Circulars, Bulletins and Study Notes

The Wellington Shell Club published a Circular (1 to 21) from 1956 until 1965 and then a Bulletin (1 to 36) from 1967 until 1975, as well as occasional Study Notes on families of molluscs.  A first Study Note - SN 29/09/1991 is now available in the publications list.  A second publication "Some aspects of the Panbiogeography of NZ" is also available.

Cookia

Cookia is the journal of the Wellington Shell Club.  It was published regularly from 1976 until 1996 and has been published annually since 1997. Cookia journals to date are:

1976-1977 Volume 1, Nos 1, 2, 3

1977-1978 Volume 2, Nos 1, 2, 3

1979-1980 Volume 3, Nos 1, 2, 3

1980-1981 Volume 4, Nos 1, 2, 3

1982-1984 Volume 5, Nos 1, 2, 3, 4

1985-1992 Volume 6, Nos 1, 2, 3, 4

1993-1996 Volume 7, Nos 1, 2, 3, 4 [Index to 1996]

1997-2024 Volumes 8-36

Cookia Vol.14, June 2003 is 'The Shell Lists' issue & Supplement to Cookia Vol. 26,

December 2014 is an index of all articles in Wellington Shell Club publications 1956-2014.

Both are available on-line, see below.

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Cookia contains specialist articles and items of general interest on shells, shell collecting and molluscs as well as other related marine topics. Generally, contributions to Cookia are from club members or they may be provided by relevant scientific institutions.  

Cookia Contribution Guidelines 

General Submission Requirements

The editors strive to attain a high quality of publication and careful fact checking. The scope of articles is intended to reflect the differing specialties, levels of interest and experience within the club. We hope all members will be able to contribute should they wish. We welcome both scientific and non-scientific articles, opinion pieces, drawings, photos, and articles not directly related to shells or shell collecting as long as they have some relevance. 

Contributions should be in plain English, the author’s own work, preferably typed, and submitted to the editor before the 31 May each year. Articles are typically published in two to three columns which means articles containing rigid formatting or oversize illustrations are unlikely to be accommodated as may articles longer than four pages.  Grammar, spelling and punctuation should be carefully checked before submission and recent issues of Cookia consulted for examples of the expected standard.

 Formatting and Citations

It would greatly assist the editors if contributors could submit articles using the tools and format currently being used for Cookia. This is: typed in Microsoft Word with Times New Roman 11.5 font and 1.08 line spacing, left justified and without end of line hyphenation. Free conversion tools are available on-line to convert Apple Pages and Google Docs to Microsoft Word, also neat hand-written articles (providing these are printed rather than longhand, on A4 paper and double spaced).

If your article has been published elsewhere, please notify us of this. Extracts, quotes or comment used from other sources must give the relevant reference, publication or website used, with the author and date along with permissions that may be necessary if sourced from the public domain. The format to be used for references placed at the end of an article can be obtained from previous Cookia’s.

Illustrations and Images

Photos or illustrations to accompany an article or individual find are welcome. They should be supplied separately as original jpg or similar photo files in highest resolution possible, and not embedded in accompanying text or emails, and not reduced in size or resolution for sending but submitted over more than one email if necessary. Where possible, specimens should be photographed at a 90° angle to the height/length axis, with gastropods displayed in an apertural view. Photos of an interesting or unusual find should be accompanied by text giving the approximate location, date and details of the find.

 Editorial Policy

It is editorial policy not to introduce taxonomic changes, including naming new taxa, reassigning species into or out of synonymy, or altering familial or generic classifications. Also to use the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) website (www.marinespecies.org) to check currently accepted species names, authorities, and taxonomic placements. All species names used for the first time in an article are to give the genus, species and author’s name (in parenthesis as necessary) as per WoRMS. Most scientific articles will be checked by the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa scientists before publication; you are welcome to consult with them prior to submitting an article, but please advise if this is the case. If you have any questions regarding these guidelines or the suitability of your material, please contact the editors.

Costs and Distribution

Publication costs are covered by membership fees. Cookia is usually distributed to current financial and life members at the Annual General Meeting and Christmas party which is usually held in late November each year.  Those members unable to attend the AGM receive a posted copy of Cookia shortly afterwards.

Back Copies

Electronic back copies of Cookia from Vol 1 - No 1 (Autumn 1976) to Vol 34 (November 2022) are available on this website for viewing or downloading - see below.  More recent copies of Cookia will become available on this website as they become 2 years old.

Otherwise, hard copy versions of all back copies of all* original Cookia journals remain available for a fee plus postage. Individual articles and copies of the older bulletins and study notes are also available.

To order, please e-mail us .

* including those less than 2 years old

Acknowledgements

It is requested that appropriate acknowledgement, reference or citation be given for articles or other information from Cookia used the public domain.

Publications Index 1956 - 2015

Included in the list below is Supplement to Cookia Vol. 26 which is a fully searchable index of all Wellington Shell Club publications from 1956 to 2015.  It includes references to the Cookia journals currently available on-line to 2015.  Cookia PDFs from Vol 1 No 1 to Vol 16 are not text searchable.  The more recent Cookia PDFs from Vol 17 are text searchable.

Monthly newsletter

The club e-mails a monthly newsletter to members.  If preferred, posted newsletters are available upon request (for NZ residents only). The newsletter provides members with brief updates, topical news, any special events and details of the next few meetings.

Cleaning Shells

Among the most frequent questions asked by new collectors are those about cleaning shells.  There are two files in the list below which contain information for new and experienced shell collectors alike on various methods and techniques found to be useful.  The information provided was written by experienced New Zealand shell collectors.  While some of the references within the articles is dated the essential information is assessed as current.

Also included is a link to very good shell cleaning information on the Femorale website.  www.femorale.com/articles/ourplace/cleaning/?id=50. 

page last updated  September 2025