Publications

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 26/09/1991 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]

1997-2025 Volumes 8-37

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 the publications list, see below.

*****

Cookia includes 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.  

Acknowledgements

Appropriate acknowledgement, reference or citation should be provided for articles or other information from Cookia used the public domain.

Costs and Distribution

Publication, printing and distribution costs for Cookia 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.   Otherwise, members receive a posted copy of Cookia shortly afterwards.

Electronic Copies

Copies of Cookia from Vol 1 - No 1 (Autumn 1976) to Vol 37 (November 2025) are available as PDF files on this website - see publications list below. 

Biodiversity Heritage Library

Copies of Cookia are also held on the Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) website (https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/221108). The BHL website is particularly useful as it can searched by topic, author, shell name/locality, and it will bring up the relevant issue of Cookia, or other publication in the library.

Hard Copies

Hard copies of Cookia remain available for a fee plus postage. Individual articles and copies of the older bulletins and study notes are also available.  Order here .

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 Cookia 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.

Cookia - Article Contribution Guidelines

Article contribution guidelines have been updated and are available here .  All contributors are encouraged to familiarise themselves with the guidelines before submitting an article for consideration. 

Publications List - Study Notes and Cookia

Club Newsletter

The club newsletter provides brief updates, topical events, any special news or other events and details of the next few meetings.  Monthly newsletters letters are e-mailed to members (except December).  If preferred, posted newsletters are available upon request for NZ residents only. 

Shell Cleaning

Among the most frequent questions asked by new collectors are those about cleaning shells.  There are two files in the list below with information for new and experienced shell collectors 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.

Included is a link to very good shell cleaning information on the Femorale website.  www.femorale.com/articles/ourplace/cleaning/?id=5 . 

page last updated  October 2026