A photographic guide to seashells and facts about each type of shell.

With simple organization, this guide tells the individual stories of 213 shelled mollusks using descriptive accounts, distribution maps, and color photographs. Accounts feature glimpses of each seashell's former life as a living creature. The organization and descriptions as well as the photographs make shell identification easy.

Identify just about any seashell found on New England beaches, from southern Connecticut to northern Maine. Beautiful illustrations and straightforward descriptive text help readers identify 70 different seashells, and learn a little bit about them--most likely anything a reader wants to identify will be included, without a lot of "extra" species. Expert information offered in an appealing format for beachcombers, amateur naturalists, and anyone else who loves the beach. Includes advice on how and where to find great shells.

Describes and depicts eight hundred species of shells.

Presents a pictorial guide to marine mollusks, providing descriptions for native varieties and important introduced species.

A Science Friday Best Science Book of the Year A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of the Year A Library Journal Best Science and Technology Book of the Year A Tampa Bay Times Best Book of the Year A stunning history of seashells and the animals that make them that "will have you marveling at nature…Barnett’s account remarkably spirals out, appropriately, to become a much larger story about the sea, about global history and about environmental crises and preservation" (John Williams, New York Times Book Review). Seashells have been the most coveted and collected of nature’s creations since the dawn of humanity. They were money before coins, jewelry before gems, art before canvas. In The Sound of the Sea, acclaimed environmental author Cynthia Barnett blends cultural history and science to trace our long love affair with seashells and the hidden lives of the mollusks that make them. Spiraling out from the great cities of shell that once rose in North America to the warming waters of the Maldives and the slave castles of Ghana, Barnett has created an unforgettable history of our world through an examination of the unassuming seashell. She begins with their childhood wonder, unwinds surprising histories like the origin of Shell Oil as a family business importing exotic shells, and charts what shells and the soft animals that build them are telling scientists about our warming, acidifying seas. From the eerie calls of early shell trumpets to the evolutionary miracle of spines and spires and the modern science of carbon capture inspired by shell, Barnett circles to her central point of listening to nature’s wisdom—and acting on what seashells have to say about taking care of each other and our world.

Twelve accurately rendered sticker illustrations depict the mussel, scallop, razor clam, quahog, queen conch, and seven other shells. Easy-to-read descriptions are accompanied by numbered spaces for applying the matching sticker.

Who among us hasn’t marveled at the diversity and beauty of shells? Or picked one up, held it to our ear, and then gazed in wonder at its shape and hue? Many a lifelong shell collector has cut teeth (and toes) on the beaches of the Jersey Shore, the Outer Banks, or the coasts of Sanibel Island. Some have even dived to the depths of the ocean. But most of us are not familiar with the biological origin of shells, their role in explaining evolutionary history, and the incredible variety of forms in which they come. Shells are the external skeletons of mollusks, an ancient and diverse phylum of invertebrates that are in the earliest fossil record of multicellular life over 500 million years ago. There are over 100,000 kinds of recorded mollusks, and some estimate that there are over amillion more that have yet to be discovered. Some breathe air, others live in fresh water, but most live in the ocean. They range in size from a grain of sand to a beach ball and in weight from a few grams to several hundred pounds. And in this lavishly illustrated volume, they finally get their full due. The Book of Shells offers a visually stunning and scientifically engaging guide to six hundred of the most intriguing mollusk shells, each chosen to convey the range of shapes and sizes that occur across a range of species. Each shell is reproduced here at its actual size, in full color, and is accompanied by an explanation of the shell’s range, distribution, abundance, habitat, and operculum—the piece that protects the mollusk when it’s in the shell. Brief scientific and historical accounts of each shell and related species include fun-filled facts and anecdotes that broaden its portrait. The Matchless Cone, for instance, or Conus cedonulli, was one of the rarest shells collected during the eighteenth century. So much so, in fact, that a specimen in 1796 was sold for more than six times as much as a painting by Vermeer at the same auction. But since the advent of scuba diving, this shell has become far more accessible to collectors—though not without certain risks. Some species of Conus produce venom that has caused more than thirty known human deaths. The Zebra Nerite, the Heart Cockle, the Indian Babylon, the Junonia, the Atlantic Thorny Oyster—shells from habitats spanning the poles and the tropics, from the highest mountains to the ocean’s deepest recesses, are all on display in this definitive work.

Shells of Florida – Gulf of Mexico, A Beachcomber's Guide to Coastal Areas: This colorful, educational guide is an excellent resource for identifying the shells, common sea beans and other coastal drift found in beach, lagoon and bay habitats. Great for all ages and is perfect for anyone who enjoys the coastal areas whether briefly visiting the beach to nature enthusiasts and beachcombers. This conveniently sized guide features photographs grouped by color of some of Florida’s common, uncommon and highly sought shelled animals. Other aquatic coastal animals are also included, plus important information about the wrack line and the coastal drift treasures hidden there. Common and scientific names, shell ranges, maximum sizes, and other features are described in this guide. Field identification assistance and educational tips are also presented. This pocket-sized, 12-panel, laminated, waterproof guide is great for outdoor coastal experiences.