Bruised nassa-
Nassarius vibex (Say) is a small shell (about 1/2") with a rough surface. It has a coarsely beaded surface with equal spiral and axial ribs, resulting in about 12 ridges. It has a smooth inner lip with prominent parietal shield. It has a thick and toothed outer lip. It has a grayish brown exterior with a prominent cream-colored shield. It found in shallow-water sand flats on sound and ocean beaches. A scavenger, it also has been observed feeding on eggs of marine worms. (information from "Seashells of North Carolina by Porter and Houser North Carolina Sea Grant College Program")
Giant Bittersweet,
Glycymeris americana (DeFrance)
Grows to 4 inches, is round and a somewhat flat shell. Indistinct broad radial ribs sculptured with radiating scratches. It has a central beak and a long curved hinge with 19-24 teeth. It's color is a grayish tan exterior and mottled with yellowish borwn. It lives offshore in depths of 75 feet near and south of the Capefear river. (Information from "Seashells of North Carolina by Porter and Houser - North Carolina Sea Grant College Program")
Lettered olive,
Oliva sayana (Ravenel) A smooth, shiny, cylindrical shell with a short spire. Narrow aperture extending almost length of shell, continuing around the bottom and ending in a notch on the other side. No operculum. It's cream or grayish exterior with reddish brown zigzag markings and lives in near-shore waters on shallow sand flats near inlets. It's commonly washed onto ocean beaches. A carnivore, it captures bivalves and small crustaceans with its foot and takes them below the sand surface to digest. Its presence is sometimes detected at very low tides by the trails it leaves when it crawls below the surface on semi-exposed sand flats.
Bruised nassa- Nassarius vibex (Say) is a small shell (about 1/2") with a rough surface. It has a coarsely beaded surface with equal spiral and axial ribs, resulting in about 12 ridges. It has a smooth inner lip with prominent parietal shield. It has a thick and toothed outer lip. It has a grayish brown exterior with a prominent cream-colored shield. It found in shallow-water sand flats on sound and ocean beaches. A scavenger, it also has been observed feeding on eggs of marine worms. (information from "Seashells of North Carolina by Porter and Houser North Carolina Sea Grant College Program")
