Hinea lineata is a small gastropod that reaches only about 10 mm (0.4 inch). The shell is smooth, and typically with narrow, brown spiral bands set against a cream-colored background. The species is found intertidally (between low and high tide lines) from East Florida, Bermuda, Bahamas, throughout the Caribbean south to Venezuela, and mid-Atlantic oceanic islands.
As part of the National Shell Museum renovation process, our Giant Squid model will be receiving a facelift. The squid was added to the Museum’s Great Hall of Shell in the late 1990s, there is inevitable wear and tear, and so much more has been learned about the species (Architeuthis dux) in the last two decades. The model will receive a new paint job, arms will be re-attached, and new, more realistic eyes will be added. Giant Squids may attain 40 feet in length, and their complex, vertebrate-li
Iphigenia brasiliensis belongs to the coquina family, the Donacidae. Its shell reaches 66 mm (about 2.6 inches) and resembles a larger version of the local (in Florida) Variable Coquina, Donax variabilis. Its shell has a thin, smooth, light-brown periostracum (the outer layer). The wedge-shape of coquina shells help during quick burrowing in the sand. The species inhabits estuarine areas in Florida, teh Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean south to southern Brazil. #iphigeniabrasiliensis #iphigenia
There are millions of mollusks living offshore along Southwest Florida’s shallow, 80-mile-wide continental shelf (the part of the continent under water). When cold winter winds from the north or northwest blow in the Gulf of Mexico, the water moves in directions that drive many mollusks (or empty shells) onto the shore. The effect is enhanced along barrier islands such as Sanibel, Captiva, Cayo Costa, and south to Fort Myers Beach, Keewaydin, Marco, Kice, and the Ten Thousand Islands. In the su
The bivalve Cardiomya costellata reaches only 11 mm (0.44 inch) and, as most members of the family Cuspidariidae do, has a shell sculpture of prominent radial (from the beak to the margin) ribs and a tube-like projection on the posterior end of the shell called a rostrum. The internal surface of the valves is glossy. Cuspidariid clams are carnivores and live buried, sticking their siphons through the rostrum out of the soft-sand or mud to detect and ingest prey (small worms, crustaceans, etc.) T
During the August episode of the National Shell Museum lecture series, Smithsonian’s Curator of Bivalves Dr John Pfeiffer presented (among several advances in the study of North American freshwater mussels) “Freshwater Mussels of America.” Dr Pfeiffer plays a major role in that great project, developed in association with his “alma mater,” the University of Florida/Florida Museum (Gainesville). “Freshwater Mussels of America” displays awesome 3D models of 100 species of freshwater bivalves from
Save the Date! The next meeting of Florida United Malacologists (FUM) will take place on Sanibel Island, Florida, on Saturday, April 13, 2024, at the Sanibel Community House, 2173 Periwinkle Way, on Sanibel. The one-day gathering brings together researchers, collectors, students, citizen scientists, and enthusiasts interested in a broad range of mollusk-related topics. Read more about previous FUM events at https://shellmuseum.org/2022-fum. Registration and more information to follow soon. W
Published posthumously, “Shells” delivers great and current information on shells and the animals that make them. The 176-page volume would have been released three years after the untimely passing of my friend and colleague Dr Fabio Moretzsohn in early 2020. Fabio was an Assistant Professor at Texas AM in Corpus Christi, Texas. There is a wealth of data in his book on intriguing aspects of the biology and ecology of mollusks, and thorough coverage of little-known information on cultural and spi
Spinosipella agnes is a small (reaching 23.2 mm or 0.9 inch) deep-water clam that was described in 2008 by Luiz Simone and Carlo Cunha in the National Shell Museum’s own journal The Nautilus. The characteristic shell sculpture includes sharp-ribs that swirl around the surface of the shell. For that and other reasons, the species was for many years confused with the Sharp-rib Verticordia, Spinosipella acuticostata, from the eastern Atlantic Ocean. The White Verticordia can be found in in deep wa
Aquariums and Zoos play an important role in conservation, by breeding, rearing large numbers of offspring, and releasing ("propagating" in conservation jargon) the animals back into their natural environment. Such in-house conservation efforts usually go hand-in-hand with work that aims to mitigate the cause or causes for the endangerment of the species in the first place. Freshwater mollusks are one of the most imperiled groups of animals in the United States. One of the organizations that