provided to The Santiva Chronicle
The Sanibel-Captiva Shell Club’s next meeting will be at 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 6 at the Sanibel Community House, 2173 Periwinkle Way. Dr. Duane Kauffman, of the Sarasota Shell Club, will be the featured speaker. Dr. Kauffman’s program will focus on a few specific habitats within the marine ecosystem of the middle Florida Keys and the invertebrates they host.
Pictorial focus will be of live, small snails and a small selection of nudibranchs. Photos of other invertebrates from the selected habitats will also be included.
Dr. Kauffman recently completed an identification guide to some 150 micro species from Western Florida. Fascinated by the tiny snails found in a clump of algae, he has focused on finding, photographing, and identifying very small species, as well as exhibited miniature shells at several shell shows.
This meeting is open to the public and free of charge. Doors will open at 1:30 p.m. with a silent auction and an opportunity for members to visit with each other. The meeting begins at 2 p.m., and there will be a live auction of several particularly premium shells.
Safety protocols will be in place, and all attendees must wear masks at this meeting. Free parking is available on site.
The Sanibel-Captiva Shell Club awards grants from the proceeds of their annual show. Grants are given towards education and research in the fields of conchology and malacology, as well as for conservation and water quality projects, primarily in Southwest Florida. For more information about the annual shell show, or to join the club, visit the shell club’s website.
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