Annediver 0 Posted October 10, 2009 I was diving today in Lake Worth Lagoon, Riviera Beach, FL. I turned over a small rock and saw this small oval thing. Help Leslie, is this a bivalve or something else?. It was about the size of a penny, and in less than 5 feet of water. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Leslie 0 Posted October 11, 2009 It certainly is Anne. I'm terrible at bivalves & the very expensive book I bought on bivalves of southern Florida mostly shows clean dead shells.....not much of a help! Maybe this is some kind of oyster like a winged oyster or a jewelbox. There's a terrific site for shells from your area at http://jaxshells.org/ if you really want to try tracking this down. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Annediver 0 Posted October 12, 2009 Thanks Leslie, I'll see what I can find out. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pagojoe 0 Posted October 15, 2009 Hi Anne, I told Leslie that I had no idea what you'd found, but as I thought about it, I decided it MIGHT be a Pen Shell, laying on its side with the beak buried. There are several species, and I'm not sure I could narrow it to the species level without cleaning it up (assuming it does indeed belong to the Pinnidae). Leslie steered you right by sending you to the jaxshells site, I think. Check out this photo of Atrina rigida, and try to imagine what it would look like with a little stuff growing on it http://www.jaxshells.org/417aa.htm If we're seeing only part of the shell in your pic, Atrina seminuda is also a candidate: http://www.jaxshells.org/514a.htm Cheers, Don Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Annediver 0 Posted October 15, 2009 Thank you Don, I did go back the next day and took more photos, and I think it could be a pen shell. I am going to try to find it again and determine if it is alive or dead and get some more photos. Thanks, Anne Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
