one exception I made. Cowries crawl across the coral reef floor, eating algae, mainly nocturnally.
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| Cypraea mauritiana |
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| Cowrie, unknown kind |
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| Bright purple on top - common |
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| Several cowries |
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| These are juveniles, as the edges aren't turned under |
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| "Money" cowrie - Cypraea moneta - and c. annulus |
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| Nice specimens |
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| Cypraea aurantium - a rare find |
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| Unknown variety |
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| Tiger cowrie (Cypraea tigris) - my favorite and the only one I found live and kept (on right). |
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| This was the best beach specimen, still very shiny. |
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| Same shell as above, view from underneath. |
Here are some of my prizes (in addition to the big Tiger Cowrie noted above):
The big Cone found by Cyndi half buried in the sand:
The two terebra (auger) shells washed up at Utulie:
The miter shell - they can get about twice the size, but this was a nice specimen:
Two Moon Snails, which usually prefer sandy beaches:
One of my favorite shells anywhere is the Olive, another inhabitant of sandy beaches which are not typical of American Samoa but these were here. The Olives, like the Cowries, have a natural shiny surface due to a membrane covering their shell when alive:
These next guys are everywhere in the lagoons, about as common a shell as can be found here. I thought at first they were cone shells, so was very careful if I touched one. But later I learned that they are in fact a species of small conch (strombus) and these are about as big as you will usually see:
Another favorite is a small Cymatium, related to the triton shells; it is in near-perfect condition and far more beautiful in your hand than a photo can ever show:
Of course, what south-seas shell collection would be without a Giant Clam, which are in reality large but not like the legends or cartoons. These I found were not fully grown but still quite impressive:
Last, far from least, is the rather large Spider Conch (lamdis) which I walked right past on a rocky beach hike, but Cyndi saw and was able to present to me. It now graces our home:
I had to leave some things behind in order to get these into my suitcase on the way home, but I sure wasn't about to abandon these!
