3 bladed wentletrap epitonium albidum

AHA! I’m tickled that I just found another type of WENTLETRAP! I found three BLADED WENTLETRAPS (Epitonium albidum) at the Sanibel Lighthouse Beach yesterday afternoon. This will make my 6th different variation of the Wentletrap family I’ve found in SouthWest Florida. I can now add this one to the other five wentles I talked about last year (in November) in the post How To Find Wentletrap Shells On Sanibel…

five different types of wentletraps

These are clearly different from the other WENTLETRAPS I have found. So after finding these three unusual tiny shells, I raced home to see which ones they were. It’s the BLADED WENTLETRAP! You see how the ribs form a straight line? Most of the others don’t form that straight line from top to bottom.

aperture side bladed wentletrap Epitonium albidum

I love to find a shell that is new to me!

sanibel bladed wentletrap Epitonium albidum

Finding WENTLETRAPS at Lighthouse Beach hasn’t been as easy as it was last year when those big areas of what looked like the coffee grounds showed up most weeks. The winds and currents just haven’t been right for the last several months to wash them in so I’ve just had to look a little harder and stoop a little lower. Hmmmm…. not a bad thing to have to do to find treasure. Especially when these are your surroundings!

sanibel lighthouse with shellers

Before I found my wentles I started seeing quite a few minis lining the shore at the water’s edge. I found all of these in about 10 minutes all in the same wrack line. I do have one ANGULATE WENTLETRAP in my palm under the CONE but its sort of hidden.

miniature button shells limpet sanibel lighthouse

Then I found a few more different shells and a piece of CORAL in the low tide pools as well. Check out my SEASHELL IDENTIFICATION page if you need help identifying any of the shells… just CLICK HERE

seashells and coral from sanibel lighthouse

But then I found all three of the BLADED WENTLETRAPS  in the same line pretty close together in the same line. Now you can see how small they are…

bladed wentletraps sanibel lighthouse

I met cutie pies Richard and Dendy from Mississippi enjoying their seashell treasure hunt on this beautiful afternoon. They had found a few MUREXES, CONCHS and also some minis too like a few WENTLETRAPS.

deny richard jackson mississippi visit sanibel shelling

But I couldn’t get over this sweet juvie GAUDY NATICA (COLORFUL MOON SHELL) Dendy found. Look how tiny! It’s a Shellipution! LOL

juvenile gaudy natica colorful moon shell sanibel

There’s always something fun to find in those little shell lines at the Lighthouse Beach at low tide. You just have to take your time, enjoy the hunt and get down low in stoop position.

sanibel stoop lighthouse minis

sanibel lighthouse beach shells birds

Join me on a Shelling Adventure!

shelling adventures trips by pam