caribbean seashell species Guantanamo bay cuba

Wow, right? We were floored by how many different species of shells we found on our shelling trip to Guantanamo Bay Cuba. These are only half of the shells we found that are identified, cleaned and photographed but we still have quite a few more to go… like the HELMETS, MUREXES and other types of TRITONS. Thank goodness for the much needed help of Lee, MurexKen and wearing the pages thin of the many shell books I’ve acquired over the years. So to start with the shells that are pictured above,  I’ll let you know what they are just in case you have any of these you collected on a vacation to Caribbean waters and want to I.D. them or want to put them on your seashells bucket list. I’m sure the identifications are good because of the help I got but since most of these were firsts for us I would like to correct anything that is dead wrong.

Charonia variegata gunatanamo bay cuba

 The TRITONS TRUMPET was obviously the cream of the seashell crop for us.  You may have heard the exuberance in my voice from the video on my last postLOL

triton trumpet shell cuba GTMO

Finding HAWK-WING CONCHS was another thrill! We were astounded by how many different growth stages we found in this species. The top three on the left are adults with that nice “wing” but take a look how small the 4 are in the top right corner. They are a different form of the regular HAWK-WING… they are DWARF HAWK-WINGS. And then look at the bottom row… from left to right, you can see the growth of the thick outer lip.

hawk-wing strombus raninus dwarf shell gtmo cuba

I’ve always wanted to find a perfect RETICULATED COWRIE-HELMET! Well, now we have them in every size and wish I could show you close ups of each one and their colors but I have to show you so many other shells. 24 hours in each day is not enough! So many cool shells!

Cypraecassis testiculus Reticulate Cowrie-helmet gtmo cuba

Like the MEASLED COWRIE in different colors and growth stages…

measled cowrie Macrocypraea zebra gtmo cuba

We found ATLANTIC GRAY COWRIES but since all of the ones we found were a little beach worn none of them were “gray”… they were yellow.

Luria cinerea Atlantic Gray cowrie

We did find ATLANTIC YELLOW COWRIES… and they aren’t yellow! They are spotted brown. Ha!

atlantic yellow cowrie Erosaria acicularis

Clark can spot those CONES. He found both of these CARROT CONES…

Conus daucus carrot cone gtmo cuba

AND he found these rare GLORY OF THE ATLANTIC CONES…

Conus granulatus Glory of the Atlantic cone gtmo cuba

We both found quite a few MCGINTY’S LATIRUS shells. They look like our candy!

Latirus mcgintyi McGintys latirus carinifera gtmo cuba

There were hundreds of WEST INDIAN TOP SHELLS (I always call them TURBANS) stuck in the rocks but we only chose to bring these six home. We always keep in mind that we have to travel with our shell finds. Yes, we could ship more of them home but we never want to take more than our fair share and we never want to take shells that will be boxed up to sit in a closet and never seen again. On vacation, we always go through our shells at night and pick out the best specimens then take back or give away the shells we replaced. Trust me, it took a few trips to learn this lesson!

Cittarium pica west indian top shell gtmo cuba

These CARIBBEAN VASE shells are just as big as the WEST INDIAN TOPS and really thick and heavy. Even the best ones look a little beat up but for some reason I loooove these shells…

Vasum muricatum caribbean vase

Oh yaya! And if you know me, you know I love my CARRIER SHELLS! I found FOUR of them! Again, not so pretty but look at the one on the far right… “he’s” carrying around at little “button” shell that he glued to himself. All four collected pieces of shell, CORAL and ROCK . I guess I like them because I can relate to them so much. We both collect shells!

atlantic american carrier shell Xenophora (Xenophora) conchyliophora cuba

The WEST INDIAN CROWN CONCHS were pretty common down there too but it was fun to find the different colors, sizes from smooth to spiny.

west Indian Crown conch Melongena gtmo cuba

These sweet little COMMON DOVE SHELLS are less than an inch but soooo beautiful. We found tons of mini shells too!

Columbella mercatoria common dove shell

…Like these CHECKERED NERITES. How cute! Now I do wish I had collected all of these shells that I saw because these would look awesome on the inside edge of a shell frame, right?

Nerita tessellata checkered nerite

 Most of the DELTOID ROCK SHELLS were very worn (as most rock shells look to me) but these were the nicest we found…

deltoid rock shell gtmo cuba thais deltoidea

FLAMINGO TONGUES! I like the shell but I think I like the name even better.

Cyphoma gibbosum flamingo tongue gtmo cuba

And we found these cutie little MORONS… Oops! I meant to say MORUMS! WOOD-LOUSE MORUMS. We laughed every time we picked one up because the first time we found one, I called it a “Moron” by mistake. LOL It stuck so now of course we always call them Morons…. not that there’s anything wrong with a moron (for you Seinfeld fans!)

Morum oniscus wood-louse shell gtmo cuba

To make you all feel right at home, these last shells are FIGHTING CONCHS. Don’t they look similar to our FLORIDA FIGHTING CONCHS  we find in southwest Florida? But then look a little closer… the spines are a little different and even the colors are somewhat different too. These are WEST INDIAN FIGHTING CONCHS!

west indian fighting conch Strombus pugilis gtmo cuba

Later in the week when I can get more done, I will show you the rest of the collection and a few more pictures of Cuba. But remember, these are not just shell from Cuba! Most of these shells can be collected on other islands in the Caribbean. We saw some of the same shells in TURKS AND CAICOS (CLICK HERE) but after getting a taste of some of these other shells, Clark and I are bound and determined to find more places we can find these shells that everybody can travel to. The hunt is 0n! So if you know other islands we can find these, please let us know!

CARIBBEAN seashells

Again, THANK YOU Susan and Lee for such an amazing friendship to make this possible for us to share this exshellent adventure!

pam clark susan lee gtmo cuba

 For Part 1 – Our Weekend Collecting Seashells In Guantanamo Bay, Cuba- CLICK HERE

For Part 2- It Doesn’t Git-Mo Better Shelling Than This (Video) – CLICK HERE