The Lettered Olive

Oliva sayana, or Lettered Olive, is an often seen seashell found on Georgia beaches. This distinctive species features chestnut-brown markings resembling letters of the alphabet on its surface, while marine experts describe its shape as having low spire and four or five body whorls; furthermore it lacks an operculum – the boney flap found on most snail shells that protects their opening.

Early Life and Education

Scientifically known as Oliva sayana, the lettered olive is an aquatic snail with smooth and shiny cylindrical shell that features chestnut-brown markings resembling letters or hieroglyphics. They can be found worldwide in sandy ocean waters.

Carnivorous crabs feed on bivalves and small crustaceans captured with their muscular foot, before dragging them beneath the sand surface for consumption. On our beaches, these creatures frequently consume delicate coquina shells; leaving swirly marks where they move across our beaches.

State Symbols USA credits Charleston physician Edmund Ravenel – an early pioneer in conchology–with discovering and naming the lettered olive shell found along South Carolina’s coastline, and made official by Act No. 360 of 1984 as South Carolina’s official state shell. It ranges in color from light tan to yellowish hues with darker brown tentlike markings.

Achievement and Honors

In 2019, she received the Leadership of Greater Syracuse Alumni Achievement Award and has also launched a girl’s running club to empower city teens take control of their health, wellness and body image. Additionally, she serves on the Central New York Community Foundation board.

South Carolina officially recognizes the shell of an Olive (Oliva sayana) as its state shell in honor of Private Oliver who posthumously received the Medal of Honor for demonstrating extraordinary gallantry and heroism above and beyond the call of duty, reflecting great credit on himself and the United States Army. This design honors him.

Personal Life

The lettered olive is South Carolina’s state shell, first recognized by Charleston physician Edmund Ravenel – an early pioneer of conchology – who collected numerous marine organisms from Charleston’s waters and wetlands, cataloguing them in 1834 for publication; his work included descriptions of several new mollusks such as the lettered olive.

Lettered olive snail shells can often be seen washed up on ocean beaches. These predatory snails move slowly along sandbars at low tide in search of small bivalves such as Coquina clams that they capture with their foot before submerging below the sand surface and eating.

The Lettered Olive Shell is characterized by gray hues with brownish and purple zig zag markings on its surface, measuring up to 2.5 inches long and growing up to four times that length. Sometimes Common Atlantic Slipper Shells (Crepidula fornicata) will attach themselves to these olives to ride piggyback.

Net Worth

Net worth refers to the sum of one’s assets minus all liabilities; it provides a more accurate measure of financial security than income which can be affected by factors like job loss and reduced work hours.

Olive fruit oil market growth can be attributed to increasing discretionary incomes and increasing awareness about healthy cooking oils. Furthermore, demand for functional foods containing omega-3 fatty acids is fuelling its expansion.

The Olivella Sayana or “Lettered Olive” is a small shell with horizontal bands running horizontally around its exterior surface, commonly found on ocean beaches and much beloved by shell collectors. This carnivorous species eats coquina shells with its foot before taking them deeper below the sand surface for digestion.