Imagine the sea to be the sky; the beautiful Yokas would be its twinkling stars. Aptly nicknamed as the Yoka Star Turban or Japanese Sea Star, Yokas belong to the Turbinidae family, a group of top shaped shells more commonly understood as the Turban shells. What makes it exceptional from other Turban shells, however, is its strikingly flattened appearance, but if you take a look at it edgewise, you'll find Yokas to be shaped conically, with 8 to 9 long, spindly, hollow spines coming out of the shell whorl. (A shell whorl, by the way, is a complete turn of a spiral shell.)
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| A Beaut of a Star |
Yokas are gorgeous with a top shell that's a rich copper to dark pink color and an underside that's a creamy white. They're very light to hold but Yokas still are strong shells that are moderately thick in built, though one does have to be careful in handling them as their fragile spines could easily break. Yokas are about an inch in size; some may grow to 2 and 2.5 inches. In the beautiful country that I live in (Philippines), you'll find these starry, starry shells in Tayabas Bay (Quezon) or in the islands of Cebu and Bohol.
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| the Yoka and its faces |
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