Shells Next Sea Shells--Gastropods  

 

The Emperor's Slit Shell (Pleurotomaria hirasei). Height: 7 cm. "Formerly," (before World War II, I presume) "when a Pleurotomaria was discovered it became the possession of the Japanese Emperor. A few specimens in this country were smuggled out at great risk." (Rutherford Platt, The National Geographic Magazine, July 1949.)