The Triton Shell, Charonia tritonis, is one of the most valuable and famous sea shells in the world. The triton shell appears on ancient greek pottery, it features in the mythology of the island people around the tropical world, it is made into trumpets used even today for island celebrations or sometimes blown as a warning of approaching danger.

Triton shells are found in rather large but decreasing numbers in shell shops and shell factories where they are wholesaled to thousans of gift shops in tropical countries. The lovely triton is often seen as doorstops, book ends, and on the shelves and cabinets of shell collectors - killed, cleaned, and displayed with affection because of it's beauty.

The starfish is also extremely valuable to the coral reef ecosytems of our planet. It feeds on starfish, and critically, it feeds on the Crown of Thorns Starfish. The Crown of Thorns starfish Acanthaster planci eats living coral. It is a normal part of the coral reef ecosystem but these days, with the multitude of stresses on coral reefs, it sometimes get out of control and devours reefs like a cancer. This is a very small triton, only about the size of my hand, but it is already eating starfish. In this photo it is eating a starfish that isn't dangerous to coral, but it would happily go after a small crown of thorns if there had been one around. Fortunately this coral reef, just off the tiny island of Mbe Kouen on the barrier reef of New Caledonia, is still healthy and thriving.

And just behind the triton you will see a small Giant Clam, Tridacna derasa. A much larger species, Tridacna gigas, used to live in New Caledonia until about 100 years ago when the last of them were eaten. I was especially happy to find this specimen of Tridacna derasa because it was the very first one I had found alive in New Caledonia. I was beginning to think they, too, had become extinct here. Tridacna derasa is in danger of extinction everywhere in it's range. To find out why read the story about the Giant Clam Sanctuaries in Tonga.

Want to come see this living reef, part of the New Caledonia World Heritage Site? Get a copy of the Cruising Guide to New Caledonia or the Rocket Travel Guide to New Caledonia to find out just how to do it.