Reticulate Distorsio

Hi!

Yup, sorry I wasn't able to show you my favourite find yesterday. So here it is! A Reticulate Distortio Shell, Distorsio reticularis. I guess this is the first distorsio I have in my collection. Tried to look up for information in it on the web but can't seem to find much except one from seashellhub.com. Apparently, it is found on sandy shores which are less disturbed. Its colour ranges from white to slightly brownish-yellow. gastropods.com also provides 4 photos for you to identify the shells. Family Personidae, Genus Distorsio. It feeds on echinoderms and lives on sandy shores under coral bits. If any readers have information on its feeding habits, please feel free to comment! :)

:) Hope you will find your own distorsio too! :)

Changi East Trip

HHHHEEEELLLLLLLLOOOOOO!

I am extremely tired and worn out from where Dad and I went to today. Yup, since you've seen this title, I went to the extreme east of Singapore. The coast of Changi East is uninhabited ant the beaches are pristine, althought eh water may be slightly murky. In any case, it is by far the BEST PLACE TO SHELL in Singapore but there's a catch, you would need to find your way in first. So, as people wo have never entered this region before, we decided to follow google maps to enter the forest. I would have to repeat that we did not expect the trail in to contain swamps, huge lallangs, prickly creepers, and anything that you will never expect. In summary, the entrance to the coast was to BASH THROUGH THE FOREST. (We did eventually find an easier way to exit but by then it was too late.) So in any case, here is the whole recap of what happened today...

 So here it is. We begin by parking the car at the SAF Yacht Club. According to google maps, we were supposed to follow along the army training camp for a short distance and then later turn right. This is the scene when we first enter the forest. There is a huge expanse of tall grass. This does not look like singapore but it is. It was about 9,30a.m. when the photo was taken.

 This is the forest. Doesn't this remind you of like a scene in some WuXia movie or like one on vampires or something. Further down, we would hit a Casurina forest, indicative if the coast.

 We detoured around and somehow or rather ended up in a large expanse of lallang. At this point I would like to say that it is rare to find any grass in Singapore that is taller than your ankle but these guys were TALLER THAN ME! (Btw, I am 170cm tall :P )

 Initially, we saw this patch of sea  lettuce and thought that the coas was not far away... We were hell wrong. It was actually a swamp land in which while trying to navigate across, I fell in and lost my glasses... Luckily Ah Pa found it after 15 minutes.. :)

 And all of a sudden, this huge Attacus Atlas Moth just flew from the Lallang beside me. The Atlas Moth is the moth with the world's largest wingspan and its silk can be woven into clothes. In Singapore, it is rare due to habitat loss. This is the second time i've seen such a creature...

 The canal. Apparently, this place is restricted but we could see tons of fishes in the water, mostly Mizambique tilapia i guess.

 Nice red flowers.

 And eventually, after bashing through all the way, we finally reach the coast. See? It is empty... I guess there is no place in Singapore by which you can be left aone except in your room or somewhere which requires 2 hours of hiking before reaching it.

 And since now is the start of Summer (well, technically) we have the flowers blooming along the coast. Beautiful. The morning glory was still in bloom when we reached the place.

 A scallop shell. There were tons of them littering the shore....

 Ah Ha! A frog shell and flat clam!

 And here you have 2 variegate fig shells! We eventually found like 20 of them...

The sand wall, I guess its colonised by birds. :)

Precious finds of the day: 2 Orange Ornate Olives, Oliva iridans :) One from me and one from Ah Pa. :)

Purple Diphos Shell, Diphos sanguin, 西施舌紫云蛤科 in Chinese. these guy look different from those I got from Kuching 2 years ago.

Here is the whole day's haul. It is one pail full but most of it are the Figs and Dog Conches (Gong Gong)...

A Marbled Scallop, Laevichlamys squamosa I think...

Moon Snails! I found like half a bucket of them lying on the shore. The species here are the Lined Moon, Powisianus Moon and Calf Moon

A Japanese Bonnet Shell, Phalium bisulcatum. I found this species in Kuching too.

Donax Sp. I call them butterfly shells but they are actually surf clams. There were millions o them and a few live ones too! I would have collected more if those pesky sandflies did not bother me so much...

And finally, a Sunburst Carrier Shell! I have never had any of these in my collection and this will be my first! :)

Bintan Seashells

Hey peeps!

