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.

Black Water Beauty

This beautiful image of an Oxygyrus inflatus snail was shot by Simone Matucci off Kailua-Kona, a township on the island of Hawaii. Oxygyrus inflatus snails reach only about 10 mm (0.4 mm) in size, spending their entire lives in open water. They have very large eyes and a single swimming fin. Their transparent and flexible shells are not very calcified. The shells of open-water mollusks are usually very thin, light, but still very strong and resilient. Simone Matucci specializes in black-water ph

OctoCam Goes Live!

Our OctoCam livestream enables you to view our Giant Pacific Octopus swimming, eating, and playing in its aquarium in real-time.The OctoCam is made possible by generous donations from our Presenting Sponsor, The Sanibel Captiva Trust Company. Donations enable the Museum to provide exceptional nutrition, water quality, and veterinary care - all of which is critical to the overall health and welfare of our Giant Pacific Octopus. Check out the Octocam here!

Shell of the Week: The Green Mussel

Perna viridis (Linnaeus, 1758) has been accidentally introduced from New Zealand to the East Coast of the USA, part of the Caribbean Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico. This species grows to about 90 mm (about 3.5 inches). The ventral (“lower”) margin of the shell is straight or slightly concave, the posterior end rounded. The periostracum may be very flaky in dried shells. The shell is brown externally with green tinges at and around margins. The shell interior is nacreous, whitish or light-purple.#pe

Shell of the Week: The American Horse Mussel

Modiolus americanus (Leach, 1815) grows to about 100 mm (about 4 inches!) in parts of the its distribution range. The brown periostracum is heavy and flaky. This species resembles last week’s Shell of the Week, the Southern Mussel. They differ, however, by the usually larger size, much more “obese” shell, and presence of orange and pink hues internally and externally in the shell of the American Horse Mussel. The Southern Horse Mussel has a “skinnier” shell and generally bluish-purple color insi

Seeing Eye to Eye!

When I first saw this image, I thought of the famous “mirror scene” in the Marx’s Brothers 1933 movie “Duck Soup,” in which Harpo pretends to be Groucho’s reflection in a non-existent mirror. The routine went on for a few comical minutes, after which Grouch finally realized he was being fooled by the intruding Harpo. But in this great image by Senior Aquarist Carly Hulse we have two of our conchs, a young Queen Conch (Aliger gigas) on the left and a Milk Conch (Macrostrombus costatus) on the rig

The Raven, the Clam, and Humankind

A raven as the initiator of human life? And out of a clam? “At first he saw nothing, but as he scanned the beach again, a white flash caught his eye, and when he landed he found at his feet, half buried in the sand, a gigantic clamshell. When he looked more closely still, he saw that the shell was full of little creatures cowering in terror of his enormous shadow.” This passage, from the book “The Raven Steals the Light,” by Bill Reid and Robert Bringhurst, narrates the origin of humankind accor

Shell of the Week: The Southern Horse Mussel

Modiolus squamosus Beauperthuy, 1967 is the less uncommon among the local mussel species. Scattered valves and even complete pairs may be found on local Southwest Florida beaches after storms, particularly during the winter. The species may grow to 65 mm (about 2.6 inches), and the external shell surface is covered with a relatively thin, light-brown periostracum, which contrasts with the distinctive purplish color of the internal surfaces. Southern Horse Mussels can be distinguished from the Am

Lined Chiton riding a Kellet's Whelk. Photo by Carly Hulse.

The Chiton and the Whelk

Museum's Senior Aquarist Carly Hulse took this great photo, at our Cold-water Touch Pool, of one of our Lined Chitons (Tonicella lineata)...

Shell of the Week: The Lateral Mussel

Musculus lateralis (Say, 1822) is another local but uncommon mussel, probably neglected because of its small size. Reaching only 9 mm (about 0.35 inch), its shell is oval, inflated. Two radial, slanted lines divide each valve in three areas: a smooth central one, and anterior and posterior areas with strong radial ribs. The internal shell surface is faintly iridescent, with a very thin nacreous layer. That allows for the external colors to show by transparency. #musculuslateralis #lateralmussel

The Museum Type Collection, Revealed

In an article published yesterday in the journal Zootaxa, I report on and explain the type specimens of mollusks and shells deposited in our Museum collection. In biology, a type specimen is usually a physical example of an organism (animals, plants, etc.) that was used by a researcher when that species was first formally described and named as new. The two most-often alluded to kinds of types are the holotype, which is the single, or principal, specimen designated in the original description, a