CAL2494 Price: $96 SOLD
CALCITE in Mercenaria permagna
Rucks’ Pit, near Fort Drum;
Okeechobee County, Florida, USA
Cabinet (9.5 x 7.6 x 4.8 cm)
This is a nice, single Mercenaria clam, lined internally with yellow calcite crystals up to 1 cm long. This specimen is somewhat unique, with calcite coating the inside of the articulated shell halves, rather than being concentrated in the upper hinge area of the clam, as is more common. The calcite is fluorescent blue-green under shortwave and longwave UV light (see photo), and even phosphoresces for a few seconds when the UV light is extinguished. These specimens are Plio–Pleistocene in age (1–2 million years old).
