Revealing Sea Shell Facts

All of our shells are imported from the Philippines as a byproduct of the food industry.
This means that we do not harvest the ocean for shells, nor do we endorse such practices.
Shells are durable but they do need protection from dirt, excessive moisture, and direct sunlight.
Shells are as diverse and beautiful as any manmade products.
We hope you and your customers enjoy the bounty of nature!
(as written by our vendor - Amati)


Black Limpet
Cellana testudinaria
more commonly known as the Turtle Limpet.
The limpet is a small, cone shaped animal.
They are vegetarian and found in great numbers all around the world on rocks.
They make a shallow hole in a rock with they're hard shell and acidic secretions.
Many varieties wander about the rocks at night but return to their original site at dawn.

Brown Pen Shell
Atrina vexillum.
It is commonly found along the shores of East Africa to Polynesia.
This shell is black and triangular. It can be up to approximately 16 inches long.
It is one of the pen shells, which are known for being thin,
yet strong and live buried in the sand and muddy bottoms.

Brownlip Oyster
Pteria Penguin
commonly known as the Penguin Wing Oyster or the Brownlip Oyster for its lustrous brown finish.
This is one of the winged oysters.
It is part of a large family of tropical dwelling oysters with a mother of pearl interior.
These oysters are usually found attached to rocks or wharves.
Some can even produce a gem quality pearl.
This is one of our most popular shells and is paired with the turbo sarmaticus with fabulous results.

Chambered Nautilus
Nautilus pompilius
nautilus are widely recognized shells with a distinctive spiral shape
that is an exact mathematical equation.
A cross section of the shell displays the variouschambers used by the animal.
The largest chamber at the front of the shell is where the animal lives,
while the chambers behind are used for buoyancy
so the nautilus can rise to the surface of the ocean or sink to the bottom.
The outer layer of the nautilus is a matte white with tan markings near the inner spiral.
When this layer is removed, the nautilus is a striking white with iridescent rainbows of color.
At the center of the nautilus, the shell is a pearlescent blue-gray color ovoid in shape.
When used in boxes and jewelry, it is called the osmena pearl.

Donkey Ear Abalone
Haliotis asinina
 also referred to as Pearl Abalone or Pearl Ab,
from the same family as the polished paua shell,
this abalone is found abundantly in shallow waters in the South West Pacific.
Although the outer layer has a variety of colors,
the inner shell where the animal lives is a uniform ivory color with high iridescence.

Gold-lip Oyster
Pinctada margaritifera
produces cream to gold-colored South Sea pearls.
Gold-lip oysters can be found in the Indo-Pacific waters off shore as much as 30 meters.
Used in many inlay applications for it's distinctive range of colors.

Green Argy Polished (turbo)
See Turbo Argystoma below.
For this item, the characteristically green shell is highly polished,
but not dyed in any manner.
For certain items, like the green argy boxes, the argy is slightly polished,
but for texture, the ridges are left largely intact.

Green Argy Turbo Banded
See Turbo Argystoma below.
After polishing, the green outer layer is removed in a spiral pattern,
roughly following the path of the animal's home inside the shell.
This shell allows your customers to see the variety of finishes available from even one shell!

Mother of Pearl
The iridescent substance that forms the lining of the shells of
some fresh-water and some salt-water mollusks.
Like the pearl it is a secretion of the mantle, composed of alternate layers of calcium carbonate
and conchiolin (a protein substance that is the organic basis of mollusk shells).
Note the root word, conch, which many find familiarly in seashore locations.
Among the chief sources are the pearl oyster, found in warm and tropical seas, chiefly in Asia;
the fresh-water pearl mussel, which lives in many rivers of the United States and Europe;
and the abalone of California, Japan, and other Pacific regions.

Pecten Palluim Pair
Cryptopecten pallium
or the Royal Cloak Scallop. Like a clamshell, the pecten shell is actually two halves called valves.
Each side is structured and patterned differently.
Many scallops can swim by snapping their valves.
The Royal Cloak scallop is quite common, and the animal is edible.
From the family Pectinidae, this is a large and poplar grouping of shells highly prized in
shell collections both amateur and professional.
Like the Green Argy, the pecten is used to great effect in boxes and frames,
leaving much of the original texture of the shell to enhance the product.

Polished Paua Shell
Haliotis Iris
 more commonly know as the Paua or Rainbow Abalone.
It can be found along the shores of New Zealand and the Philippines.
The outside of the shell is rough and dull,
while the inside is a beautiful blend of colors.
The animal that lives inside this shell is black and it is the
foot of the animal that is edible and marketed in many countries.
The shell is most commonly used in jewelry as well as inlays in such items as furniture and guitars.
The word paua is actually Maori (a tribe in New Zealand) for Abalone.
Abalone shells belong to the family Haliotidae and are nicknamed sea ears for their oval shape.
Because of the beauty of this shell and its relative thinness, paua shell tends to be more expensive.

Tiger Cowry Purple Top
Cypraea Tigris
 commonly know as the Tiger Cowry. It feeds on polyps on coral reefs.
It is most commonly found under the coral rocks in the Indo-Pacific region
and also around the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.
The exterior of the shell is smooth and polished because of the covering that the animal has,
called a mantle, that wraps around the entire shell.
Interestingly enough, some cultures see cowry shells as a symbol of fertility and are often
offered to a bride as a gift to ensure fertility.
The outer shell is brown and black spotted, similar to a tiger, but the purple resides in a lower layer.
To reach the purple of the shell, they are dipped into an acidic formula.
Tiger cowries are also used in carvings like cameos due to this uniform color under the patterned shell.

Trocha Spiral Cut
Trochous Niloticus
commonly known as Commercial Trochus.
These shells are generally used for making buttons.
They belong to the family of Calliostoma Tops and are common around the world.
For this item, a channel is cut into the side of the polished shell allowing visual access
to the inside of the shell. It is striking piece for display.

Trochus Pearl
See Trochous Niloticus below.
Here the outer layer of the shell has been removed and polished.
This shell is also stunning when used in jewelry and inlaid box designs.

Turbo Pearl
Turbo Argystoma
commonly known as the Silver-mouth Turban.
It belongs in the family of Turban Shells, a large family of top-shaped snails.
There are several hundred species, most of which are vegetarians.
This particular species grows to approximately 3 inches.
To give this shell its pearly appearance the outer layer is removed,
the iridescent under layer is then polished to give it its lustrous appearance.

Turbo Sarmaticus
Turbo sarmaticus
commonly known as the South African Turban.
It is found on the shores of South Africa and the Philippines.
This particular species grows to approximately 3 inches.
When polished, as this one is, it is a favorite of collectors.
Interesting to note is that if you order escargot on an island you are likely to be getting the turban snail.

Young Pen
Pinna rugosa
from the family Pinnidae, these shells are large, fan-shaped, fragile and translucent.
In fact, they are so fragile, they lie buried in mud and sand,
anchored by a tuft of fine fibers called byssal threads which are secreted by glands in the foot.
Byssal threads were once harvested and woven into fabric so strong and pliable,
a woman's scarf could be rolled into a ball the size of a walnut.
Sharp edged valves projecting from the outer surface of the shells has earned
this shell the name Razor Clam.
Younger individuals are found closer to the surface, but all are found in warmer waters.
Young pen has a mottled pattern similar to tortoise shell.