purple sea whip

While sifting through the BEACH BLING on the east end of Sanibel this past week, I found a purple SEA WHIPS. I’ve collected a few over the years because of their beauty but now I look very carefully at them because at times, I’ll see little surprise hitch hikers on them. Take a closer look…

one-tooth simnia on sea whip

Did you see the two shells attached to two different branches? They practically camo themselves on the branches, don’t they? They are called ONE-TOOTH SIMNIAS.

Simnialena uniplicata

On this SEA WHIP I found last week, there are two ONE-TOOTH SIMNIAS attached to this one as well…

sea whip one-tooth simnia

I plucked one of the shells off the branch. Look at how sleek it is.

one-tooth simnia aperture

I never find these washed up on the beach… I wonder why? I’m sure they are there so I’m going to keep my eyes peeled for them. Here is the other view…

one-tooth simnia

Since this is a miniature shell I wanted to show you how big the ONE-TOOTH SIMNIA was in relation to a quarter. Unfortunately, all I see in this picture is George Washington getting comfy with one of those travel roll pillows around his neck. I hope you have better luck focusing on the size of the shell instead of the neck roll. ha!

one-tooth simnia size

I learned to look closely at SEA WHIPS because I saw a few displays in the scientific division of the 75th Sanibel Shell Fair and Show this year of interesting things that find homes on SEA WHIPS. Here is a very impressive display of a WEST INDIES CHANK SHELL EGG CASE attached to a SEA WHIP with the baby CHANK SHELLS coming out.

chank shell egg case

Awesome, right? Expert sheller Marilee describes her exhibit as…

“Egg case of Turbinella angulata    On sea plume (Pseudopterogorgia) Found on beach after storm near Jack’s Bay- Eleuthera Bahamas”

This was an “Aha moment” for me since she left the egg case attached to the SEA PLUME. Now I always look at what’s attached to the SEA WHIPS or SEA PLUMES mixed in with all the BEACH BLING. Thank you Marilee! It was such a pleasure to meet you at the show.

Moralee shell diplay

 I have another surprise to show you on my next post about SEA WHIPS. I found another cool shell attached to them! Until then, take a look at another hitchhiker….a BRYOZOAN COLONY hanging out on this purple lovely.

Sea whip with bryozoan colony