Author Archives: José H. Leal

Shell of the Week – The Hidden-spire Vitrinella

This species is actually the Hidden-spire Vitrinella, Teinostoma cryptospira (A.E. Verrrill, 1884), not the Trifle Vitrinella, Teinostoma lerema, as identified in the original posting. At 2 mm (0.08 inch) maximum size, the Hidden-spire Vitrinella is one of the smallest members of the family Tornidae in Florida. The suture (line where two successive whorls join) in this species is not very visible, not forming a distinct line on the shell surface. The shell surface is smooth, the aperture round

Welcome New Museum Staff!

In preparation for the Winter season and opening of the renovated Museum, two new team members are already hard at work. Environmental Educator Tony Gynac graduated from the University of Delaware with a Bachelor's Degree in Marine Biology. Her love of the water has always captured her attention and pushed her towards conservation. She has spent time honing her skills in education and conservation as an intern at the Marine Education, Research, and Rehabilitation Institute and is a volunteer wit

Shell of the Week: High-spired Vitrinella

Teinostoma altum Pilsbry, 1953, is another member of the microgastropod family Tornidae with ample distribution in Florida and the Gulf of Mexico. Shell size up to 2.2 mm (about 0.09 inch) in diameter. As the scientific and common names of the species indicate, the shell has a tall spire, resembling a miniature moon snail (family Naticidae). The shell lacks any sculpture except for microscopic growth lines. The protoconch sunken within the remainder of the shell. The umbilicus is shallow. Full

A Hardy Aquatic Snail

The Bladder Snail, Physella acuta (Dreparnaud, 1805) is familiar to freshwater aquarium enthusiasts, as they have the uncanny ability to appear “out of the blue” in their tanks. This is exactly what happened at home last week, when my significant other, Kim Nealon, found several, 1/4-inch long, sinistral (left-handed) snails thriving in our home fish tank. The Bladder Snail, also known as Tadpole Snail or Acute Bladder Snail, is a globally invasive species: the snails have the ability, following

Shell of the Week: The Adams Scale Snail

For the moment, Cochliolepis adamsii (P. Fischer, 1857) is the last in a long series of species of the family Tornidae covered in this column. It is also, in my opinion, one of the more elegant species of that micromollusk family, with its low-profile, disk-shaped shell. The sculpture consists of fine spiral lines, the umbilicus (“hole” on the bottom of the shell) is large, and is not closed by a callus. The aperture is slanted and the outer lip thin. The color is milk-white, opaque. The shell i

World Congress of Malacology 2019

The World Congress of Malacology 2019 will take place from August 11–16 at the Asilomar Conference Grounds in Pacific Grove, California. The California Academy of Sciences is the primary host for the event. WCM 2019 will bring together malacologists from all over the planet, and will be a joint meeting of the world organization for mollusk-related sciences, Unitas Malacologica, together with the American Malacological Society (AMS) and the Western Society of Malacologists (WSM). I will be prese

Florida United Malacologists 2020

The eleventh meeting of Florida United Malacologists (FUM 2020) will take place on Saturday, February 15, 2020, at the renovated Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum, on Sanibel Island, Florida. The one-day gathering includes presentations by researchers, collectors, citizen scientists, educators, and students, covering a broad swath of mollusk-related topics. The Museum hosted the first FUM in 2010 and, traditionally, has hosted the meeting on even years. The event is open to anyone interested

Shell of the Week: The Biscayne Vitrinella

With adult shells reaching only about 2 mm (about 0.08 inch) in diameter, Teinostoma biscaynense Pilsbry & McGinty, 1945 is one of the smallest members of the family Tornidae in the western Atlantic. The shell has a low spire, is flattened, depressed, and its periphery (outer shell “edge”) is softly angled. The shell spire and base lack any sculpture except for coarse, irregular growth lines. The protoconch is sunken within the adult shell. The umbilicus is completely obliterated by a whitish, o

Jingle Double Whammy!

The Common Jingle, Anomia simplex d’Orbigny, 1853, is a bivalve from the tropical western Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico. They live in shallow-water, attached to dead shells and other hard structures. Many bivalves that make a living attached to hard surfaces rely on a byssus for that attachment. In mussels and other bivalves, the byssus consists of strong, elastic protein fibers; in jingles (Family Anomiidae), the byssus is solid, pillar-like, and made of a tough composite material, a mixture

The Growth of Cone Snail Teeth

Cone snails subdue and kill their prey using harpoon-like teeth that act as hypodermic needles that deliver potent “venom cocktails” to their prey. Each distinct species produces its own, particular cocktail of different toxins. After a strike, each toxin provokes a specific reaction on the prey animal. Worms, fishes, and other mollusks, are the preferred prey items of cone snails, with each cone snail species favoring prey belonging to just one of these categories and not the others. Cone snai