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Playing with focus stacking, I placed a few of my favorite marbles in a vintage ceramic ashtray that looks like Bauer or Fiestaware but it has none of the usual markings on the bottom.
Olympus E-M1.3
Olympus 12-100mm
A female predatory ambush bug (Phymata americana) hiding in Stiff Goldenrod flowers. They were quite common, all in Stiff Goldenrods. Hidden Valley, Qu'Appelle Valley, Saskatchewan, Canada. 8 September 2021
Numbers: 21 spp. in our area, ~110 total(1)
Identification
Scutellum triangular and shorter than pronotum, protarsi small but distinct(2)(3)
obsolete key to spp. in (4)
key to two eastern spp. in (5)
key to 5 spp. present or likely to occur in AL in (6)
NB: "Strong intraspecific morphological variation, outdated species distributions, and insufficient species descriptions make identifications problematic. Keys are difficult to decipher, and lack recently described species. These factors have left many museums with large holdings of unidentified or incorrectly identified specimens." (Frankenberg et al. 2013)
Range: primarily the New World, widespread in NA; in our area, most diverse in w/sw US(1)
Habitat: typically on flowers in open or semi-open habitats
Food" small insects and other arthropods
Life Cycle
"Coupling may involve several males riding around on a single female. Sometimes it allows them to take down larger prey, although coupling individuals have been found each with their own prey as well. Mating occurs with the male mounted on the side of the female" (comment by drswanny). bugguide.net/node/view/4833
These appear to be moon snail shells (family Naticidae), not mixed shell families.
The overall shape is the key: all five are smooth, rounded to globose shells with a very low spire, which is characteristic of moon snails.
Most likely IDs:
Top left, top right, and lower right: Colorful Moon Snail / Gaudy Nautica (Naticarius canrena), or very close relatives.
This species is known for a smooth globe-shaped shell with spiral bands crossed by dark zigzag markings, which matches these patterned shells very well.
Lower left pink shell: a Shark Eye / Moon Snail type, probably a worn or bleached shark eye (Neverita duplicata or similar moon snail).
Shark-eye shells are typically round, smooth, broad, and low-spired, often in pale cream, tan, or pinkish tones.
Lower center dark brown shell: also a moon snail shell, but more worn and harder to place to species from this single view. It still fits Naticidae by its rounded profile and low spiral.
Description
This is a compact group of polished-looking marine gastropod shells with strong spiral geometry.
Four show bold black-to-brown zigzag striping on pale backgrounds, while one is a soft matte pink with a clean “bull’s-eye” spiral.
The image works well because the shells share the same basic form but vary strongly in pattern and color.
Confidence
Family ID (moon snails / Naticidae): high
Patterned shells as Colorful Moon Snail / Gaudy Nautica (Naticarius canrena): moderate
Pink shell as Shark Eye (Neverita duplicata or similar): moderate
Exact species for the dark brown center shell: low to moderate
Most likely ID: star turban shells / star shells in the family Turbinidae, probably in the Astraea / Astralium group. Based on the shell form, these look closest to Astraea heliotropium or a related spiny star shell, but I would not treat the species-level ID as certain from this single view alone. WoRMS lists Astraea heliotropium as a marine gastropod in Turbinidae, and reference descriptions for that species emphasize a depressed-conic shell with a strongly carinated edge and prominent triangular recurved spines, which matches the overall form seen here.
Confidence: moderate for family/group, lower for exact species.
Detailed description
These are marine gastropod shells, not bivalves. Each shell is a heavy, spiral, top-shaped form with:
* a low conical spire
* a strongly defined outer shoulder/periphery
* multiple short, blunt to pointed radial spines or knobs around that outer edge
* coarse spiral ridging and growth sculpture
* a dark brown to purplish-black exterior
* irregular chalky white encrustation or worn calcareous surface over parts of the whorls
That combination gives them a rugged, armored appearance. Star shells in Turbinidae are known for exactly this kind of spiny, sculptured shell architecture. Astraea heliotropium in particular is described as large and heavy, with convex whorls and prominent compressed triangular recurved spines along the periphery.
In your photo, the shells appear weathered or beachworn rather than fresh. The whitish areas likely represent surface wear, erosion, or attached calcareous growth that has obscured some original color and finer sculpture. The darker bands and ridges still show through, especially on the upper whorls and along the spiny shoulder.
