EXTENSIVE HIGH QUALITY MELON SHELL SELECTION
DIADEMA MELON SHELLS
Melon Diadema or sometimes called Bailer shells are found across the Indo-Pacific region. These are off-shore shells often found on sandy bottom sea floor. They are considered fairly common. Early seafarers often used the Melon shells to bail water from there boats. Shells are melon color. They are sometimes called Ethiopian Volutes.
The large shell is subovate and ventricose. The spire is short. The apex is obtuse, papillary, persistent. The whorls are smooth. The body whorl is posteriorly coronated. The aperture is oblong and wide. The columella shows several oblique plaits, the anterior the largest. The outer lip is simple, acute and obliquely truncate in front.( Adams, H. & Adams, A. (1853-1858). The genera of Recent Mollusca; arranged according to their organization. London, van Voorst. Vol. 1: xl + 484 pp.; vol. 2: 661 pp.; vol. 3: 138 pls)
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Caenogastropoda
Order: Neogastropoda
Family: Volutidae
Tribe: Melonini
Genus: Melo
Broderip in Sowerby I, 1826
E0-3
One Diadema Melon Shell, measuring 2 to 4 inches. .....$1.15
E1-3
One Diadema Melon shell, measuring 4 to 6 inches. .....$1.45
E2-3
One Diadema Melon shell, measuring 6 to 7 inches.......$1.75
E3-3
A Diadema Melon shell measuring 7 to 9 inches. ...... $2.10
E4-3
A Diadema Melon shell measuring between 9 to 10 inches......$12.25
E5-3
One Diadema Melon shell, measuring 10 to 11 inches.......$17.25
E7-3
A Melon Diadema shell measuring at least 12 inches......OUT OF STOCK
MELO UMBILICATUS SHELL
Melo umbilicatus, common name the heavy baler or umbilicate melon, is a very large sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Volutidae, the volutes.
The Melo Umbilicatus shell is found across the Indo_Pacific region. They are more common along the Australian shore.
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Caenogastropoda
Order: Neogastropoda
Family: Volutidae
Genus: Melo
Species: M. umbilicatus
Binomial name: Melo umbilicatus(Broderip in Sowerby I, 1826)
P1-6One Melo Umbilicatus Melon shell, measuring 9 to 11 inches. .....$12.75
P2-6
One Melo Umbilicatus Melon shell, measuring 11 to 13 inches.......$15.45
Baby Melon Shell
BM1-7
One Baby Melon Shell, measuring approximately 1 inch....... .04
Bailer Melon Shells
Bailer Shells are Baby Melon Shells. A gastropod found across the Indo-Pacific region.
CC0-1-7
One Bailer Melon Shell, measuring 1.5 to 2 inches. ...... .23
Melo melo, common name the Indian volute orIndian Melon Shell
Melo melo, common name the Indian volute or bailer shell, is a very large edible sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Volutidae, the volutes (Bail, P. (2009). "World Register of Marine Species").
These species are restricted to Southeast Asia, from Burma, Thailand and Malaysia, to the South China Sea and the Philippines.
These large sea snail are known to live in littoral and shallow sublittoral zones. It usually dwells in muddy bottoms at a maximum depth of nearly 66 feet.
Melo melo are known to be carnivorous, as laboratory experiments have shown. It is a specialized predator of other continental shelf predatory gastropods, notably Hemifusus tuba (Melongenidae) and Babylonia lutosa (Buccinidae). They are also a known predator of the dog conch, Strombus canarium (Strombidae)(Cob, Z. C; Arshad, A; Bujang, J. S; Ghaffar, M. A. (2009). "Age, Growth, Mortality and Population Structure of Strombus canarium(Gastropoda: Strombidae): Variations in Male and Female Sub-Populations". Journal of Applied Sciences 9 (18), 3287–3297. )
The maximum shell length of this species is up to 275 mm, commonly to 175 mm.
The large shell of Melo melo has a bulbous or nearly oval outline, with a smooth outer surface presenting distinguishable growth lines. The outside of shell color is commonly pale orange, sometimes presenting irregular banding of brown spots, while the interior is glossy cream, becoming light yellow near its margin. The columella has three or four long and easily distinguishable columellar folds.It has a wide aperture, nearly as long as the shell itself, yet this species is known to have no operculum. The shell's spire is completely enclosed by the body whorl, which is inflated and quite large, and has a rounded shoulder with no spines. The apex is of smooth type.(Poutiers, J. M. (1998). Gastropods in: FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes: The living marine resources of the Western Central Pacific Volume 1. Seaweeds, corals, bivalves and gastropods. Rome, FAO, 1998. p. 598.)
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Caenogastropoda
Order: Neogastropoda
Family: Volutidae
Genus: Melo
Species: M. melo
Binomial name: Melo melo(Lightfoot, 1786)
01-3
One Indian Melon Shell, measuring 2 to 4 inches....... .59
02-3
One Indian Melon Shell, measuring 4 to 6 inches....... .69
03-3
One Indian Melon Shell, measuring 6 to 7 inches. ...... .75
04-3
One Indian Melon Shell, measuring 7 to 8 inches. ......$2.45