BajaNomad

Frizkie the adventuress found these shells

jrbaja - 10-22-2004 at 11:25 AM

and sent me these photos. I can't seem to get them to open in photo shop so I took pictures of them on my moniter.
I have forwarded them to smart people in the hopes that they can open and post them.
Does anyone know what they are?

jrbaja - 10-22-2004 at 11:26 AM


bajalera - 10-22-2004 at 02:34 PM

I don't know what they are, but I'll bet Myra Keane's (sp?) book on Pacific shells does. [Too bad some skunk swiped mine.]

Lera.

Mike Humfreville - 10-22-2004 at 04:10 PM

I just looked through the entire National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Seashells and there's nothing that looks like that.

In the second photo, it appears that the shell may be misshapen. Look at the striations that work from the upper portion of the shell, across the break and continue similarly onto the lower portion.

Keep us posted.

DD - 10-22-2004 at 06:28 PM

Sort of looks like an Angel Wing, at least the opened ends do, but a misformed one, in that the solid and rounded end don't fit any shells that I have found.

Be interested to see what the final verdict is on this one as I did some searching and came up with nada.

Anonymous - 10-22-2004 at 08:52 PM

It's a Pacific Albino "Aflack" shell...AFLACK, AFLAAAACK!!!:P

Margie ?

jrbaja - 10-22-2004 at 09:21 PM

Is that you ? Brcause that made about as much sense to me as the usual anonymous posts. Thanks for the help.

Unidentified Critters

frizkie - 10-22-2004 at 10:34 PM

This shell or egg or whatever it is, was found in a mound of sand/dirt with a bunch of others just like it, so it is not deformed. They were found just above, or close to, the high tide line at Punta Coyote, three or four miles along the beach south of Tecolote, in a very deserted spot. They were in a mound below a cliff and could have come from a section that had broken away from the cliff above.
I'm not so sure it is a shell, but more likely an egg of some kind. I asked many of the locals near that area, fishermen and others, but no one is able to identify them. They are made up of a calcium compound and are actually two pieces hinged together by a membrane at the back. The front actually looks like a beak and is very jagged along one edge. Looks like a cross between a duck-billed platypus and a Venus flytrap to me.....Ahhh, yeah, right!!
Thank you so much JR for putting these pics on here for me.
If anyone is interested further you can U2U me, I have better pics that I could e mail to them. But do it soon as I leave for Baja in two weeks or less..and I will be there until the end of March!!!! Yahoooooooo!!!!!............Barb aka Frizkie:bounce:

Don Jorge - 10-23-2004 at 10:27 AM

Looks to perhaps represent the artropods, a moult or shell. Found together further suggest food and below a cliff in a mound hints of a midden.
Try emailing the photo to San Diego Natural History Museum and CICESE along with the provenace. Bet you get a reply. Good luck.

Neal Johns - 10-23-2004 at 11:18 AM

Lera, that spelling is Keen. Email me at aridneal at earthlink dot net if you want a source for one at $17.

Neal Johns - 10-23-2004 at 11:29 AM

Lera,

:mad: And quit picking on skunks; here is a cutie from under my shed:

elgatoloco - 10-23-2004 at 01:41 PM

I suspect that scientific analysis of the medium,i.e. dirt/sand/etc., such as carbon dating, that the possibly shell/egg/flytrap was buried/found or originally embedded in may likely but not positively reveal that the specimen(s) are/is really old? Waddya think? :biggrin:

Display it proudly!


frizkie - 10-23-2004 at 02:10 PM

Nope, definetly not old.

Come on, someone's gotta have the answer. Maybe I outa' put up a reward for the correct identification.

How 'bout one or two of my special ....ahhh, what would you call them, JR? "Thumb chopping off Margaritas" ? for the correct ID. :yes:

David K - 10-23-2004 at 02:13 PM

So Margie's answer wasn't right?:
It's a Pacific Albino "Aflack" shell

Not Aflaaaack?

jrbaja - 10-23-2004 at 02:31 PM

Never heard of one. David, do you have a shell book that shows one ?

bajalera - 10-23-2004 at 08:38 PM

Neal, please accept my apologies for having gravely insulted skunkdom. I had no idea the critters could be all that cute and cuddly.

Sort of reminds ya of JR, don't you think?

Lera

Ha

jrbaja - 10-23-2004 at 09:41 PM

I resemble that remark:lol:

But, after thinkin about it, I was wonderin why someone I have met only once would compare me to a skunk, not that they are bad?

[Edited on 10/24/2004 by jrbaja]

David K - 10-23-2004 at 10:23 PM

No JR, I sure can't find aflack or Pacific albino aflack in either the encyclopedia or dictionary. I also looked at several Internet shell ID web sites.

