Seashell by the seashore

For the past few weeks this seashell has been sitting on my book shelf staring down at me. It was given to me the second day of life drawing and we are to be drawing our shells over the semester. I find myself distant from it because I don't know anything about this shell. So, I did some research on the shell and I found out all sorts of things. I still don't know what I want to name my shell, but when I find the perfect name I will let you know.

The Horse Conch is the shell I have. It is commonly know as the Giant Band shell and its scientific name is Pleutroploca gigantea. These shells are found mostly in bays along the Gulf coast and can be up to 24" long. They can come in a variety of colors from orangish, cream to brown on the outside with a thin scaly covering. The opening of the shell is an orangy-red color and it is a spindle-shaped shell. The creature that lives inside is a snail that is brick-red color and feeds on bivalves and other snails. A little piece of fame that my shell has is that it is the state shell of Florida since 1969. Doing this research on this shell has allowed me to become more attache to this shell.