My dad just came back from Bintan and before he left, I kinda gave him a little "task" for his trip. Yup, it's to shell for me in Bintan. So, he has returned and given me the shell haul of his trip. It isn't alot but is all right considering the only time he shelled was the 15 minutes of spare time he had occasionally. In case you do not know where is Bintan, here's an map of the island that is 45 minutes away from Singapore. By the way, both places are world's apart so if you are planning to come to Singapore, you might want to stop by Bintan on the way. :)

 So here's a picture of the beautiful sunrise. Unlike the beaches in Singapore, Bintan boast beautiful, sandy beaches and crystal clear waters.

 This is his shell haul, Bintan Seashells. I guess the best of this collection is the miter, olive and auger. frankly speaking, I have no idea what their exact species is but will have to research and will return to you asap. :) There are also many black-lipped conches, nerites, top shells and a dog conch.

 Bintan is situated southeast of Singapore. Apparently, I think its under a scheme in which Singapore and Indonesia jointly develops the Riau islands. Another island worth taking a look is Batam, south of Singapore. This island has superb seafood such as see haam (blood cockles) as large as a fist (ok, maybe not so huge but its not less than half a fist thats for sure), live fishes, mantis shrimps. The most famous is 933, or九三三 seafood.

I'm not sure of this photo's credibility but I guess its possible, probably in some secluded area of Bintan. Enjoy :)

Punggol Point Trip 3

Hello!

   As promised, there will be a blog post on my shelling trips. So here it is, managed to visit punggol point again. One lesson learnt though, never go to the beach for shelling during high tide. I didn't have a really great shelling trip but did manage to find some shells that were never seen on the beach before. :)

 So here is the beautiful Sunset i managed to catch. Luckily, the weather was perfect for such photos. I got many of these. :)

 This is one of the usuals, the jingle shells. Found about 10 of these. Due to the high tide, i could only comb the upper swash line which is quite sad... T_T

 And here it is, a Lineated Nerite. This one's alive but i managed to find an empty one later. It was still high tide so speaks alot on the snail's ability to tolerate heat.

 The shell "colony". There was a Chinaman's hat shell but i decided not to pick it as it was a juvenile. :)

 And the pick of the day! An Olive shell!!! It was lying within a shell clump and i almost missed it! However, i'm not so sure if it is a native species since the sand here is reclaimed.

 The shell and coral.

 The coast was covered with sea almond trees. I used to use the dried leaves and soak it in water. It stains the water tannin brown and is really good for Fighting fishes.

 Sunset again...

 And again... i guess this is my fave . the beach looks so clean!

 And the water is really clean too! By now the tide ws receeding real quickly. The sand bar offshore was also slowly showing.

 The end of the shore. By now i guess it's 7.15pm. Suprisingly, the beach is pristine so is the water. Kinda like those in Bintan.

 Haha! Found this stick in the sand and wrote this on the sand. I also left it on the shore for those who sees it to figure out who wrote it! :P

 Barnacles. Acorn barnaclesto be exact. These guys managed to colonise the whole tree root. Btw, the whole tree is uprooted and long dead.

 The sand bar. It seems to inch closer to the shore after during every visit. I eventually managed to step onto it when the tide had receeded far enough.

 And just for the record, another Melongena Shell!!! This guy was feeding when Iyanked him out but I am really apologetic as it was totally an accident.

 This is Johore. Highly industrialised Johore. You can also see Serangoon Island in the centre.

 And at 7,45pm, i managed to take a snapshot of thewater beneath. Crystal clear. This is interesting... -From the Jetty.

 Worm Shell. Thit time, it is empty. (The last time I colected one still had its resident in it. Oops. )

Keyhole Limpet. You do see many of them along the shore d to the high number of sponges in the intertidal area in which they reputedly feed on.

And two lovely pink clams. the clam on the top is much richer in colour.

So here it is, the day's haul. It isn't really alot but i'm pleasantly suprised at the range of shells available since I have never seen many of these species around before. :)

Cones

Hello!

