Spondylus senegalensis 86.9mm CHOICE IMPORTANT CARMESIN RED BEAUTY

Description

Dear collector friends: my name is Gisela and I am a private seller at Ebay. This is my new ebay dedicated exclusively to bivalves. Another ebay dedicated to gastropods is soon going online. The seashell offered here comes from my personal collection and was taken many years ago; please
read the following description carefully and be advised that all rules as postulated by ebay for private sellers apply to all my ebay transactions. Thank you for your continued interest and friendship,
best wishes from Gisela
Spondylus senegalensis 86.9mm CHOICE IMPORTANT CARMESIN RED BEAUTY FROM PRIVATE SHELL COLLECTION
1. Identification ref b013
:
Spondylus senegalensis (Schreibers, 1793), Trindade and Martim Vaz Archipelago, Southern Atlantic Ocean, Brasil, from shipwreck tucked between rocky cliffs in 27m depth, live taken specimen shell. Lot 3A/2d.
2. Description
:      A highly important shell, generally described under the name senegalensis, from a population which is out of reach for conchologists, and a shell of scientific and documentary value which spans the bridge from Senegal where you find typical 'senegalensis' over the Cape Verde Islands, where there are larger specimens with fines spines, to the Atlantic Ridge islands which connect to Brasil, in this case the Trinidade and Vaz Archipelago 750 miles off Brasil coast lost in the southern Atlantic ocean, and eventually the species being represented in Brasil by the better known cousin called ictericus. A shell which would be a noble and breathtaking addition to the collection of a scientist interesting in studying the taxon in more detail, and such a study would definitely meet the enthusiastic welcome of the shell connoisseurs since the genus Spondylus is very obscure, especially in the Atlantic Ocean Species. A beautiful specimen of fantastic wine red color with a flush of purple, the kind of purple you know from the Muricids, and totally unique among the Spondylus. With delicate body, and deeply cupped valves. A venerable shell which is still hiding secrets of the marine fauna and which fascinated people long before shell collecting became a subject of interest. The only such shell in my collection and a real treasure taken intact from shipwreck which is the only place where one can recover such a specimen which in habitat attaches itself with the entire lower valve to the volcanic rock making it impossible even to the most persistent diver to recover such a shell.
3. Pictures: All pictures are recently taken from the original shell which is actually offered for sale; in the process of photographing I employed a 14Mb Camera, and I guarantee for all my pictures that they are not retouched in any way: they represent the respective shell as is, in highest resolution, and they were taken from different angles in order to make clearly visible all the finest details, and there is nothing to hide. All these pictures (and additional ones you might wish to see) are available on request; please feel free to contact me by e-mail to obtain them. All pictures as published here remain my property and are copyright-protected.
4. Size: Shells are measured by plastic calliper, and size is given in millimetres. Please allow a slight degree of variation since this is not a digital measurement. The size given is always the largest extension of the respective specimen: in snails this is usually the length from apex to siphon, but in some cases the measurement from the tip of the shoulder (or wing) to the siphon is larger, and consequently the size given; in spiny shells the size always includes the spines, that goes for snails as much as for bivalves like the spiny oyster; bivalves are generally easy to measure but please keep in mind that in Pectinidae the largest size is usually from the left ear diagonally over the body. If in doubt please ask for more information.
5. General remarks: My private collection of seashells was acquired during more than four decades, and I was lucky to benefit from personal contacts all over the world at an early stage. It all started in 1956 when visiting London where I came across a venerable old Chinaman running a curious restaurant in Soho: nothing much about shells you think? Well, he wanted to introduce me to culinary aspects of giant clams and I was hooked instantly, but not on the dish he served, in fact I did never come to appreciate the meat of bivalves much less snails! Coming to the point I left London six months later with several Tridacna shells of enormous dimensions. In the following years I always carried shells when travelling and especially the 70's, glorious times which were the true heydays of incredible plenty combined with a still poorly developed market for the amateur conchologist. Most shells came in exchange and only slowly I started to form a relationship with some prestigious dealers and over the years many of my most important pieces came from sources which have been famous in their time, mostly from Thomas and Paula Honker of Florida, or Mr. P. Clover, just to name two of my regular suppliers in the USA; I also ventured to have shells directly imported from South Africa (the Meyer collection) and thanks to my particular knowledge of South America I was always having very interesting material from Spanish speaking countries, from Caribbean down to Patagonia. Many of these areas are long closed and shells are only available from old collections like in the case of Galapagos (I consider myself lucky to know Dr. Gustavo Noboa personally) or more recently the Noumea Lagoon of New Caledonia (some of its treasures came to me via the Pierson collection).
6. Shipping and Export Permits: Shipping expenses as indicated are for standard air mail only. Excellent packing and handling is always free of charge. Registration is optional, and I strongly recommend to register all parcels for your safety, please indicate when ordering and add the optional USD 5.00 charge once for each parcel. For valuable shells I suggest in some cases value declared and fully insured. When ordering more than one shell then please feel free to ask for postage quotation, there might be a considerable discount available: as a general rule, I only charge actual shipping expenses. Some countries outside the European Community may require special documentation for customs including protected wildlife and fishery certificates and, in some cases, CITES. All these certificates can be obtained for you on request at actual cost, please contact me for further details.
7. Special requests: Please don't hesitate to contact me personally to discuss special requests, I shall be glad to attend you by e-mail individually and share my knowledge of seashells with you.
8. Returns: Any shell can be returned within three days of receipt, no questions asked. Please note that this is strictly a private sale, and I do offer this service on a voluntary basis to all collectors. I kindly ask buyers to make themselves responsible for all shipping expenses involved, and I expect to receive the returned shell in exactly the same condition as sent. The refund given as merchandise credit can be used on any other item from my ebay store without any restrictions.