Tips Collecting Shells Tools and Collecting Tips by Dr. Gary Rosenberg Introduction by Lynn Scheu Mollusk Habitats Tools and Collecting Tips Organizing a Shell Collection A well-equipped field collector makes use of many different tools depending on the habitat being investigated. Screens are good for sorting shells out of sand and mud, the size of the screen and its mesh depending on the size of the mollusks the collector is interested in finding. Nested sets of brass-framed screens with graduated mesh sizes are available from geology supply houses.
Collectors can also make their own screens with wooden or plexiglass frames.
Promising areas for screening on sand and mud flats sometimes can be recognized by the presence of snail trails and bivalve burrows. When snorkeling or scuba diving, some collectors use a sieve to sift sand from under rocks and coral slabs and in sandy pockets on the reef. In grass flats and other areas where sediment cannot easily be scooped into a screen or sieve, it can be fanned in with the hand or a small board. Screening can be an excellent way of finding small specimens that would otherwise escape notice. Rocks and coral blocks cast up on shore often show the tell-tale circular or oval openings of the burrows of boring bivalves such as piddocks and date mussels.