Why this ID fits
The strongest clues are:
* turban-like spiral shell
* flattened to low-conic profile
* conspicuous peripheral spines
* heavy, sculptured shell rather than smooth, glossy whorls
Those features are characteristic of star turbans / star shells within Turbinidae. WoRMS and MolluscaBase recognize both Astraea and Bolma as turbinid genera, and both can produce robust spiny shells, but the flatter, more star-like outline here leans more toward the Astraea/Astralium-type shell shape than a higher-spired Bolma form.
Close look-alikes
Because exact species ID from one angle is uncertain, these are the main alternatives:
1. Astraea heliotropium — sunburst star turban / circular saw shell
Best match for the broad, flattened, spiny, star-edged profile.
2. Other Astraea or Astralium species
Several related star shells share the same low-spired, strongly carinated, spiny outline. WoRMS shows Astraea as a valid genus and includes related taxa historically treated under nearby names.
3. Bolma species
Also turbinids and often spiny, but many Bolma shells are somewhat more rounded or differently proportioned than the shells in your image.
Photographic description
The image shows three spiny sea snail shells arranged side by side against a warm tan-brown background. Their dark ridged whorls and pale worn centers create a strong contrast. The repeated spiral centers and jagged silhouettes give the composition a rhythmic, almost sculptural quality. Visually, they read as textural natural objects rather than polished collector specimens.
Sawfly larva (Cladius sp., Tenthredinidae, Common Sawflies; ID credit: Franziska Bauer) feeding on leaves of Populus tremula. Found along the Baltic seashore at Evazi (near Kolka, Gulf of Riga), 6 August 2016.
Handheld fieldstack based on 28 exposures, just after rain. Images assembled in Zerene Stacker (Pmax & Dmap). Sony A6300 + Metabones adapter + Canon EF 100mm 1:2.8L IS USM; ISO-400, f/3.5, 1/200s,-0.7step, natural light, cloudy and raining.
Gear and methods used, see: www.flickr.com/photos/andredekesel/8004355391/
Habitat view in the first comment line
aus 20 Aufnahmen mit schrittweise nach hinten verlagertem Focuspunkt in PS zusammengesetzt --
composed of 10 shots with the focus point gradually shifted backwards in PS
here the final result
Gladiolus flower taken at multiple focus distance and then stacked in Zerene focus stacking software
Cryphalus piceae found on Abies sp.
Tenneville, Belgium - 2020-05-25
Leg. P.Nyssen & T.petit
- Focus stack of 169 pictures
- Microscope objective (Nikon M Plan 10x 160/0.25) on Nikon PB-4 bellow
- Olympus OM-D E-M1 mark II
Exposed ovary of a cyclamen flower shot at 3.4:1 and focus stacked from 5 shots.
Quite an interesting construction
aus 20 Aufnahmen mit schrittweise nach hinten verlagertem Focuspunkt in PS zusammengesetzt --
composed of 10 shots with the focus point gradually shifted backwards in PS
here the final result
Life is complex. The mind is complex. Nature is complex. All for better or worse. When seen as the complexity of the intricate petals of a flower or the crystallization of a snowflake it is beautiful. Seeing the beauty in life when obstacles occur or when occurring along side the difficult is less simple.... but there is still beauty in the intricacy of everyone you meet and in each of our lives' paths.
For the theme of photo stacking I bought some beautiful flowers from Teatro Verde, and jumped in to discover it's a lot of work! I took 125 shots of this flower with different regions of focus at the 10x magnification using the live viewfinder. Once loaded into Lightroom, I choose 38 of this images that seem to capture all the necessary focal points. I loaded them into photoshop cc as stacks then used auto-align layers. I duplicated all the layers before I used auto-blend (“Stack Images” + “seamless tons and colours”). I merged the blended layers. The painstaking part is doing an inverted mask for each of the duplicate layers to fix any defects from the auto-blending process. Given my choice of f/2.8, my OCD tendencies, and the number of images let's just say it took a very (!!!!!!!) long time.
Female jumping spider (evarcha arcuata) looking into the lens. Focus stack of 10 images at 2x magnification.
Pollen covered Opisthoncus mordax (Biting Jumping Spider) on a daisy petal.
Hand-held 14 image focus stack on a Nikon D850.
Please enjoy and have a great day. ☺️
Species ID and location:
Opisthoncus mordax (Biting Jumping Spider). Adult male.
Victoria Point, QLD Australia.
Saturday, 4th July 2026.
Camera info:
Nikon D850,
AF-S Micro Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G VR lens,
Godox V86Oiii(N) flash,
Cygnustech diffuser,
Neewer LED panel as focus lamp.
Camera settings:
All images @
ISO 31,
f/22,
1/250,
Flash @ 1/2 power.
Manual focus @ MFD.