Living Seashells of the Tropical Indo-Pacific

Seashell or sea shells are the hard exoskeleton of mollusks such as snails, clams, chitons. For most people, acquaintance with mollusks began with empty shells. These shells often delight the eye with a variety of shapes and colors. Conchology studies the mollusk shells and this science dates back to the 17th century. However, modern science - malacology is the study of mollusks as whole organisms. Today more and more people are interacting with the ocean - divers, snorkelers, beachgoers - all of them often find in the seas not empty shells but live mollusks - living shells, whose appearance is significantly different from museum specimens. This book serves as a tool for identifying such animals. The book covers the region from the Red Sea to Hawaii, the Marshall Islands, and Guam. Inside the book: - Photographs of 1500+ species, including one hundred cowries (Cypraeidae) and more than one hundred twenty allied cowries (Ovulidae) of the region;- Live photo of hundreds of species have never before appeared in field guides or popular books;- 2600 full-color images;- Convenient pictorial guide at the beginning and index at the end of the book.It is designed for divers, underwater photographers, snorkelers, shell collectors, beachcombers, and nature lovers. Photographs, showing color variations are included. The validity of species names was checked with the help of the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS).