SEEKING FOR THE MOST UNCOMMUN BEAUTIFULL SHELL

[paul monfils]

Hello,
The tent olive is the largest species of olive shell, and can reach about 6 inches in length.  Such large specimens are often seen in old collections, but are seldom collected today.  The specimen in the picture I posted is 4 inches.  This species lives on the west coast, from the Gulf of California to Panama, usually in fairly deep water.  The tent olive is not normally left handed, in fact I never heard of a left handed specimen of this species, though there could be one.  Just about any species can theoretically occur left handed, but such specimens are usually extremely rare, and often sell for a high premium.  A left handed (sinistral) shell looks like a mirror image of a normal right handed (dextral) specimen.  Here is an example of a sinistral and dextral specimen.  (In this species however, both forms are common):

<a href="http://members.cox.net/natura/Amphidromus.jpg" target="_blank"><!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://members.cox.net/natura/Amphidromus.jpg">http://members.cox.net/natura/Amphidromus.jpg</a><!-- m --></a>

There are a few species of shells that are normally sinistral, and in some of these an occasional rare dextral specimen may be found.  <span class="petit">--Last edited by Paul Monfils on 2009-03-18 05:38:10 --</span>