My sister now lives in Southport, North Carolina. Since I house- and cat-sit (while doing a writing retreat), I use my breakaway time to beachcomb. Before coming, I searched for a great resource with a list of things to look for at the local beaches, with photos. Since there wasn't one, this will work for myself and others. 

This shell is a snail. They come in so many colors and sizes, including the fossil ones, which are fully white.

• All of these seashells have been found at Holden Beach, North Carolina. 
• Rare - We've only found one of these so far. This does not necessarily imply that they are rare, just that during the times of year I've been there, I haven't found many.
• All of these have been found at Oak Island, North Carolina, as well, except *

See 🐚 also: Mystery Files

Seashells Hunting Tools

Tony Shaver's Fossil Guide in Carolina Seashellers

(⤴️requires joining); Waccamaw Formation 

Angel wing shell - these are often found broken, so I went ahead and included these until I find a pair of whole ones.

 

Ark Shell - Blood ark, Ponderous ark, and Black & white ark are Just a few of the types. In North Carolina and Virginia, you may find fossilized ark shells (such as the top right slate-colored shell in each of these pictures). Note the square-ish / trapezoidal shape, as shown in the right photo. See also: Mossy Ark.

 

Atlantic slipper shell

Auger shell

Baby's ear shell

Banded tulip shell

Barnacle

Bryazoan colony

  

Buttercup - Lucine Rare

See the top shell on the top left corner here ⤵️

Clam shell, Kitten's Paw (saltwater clam)

Clam shell, Atlantic surf

Clam shell, Calico

Clam shell, Coquina (lots of colors)

Clam shell, cross-barred venus

 

Clam shell, Imperial Venus (aka Pawley's Island)

Clam shell, Lady-in waiting - note that a number of these are fossilized.

 

Clam shell, Northern quahog (hard)

Clam shell, Razor (also known as Atlantic Jackknife) - see snail, seaworm for photo; these long horizontal shells are on the top middle of the photo.

Clam shell, Soft-shelled

Clam shell, Spiny jewel box

Clam shell, Sunray Venus

Clam shell, Turkey wing

Coral - Miocene fossil Septistrea, possibly

Common egg cockle - see Egg cockle

Coral, Branching (fossil) - This example is 1 inch long

Corrugate jewelbox Rare

Crabshell, Calico Rare

Crab shell, Mole Rare

Crab shell, Speckled swimming Rare

Crepidula fornicata - these are the fossilized ancient form of what are now called Atlantic slipper shells 

 

Crossed-hatched lucine shell

Donax shell - the bottom shell

Dosinia shell, disk -

left center, white shell with a point, located between a flat scallop, a sea worm, and a calico scallop

Dosinia shell, elegant (looks like fossil bittersweet)

 

Dove snail shell (sometimes known as a bumblebee snail) Rare

Egg cockle, or Common egg cockle Rare

Finger sponge

Florida worm snail shell (has a top that looks like a different shell) - see Sea worm snail shell.

Florida fighting conch Rare

 

Giant Atlantic cockle - these are smaller in North Carolina (this one is just under 2 inches), but I've seen them up to 6 in wide in North Florida off the panhandle.

Horse conch shell - See the Wendletrap photo; the Horse conch is the orange diamond shaped shell below the white Wendletrap. This one is missing its tip.

Hydroidea dianthus (tube worms)

Jingle shell

Keyhole limpet - Personally, I think whoever designed Walt Disney World's Space Mountain roller coaster 🎢 was inspired by this shell.

Lion's paw shell

Moon snail 🐌 shell. I called this one a "cinnamon roll." There are northern moon snails, shark's eye, or colorful moon snails; I haven't personally found all of these in these areas. And there are calcified white moon snail fossils.

Moon shell collar - This is what a moonshell uses to house its eggs. 

 

Mossy Ark - See also Ark shell.

Murex shell - see the sand dollar photo; it's right above the moon snail.

Olive fossil shell (white) *

Olive shell, Lettered - See the sand dollar picture; it's on the top right.

Oyster shell, Eastern - And if you look hard, you will see a pearl on the purple portion of the shell

Oyster shell

Oyster shell, Tree (fossil)

Oyster Winged - Rare beautiful iridescence

Pen shell, American Stiff - beautiful iridescent gray

Pen shell, Sawtooth

Periwinkle snail shell, Marsh - See Snail, Littoraria irrorata 

Periwinkle snail shell, Cloudy - See Snail, Cloudy periwinkle

Ponderous ark shell - See Ark Shell

Queen helmet shell Rare- This is only the bottom edge

Sand dollar - on the bottom. Also, calico scallop, olive, Moon snail, calico scallop, Sea worm, murex

Scallop shell, Bay & Scallop shell, Calico

Scallop shell, Flat

Scallop shell, Fossilized - Rare from the Waccamaw Formation. You can also see the bottom of a barnacle base, where it had been attached in the middle.

Sea biscuit - white, in the center of the Seahorse photo

Sea biscuit fossil *

Sea urchin Rare - See the seahorse photo; the sea urchin is to the right of the starfish.

Seaboard marginella - or Rice shell

 

Seahorse Rare - See tiny yellow arrow

Seeds - Also known as sea beans, this category includes sea heart, hamburger bean, and any number of other hard-shelled seeds.

This one may be a Shellbark hickory. Rare

Shark tooth Rare

Snail shell, Cloudy periwinkle 

Snail shell, Littoraria irrorata or Marsh periwinkle Rare

Snail shell, Common nutmeg - a whole row of them and Scotch bonnets are blended

Snail shell, Scotch bonnet 

Snail shell sea worm (middle to upper left. See also that one of them still has the spiral portion attached.)

Starfish, Common (brown) - The starfish on the right

Starfish, Purple - See above, the starfish on the left. The inside section that looks orange now was very purple for many years and it gradually lost its color.

Sunray Venus shell - See "Clam, Sunray Venus"

Thick-lipped drill shell - left, Auger; middle, Top shell; right, Thick-lipped drill shell.

Top-shell (Trochidae) - looks like a child's spinning top

Tulip (snail) shell - see Banded tulip

Turkey wing

Tusk shell - a dozen of them or in the bottom center of this photo

Wendletrap shell Rare

Whelk egg case Rare

Whelk shell, Channeled (right open spiral)

Whelk shell, Knobbed (right open spiral)

Whelk shell, Lightning (left open spiral)

#traveltivity #vintagativity #shells #fossils #seashells #collecting #bivalves #mollusks #

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Photos ©️ 2024 Karen Smith-Will