So is that what it is ?

jrbaja - 10-23-2004 at 10:37 PM


bajalera - 10-24-2004 at 05:26 PM

JR, I was thinking soft and cuddly, which is how Neal's photo strikes me-- skunky never entered my head when I looked at that cute and cuddly little stuffed toy. You sort of take offense when people accuse you of being soft and cuddly, and my intent was to give you a bad time on that score. A total misfire on my part, and I apologize.

Lera




No problem Lee

jrbaja - 10-24-2004 at 05:32 PM

just a little touchy after tuckers idiotic accusations.

David K - 10-24-2004 at 05:36 PM

Hey JR, any luck IDing those shells?

I didn't know if you were serious!

jrbaja - 10-24-2004 at 08:16 PM

"So Margie's answer wasn't right?: and you said,
"It's a Pacific Albino "Aflack" shell"

That's why I asked if that was it or not. I might be slow, but I'm pretty stupid too.:?:
But, I know now to continue the search! I think I know just who to contact to. I talked to Scripps a few years ago regarding our beach being covered with waves of jellyfish. (By the wind sailors)
They were most helpful and explained that the reason they were there was because they hadn't learned to tack yet: lol::lol::lol:

Just looked up aflack

jrbaja - 10-24-2004 at 08:37 PM

which pretty much proves I'm a dumbass just for doing it.
It says either sience fiction/fantasy bs or insurance bs.
Just like the majority of anonymous posts.

But, I will find out !

bajalera - 10-24-2004 at 10:22 PM

This is certainly an interesting thread!

And thanks, JR, for believing that I meant you no ill-will and accepting my apology.

Lera

This is one Shell of a mystery.

Frigatebird - 10-24-2004 at 10:27 PM

:lol::lol::fire::fire::light::light:

Ladies and Gentlemen

jrbaja - 10-25-2004 at 08:28 AM

It is my pleasure to introduce the newest discovery from the deep, Molluskas Frizkieus de la playas.:lol:
This is definitely a good one girl. I have looked at many sites on Conchology, shell identification, books, etc. and haven't come up with anything. I'm waiting to hear back from the Philippines and will contact the guy at Scripps in a little while.

Veeeery Interesting !!:?:

Pacific Albino Aflaaaak - HA!!

frizkie - 10-25-2004 at 10:00 AM

The Aflack is the little white duck that appears on TV in the Aflack Insurance ads!!

I'm rather sure this is no relation to that funny little duck...But HEY, ya never know. There is definitely a resemblance between them. Heh, heh!! :P

They obviously don't sell

jrbaja - 10-25-2004 at 10:29 AM

insurance on the discovery or history channel or I would have known.
But, I still don't get the anon posting. But then, I never do or particularly care.

DD - 10-25-2004 at 02:12 PM

Might try contacting the guy that runs this website as he has 1,000s of seashells for trade:

http://www.californiashells.com/

I have been trading for over 20 years and look forward to sharing some of these shells with you. I will have links to scans of all of the shells I have for exchange. This is a large undertaking as I have many 1,000's for trade.

Cheers

Rick Negus

RNegus@Adelphia.net

I know what they are!

Taco de Baja - 10-25-2004 at 05:09 PM

They are a type of shell in the Pholadidae: Piddock family. There are many Genera in this family, and are known from all oceans throughout the world

They are a clam that bores into wood, rock or other hard surfaces. As they grow they bore by twisting their shell back and forth and using the sharp edges on the anterior end to abrade the surface they are digging into. Often the shell will be much larger than the opening where they stick their siphon out to feed. This is because they dig their entire lives, and the small hole is the what they started out with as small clams.

If you look at rocks in the tide pools, or pilings at the pier/dock and see hole in them, they are probably the result of Pholad clams.

Taco de Baja

frizkie - 10-25-2004 at 07:48 PM

That certainly was the most intelligent guess to date. However, I don't think it is of the Pholadidae family....it does not have a strong enough exterior to burrow into wood or any hard surface. The Pholadidae shells have two matching halves that fit together. These have two pieces to the body but they do not match in shape or size.
I'm not convinced that it is a shell but more like a skull almost ... but that dosen't make a lot of sense either, as there were a lot of them in one mound, almost like some kind of eggs were buried there.
Thanx for your efforts though.

