Just what shell lovers need

THIS COMPREHENSIVE, profusely illustrated handbook featuring just over one thousand mollusc species that are likely to be washed up on our shores has been eagerly awaited and does not disappoint.

For more than ten years the identification of their sea shells has been a stumbling block to shell collectors as most popular books on the subject are out of date and out of print. With this publication the authors, who are themselves avid collectors, have presented us with just what is needed.

Although its large format and glossy appearance preclude its use on the beach, Marine Shells of South Africa is not your usual coffee table volume but an ideal book for close and comparative study.

The arrangement of colour plates facing the pages of text listing the illustrated shells in systematic order facilitates ease of reference.

Further, each illustration has not only been numbered to correspond with the numbered species list but is also individually named on the plate and not in a confusing general caption to the plate. This feature alone sets this publication apart from its predecessors as the most user-friendly aid to shell identification.

Information carried for each species includes scientific name, author, date when first described, average size, a brief description of shape and colour and a note as to whether the shell is commonly found or rare.

The maps that reflect the distribution of each species are another helpful feature. One can see at a glance if the specimen you have identified occurs in the area you found it without having to wade through lists of names of localities collected.

From the maps it is also apparent that the majority of the shells that have been listed are beached along the Eastern Cape coast, making shell collecting an additional tourist attraction for our Province and possession of this book particularly worthwhile for local collectors.

The authors have been at pains to update the scientific names -- old hands will be dumbstruck to see that such familiar shells as Oxystele are now known as Diloma, that Alcira elegans has changed to Mitrella elegans and Epitonium coronata to Gyroscala coronata.

They will, however, be delighted at the inclusion of many shells that have been omitted from previous guides as well as several recently described species. In particular I welcome the addition of the Cavoliniidae (glass shells) which wash up in great numbers on our Eastern Cape beaches after storms.

When it comes to common names the authors have wisely used only those that are generally accepted such as Perlemoen, Venus ears, Key-hole limpets, Cowries, Cones and Alikreukels, whereas the popular names like Witch's hands, Carrots, Turbans, Babytoes have much appeal they can be horribly misleading.

The style is simple and terminology is readily understood with the support of a well constructed glossary and diagrams of shell structure in the introductory pages. Here too are notes on the environmental factors which influence the distribution of molluscs and aspects of shell collecting such as fieldwork, identification, cleaning and storage of specimens.

While neither Douw Steyn, a retired professor of surgery from the University of Pretoria, nor Markus Lussi, an industrial chemist, are conchologists by profession they are both held in high regard by the Conchological Society of Southern Africa and by Dr Dick Killburn, Head of the Malacology Department of the Natal Museum who has said "casual beachcombers as well as serious collectors will owe them a debt of gratitute".