Big Florida Shell Id Needed

[Pool Man]

Hello all,

I found this shell in my local creek in NorthPort Florida recently.At 10", this is by far the bigest one I've found there. I believe it comes out of the Plio-Pliestocene shelly layer.

Thanks!

[Guest Nicholas]

I have no idea but that is a gorgeous shell!

[jkfoam]

Looks like genus Busycon.

JKFoam

[Harry Pristis]

Hello all,

I found this shell in my local creek in NorthPort Florida recently.At 10", this is by far the bigest one I've found there. I believe it comes out of the Plio-Pliestocene shelly layer.

Thanks!

This is Busycon contrarium, the lightning whelk, Pliocene to Recent. This is the only Busycon which coils to the left; that is, the aperture is on the left when apex-up.

You should find yourself a copy of Brayfields' guide to the fossil shells of Florida. I think the Florida Paleontology Society sells them through the FL State Museum -- try the giftshop there. The Brayfieds lived in Northport, as I recall.

------Harry Pristis

[jkfoam]

Harry,

I did not realize it until you pointed it out that the snail was sinistrally coiled (Coiled to the left). This is of interest to me ever since I found out that Pteropods that are coiled are sinistrally coiled. When you stated that B. contrarium was the only Busycon coiled to the left I went back and cheched a couple of my books and Google for Busycon. They showed several other species of Busycon that are left coiled. B. coronatum (Conrad) {Miocene}, B. sinistrum Hollister,1958 {Modern}, B. perversum (Linnaeus, 1758) and B. carica Gmelin, 1791, are all shown left coiled. However, they all appear to be very closely related. If I were younger or more inclined I see a Masters Thesis or a Dissertation here.

JKFoam

[Harry Pristis]

Harry,

I did not realize it until you pointed it out that the snail was sinistrally coiled (Coiled to the left). This is of interest to me ever since I found out that Pteropods that are coiled are sinistrally coiled. When you stated that B. contrarium was the only Busycon coiled to the left I went back and cheched a couple of my books and Google for Busycon. They showed several other species of Busycon that are left coiled. B. coronatum (Conrad) {Miocene}, B. sinistrum Hollister,1958 {Modern}, B. perversum (Linnaeus, 1758) and B. carica Gmelin, 1791, are all shown left coiled. However, they all appear to be very closely related. If I were younger or more inclined I see a Masters Thesis or a Dissertation here.

JKFoam

I don't know much about these inverts, JKF. I do know that Olsson & Harbison, in their account of Busycon contrarium, list the following as junior synonyms:

B. perversum

B. adversarium

I looked at a guide to modern sea shells, and it figures a modern lightning whelk as "Busycon perversum." It was the only extant Busycon figured that was sinistrally coiled.

I recall reading that these whelks also occur sometimes with a dextral (clockwise) spiral -- a rare and collectable variation. I imagine that similar variations do occur in other species in this genus. This is more significant to collectors of rarities than to taxonomists apparently, since Olsson & Harbison make no note of the direction of the spirals in any of the Busycon species they list in Florida.

I have a few of these large, sinister-spiraled lightning whelks if someone wants to have one for a collection. I have 'em from medium to large-size.

-------Harry Pristis

[Pool Man]

Thanks everyone! Thanks for the reference book title,Harry.Thats exactly what I need.

[worthy 55]

Hey Tom , I have some of those shells.