Curioser

jrbaja - 10-25-2004 at 07:56 PM

and curioser. Skulls ?? I don't know about that idea.:biggrin:

Taco de Baja - 10-25-2004 at 08:46 PM

Pholads gape at both ends and are very thin, almost like egg shells.....
They don't have to be thick as the rock/wood they live in protects them. They bore by slowly twisting back and forth and use the rough anterior end like sandpaper. all they really have to bore is as fast as they grow, which is pretty slow. It looks similar to some I have found as fossils, in my job as a palentologist in southern California.
They are a rare find b/c of the fragile nature of the shell.

frizkie - 10-25-2004 at 10:18 PM

But it doesn't gape at both ends. One end is completely round like a skull or egg and the other end looks like a duck's bill. It is hinged halfway down on the sides and seems to want to pivot on these hinges. The top could be totally separated from the bottom if it were not for the membrane that is the hinge.

Taco de Baja - 10-26-2004 at 08:00 AM

here is a ?french? site with pictures of various pholads:
http://www.chez.com/malacos/htm/R59.HTM

Hre is a close up of Parapholas californica:
http://www.msc.ucla.edu/oceanglobe/specimenphotographs/anima...

Here is Zirfaea sp.: (I have found fossils of this one):
http://www.fossiles.be/zoom48.htm

Note the thinness of the shell and the raspy anterior end on all.

Anonymous - 10-26-2004 at 09:44 AM

There was no point of the "AFLAAACK" insurance duck, other than a little attempt at humor. (Lord knows, we need it on this board.) I figured everybody has seen their commercials, and since the shell resembles the duck in an odd way, I suggested the Aflack shell. Didn't mean to create a disturbance. ..Excuuuuuuse me!

Not to worry,

jrbaja - 10-26-2004 at 09:51 AM

I just didn't get the connection. In fact, I still don't but hey, I'm not the brightest bulb in the chandelier!

synch - 10-26-2004 at 12:28 PM

Looks a bit like a chambered Nautilus

And the winner is.... Taco de Baja!!!!

frizkie - 10-26-2004 at 11:22 PM

YAHOOOO!!!!!! Found it!! In one of the links sent by Taco!!!!
Ta!! Da!!!! It is a "Jouannetia Pectinata" of the Pholadidae Family. Finally!!! This is very exciting!!! To me at least. So COOL!!!!
I think I will hang onto it very carefully. That link said that it is worth (or they sold one for) $18,00 that is a French link so I wonder how much $$ that is?? Anyone know??

Thanks everyone, that was fun!!

Taco de Baja, I owe you one Frizkie style Margarita...lucky guy....heh!heh!
:bounce:

Congratulations Taco and Frizkie

jrbaja - 10-26-2004 at 11:27 PM

That was fun. Just stay away from hatchets when she gives you your reward!:lol:

AND:

frizkie - 10-26-2004 at 11:50 PM

Don't forget to dilute the peroxide JR:P

Taco de Baja - 10-27-2004 at 07:50 AM

There are sure a lot of weird pholads out there...
http://www.femorale.com.br/shellphotos/species.asp?family=PH...

Don't get your hopes up on the price though.. I think the $1,800 number you are referring to is the year it was first described bu a guy named Conrad {Jouannetia pectinata (Conrad, 1849)] .... That is the nomenclature for shells.. I did not see a price on the page myself just that it had been sold.

However, it is probably still rare as the shell is fragile and a few days in the surf would probably grind it to bits.

frizkie - 10-27-2004 at 09:37 PM

Yes, there certainly are some weird and wonderful Pholads out there. And the links you sent are very interesting ....thanx for those.
I realise that the (Conrad, 1849) is the name of the first person to describe the shell, however, if you go to Femorale's home page and click on "Available shells" you will see where I got the asking price from.
They recently sold a Pholadidae, perhaps not a Jouannetia Pectinata, but one very similar for 18,00 (only two 0s..perhaps pounds??) They also state that they had sold it as a different type of Pholadidae. It had been confused with another shell from that family.
Could you tell me, Taco, what is a palentologist?


Here I go again but

jrbaja - 10-27-2004 at 09:46 PM

Isn't it possible to do anything without putting a friggen $$ value on it ?:mad:

What is a paleontologist?.......

Taco de Baja - 10-28-2004 at 07:43 AM

A paleontologist is a person who studies fossils. Fossils are of course and trace of past life. They can be shells, bones, leaves, wood, tracks/trails. A fossil generally has to be 10,000 years or more old. Most people think paleontologist only study dinosaurs...but there is a lot more out there then those.

I work in the construction monitoring side of the field. I go out to construction sites and walk amongst the bull dozers and graders and collect the fossils as they are uncovered. they are identified and cataloged. Some are completely new to science...Some even make it to public displays.
The really cool thing is finding something that is tens of thousands of even Millions of years old, and being the FIRST person to ever see or touch it.

Way KOOL

frizkie - 10-29-2004 at 11:41 PM