Shell Identification requested by Jeff

[david touitou]

I wonder if you could tell me anything about this shell or where I could find out about its worth.

Whether true or not, I was told by my 91 year old mother that It is supposed to be the oldest in the world. Its mate is in the Smithsonian. According to her. what makes it unique is that its whorls go in the opposite direction of all other shells. My grandfather got it, and the other in the Smithsonian, when he ran the Barber Asphalt company in New Jersey.

<a href="http://www.badongo.com/pic/270761" target="_blank"><!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.badongo.com/pic/270761">http://www.badongo.com/pic/270761</a><!-- m --></a>

<a href="http://www.badongo.com/pic/270762" target="_blank"><!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.badongo.com/pic/270762">http://www.badongo.com/pic/270762</a><!-- m --></a>

[paul monfils]

An "opposite whorled" specimen of any species is a rarity, and often quite valuable. However, unfortunately this is not such a specimen. This is a normal, right-whorled (dextral) specimen of the common Southern Caribbean Crown Conch, Melongena melongena.

Here are several pictures of the species ...

<a href="http://www.gastropods.com/1/Shell_1011.html" target="_blank"><!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.gastropods.com/1/Shell_1011.html">http://www.gastropods.com/1/Shell_1011.html</a><!-- m --></a>  <span class="petit">--Last edited by Paul Monfils on 2006-08-28 03:11:23 --</span>