    Well, its the start of the one-month holiday! Yipee! Well, to kick it off, lets have the first blog post on CONES. Well, these are the current ones in my collection, of which most of them come from the Indo-Pacific Region. Thes are also found in the intertidaol region so you would probably come across them while beach combing or snorkelling. Oh! BUT BE VERY CAREFUL, some of them are highly poisonous and you would rather chose not to place it in your pocket while shelling. Hmm...most of the larger ones are bought from shell dealers but the majority of the smaller ones are from the shores of Asia.
(Hi Pam! :) )

 So here's my collection. Apologies for the poor photo quality. Err...it isn't alot of them too. :) All together, there are 23 species represented here. Majority of them come from the "pearl of the orient', philippines and more specifically, Cebu.

 This is the first five, in a clockwise direction, we have:
1) Fig Cone, Conus figulinus. This guy's from Bohol in the Philippines.
2) Textile Cone, Conus textile. Shenzhen, China. This is one of the most venomous species around, beware :). These shells are usually found amongst coral rubble, reefs and sometimes sand bars. According to the shell dealer, most of the seashells come from Hainan Island so i guess it would be a better choice for shelling.
3) Beech Cone, Conus betulinus. Shenzhen, China. This species is similar to the flea-bitten cone.
4) Lettered Cone, Conus literatus. Sabah, Malaysia. These shells are usually found corals.
Btw, most cones are found along sandy shores, coral rubble and corals so finding one in a mangrove is usually just someone playing a trick on you. :P
5) Banded Marble Cone, Conus marmoreus bandanus. This species is one of the most diverse, with numerous subspecies so it is better to have a guidebook beside you while identifying them.

Three Filipinos, One Malaysian and One Chinese...
Similarly, in clockwise direction:
1) Geography Cone, Conus geographus. Shenzhen, China.
2) Rayed Cone, Conus radiatus. Purchased at Shoemart, Philippines. The approximate size of this shell is probably 3/4 fist long... :)
3) Striated Cone, Conus striatus. Another Filipino shell. This species is usually harder to find along the shoreline. (Actually, all these are hard to find on an average beach :P)
4) Imperial Cone, Conus imperialis. This species is a highly variable species so do look up the internet for the widest range of varieties!
5) Virgin Cone, Conus virgo. This is the Malaysian from Sabah. There is a similar looking species that is whiter and larger. :)

 Boomz...here is the next seven...
1) Tesselate Cone, Conus tessulatus. similar to the ivory cone, this species distinguished by it's orange hue. Filipino
2) Ivory Cone, Conus eburneus. This species is strikingly similar to the beech cone and sometimes, have the same colour! However, this guy has more spots than the other.
3) Err, this one I'm not really sure... but i guess it is a magus cone? Conus magus. I looks similar but I will need to check this thing out.
4) Omaria Cone, Conus omaria. This species is similar to the Princely Cone. Filipino... Geez :)
5) Marble Cone, Conus marmoreus. Ah Ha! this is the one that i've been talking about. This cone is the representative subspecies of the marmoreus family. It is also highly poisonous. Oh, but he's Thai. Got him from the Weekend market in Bangkok.
6) Err...frankly speaking, i have no idea what this species is but i suspect it's a Striated Cone variant.  Oops... :P  He Is Malaysian.
7) General Cone, Conus generalis. Another Filipino. I have not polished this guy yet but the shells are usually more colourful and bright.

 And the last five...
1) Glaucous Cone, Conus glaucous. Found him in a basket of seashells in Cebu. Certain books rate this shell as a category 3 shell (relatively rare) but i guess it's not. It seems pretty common...
2) Noble Cone, Conus nobilis. This is my fave. He was COLLECTED along the shores of Bohol on the early morning. Another subspecies of this one would be the Victor Cone, or Conus nobilis victor which is the "handsomer" of the two
3) Oops again... my apologies but i guess this is yet to be identified by me yet even though it has followed me for 6 YEARS!
4) Hebrew Cone, Conus ebraeus. This species is one of the most commonly collected cones. Found him in Cebu (or is it Bohol?)
5) and 6) I am seriously pai seh (embarrassed) right now. I have not found out the names of these cones. No. 5 is from the Philippines and No. 6 is from Vietnam...

WOW... i have finished it! :) Err...appealing to all viewers out there! :) If you do know the names of the unidentified cones, please feel free to drop a comment in my "comments box". 
Hee hee, felt as is i was writing an essay or publishing a book on Cones. Haha :) :)
(Hi Pam, here's the cones that I have. So sorry for the numerous unidentified cones. :) I will try my best to help you identify as many shells as possible and do feel free to email/blogpost your seashells! Have a great day!) :)