I’m not sure if this should be General or Nature Talk but here it goes. I was recently on vacation and I personally enjoy picking up almost every shell and looking at it. Would it be helpful to upload the shells on inat? My assumption was no because I don’t know how far away the organism grew. I me…

Yes, it is helpful because it shows evidence of organism. Same with seaweed. Please make sure that if you take any shells with you that you mark the location and date at collection. Definitely a great way to get lifers!

Definitely upload them! Finding shells and putting them on inaturalist is one of my favorite things to do these days. There are some great identifiers that can help with all kinds of mollusks. While many shells can be ubiquitous in certain areas, there is also much variation in what shells are fo…

Yes, it is definitely worth it. There are many mollusk species that would never appear on iNaturalist at all if it weren’t for observations of shells cast up on a beach. This is especially true for those that measure less than 5 mm.

Now I’ll have to go through my photos, see if I got any. I’ll also keep that in mind for other trips in the future.

Several photos will be needed. Try to get straight-on shots of the inside and the outside of bivalve shells, both the left and right valves if possible. The hinge teeth are important, as well as the size and shape of the pallial sinus and also any exterior surface sculpture. For gastropods, includ…

@susanhewitt has some good tips for mollusk shots on her profile page .

[image] jestaley: is it beneficial to have IDs of organisms that washed up on shore? Yes. One of the most prominent iNatters, Thomas Mesaglio AKA @thebeachcomber , got into iNat by [image] jestaley: picking up almost every shell and looking at it. Thomas was interviewed for iNaturalist…

https://www.inaturalist.org/people/susanhewitt scroll down just below stats: PHOTO GUIDELINES FOR MOLLUSKS

[image] jestaley: My assumption was no because I don’t know how far away the organism grew. I mean some seaweed floats for miles (tens? hundreds?) before it ends up on a beach. Shells don’t usually float and are not carried very far from where they live (probably on the scale of hundreds to t…

If they’re broken, you may find the project Seashell Fragments useful.

Shell IDs from beaches

General

Topic		Replies	Views
Is it ok to upload pictures of shells if I don't know where they're from? General question	31	1318	June 2, 2022
Value of a large collection of shells without accurate location? General	10	1112	August 15, 2022
Sea shell collection General	14	1258	February 7, 2025
Seashells and more seashells General	14	1582	January 9, 2021
Posting obervations of seashells General	8	1328	March 10, 2020

Shell IDs from beaches

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