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togas that had been dyed with a rich purple pigment extracted from the murex shell, a common species in the Mediterranean. Shell collecting, a popular pastime now, is not new. It is possible that the ancient Romans made shell collections; explorations of the ruins of Pompeii, buried by volcanic ash from the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 A.D., have revealed accumulations of shells of a variety of species. In 17th-century Europe, well-to-do people with the requisite time and money started to form large collections of the species known at the time, mainly those orig- inating in the Mediterranean and the Carib- bean. Elaborate display cabinets were built to house and show off the collections, and rare species were sold at auctions, with large sums of money changing hands. As more and more of the world’s oceans and islands were

explored, the range of shells available to col- lectors increased, and the prices charged for them fell, making them accessible to far more people than the few wealthy collectors of the early years. Today’s shell collectors have the opportunity to study species from all around the world, but because of their sheer numbers, they have a great responsibility to consider the conserva- tion of the shells and their habitats. It should never be forgotten that a shell is the home of a living creature. If the shell is picked up empty on a beach, then clearly the once-living mol- lusk has finished with it, but if the shell still houses the organism that created it, the col- lector should consider carefully who needs the shell most: Is the need for one more shell in the collection greater than the value of the life of the living thing inside it?

The endive murex, Chicoreus chicoreum, from the southwest Pacific, has a stout shell with short,curved, and slightly branched spines giving it a slight resemblance to the vegetable.

An empty shell of the Florida horse conch, Pleuroplac gigantea, lies abandoned in the surf on a lonely beach. Prizes like this often await the sharp-eyed collector, but the shell should be checked for other inhabitants as it could now be home to a hermit crab.

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