Collecting Seashells

Introduction

Many people start to collect shells by picking up seashells on a visit to the beach or perhaps land snails in their own backyard. Whether they immediately become interested in collecting shells or wait many years for another opportunity to visit the shore, they often want more shells in their collection. There are basically three ways to build a shell collection: (1) by collecting the shells yourself, (2) by trading them with other collectors, and (3) by purchasing them from dealers. The purpose of this field guide is to facilitate the first option, collecting your own shells and then identifying them yourself. Collecting seashells can be very enjoyable, and identification of your collection can be quite gratifying. We offer these hints to assist you in your collecting and identifying adventures.

Regulations and the "Sheller's Creed"

Before you start on a shell-collecting trip, be sure to check the local laws. Many places regulate and limit the number and/or species that can be live collected; the area may be closed for any live collecting on a seasonal basis or permanently; and you may need a permit. You need a valid fishing license with a freshwater or saltwater stamp to take live mollusks in the public waters of Texas (TPWD 2006: 22); however, you do not need one to take empty or dead shells.

At the time of this writing (April 2013), the only place in Texas that currently has laws limiting collection of live shells is South Padre Island, where there is a combined daily limit of 15 live univalve shells (all species), including no more than 2 each of the following species: lightning whelk (Busycon pulleyi); pearwhelk (Busycotypus spiratus); horse conch (Triplofusus giganteus); Florida fighting conch (Strombus alatus); banded tulip (Fasciolaria tulipa); and Florida rocksnail (Stramonita haemastoma) (Blankinship et al. 2005; TPWD 2006: 28). Additionally, there is an annual "no-collection" period, from November 1 to April 30, which prevents the taking of any live or dead mollusks or their shells (including those with hermit crabs), starfish or sea urchins within the area bounded by "the bay and pass sides of South Padre Island, and from the east end of the north jetty at Brazos Santiago Pass to the west end of West Marisol Drive in the town of South Padre Island, out 1000 yards [914 m, or 3000 ft] from the mean-tide line, and bounded by the centerline of Brazos Santiago Pass" (TPWD 2006: 28).

Some areas are protected for conservation, such as the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS), where collection can be done only by persons granted a scientific permit. Visit the FGBNMS website for more information: http://flowergarden.noaa.gov.

The Hawaiian Malacological Society (HMS) proposed "A Sheller's Creed" and first published it in Hawaiian Shell News in August 1973 to guide its members when collecting live shells. Many shell clubs and collectors around the world have adopted this short code of conduct, and as marine biologists we encourage our readers also to adopt it. It is reproduced here by kind permission from HMS:

A Sheller's Creed

The wildlife and natural resources of this world have been entrusted to me for protection and preservation. Whether I wish it or not, I must account to the future for my handling of this wealth today. If I collect shells, I will do it conservatively, recognizing that destruction of the marine habitat, by whatever means, is the true enemy of the sea and its creatures.

Four rules to shell by:

1. Leave the live coral heads alone! Look in the rubble, under the slabs, in the sand, and among the loose chunks.

2. Put rocks and corals back in place, the way you found them, even in deep water. Many things live under them even if you do not recognize them. Continued exposure to light, predators, and current will kill many of them.

3. Be alert for shell eggs and protect them. They have a slim chance of survival, at best. Don't take the mollusk that is guarding them. Avoid disturbing breeding groups.

4. Collect only what you really need. Take time to examine your finds and leave them to grow and breed if they do not really meet your needs.

A couple of rules could be added to the Sheller's Creed:

5. Do not collect heavily damaged live shells or ones with break-repair scars because they are not valuable for trading (although they might be important for scientists). Leave them behind, and the next season they may produce healthy specimens. And right before you leave the shelling grounds, do a quick inspection of your catch and return the damaged and unwanted shells to the ocean.

6. Do not litter or pollute our waters.

Collecting Seashells

Most of the Texas coast has sandy beaches, marshes, and bays, basically all composed of soft substrate (for information on habitats, see Hicks 2010; Britton and Morton 1989), but there are also jetties, oyster reefs, and a few other hard substrates. Equipment needed for collecting mollusks varies with the species you want to collect or how much you want to specialize. The basic equipment can be as simple as some vials, a kitchen strainer, a spade, a knife, sharp eyes, and lots of patience! As you advance in your collecting skills, you can add a few more pieces of equipment, such as screens, dips and nets, shovels, a hammer, a water pump, a glass-bottomed bucket, snorkeling gear, a light (for night collecting), a loupe (small magnifying lens), a wire or probing tool, forceps, and tweezers. Other useful tools include maps, a GPS (global positioning system) receiver, camera (some recent point-and-shoot digital camera models are waterproof to shallow depths), notebooks, field guides, weather-appropriate clothing, towels, fresh clothes (for after you finish collecting), tide table, insect repellent, sunscreen, and first-aid kit (see Sturm et al. 2006 for equipment and how to use it, and field techniques).

Probably most shell collecting in Texas is done at sandy beaches or while wading in bays, since these habitats dominate the coast. Some people snorkel along the coast or scuba dive at the offshore oil rigs or at the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary. Many of the shells illustrated in Tunnell et al. (2010) came from depths beyond the normal recreational diving depths; they have been collected by dredging or through remotely operated vehicles (ROV) and submarines. We used the same photographs in this book, with a few exceptions of photos of better shells, but most of the species herein are common and occur in shallow, coastal waters and can be collected while wading or walking on the beach.

Small and miniature shells, also known as micromollusks, are difficult to pick up in the field. People interested in collecting micros usually collect beach drift, shell grit, or sand...