Sanibel Shelling: Junonia, The Illusive Shell
Sanibel & Captiva Shelling, Bailey Matthews National Shell Museum, Junonia Exhibit.
Junonia & Shelling On Sanibel & Captiva Islands.
The junonia is the prized shell to find on Sanibel & Captiva beaches!
“Scaphella junonia, is a species of large sea snail, a marine gastropodmollusk in the family Volutidae, the volutes.
This species lives in water from 29 m to 126 m depth in the tropical Western Atlantic. Because of its deepwater habitat, the shell usually only washes up onto beaches after strong storms, or hurricanes.
The species is named after the ancient Roman goddess Juno.”
The junonia “shell was historically greatly prized for its beauty and apparent rarity. It is however commonly taken (accidentally as by catch) from deeper water during commercial trawling by shrimp fishermen in the Gulf of Mexico.
Sanibel & Captiva Shelling, Found A Piece Of Junonia By Brenda Denton, Via Creative Commons.
This source provides plenty of specimens for the shell trade, and so the price of a specimen shell is relatively low. However, the shell is still very hard to find naturally cast up on beaches, so people who find a junonia while shelling on Sanibel Island, Florida, often get their picture in the local newspapers.” Source: Junonia.
Come and learn the “Sanibel Stoop” and walk the beaches of Sanibel, Captiva, North Captiva and Cayo Costa to find your junonia.
The best time is right after a storm and some rough water that has stirred things up and pushed a lot of shells on to the beaches.
Feature image file photo by Tropic~7 via Creative Commons.
