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Seashells of Oregon

Oregon has 363 miles of sandy beaches along its Pacific coast, and although the ocean pommels a large amount of shells into sand and seagulls destroy the ones they can find, many types and large amounts of shells remain for avid early morning beachcombers. Some shells such as marine fossil mollusks range from 15 to 20 million years old.

Types in Rock
- Bivalves such as clams are commonly found on Oregon's beaches and in the rock outcroppings above the beaches. The Anadara devincta, which resembles a cockle, is Oregon's most common bivalve shell. The Katherinella angustri, a smooth-patterned shell, is often found translucent or agatized. Thin flat shells that usually have holes drilled into them by snails that were after the clam inside are called Macoma arctata. Those which look like steamer clams, and large shells over four inches across, as well as large scallop shells, are all found in local seawalls.
  
  Smaller shells such as snail shells can also be found in seawalls. Tusk shells that look like white drinking straws, those that look like whelks, short rounded shells with well-defined whorls, fig-like shells, and shells nearly six inches long, all gastropod fossils, can be found in Oregon.
Beach Shells
- Common seashells found on Oregon beaches include the fluted-edged, pink and white sea scallop (Pecten magellanicus), bay scallops (Argopectan irradians), clams (such as cockles, butter, gaper and razor) and crab (usually the Dungeness crab or redrock crab). Sand dollars occasionally wash up on the beach, and the collector can find one or two if the seagulls have not spotted them first and crushed the shell to get to the meat. Seagulls are the number one predators of sand dollars.
Good Seashell Collecting Location
- The number-three beach for collecting seashells in the United States, according to Coastal Living magazine, is Brandon, Oregon. Although the beaches in Brandon do not offer as many shells as other beaches, many beautiful specimens can be found at the mouth of the Coquille River and in other protected areas.
Oregon Hairy Triton
- In 1989 the largest shell found on Oregon beaches -- in fact, on Pacific beaches from Alaska to California -- the Oregon Hairy Triton, was declared the state seashell. Gray-brown bristles cover the six-whorled, light brown gastropod which reaches up to five inches long. This shell is usually found in rocky shallow water.

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