Mortons Yellow Egg Cockle

This is no yoke….. errr… I mean joke! The inside of this MORTON’S YELLOW EGG COCKLE is really this yellow! And some of the exterior patterns are just as pretty.

exterior mortons yellow egg cockle

We found quite a few of these on some of the sandy mud flats at Cayo Costa.

interiors of mortons yellow egg cockles florida

There is such a variety of patterns on the interiors and exteriors of these cutie little shells.

morton yellow egg cockle seashells Sanibel

Yep, I said “little” shells. Wanna see how little they are?

Laevicardium mortoni mortons egg cockle size

I would have completely missed these little guys if it hadn’t been for MurexAlice pointing these beauties out to me. I felt so lucky to be able to beach comb with her since she showed me another cutie little shell I would have missed. This is the FLORIDA LYONSIA

Florida lyonsia Lyonsia floridana

It is so delicate and paper thin I thought I would break the valves apart before I got home to photograph it. But… Yes! It made it home with both valves still attached. I rinsed the shells off but those little grains of sand seem to be attached so I let them be.

interior Lyonsia floridana lyonsia

I’m not sure if you can see the iridescent shimmer to it, but it reminds me of a tiny little ANGEL WING with a pearlized finish.

size of Lyonsia floridana florida lyonsia seashell

Okay, let me back up a bit before I forget to show you this….I mentioned the MORTON’S YELLOW EGG COCKLE in previous post “I’m Telling On Some Tellins” and it reminded me of an orchid plant. I got a comment from Jackie saying that it was theĀ Oncidium orchid that it looks like. Yes, that’s it! I found a photo from Wikipedia that will show you why it these shells remind me of an orchid. Do you see why now?

Oncidium-altissimum orchid