Proton induced X-ray emission analysis of aberrant cowrie shells

Abstract

It is hypothesized that the irregular growth and coloring of aberrant rostrate and melanistic cowrie shells are the result of intensification of the melanain biochemical pathway caused by an overabundance of spin-stabilizing heavy metals. PIXE measurements have shown no pattern in elemental composition to stand out as a distinct difference between the normal and aberrant shells. Therefore, no evidence was found in the shell to corroborate the role of heavy metals in causing these teratologies. The absence of heavy element abundance in rostrate and melanistic shells does not exclude the possible role that these elements play within the soft tissue, as these metals may be too large to pass through membrane channels into the extracellular space where shell deposition occurs.