NETSTATE.COM Home page link NETSTATE.COM Heading
Suggest a link Suggest link
Report broken link Report broken link

Official state shells

Official shells listed by adoption year. (List by state or year)
State Name Designated as YearListed by adoption year
North Carolina Scotch bonnet Official State shell of the State of North Carolina 1965
Florida Horse conch Pleuroploca gigantea Florida state shell 1969
Mississippi Oyster shell State shell of Mississippi 1974
Virginia Oyster shell Crassostraea virginica Official shell of the Commonwealth 1974
South Carolina Lettered olive Oliva sayana Official shell of the State 1984
Georgia Knobbed whelk Busycon carica Official Georgia seashell 1987
Massachusetts New England neptune Neptunea lyrata decemcostata Shell of the commonwealth 1987
Rhode Island Quahaug Mercenaria mercenaria State shell for the state 1987
Texas Lightning whelk Busycon perversum pulleyi State Shell of Texas 1987
New York Bay scallop Official shell of the state of New York 1988
Oregon Oregon triton Fusitrition oregonensis Official Oregon shell 1989
Alabama Scaphella junonia johnstoneae Official shell of the State of Alabama. 1990
New Jersey Shell of the knobbed whelk Busycon carica (Gmelin, 1791) New Jersey State Shell 1995
Delaware Shell of the channeled whelk Busycotypus canaliculatus Official shell of the State 2014
Alaska [ None ]    
Arizona [ None ]    
Arkansas [ None ]    
California [ None ]    
Colorado [ None ]    
Connecticut [ None ]    
Hawaii [ None ]    
Idaho [ None ]    
Illinois [ None ]    
Indiana [ None ]    
Iowa [ None ]    
Kansas [ None ]    
Kentucky [ None ]    
Louisiana [ None ]    
Maine [ None ]    
Maryland [ None ]    
Michigan [ None ]    
Minnesota [ None ]    
Missouri [ None ]    
Montana [ None ]    
Nebraska [ None ]    
Nevada [ None ]    
New Hampshire [ None ]    
New Mexico [ None ]    
North Dakota [ None ]    
Ohio [ None ]    
Oklahoma [ None ]    
Pennsylvania [ None ]    
South Dakota [ None ]    
Tennessee [ None ]    
Utah [ None ]    
Vermont [ None ]    
Washington [ None ]    
West Virginia [ None ]    
Wisconsin [ None ]    
Wyoming [ None ]    
Smithsonian Handbooks: Shells
Smithsonian Handbooks
Shells
S. Peter Dance

Smithsonian Handbooks: Shells, by S. Peter Dance. 256 pages. Publisher: Dorling Kindersley (May 15, 2002) Authoritative text, crystal-clear photography, and a systematic approach make DK's Smithsonian Handbook of Shells the most comprehensive and concise pocket guide to seashells of the world.

Packed with over 600 full-color photographs of over 500 species of seashells, this handy reference book is designed to cut through the complex process of identification.
Compendium of Seashells
Compendium
of Seashells

Compendium of Seashells, by R. Tucker Abbott and S. Peter Dance. 411 pages. Odyssey Publications; 4 edition (July 2000) A full-color guide to more than 4,200 of the world's marine shells. This comprehensive, full-color identification book on marine shells of the world is a must for serious shell-collectors and hobbyists. Combined by two of the world's leading malacologists, this beautiful and authoritative reference volume includes 4,200 full-color photographs to make shell identification quick and easy. All categories of marine shells are described and illustrated, including individual photographs, geographical and ecological information on hundreds of species of cowry, cone, valute, scallop, helmet and many others. Compendium of Seashells is designed to facilitate rapid location and identification of almost every shell likely to be found in a private collection or shell shop.
National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Seashells
Field Guide to North
American Seashells

National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Seashells, Revision authors are James D. Williams, Research Associate, Florida Museum of Natural History, and Carter R. Gilbert, Curator Emeritus of Fishes of the Florida Museum of Natural History. 896 pages. Publisher: Knopf (August 12, 1981) The essential book for beach-combers and divers, this guide explores more than 705 seashells, living mollusks, abalone, periwinkles, conchs, limpets, oysters, clams, mussels, and cockles found on the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf coasts of North America and the West Indies.

The photographs are arranged by shape and color, making identification quick and easy.