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.

An Inspirational Shell Book

The Museum’s Founding Director, Robert Tucker Abbott, was certainly the most prolific author of shell and mollusk-related books that ever lived, having published more than 30 books on the subject. Some of his most popular works such as Seashells of the World (1962) and Kingdom of Seashells (1972) have been in print since their original publication and were translated into many languages. A couple of years ago Tucker’s daughter Cynthia Sullivan donated a small collection of some of his more obscu

Shell of the Week: The Scaly Scallop

Caribachlamys sentis (Reeve, 1853) is a shallow-water scallop (family Pectinidae) that may reach about 45 mm (about 1.8 inch). The shell is fan-shaped, with one auricle (the “little ear”) much larger than other, the left valve is reddish to brown, evenly colored, right valve of roughly the same color. The basic sculpture pattern includes about 18, regularly spaced, radial ribs. The species is present in South Florida, Florida Keys, Caribbean down to South America. (A large reproduction of this i

Shell of the Week: The Atlantic Trumpet Triton

Charonia variegata (Lamarck, 1816) is one of the largest gastropods found in the Atlantic Ocean. Atlantic Trumpet Tritons can be found from North Carolina to Brazil, and feed on, among other large sea stars, the red cushion sea star Oreaster reticulatus. The Museum displays the world record-size shell of this species, a shell measuring 388 mm (about 16 inches), collected off Fortaleza in northeastern Brazil. (A large reproduction of this illustration is on display in the In Focus exhibition at t

A Gem of a Land Snail!

Look at this little green gem! Simpulopsis rufovirens (Moricand, 1846) was photographed by Alex Popovkin, working in the State of Bahia, Brazil. Notice how the color of the shell matches the color of the leaf on which it crawls. The early whorls are yellowish-brown, but the adult shell is a bright green! The entire shell surface is corrugated, which probably helps reinforce the shell against crushing by predators. The shell in this species is thin, and may grow to be a little larger than 0.5 inc

Museum Collection Reaches Out Globally

Today I want to do something different and discuss a powerful resource for those of us interested in molluscan biodiversity. The image below shows the Museum’s landing page on the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). That includes a map showing our general reach (for lots with geographic coordinates) and a quick access to our gallery of images, currently with 2,786 multiple-photo images (see image on bottom of page.) Based in Europe, GBIF is one of large data aggregators for natural

Shell of the Week: The Magnum Prickly Cockle

Acrosterigma magnum (Linnaeus, 1758) reaches about 50 mm (about 2 inches). This is one of the largest and more impressive species of the cockle family Cardiidae found in the western central Atlantic. The species is found in Florida, the Florida Keys, the Caribbean, northern South America, and in parts of the Gulf of Mexico (but not on the beaches of Southwest Florida.) The Magnum Prickly Cockle is notable for the delicate hues and smooth surface on the sculpture of radial ribs. (A large reproduc

Shell of the Week: The Little Knobby Scallop

Caribachlamys pellucens (Linnaeus, 1758) measures up to 37.4 mm (about 1.5 inches) in height. The shell has about 8–10 radial ridges festooned with small knobs or thick scales. The valves in this species may show strong yellow hues internally. We assume that the coloration is not advantageous for visual communication of any kind, because other animals cannot see the inside of a shell. Bright colors and strong patterns usually serve to warn predators of poisonous substances present, or to attract

Georgia O’Keeffe and Shells

I first “found” American painter Georgia O’Keeffe in my teen years and quickly learned to love her paintings, bold images of shells, bones, flowers, and landscapes loaded with personal style, and terrific composition and colors. My “point-of-entry” into O’Keeffe’s artistic universe was “Red Hill and White Shell” on the cover of a book in the art section of a high-end bookstore in Rio de Janeiro. That painting acted like a powerful magnet, pulling me closer to inspect the book in more detail. I s

New Poster: Cool Florida Shells!

The Museum will soon be presenting a new poster showing quintessential and attractive Florida shells. I designed “Cool Florida Shells” during last year’s lockdown, using images shot by me and by Digital Imaging Specialists James F. Kelly and Patricia A. Starkey. The poster covers 68 species of bivalves and gastropods from the East and Southwest Florida coasts, Florida Keys, and deeper offshore in the Gulf of Mexico. It includes scientific and common names and size for each species. Printed thro

Shell of the Week: The Red-ribbed Scallop

Aequipecten glyptus (A.E. Verrill, 1882) measures up to 75 mm (about 3 inches) in height. The Red-ribbed Scallop is found along the Eastern Seaboard of the US, from Cape Cod to Texas. It is a moderately deep-water species, usually living in depths from 130 to 860 m (about 430 to 2,820 ft). The thin, flattened shell bears typical, red-colored, relatively broad ribs. The internal surface of valves shows narrow ribs that may serve to reinforce the shell. (A large reproduction of the illustration be