Curator’s Corner

Museum, research, and collection updates from Dr. José H. Leal, plus Shell of the Week, which highlights a different species every other Friday. Most Shells of the Week are found in Southwest Florida.

Dr. José H. Leal serves as the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum & Aquarium’s Science Director and Curator. He received his Ph.D. in Marine Biology and Fisheries from the University of Miami and has served at the Museum since 1996.

Blue Dragons on Texas Beaches

Last weekend the national media was abuzz with the news that “venomous blue dragons” that “look like mini-Pokémons” were washing ashore along Texas beaches, including those on Padre Island and near Corpus Christi. Blue Dragons, also known as Blue Glaucus (Glaucus atlanticus), are inch-long, blue and white sea slugs that spend their entire lives in open water, floating upside-down just under the water surface. They are part of the neuston ecosystem, the mysterious ecosystem at the ocean’s surface

Shell of the Week: The Florida Moon Snail

Natica tedbayeri(Rehder, 1986) reaches about 34 mm (1.34 inch), and has a globose shell with thin walls, umbilicus and callus white, umbilicus deep, filled in part by the white, plug-like callus. Color similar to the Colorful Atlantic Natica, but differing by the “simpler” color pattern of wide tan bands on a white background. The bands are bordered by lines of interrupted dark-brown or orange segments. Shell sculpture lacking, except for faint growth lines.#naticatedbayeri #floridamoonsnail #fl

An Age-old Mystery Solved

This week, Dr Greg Herbert (University of South Florida, Tampa) and collaborators published a much-awaited peer-reviewed article on the lifespan of the Horse Conch, Triplofusus giganteus. They also estimated age at which females of the species produce their first spawn. In their study, the authors used stable oxygen and carbon isotopes sclerochronology (the dating of hard biological structures such as bones, corals, and shells) to garner information on life cycles. Among other samples, included

Shell of the Week: The Alabaster Jewelbox

Amphichama inezae (F.M. Bayer, 1943) reaches about 20 mm (0.8 inch), and has a circular to oval shell with thin, erect, ruffled, commarginal (“concentric”) lamellae present on both valves. The inside areas of the Alabaster Jewelbox shell margins are smooth. The color varies from alabaster to yellowish white. #amphichamainezae #alabasterjewelbox #chamidae #westpalmbeach

Florida United Malacologists 2022, a Big Success!

After a couple of years of cancellations and postponements, it was fantastic to have Florida United Malacologists (FUM) back at the Museum! We had record attendance for FUM last Saturday, with about 90 participants and 18 presentations! FUM is a one-day gathering that brings together researchers, collectors, citizen scientists, enthusiasts, and students interested in a broad range of mollusk-related topics. This year’s meeting included a wide range of topics and a relatively large number of stu

Shell of the Week: The Rose Corbula

Caryocorbula contracta (Say, 1822) reaches 10 mm (0.4 inch), has an inequivalve shell (the left and right valves have different sizes). The shell has a pointed posterior region, a well-defined radial fold or ridge is present, sculpture of smooth commarginal ridges, and the shell color is white to light gray. Internally often pinkish, orangish, or yellowish hues. The shell in the image is a single articulated pair, part of a larger collection of loose valves of the same species found by Ken Piech

Shell of the Week: The Bicolor Purse Oyster

The Bicolor Purse Oyster, Isognomon bicolor (C.B. Adams, 1852), has an oval, very flat shell, with thin-walled valves and coarse, wavy, blade-like lamellae. The shell can reach 40 mm (about 1.6 inches.) Internally the shell has a small nacreous area, the non-nacreous area is wide, and the hinge in juvenile shells has a set of ridge-like teeth. This species is known to grow on rocks and hard structures in many areas of the Florida Keys. The complete shell in the illustration was collected by Kimb

What Perch on Branches, Have Wings But Do Not Fly?

As the image shows, this branching colony of a Regal Sea Fan, Leptogorgia hebes, was host to at least eleven Atlantic Wing Oysters, Pteria colymbus. Wing oysters get their common name from the wing-like expansions on their shells, also known as "auricles". Atlantic Wing Oysters are commonly found living in association with sea fans, sea whips, and other gorgonians, attaching to them via byssal threads. The byssal threads of Atlantic Wing Oysters wrap strongly around the stems and branches of sea

Shell of the Week: The Caribbean Corbula

Caryocorbula swiftiana C.B. Adams, 1852 has a strongly inequivalve shell (the left and right valves have different sizes). The shell has pointed posterior region that is often extended by calcified periostracum, a radial fold or ridge is present, sculpture of irregular commarginal ridges, shell color white to light gray. Internally often whitish, or with brownish, orangish, or yellowish hues. The shell in the image is a single articulated pair, part of a larger collection of loose valves of the

Shell of the Week: The Three-ridge Lucine

Cavilinga blanda (Dall, 1901), is one of the smallest lucines one can find on the beaches of Southwest Florida. Its whitish shell is oblique-oval and “taller” than “wide”, with a fine sculpture of commarginal (“concentric”) lines. The left valve (detail below) exhibits a small (about 0.7 mm, or 0.03 inch) drill hole, probably done by a moon snail (family Naticidae). The neat, smooth-sided drill hole penetrated the external (whiter color), then the internal (grayish color) shell layers.