She sells seashells etc.

November 14, 2011 1:18 PM

Do you like bivalves? Do you like Britain? Then Marine Bivalve Shells of the British Isles is the site for you!

If you need some background information to get going, the site provides brief profiles of the pioneers of mollusca studies such as Emanuel da Costa (one of the first to bowdlerise Linnaeus' original licentious nomenclature for bivalvular anatomy) and John Gwyn Jeffreys - some of the important texts are available on archive.org as somewhat chunky PDFs, such as da Costa's Historia Naturalis Testaceorum Britanniæ, or William Turton's Conchylia Insularum Britannicarum, both of which have several gorgeous illustrations of bivalves towards the end of the texts. On a more technical note, there is also an introduction to shell structure, which is, it seems, far more complex than I had imagined. But the main point of the site is to catalogue British bivalves, which you can browse by habitat: for each species, from the oddly-shaped to the truly tiny to the unpleasantly spiky to the whorled and beautiful, there is a page detailing its anatomy and habitat.

posted by Dim Siawns (11 comments total)

I was obsessed with mollusks and all things malacological before junior high... it's a really good thing the Internet wasn't around back then because I would never have gotten any homework done! This is shell nerd heaven.

The obsession has waned over time, but this site still looks just ducky to me. I think bivalves often take a back seat to their snail cousins in terms of attention paid to them, even though they really are fascinating creatures and their shells can be so beautiful. Thanks for posting.
posted by Currer Belfry at 1:26 PM on November 14, 2011

For some reason, I'm always absurdly happy that websites that specific exist.

(Ooh, I like the spiky ones...)
posted by anaximander at 1:26 PM on November 14, 2011

The randiest of the gastropods is the limpet. This hot-blooded little beast with its tent-like shell is always on the job. Its extra-marital activities are something startling. Frankly I don't know how the female limpet finds the time to adhere to the rock-face!

(I just couldn't help myself.)
posted by usonian at 1:28 PM on November 14, 2011 [3 favorites]

Do you like bivalves?

Yes, they're delicious.
posted by goethean at 1:30 PM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]

Do you like Britain?

Yes, it's delicious.
posted by swift at 1:32 PM on November 14, 2011 [2 favorites]

Limpets can also be delicious. We ate very big ones in Chile that were as good as any abalone.
posted by Mei's lost sandal at 1:48 PM on November 14, 2011

Obsessively researched nature sites like this are a bad, bad thing for me. Because then I want there to be a site like this for everything everywhere.
posted by jquinby at 1:52 PM on November 14, 2011

Do you like Britain?

Yes, it's delicious.
posted by swift at 9:32 PM on November 14

Except for that bit around Grimsby.
posted by Decani at 2:44 PM on November 14, 2011

jquinby - eventually there will be.

Hopefully.
posted by cromagnon at 3:02 PM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]

Lovely website for the bivalve-curious.
posted by Skygazer at 5:56 PM on November 14, 2011

Do you like Britain?

Yes, it's delicious.
posted by swift at 9:32 PM on November 14

Except for that bit around Grimsby.

Hey now, Lincolnshire is perfectly digestible (like a fine crumbly biscuit soaked in treacle), provided one has enough cider or perry to wash it down....
posted by Chrischris at 7:10 PM on November 14, 2011