R. Tucker Abbott (1919–1995)

I have used this guide in the field for a decade now, on both the New England coast and the northern California coast. The guide is clear, both well-written and well-illustrated; I feel it is the best of the field guides to shells that I have used. It is limited in scope, and if you spend much time looking at shells you will soon run across a shell that is not in the guide. But it does cover the most common shells, and even for those individual species that aren't covered you will be able to show more figure out the family and perhaps even the genus. All in all, an excellent introduction to seashells. show less

This is a fun informational book about seashells. It is set up so you can find your region of North America and look for the shell you have found. I recognized most of the shells and learned that a shell I recently found in Santa Cruz was a type of limpet. My two favorites from this book, neither of which I had heard about before, were the kitten's paw (found on the Atlantic coast on rocky shores and pools and first discovered in 1801), and the long-spined star shell (found in southwestern show more Florida and first discovered in 1798). I often wonder about the shells I find in different areas, and this would be a fun reference book to have on hand when looking through the shells I have found. show less

This is a wonderful, colorful guide to sea shells - how to conserve, collect, and more than 12 shell projects.

A guide to marine mollusks pictures and describes a variety of species

This is a guide that is accurate today as it was in the 1970's. The only thing that has really changed is that the endangerment status of some species of shells and mollusks has changed drastically since the sixties. Excellent for those interested in collecting seashells.