This Friday I have a bit of a change from the usual vertebrate specimen for you to identify. Any idea what this might be?
As usual you can put your suggestions in the comments section below and I’ll do my best to respond during the day. Good luck!
Zygoma
Adventures in natural history collections
Zygoma 
E.s., I think! Definitely an E. if not E.s.
I may be a little over-excited at finally having a reasonable guess on an FMO. : )
Better than reasonable 😉
one of the W****t*** group possibly E******** s******?
Impressive stuff!
I was thinking W**t**t*** as well but I only have a British one for comparison
Crumbs, that was quick! I suppose it comes down to species now!
Although some people have already got the species…
I’ve done some googling when I should be working and I agree with Anna. Apparently they are found worldwide, I don’t remember picking any of these up on Walton beach when I was a kid!
This species isn’t that widely distributed, but the genus is!
It’s beautiful. At first I thought it might be a Blascka model of a tube worm but then I noticed the chips on the rim which looks more like it’s real shell.
Well spotted! It is quite unusual as the shell is very thin for a gastropod.
I got as far as “marine gastropod” before having to do an image search. I’d never heard of these before, but I see the common name derives from Dutch and is a good metaphor for the shape. (This is doubly embarrassing as I’ve studied marine biology & Dutch — not much good at either.)
it’s a shell…I think it’s a Epitonium Canephora.
Right genus, wrong species – very close though!
Wow, what a fantastic jolt to the memory, thanks Paolo!
This picture immediately brought back memories of my old seashell-collecting guide I had when I was about 12 and haven’t looked at for years and years (I will look for it next time I’m at my parent’s). The book said that this species was considered so valuable that fakes were made in rice paste by Chinese artisans, and that the counterfeits are now more rare and valuable than the actual shell! I remember finding that bit of information amazing.
It’s been so long I had to Google the book, it’s “Guide to Seashells of the World” by R. Tucker Abbott.
The animal is possibly E******** s****** ( I can’t take any credit, I had to Google that too).
Spot on! You also managed to gazump the interesting story I was planning to use in the answer tomorrow! But that’s fine, I will simply cite you 😉