Junonia, Alphabet Cone and Scotch Bonnet: Three Florida Shells to Know

Junonia, alphabet cone and scotch bonnet are appealing names to add to a Florida shelling notebook. All three appear in Sundial Resort's Sanibel Seashell Passport, a local shell-spotting activity. That is a glimpse of shelling culture, not a scientific ranking of Florida's rarest shells.

Their patterns can draw your attention first. For identification, give the overall shape and opening equal attention.

Junonia: Scaphella junonia

The Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum's junonia reference describes a smooth, solid shell with rows of roughly square brown to reddish spots on a pale background. The opening extends along much of its length, and folds occur on the central column inside it.

When comparing photographs, look beyond the spots: examine the proportions, spire and opening together. A spotted fragment may not preserve enough of that combination for a confident identification.

Alphabet cone: Conus spurius

The museum's alphabet cone reference describes a heavy, conical shell with a narrow opening and irregular orange or brown markings on a cream-to-white background.

The cone-shaped body helps distinguish it from a junonia, but avoid treating a single marking as decisive. Take an overall view before concentrating on the pattern.

Do not handle a living or possibly occupied cone shell. Cone snails use venom, and NIST notes that they can sting defensively when picked up. Photograph an uncertain specimen where it lies; do not probe the opening with a finger.

Scotch bonnet: Semicassis granulata

The museum's scotch bonnet reference describes an egg-shaped shell with fine spiral grooves, rectangular brown spots and a thickened outer lip bearing small toothlike projections inside.

For a safely handled, empty specimen, photograph the opening as well as the patterned back. Those views make a better comparison record than a close-up of the checkerboard pattern alone.

Turn the wish list into a learning list

Rather than making a trip depend on finding one particular shell, choose one feature to notice: a narrow opening, folds inside the aperture, or a thickened lip. Record an uncertain find as uncertain and compare it with the museum's reference photographs afterward.

Do not infer that a shell must have arrived in a particular storm or traveled a specific offshore distance from its appearance. This guide does not establish finding odds.

Leave occupied shells in place and follow the collecting rules for the exact location. Our Southwest Florida shelling guide helps with trip planning, while the beach-find photography guide helps you make a useful record without needing a perfect specimen.