What seashell does she see?

March 19, 2007 1:59 PM

Does anyone know what kind of seashell this is? They are fairly small and look like eyes.

All my searches turn up are glass eye sites or things completely unrelated. Shell identification sites haven't yielded the answer yet either. Can you beachcombers out there help? Thanks.

posted by agregoli to science & nature (14 comments total)

I might be able to help you, but I can't really tell the shape of the shell from the picture. Can you describe it?
posted by nekton at 2:08 PM on March 19, 2007

I think the "eye" part that you're seeing is the operculum, if that helps at all.
posted by lemuria at 2:20 PM on March 19, 2007

Winkles?
posted by Rubber Soul at 2:22 PM on March 19, 2007

It's flat on one side - the side that is flat shows a swirled shape. The other side is rounded out and is orangish-yellowish with a black eye center. They are smaller than a quarter usually.

I'm sorry about the picture, it's the only picture I turned up when I was searching - that's not my Flickr.
posted by agregoli at 2:22 PM on March 19, 2007

I did some shell identification on a senior thesis in college. I'm pretty rusty by now, but if you can get a better picture I could maybe help a bit. But it's awfully hard to see when it's in a pile of shells like that.
posted by HighTechUnderpants at 2:23 PM on March 19, 2007

First shelf on the left looks like the eye, but I'm confused a bit - it says host shell...
posted by agregoli at 2:28 PM on March 19, 2007

Looking again, that looks like the operculum of any number of snail species (especially given the way you describe it.)

Possibly one of the Bursids?

I also noticed that there's a cone snail in the lower left of that pile of mollusks. I guess they aren't toxic if you eat them. (If they manage to harpoon you, you can die, depending on the species.)
posted by nekton at 2:33 PM on March 19, 2007

But see, here's the problem - the first one on the left of that link I posted looks like the eye - but when you click it and see the shell shape, it's not it at all.

This is almost like a rounded pebble, with a flat back that shows some swirling (but no interior - there's no chamber to the shell, no opening). The rounded side has the eye.

Maybe this is not a shell per se but a part of one?
posted by agregoli at 2:36 PM on March 19, 2007

The "eye" in this picture is exactly right. So it's part of an animal or shell, perhaps, rather than the whole thing? I'd still like to turn up a common name if possible.
posted by agregoli at 2:40 PM on March 19, 2007

GOT IT!

Thanks all, especially lemuria, who gave me a term to search for!

Hooray for AskMe!
posted by agregoli at 2:41 PM on March 19, 2007

They're called turban snails (Genus Turbo). (On preview, you got it.)
posted by nekton at 2:43 PM on March 19, 2007

Thanks. =)
posted by agregoli at 2:46 PM on March 19, 2007

I was going to say they look like Whelks.
posted by conch soup at 4:26 PM on March 19, 2007

No, not whelks, but those are pretty.
posted by agregoli at 9:01 AM on March 20, 2007