From the Hon. Editor

A very big thank you is due to all those who sent in pictures for the Mollusc World cover competition! The standard was very high. At the October indoor meeting in London members were able to vote from a choice of ten final images, any of which may be used for the cover of future issues. The winning picture, on the cover of this issue, is of a 35 mm Coryphella browni or “Scarlet Lady” seaslug from the Menai Strait, North Wales, taken by Ian Smith (who has an article about Lamellaria on page 6). C. browni ingests the nematocysts (defensive stinging cells) of the hydroid on which it feeds and deposits them in the cerata tips, via the digestive gland, for defence against predators. Ian received an NHBS book token. A “runner up” prize of some back issues of Mollusc World was awarded to new member Clive Craik for his image of a swimming Akera bullata at Oban, Scotland (below). An article by Clive about this species will appear in a future issue of Mollusc World. In the picture above I am standing next to an impressive 2007 sculpture by Graeme Mitchinson on the quayside at Conwy, North Wales, which we came across whilst on holiday this summer. Entitled (accurately) ‘Mytilus edulis’ and made of Kilkeny limestone, most of the work was done with angle grinders, firstly to cut and shape the stone and then to polish it – yet another aspect of the surprisingly wide field of conchology!

Peter Topley

_{(Photo: Peter Topley)}

_{(Photo: Peter Topley)}