Mollusks

Shell of the Week: The Bubble Melampus

Melampus bullaoides is a close relative of the more common and local Coffee Melampus (Melampus coffea). Like the Coffee Melampus, the Bubble Melampus lives in mangrove areas, where it thrives well above the tide lines. The shell shape of the Bubble Melampus is strikingly different, however; this species has a relatively longer and pointed spire and shorter aperture (shell “opening”). This imparts a “bullet shape” to the shell. The shell color is mahogany-brown, with fuzzy white bands near the sh

The Common Jingle and its Byssus

Widespread on the beaches of Southwest Florida, Common Jingles (Anomia simplex) appear in many colors. In the jingle family Anomiidae, the top shell valve is whole, while the bottom one has an opening.Like mussels and some other bivalves, jingles are attached to hard surfaces by a byssus, which originates from a gland in the foot. In jingles, that opening on the bottom valve lets the byssus pass through the shell before attaching to the host surface.In mussels and other bivalves, the byssus usua

Shell of the Week: The Small Phos

Bailya parva is a small but attractive gastropod that reaches only 20 mm (about 0.8 inch). Its shell sculpture presents 10–12 axial (“vertical”) ribs crossed by spiral lines, with beads forming at the intersections. The shell color is yellowish- to mahogany-brown with broad white bands. The species is found off Florida, Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea. This species may be difficult to distinguish from the Intricate Phos (Bailya intricata), a species with similar distribution; this latter,

Shell of the Week: The Agassiz’s Nutmeg

Agatrix agassizii (Dall, 1889) reaches 13.5 mm (about 0.53 inch). It has a distinctive shell shape with well-defined whorl shoulders, which impart a “stepped” aspect to the entire shell. The species is found in moderately deep water (33 to 91 m, or about 108 to 300 feet) from off the Carolinas to the northern Caribbean, including the northeastern Gulf of Mexico and the waters off western Florida.   #agatrixagassizii #agassizsnutmeg #cancellariidae #cancellariaagassizi #cedarkey

The Reverse-coiled Whelks Project

I am working on a research project with colleagues Jerry Harasewych (Smithsonian) and Manuel Tenório (University of Cádiz, Spain) involving studies of shell shape in two species of whelks. If you have one or more right-handed (reverse-coiled) Lightning Whelks (*Sinistrofulgur sinistrum*) and / or left-handed Knobbed Whelks (*Busycon carica*) in your private or institutional shell collection, we would like to photograph them or have you assist by photographing them for us. Please send answers / q

Thrush Cowrie in the Florida Panhandle

The invasive Thrush Cowrie (Naria turdus) has been found off Panama City Beach, in the Florida Panhandle. In early July, diver and shell enthusiast Doug Thompson was diving inside a shipwreck located at a depth of 24 m (about 78’), when he found a “fresh dead” Thrush Cowrie shell. Doug reported that other divers had found the species living in the same area and off Destin, also in the Panhandle.  Originally from the Red Sea and western Indian Ocean, the tenacious invasive was first reported in t

Shell of the Week: The Giant Eastern Murex

Reaching in excess of 213 mm (about 8.4 inches), Hexaplex fulvescens is the largest murex species in the western Atlantic and one of the largest in the world’s oceans. Its massive shell is garnished with pointy spines and is very variable, appearing in tawny-brown, yellowish-brown, orangish, cream, and any number of variations of these colors (the Latin word fulvescens can be translated as “yellowish”). The species is found from North Carolina to Palm Beach County in Florida, and in the Gulf of

Fish or Mollusk?

A sea slug that lives in open water, looks and swims like a fish, and glows in the dark? That is Phylliroe bucephala, a transparent, bioluminescent, three inches-long nudibranch gastropod. The sea slug swims in the upper layers of the open ocean, throughout the world’s tropical and subtropical regions. This great image above, by black-water diver and photographer Linda Ianniello, shows the sea slug feeding on a small jellyfish, possibly an Aequorea species. (Zoom in, and you can see three amphip

My Copycat Volute!

During a past Conchologists of America (CoA) convention in Florida, I mentioned casually to Brazilian shell dealer Marcus Coltro ("Femorale") that, as a museum professional, I opted not to have a shell collection, to avoid the perception of conflict of interest. I told him that I particularly missed not having any examples of the species I named. A few days later in the mail I received from Marcus and his brother José Coltro this great shell of the Copycat Volute (Odontocymbiola simulatrix Leal

Shell of the Week: A Left-handed White Spot Marginella

This sinistral Prunum guttatum won the "Shell-of-the-Show, Self-collected" award at the Sanibel Shell Show (March 2024). It was part of an exhibit prepared by students and National Shell Museum & Aquarium volunteers Holt and Cabe Rieck. Their exhibit also won the Environmental Awareness Award at the show, as it dealt with the potential effects of temperature change on mollusks in the Florida Keys. Holt and Cabe collected this "one-in-a-million" shell at Loggerhead Beach at Bahia Honda Key.   #pr