A day on the caloosahatchee

[dalmayshun]

A friend and I headed out on the caloosahatchee this morning. We went to our favorite location hoping to find some more Lions Paw's. The start of the day was wonderful. We got on the river near Alva just as Dawn was beginning to break. There had been a controlled burn yesterday so the sky was lit up orange and gold and beautiful. The river was medium height. But there was no wind and early in the morning the big Yachts don't create so many waves. We had it down to our favorite spot checking the walls along the river all the way down. On the way down I found a couple of pieces of antler although it's not shown in the photograph. As usual we found lots of pieces of turtle shell which I've been saving hoping to set into a concrete table top. They're so plentiful but I just thought they would be really cool. Has we got to our spot and started digging my friend had a couple of strombus fall out of the wall. That was followed by the only Lions Paul we found. We found a whole range of other things as you can see from the photograph my favorite is the vasum horridum. I have a large piece of antler or horn I can't identify. so i'll be posting that this week hoping someone can help.  sorry for The lack of scale. these are in the tailgate of it truck

[Peat Burns]

Beautiful finds.  For some reason I now have an Alan Jackson song in my head:  "Way down yonder on the Caloosahatchee, it gets hotter than a..."

[Shellseeker]

8 minutes ago, dalmayshun said:

But there was no wind and early in the morning the big Yachts don't create so many waves.

Great finds, I love finding shells that are uncommon today.

I recall one of my original excursions on the Caloosahatchee.  The river is deep close to steep cliffs at the shore and I had stopped on a narrow shelf to collect some small pristine shark teeth. I saw two very large yachts coming upstream at a fast speed and did not recognize the danger.

The generated waves caught me and my kayak and threw both 4-5 feet up the cliff face. I learned a lesson. As more yachts approached, I jumped into the kayak and pointed it into the on_coming waves.  Be careful out there.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Nice haul! 

And you're right, that Vasum horridum is amazing! 

[Coco]

Hi,

 

 

Coco

[Nimravis]

Great finds- I love collecting Florida shells.

[Plantguy]

Hey Rod, very neat finds. Glad you were able to get out...the weather has been mighty nice in these parts!

I'm curious about the specimen 2nd row on the left..looks a chubby version of the more elongated/taller Fasciolaria I have....is that just the camera angle or is it something else?? Do you know what it is? 

 

Regards, Chis 

[dalmayshun]

I don't remember what that shell is,  but my friend knows and he was excited to find it.  i'll post  an answer about that shell after I ask him.  

[Innocentx]

Sounds like a very good day and thanks for showing these.

 

What do you call this one. It caught my eye.

[dalmayshun]

nodipecten nodensus

commonly called Lion's paw.  this is a large one,  about 3 full inches across. it is not yet cleaned,  but between those bumps there are valleys with striations in them.  really cool. and this scallop was complete,  top and bottom.  beautiful shell. 

[Plantguy]

49 minutes ago, dalmayshun said:

I don't remember what that shell is,  but my friend knows and he was excited to find it.  i'll post  an answer about that shell after I ask him.  

[Monica]

Magnificent molluscs - congratulations on the great finds!

[dalmayshun]

i  posted my "ANTLER and SCALLOP conundrums" to the forum under needing I.D's today. And mentioned there, the second Vasum we found. I was not in as good a condition as the first, but after an initial cleaning I thought it came out well enough to add it to my post. This is the second one from the little 10' long area we check...over the years, we have found 6 at this location. This one isn't the best ever, but since the other pristine one belongs to my friend,  I am more than happy to have found this one, a couple of broken points and all. They are spectacular shells as far as I am concerned...and always a joy for me to find. BTW, I'll post a couple of images of my flat antler here also, just in case someone knows what it is. The whitetail deer antlers I found have always been very round from the nub where they grew, this one is elongated...definitely a flattened shape....

[fossi59]

Beautiful snails. Especially the beautiful pecte.

Franz

[Plantguy]

17 hours ago, dalmayshun said:

I don't remember what that shell is,  but my friend knows and he was excited to find it.  i'll post  an answer about that shell after I ask him.  

I was looking at some docs...thinking its one of the Liochlamy species.

 

Cool!

Regards, Chris 

[dalmayshun]

sent the info request to my friend, as yet, have not heard back. I remember when he found it,  he said, "oh, wow, I haven't seen one of these out here for a long time. "  Then he told me the Latin name, which is like talking to the wind for me, in one ear and out the other....I am always glad to see the Latin, but boy, am I one person who has trouble holding onto it for any length of time, unless I have it written down and can see it. ( by the way, that is why I knew the Lion's paw was a Nodipecten nodensus....I had it written down, but again, forgive me, it is probably  spelled wrong . Besides I seem to remember that in Latin, one thing might end in a "sus", while many of the same thing end in an "a"....Guess I'd better brush up on my Latin. Now, I do know Greek, too bad that wasn't chosen as the language of definition. " 

[Harry Pristis]

22 hours ago, Tidgy's Dad said:

Nice haul! 

And you're right, that Vasum horridum is amazing! 

 

For comparison:

 

 

[dalmayshun]

regarding the shell Chris ( plantguy) asked about. my friend  said he wasnt sure of the spelling, but gave me "lithiachalmas bulbosa"  the caloosahatchee formation. 

[Plantguy]

54 minutes ago, dalmayshun said:

regarding the shell Chris ( plantguy) asked about. my friend  said he wasnt sure of the spelling, but gave me "lithiachalmas bulbosa"  the caloosahatchee formation. 

Awesome find! got it...thanks for the followup! 

 

I understand...as I write stuff down and still have lots of problems....hang in there! 

I almost got the genus name spelled correctly.....missed it by a dropped 's'....dang me....lol.....

Liochlamys bulbosa

http://neogeneatlas.net/species/liochlamys-bulbosa/

 

Again...very cool....Hystrivasum gastropods are really cool too! Thanks for showing us. 

Regards, Chris