Seashells are typically composed of which compound?

Correct answer: Calcium carbonate

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What people think about it: 17 Comments

Lorraine4748

penawareof, I've done that too, but I always thought that shells on the beach were ones that had been discarded when the inhabitant had grown a new, larger one - it's gross to think that the animal died and was eaten out of the shell or had rotted in the shell. EWW! I guess I've been a little naive, or at the very least uninformed, about this - maybe just blissfully unaware.

Player BARTEMAEUS 10

Lorraine4748, Molluscs increase the size of their shell (by adding new spirals) as they grow, they're only finished with it when they die, ( in the wild, everything dies naturally or gets eaten, Sorry!) Hermit crabs use empty shells as a home and discard them as they grow. I've seen film of the mad scramble (and fighting!) for a new, bigger shell. They have no shell of their own, so are vulnerable to predation until they find a new "home"

Player #8008224gato

Birdiemom, so much beauty to marvel at in this world God put in!

penawareof

I collected shells in the past when I went to the beach.

Player #10639782

agreed!! keep the ocean dwellers in the ocean

Birdiemom

Sonia, squids have a clear, plasticky-looking thing inside, called the quill because of its shape. It keeps the creature from being completely limp, like the octopus.

Barb@71

Goblin, An understanding of Marine Biology is necessary in order to attempt any sort of correction.

Goblin

I wish more people were talking about the acidification of our oceans. Because humans pollute and have a through-away society, we may not have shelled creatures for that much longer. The higher acid and pollutants in the water are causing them to grow thinner and thinner shells

Chatur

Please don’t take shells from beaches, esp beachheads. It’s part of costal process where shells erode and contribute to sediments and the beach itself. Let the beauty lie where she looks prettiest - in water, on sand, lapping in the waves and tumbling with tides.