Latin abounds in conchology, as you've already noticed. Why?
Well, because this is a hobby and science that spans the world.
Englishmen, Frenchmen, Greeks and Indians all have their own local
names for shells. But scientists everywhere give things in nature
Latin names. Shells of the same sort carry the same Latin label
on every beach in every sea. Much of the fascination of shell
collecting is learning these names and how they were derived. . .
for shells have been named for almost everything. We can't catalog
100,000 species here, but let's call off the names of a few of the
interesting specimens you might come across.
Many shells have wonderfully descriptive names. For example, there's
ARCA ZEBRA, which has stripes and looks like a miniature turkey wing
and is commonly called Turkey Wing. Then there's a scallop called
the Lion's Paw; NERITA PELORONTA, or Bleeding Tooth; and CYPRAEA
CERVINETTA, "little deer cowrie" which resembles a spotted fawn.
(Cowrie is a common name for a kind of shell used as money in parts
of Africa and Asia.)
There are shells named for people: CONUS JULIAE ("Julia's cone
shell"), PLEUROTOMELLA JEFFREYSII ("Jeffrey's Pleurotomella"),
and ACLIS WALLERI ("Waller's Aclis"). Many are named for the place
they were first discovered: UROSALPINX TAMPAENSIS, Tampa Drill;
and IPHIGENIA BRASILIANA, Brazil Clam.
Some shells take their names from flowers: FASCIOLARIA TULIPA,
Tulip Shell. Many get named from mammals--not always too
accurately. CYPRAEA TIGRIS and CYPRAEA ZEBRA both have spots, not
stripes. But CYPRAEA TALPA ("mole cowrie") does look a lot like a
mole. Then there's (let's skip the Latin this time) Magpie Shell,
Mottled Dove Shell, Mouse Cone, Horse Conch, Checkered Pheasant,
and Cuban Frog Shell. There's mythology: Venus, Neptunea, Pandora,
Tritonis. Music: Buccinum ("trumpet"), Citharas ("guitar"), Harpa.
Religion is represented, too. In the genus MITRA are species
PONTIFICALIS, EPISCOPALIS, PAPALIS, and PATRIARCHALIS. Some other
fanciful names are: Great Heart, Jewel, Box, Rising Sun, Checkerboard,
Wood Louse, Writhing Shell, Sundial, Key-Hole Limpet, Red Turban,
and Black Lace Murex. And that's where we stop and draw breath.
You'll find others--there are literally thousands more!
You've got to be a detective. These little animals are the natural
food for many of the larger undersea creatures, so one of their
greatest talents is hiding. Approaching danger, whether from
octopus, fish or man, arouses caution in a small mollusk and it
becomes as inconspicuous as it can. This can be pretty inconspicuous,
as the novice conchologist learns early in his search.
REMEMBER - by all means, don't be a landlubber. Get into the water.
No matter whether you go shelling up North, down South, in the West
or in the Tropics, you won't get any satisfaction (or value) from
collecting dead shells washed up on a beach. To build a good
collection, you should take your mollusks alive, then clean and
prepare them yourself. (More about that later.) You won't find
live ones unless you go where they live.
[figure captions]
CONUS SPURIUS
"ALPHABET CONE"
CYRTOPLEURA COSTATA
"ANGEL WING"
TEREBRADISLOCATA
"ATLANTIC AUGER"
MUREX DILECTUS
"LACE MUREX"
EPITONIUM HUMPHREYSI
"HUMPHREY'S WENTLETRAP"
LYROPECTEN NODOSUS
"LION'S PAW"
FASCIOLARIA DISTANS
"BANDED TULIP"
DIODORA CAYENENSIS
"KEYHOLE LIMPET"
ANATINA PLICATELLA
"CHANNELED DUCK"