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Marine Mollusk Eggcases
Eggcase clusters/strings include:
Lace Murex (top left), Pear Whelk (top right),
Tulip (center left), Tulip eggcases on a Skate eggcase (center),
King's Crown (center right),
Florida Horse Conch (bottom left), Apple Murex (bottom right),
Lightning Whelk (not shown here).
[Introduction] -
[Examples]
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Introduction
Beachcombers sometimes find curiosities washed ashore, especially after
a storm. These curiosities take on a variety of forms, but the most common
forms found may resemble skeleton-like strings, or sponge-like masses of
tiny capsules. Sailors were known to use some of these curiosities as
"soap" or scrubbing tools. Little did they know that these
strange objects are the nurseries of mollusk shells.
Many gastropod mollusks (snails) lay their eggs
in containers or cases to protect their developing young
from the water environment. These eggcases are often laid in clusters or
strings and may be attached to rocks, shells, or other eggcases.
Once developed, the young emerge from the cases to begin life in "the
real world."
The eggcases shown here are just a few of the more common types that might be
found along the north Gulf of Mexico shoreline. Examples of other marine
mollusk eggcases can be found in Beatrice Winner's books -- A Field Guide to
Molluscan Spawn, Volumes I and II.
Examples
The following links provide a closer look at some of the above eggcase
examples.
- Florida Horse Conch -
Pleuroploca gigantea (Kiener, 1840)
- (Single case, plus juvenile shell)
- King's Crown - Melongena corona (Gemlin, 1791)
- Murex Eggcases
- Apple Murex -
Phyllonotus pomum (Gemlin, 1791)
- (Single case, plus several juveniles)
- Lace Murex -
Chicoreus florifer dilectus A. Adams, 1855
- (Two cases and several juvenile shells)
- Tulip Eggcases
- Banded Tulip -
Fasciolaria lilium hunteria (G. Perry, 1811)
- (Single case, plus juvenile shell)
- True Tulip -
Fasciolaria tulipa (Linné, 1758)
- (Single case, plus several juvenile shells)
- Whelk Eggcases
- Lightning Whelk -
Busycon contrarium (Conrad, 1840)
- Lightning Whelk eggcase string (larger one on left) and
Pear Whelk string (smaller one on right). (Note that some
Banded Tulip eggcases are attached to the Lightning Whelk
string.) Insert: juvenile Lightning Whelk.
- Pear Whelk -
Busycon spiratum (Say, 1822)
- (Single case, plus portion of eggcase string)
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[North Alabama Shell Club]
© 1997 by Deborah
Wills (dwills@HiWAAY.net)
This page has been accessed
times since 23 August 1997.
Last Revised: 25 August 1997