Seashell in Coral?

[Yarik]

Hello everyone, my 2nd-grade son was super happy to find this community! He is a fan of fossils (waiting for his dinosaur tooth from online fossil retailer) and other rare things like stones and seashells.

 

Recently, he rediscovered this kind of seashell in his collection and wants to understand what it is. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

• Is it a real seashell combined with coral?
• Is it rare to see such combination in the wild nature?
• Is it possible to determine the age of this coral just visually?

 

Thank you everyone

[Fossildude19]

This is a actually a seashell that has been bored by a sponge or rock borer.
It looks like a real shell, but it is impossible to tell if it is a fossil from just a photo.

Where it was found would need to be known, to see if fossil shells are known from the area.

[Al Dente]

I agree that the shell has been bored, most likely by a sponge similar to Cliona. There is a coral attached. I've circled it.

 

 

[FranzBernhard]

Looks like a modern shell with a modern coral attached to it.

 

Concerning directly your first question: Yes!

Here is a fossil example of boring seashells (Name?? Note the preservation, possibly calcitic shell) in a colonial coral. Weißenegg-Formation of Styria, Austria, ca. 15 Million years old (Miocene).

 

Franz Bernhard

Edited December 10, 2024 by FranzBernhard

[MikeR]

It is the lower valve of Spondylus aka spiny oyster which attaches to hard substrates such as coral.  Although it does occur in the fossil record at least back to the Cretaceous Period, yours is recent.  Here is the Wikipedia entry for Spondylus LINK.

 

Mike

Edited December 10, 2024 by MikeR

[FranzBernhard]

2 minutes ago, MikeR said:

Spondylus aka spiny oyster which attaches to hard substrates such as coral.

So you are thinking the shell attached to the coral (coral first, than shell growing on it)?

Not an easy decision for me!
Franz Bernhard

[MikeR]

Just now, FranzBernhard said:

So you are thinking the shell attached to the coral (coral first, than shell growing on it)?

Not an easy decision for me!
Franz Bernhard

More than likely, dead coral.

[Yarik]

Thank you everyone for your answers, the kid is super happy with all this information! He doesn't remember exactly where it's from, but most likely from Antalya, Turkey. We found some Spondylus species in the WoRMS database (LINK, LINK) with documented distribution in that region. Some photos are rather similar to what we have (LINK). Is there a reasonable way to know the exact species, and is WoRMS a suitable source for that?

[MikeR]

5 hours ago, Yarik said:

Thank you everyone for your answers, the kid is super happy with all this information! He doesn't remember exactly where it's from, but most likely from Antalya, Turkey. We found some Spondylus species in the WoRMS database (LINK, LINK) with documented distribution in that region. Some photos are rather similar to what we have (LINK). Is there a reasonable way to know the exact species, and is WoRMS a suitable source for that?

WoRMS is my go to for the latest interpretation of marine species.  It reviews the most recent names within descriptive publications and since there is a lot of Taxonomic Noise aka splitting, it is not infallible.  Not sure of how many different species of Spondylus are found in the Mediterranean, but that is where I would start.