Dr. Stephen Geiger gave a fantastic presentation last month about his research on Florida mollusks including horse conchs, bay scallops, star shells, and cones. I’d like to say a big “thank you” to Dr. Geiger for his work with mollusks and for sharing his knowledge of shells with the club!
Our last Zoom meeting of this season is on the third Sunday of the month on April 16 at 2 PM. I know that I promised you a trip to Italy to look at the bivalves of Sicily, but we’ve had a change of plans that won’t disappoint you. Paul Jones is an expert on bivalves, and he has decided to give his talk on one of my favorite bivalves—the lion’s paw! The title of his presentation is “Nodipecten fragosus (Conrad, 1849), the Northern Lion’s Paw Scallop shell.” One of the most prized and beautiful scallop shells in the world is found right off both sides of the Florida coast. Paul will discuss many aspects of this marvelous shell and tell us a little bit about the amazing mollusk that makes it!
Paul is pretty much a lifetime specimen shell collector, having been born and raised in St. Augustine, Florida. He has collected extensively all around Florida for decades and also places like Southern California, Baja California and Europe on the island of Sicily. He is currently retired from 32 years of service in the U. S. government and a member of the Jacksonville Shell Club. He specializes in the scallop, cone, volute and murex families.
You won’t want to miss Paul’s presentation, so come join us for the April meeting!