Sought,Savory, Sea Shells on Saipan

Dear Friends, Family, & by chance Readers,

Today, I thought I would share a blog about sea shells common to Saipan.  As I get ready to go home, I have a lot of shells to send back and I thought it would be good to learn some of their names.  These are not all of the shells I have found on Saipan (as I have already sent some back), but they are some of the types we have in Saipan.  I apologize for not researching all of their names, but for a beginning collector of shells on Saipan this would be a great place to start. I hope it helps some of you out there. I created a tongue twister of a title for you to try at home for more sea shell fun. Click on the pictures for a larger image.

Commercial Top Shell (Trochus Niloticus)

Serpent’s/Snake’s Head Cowrie (Cypraea Caputserpentis) Anothershell 
much bigger that we have on Saipan is the Tiger Cowrie. I have
never brought one back from the ocean, but Kara and I did buy some
artwork with one in the center of the design. 

Lynx Cowrie (Cypraea Lynx) This shell differs from 

the deer cowrie below in that it has a purplish orange

color to it.

Deer Cowrie (Cypraea Vitellus)

Money Cowry (Cypraea Moneta)

Tulip Cone (Conus Tulipa)  These are poisonous if the

creature is still inside.  This picture shows the coloring as

blue but it is more purplish in nature than blue.

F.Y.I.: No sea creatures were harmed in my collecting as they were all found on Saipan beaches.

Some more Common to Saipan but not included in my pictures are: Fairyland Snail Sea Shell (Achatina Achatina, these are often taken by large land hermit crabs),  Limpet Shells (these are the small guys that stick to the rocks near the beach, they belong to the Patellidae, Acmaeidae, Fissurellidae families of shells 35 species known worldwide), Murex Shells (big heavily spined shells, also sold at touristy places, the small ones are used by crabs on the bach), Spider Conch (We have lots of these in Saipan, but I don’t have the heart to kill one that is alive… These are the sharp spined shells that I call 5 finger shells they are part of the Strombidae family), we have various types of Turban Shells that show up on the beach too, but I don’t find them appealing to collect, we also have Vase Shells (which often have their discarded shells taken by hermit crabs).

Ciao!  Grant