The Watts Towers (WT), an iconic Los Angeles artwork created by Sabato Rodia in 1921–1954, is covered with mosaics whose elements include thousands of mollusk shells. Little is known about the diversity or sources of these shells. Here, we document the diversity of mollusk shells present in the WT and use data on their characteristics to make inferences about their provenance. We identified shells of 34 species, 24 of them bivalves (clams and their relatives) and 10 gastropods (snails). Almost all (29/34) of these species are native to southern California shorelines, especially those of bays and estuaries. Rodia could have accessed these sites on foot, by automobile, or by using the Red Car trolley system. Some of the bivalve shells bear drill holes made by naticid gastropods, suggesting that they were collected post-mortem, presumably after they had washed up on beaches. These observations are consistent with the sparse documentary evidence on the origin of the shells of the WT. This detailed information on the diversity of the seashells of the WT should be of utility to conservators, and of interest to scholars of and visitors to the WT.

中文翻译：

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标志性公共艺术品的贝壳：瓦茨塔软体动物的多样性和出处

瓦茨塔（WT）是萨巴托·罗迪亚（Sabato Rodia）在1921-1954年间创作的洛杉矶标志性艺术品，上面铺满马赛克，其元素包括数千只软体动物的贝壳。这些壳的多样性或来源知之甚少。在这里，我们记录了野生动物中存在的软体动物壳的多样性，并使用其特征数据来推断它们的来源。我们鉴定了34种物种的壳，其中24种为双壳类（蛤及其亲属）和10种腹足类动物（蜗牛）。这些物种中几乎所有（29/34）种都生于加利福尼亚南部海岸线，尤其是海湾和河口海岸线。Rodia本可以步行，乘汽车或使用Red Car手推车系统进入这些地点。一些双壳类贝壳上有由杀线虫腹足纲动物制成的钻孔，表明它们是在尸体采集后收集的，大概是他们在海滩上洗完澡之后。这些观察结果与有关WT壳的起源的稀疏文献证据是一致的。有关野生型贝壳多样性的详细信息应该对养护者有用，对野生型学者和游客也有帮助。