during a visit to Kiritimati
in April 2008 I took this photo of Kuritaro (a fishing guide)
holding a shell which he found on the flats where we were
fishing (probably near Motu Ubua as London Village can
be seen in the background). He explained that this shell is
called “Katati” (pronounced cut-ass) and that (because it has
a razor sharp edge) it was formerly used to cut new coconut
flowers, in order to extract the sap for a drink known as “toddy”.

The shell is either a Flag Pen Shell Atrina vexillum, info at;
http://eol.org/pages/2981845/overview
or a Razor Clam Pinna bicolor, info at;
http://eol.org/pages/451798/overview
If you know what type of shell this is please leave a comment.
C U on the email, keith 