The species survives despite the extremely harsh winters of this region. Common shell names can sometimes be misleading. For instance, the Golden Cowrie , Cypraea aurantium, is really not golden, but orange in color. Many species of mollusks have shells that vary considerably in color , form and shape. In many cases, specimens of the same species from far-flung geographical localities look so different, that researchers have mistakenly renamed the variant as a new species.
Gastropods are single coiled shells.
Bivalves are made up of two shells attached by a hinge. Chitons are primitive mollusks with eight shells held together by a fleshy girdle. The rarest shell is the one not yet discovered. Worldwide Conchology is not a sales list. This non-commercial Web resource contains hundreds of digital images of the world's most beautiful and exotic marine, land, and freshwater shells.