7 Reasons to Study Sea Shells!

Any scientist will understand the frustration of continuously justifying their job. Sometimes (apparently) it’s not obvious why we do what we do. I regularly get asked… Why shells? Why clams? Why Antarctica? And recently I got thinking I need some simple, yet powerful, answers to these questions. So this is the start. Why study shells?

1.) Curious Beauty

For thousands of years humans have been captivated by the beauty of shells. Anybody who has spent time on the seashore has experienced the thrill of finding a beautiful empty shell and treasuring it forever. Studying how these beautiful structures are made is interesting… surely that’s not too difficult to understand?

Shiny abalone shell...So pretty!!

2.) Food Security

The human population is growing rapidly and it needs a sustainable source of protein. Shellfish could be the answer. Shellfish aquaculture is one of the fastest growing food production industries in the world; but the economic expansion of the sector is constrained by shell damage and disease. If we can understand how to promote healthy shells, shellfish aquaculture will be more efficient, profitable and sustainable.

Mussels are sustainable, inexpensive and incredibly tasty!

3.) Ecosystem Services
 

Shellfish are not just important as a food source for humans, they are also crucial in global ecosystem functioning. There are over 80,000 different species of molluscs on the planet, the majority of which possess a shell. Each different species plays its own role in maintaining different ecosystem services. For example clams which bury into ocean sediments help to mix water and nutrients from the open water above, into the sediment which they live in; this important process is known as bentho-pelagic coupling.

NOAA's info-graphic on the ecosystem services of just one species of oyster

4.) Making New Stuff

Shell is made of an incredibly abundant material – calcium carbonate. And shell is very strong. If we can understand how shell is made then we can apply the knowledge to make smart new materials for society.

The first successful attempt to replicate the shiny inner layer found in some shells called nacre. Figure taken from a paper produced from Prof Steiner's lab:

Finnemore, A., P. Cunha, T. Shean, S. Vignolini, S. Guldin, M. Oyen, and U. Steiner, 2012, Biomimetic layer-by-layer assembly of artificial nacre: 

Nature Communications, v. 3.

5.) Climate Change and Conservation

Hopefully you’re not surprised to hear that our climate is changing. Us humans are pumping too much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere which is having two main effects on our oceans: 1.) warming it up and 2.) making it more acidic (very briefly, CO₂ dissolves into the ocean as carbonic acid). Both effects are happening quicker than ever before and it’s unsure if animals will be able to adapt soon enough to survive. Warm acidic water is likely to make life difficult for animals with a shell. In order to predict how shellfish will respond to change we need to understand how they work, and specifically we need to understand how shells are made.

Photos of sea butterfly (pteropod) shell dissolving over 45days in carbon dioxide acidified seawater. Photo credit:

 David Littschwager/National Geographic Society

6.) Amazing Diversity

The diversity of shells found both living on our planet today, and in the fossil record, is amazing! From pole to pole animals are making all sorts of different shells: huge ones, tiny ones, intricate ones, simple ones. The possibilities seem endless. But there are so many unanswered questions about all these shells. Do different animals build their shells in the same way? And if they do, how has such amazing diversity been created?

 The Muricidae family contains over 1,500 species of sea snail - all with unique shells.

7.) Cool Stuff

You should be convinced by now that shells are awesome! And important. If not then here are a few cool shells to get you hooked!

There is a species of clam called the disco clam! The so called disco clam gets it's name from flashing lights to scare off predators.

 

Apparently shells make great hair accessories...

 

Even our 500,000 year-old ancestors (Homo erectus) were into shells! They used them for tools and to doodle on!