The Beauty of British Shells

Despite their name and appearance shipworms are not worms. They are a kind of bivalve mollusc but look very different to the clams we are more familiar with. They burrow into wooden structures such as piers. These fragile white tubes are the lining of the burrow.  

Many of Montagu’s specimens are very small. This one (Parthenina decussata) is just 2mm long. These photographs were taken using a light microscope and a scanning electron microscope. Seeing this level of detail is important for scientific study.       

Montagu was the first person to publish a comprehensive monograph on the molluscs of the British Isles. ‘Testacea Britannica’ (1803, supplement in 1808) describes 470 species. Some species are tiny. He used his own collection of shells for the descriptions and illustrations.

When a new species is described for the first time it is published in a scientific journal or book. A particular specimen (or sometimes specimens) must be chosen to represent this new species. They are known as ‘type specimens’. There are 120 types in Montagu’s collection. 

In 1816 the Journal of the Linnaean Society in London published a paper by Montagu. In it he described these shells as a new species and named the species Alvania zetlandica.

Montagu received shells from his friends. They said they found them on Britain’s coastline so he included them in his book. Yet today we know that some of these species do not occur there naturally. It is possible his friends deliberately gave him foreign shells.

Montagu’s collection shows that British shells can be just as beautiful as those found on tropical beaches. Some have spines and ridges. Others are intricately patterned or delicately coloured. Some even have mother of pearl hidden within. Which is your favourite?