Page November 19 No. 256 NEW YORK SHELL CLUB NOTES 
and Tellina caribea running second. Turbo castanea was far in the 
lead among gastropods. 
The writers remark that the bonefis 
of rare shells as, first, the species 
quite common, and, second, the majority of the shells are a ‘ 
mented during ingestion. The same can be said ror pie toca oe ~ 
fish, or tautog. Recently we had the occasion to examine a fresh- 
caught one. Its stomach was stuffed with blue mussels (Mytilus 
edulis) of about an inch and a quarter in length and positioned end 
to end. The shells had not yet been eroded by digestive juices, 
but were thoroughly cracked and/or fragmented. Edi 
h is not recommended as a source 
tney feed upon are invariably 

CATCHING MOLLUSKS ON HOOK AND LINE 
John Root 
Ranging from an established fishery to a casual accident mollusks 
can be and are caught on hook and line. Freshwater pearl shell 
once used extensively for manufacturing buttons is now used in 
great quantities for pearl blanks in Japanese cultured pearls. The 
blank is inserted in the Pinctada martensii and when coated with 
natural nacre becomes a cultured pearl. several thousand tons of 
freshwater pearl shell are used each year for this. Practically 
all are caught on hook and line. 
This is how it is done: the hooks resemble miniature four-pronged 
grapnel anchors similar to anchors used on small boats here in 
Florida. They are dragged in clusters downstream along the bottoms 
of rivers and streams in the freshwater mussel territory. The mus- 
sel lies half in/half out of the bottom -- the opening of his snell 
parallel to the current so that detritus will drift across his 
Siphon. When a hook enters his shell, the mussel clamps shut so 
tightly that he is dragged along the bottom until the fisherman 
thinks he has enough shells on his rig to be worth pulling in. 
Octopus are caught occasionally while fishing for something else. 
They have been known to strike a moving feather lure. This may or 
may not be desired. Some people eat octopus; some people don't 
know how. Squid when numerous will strike a bait readily. Large 
squid, three and four feet long in the Humboldt Current off South 
America, are a nuisance to game fishermen and are dangerous to pull 
into the boat. 
Any other mollusk that takes food in sizable pieces could get 
caught on a baited hook. Olives and Cones are examples. One of 
the few black Olives from Florida was caught in Port Everglades by 
a pompano fisherman. A bivalve with his shell open when it should 
be shut could find himself caught on a hook. In fact, a very nice 
Spondylus americanus was caught off Palm Beach some years ago by a 
commercial fisherman. Doubtless many a nice oyster had broken the 
line and escaped from a fisherman who hocked him while fishing for 
something else. 
Mollusks can be caught. on hook and line with delibe in 
lucky accident, or unfortunate luck. Rohe iarten’, 
SEAPARI 7(6)8, June 1965, 
Palm Beach County Shell Club 
