
yew YORK SHELL CLUB NOTES No. 242 May 1978 Page 5 
In THE CONCHOLOGISTS! NEWSLETTER of Decer i i 
cle, "The Distribution of the Introduced Geate mnie tetas antar 
cinerea and Crepidula fornicata in England and Weles © Ettted by 
Inadrew Franklin and Graham Pickett of the MAFF Fisheries Laboratory 
Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex. We present excerpts from their report: ‘ 
The American tingle Urosalpinx cinerea and slipper-limpet Crepid- 
ula fornicata were imedodaded oecniontaiie inte jagiend Tac 
Consignments of oysters from the United States of America at 
about the turn of the century, and have since become serious 
oyster pests. Urosalpinx destroys enormous numbers of oysters 
every year on many grounds in Kent and Essex, and Crepidula, 
often present in densities of many tons to the acre, seriously 
interferes with efficient oyster cultivation on many east and 
south-coast beds. 
The spread of Urosalpinx cinerea has been slow since the initial 
introduction,* due to the lack of a free-swimming larval stage 
in the organism's life history. Although transport with oysters 
has led to some extension in the range, the American tingle is 
still confined to Kent and Essex. Checks on the presence/absence 
of the drill are made by the use of traps which consist of cov- 
ered roofing tiles placed convex side uppermost in a row paral- 
lel to the shore near low water spring tide level. These pro- 
vide ideal spawning sites for Urosalpinx, and are examined 
periodically during the summer months for the presence of spawn 
capsules, which are of characteristic shape and easily distin- 
guishable from those of the native drills, Nucella and Ocenebra. 
Results over the last three years indicate that some extension 
has occurred in the distribution of the tingle since it was 
last recorded in the late 19508, but no new discrete areas have 
been colonised. Urosalpinx is now thought to be present from 
the Herne Bay region to Minster (Isle of Sheppey) in Kent and 
from Great Wakering to Frinton in Essex. 
*Pretter and Graham observe (BRITISH PROSOBRANCH MOLLUSKS, 1962, 
p. 516): The points of introduction are believed to be Brightlingsea 
and West Mersea, Essex (Cole, 1942). Called the "American whelk- 
tingle," it was at first confused with the English "sting-winkle," 
Ocenebra erinacea (L.), which it resembles in size, shape and habits, 
and so escaped detection for an undetermined number of years. 
In June Long Island shellers will find the clusters of individually 
attached, vase-shaped egg capsules in old clam valves, low on rocks, 
ete. The incubation period is about 60 days; they hatch as crawl- 
ing young and very soon after emerging from the egg case are able 
to drill through the shells of other young mollusks. 
ES 
ANOTHER LIVING FOSSIL 
In NYSC NOTES 82.7, May, 1962 we reported a news release from the 
University of Texas on the discovery of "A colony of minute snails 
and their invertebrate neighbors, living near an abandoned New Mex- 
ico spa in the waters of a thermal stream....Dr. Austin Phelps, 
University of Texas zoologist,...found tiny snails, less than one- 
eighth of an inch in diameter, living in a continuous Whe -tegy ee (F) 
environment, and mites which live in 123-degree waters." Unfortu- 
