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.

Shell of the Week: The Hooked Mussel

Ischadium recurvum (Rafinesque, 1820) is a local but uncommon mussel that inhabits protected bay areas and the calm waters of local estuaries. Reaching 50 mm (about two inches), its shell is moderately inflated, curved, resembling a claw, or a hook. The surface sculpture consists of radial lines extending from the beak outward. The outside color is dark-grayish to dark-brown, with interspaces between radial lines of darker color. The inside surface is iridescent, nacreous, with purplish, bluish,

Museum Collection in iDigBio

One of the largest of its kind in the United States, the Museum's scientific collection provides taxonomic, geographic, and chronological data about its molluscan holdings to a broad range of users in zoology, marine biology, genetics, conservation, geology, and other fields of science. For almost a year now, our collection catalog data has been available via the Museum’s web portal. In a major step to enhance the accessibility of the catalog, making it available to a much larger audience, catal

Shell of the Week: The Chestnut Mussel

Mussels are not only good seafood, but they also come in a large number of different species. The Chestnut Mussel, Lioberus castanea (Say, 1822) is a relatively small species that rarely reaches beyond 25 mm (one inch). Its shell is elongate, inflated, with the brown outer layer, the periostracum, that is so characteristic of the mussel family Mytilidae. There is a distinct, sharp line separating the posterior end (lighter color) from the anterior end (darker color). The inner surface of the she

In the Kingdom of Queen Conchs

The Museum has added three Queen Conchs, Aliger gigas (Linnaeus, 1758), to its Beyond Shells educational, living exhibitions. Make sure you take a look at them during your next visit to the Museum! The Queen Conch is an iconic, relatively well-known marine snail in the family of true conchs, the Strombidae (think Florida Fighting Conch, Milk Conch, and many others). At the onset of adulthood, its shell will begin developing the broad, flared lip that is so typical of the species. Queen Conchs ar

Shell of the Week: The Southern Spindle Bubble

Another species in the “bubble” category, Volvulella persimilis(Mørch, 1875) is locally rare, and a very small species, reaching only 4 mm (about 0.16 inch) in length. This snail has an involute shell, i.e., the entire shell spire is encased by the last whorl, which gives the shell its spindle-shaped appearance. The apex is pointed, and the shell surface is glossy, sculptured with a few very fine spiral lines. #volvulellapersimilis #southernspindlebubble #rhizoridae #bubblesnail

Shrinking Conch Shells?

Shells preserved in ancient middens throughout the planet are good evidence that humans have been eating seafood for thousands of years. And our fondness for hooking the largest fish, shucking the largest oysters, and netting that jumbo shrimp has probably been around since time immemorial. To test the hypothesis of whether intense foraging for larger versus smaller individuals of the same species may in the long run drive the species size to decrease, Alexis Sullivan (Penn State University) and

Shell of the Week: The Two-tooth Barrel Bubble

Giving continuity to our discussion of the local barrel bubbles, today I want to introduce the Two-tooth Barrel Bubble, Cylichnella bidentata (d’Orbigny, 1841). This small snail reaches 4 mm (0.16 inch), has a characteristic sunken spire, and the columella (viewed on the left side of the aperture, or opening) with two folds that at a glance look like two “teeth.” The aperture is flared in anterior direction (on bottom of the picture.)

Shell of the Week: The Cande Barrel Bubble

Last week I presented the little Channeled Barrel Bubble; today I want to introduce a is very similar species, the Cande Barrel Bubble, Acteocina candei (d’Orbigny, 1841). Although reaching comparable size (about 5 mm, or 0.2 inch), today’s species differs from the Channeled Barrel Bubble by having a slightly taller spire, more cylindrical shape, and by reproductive and anatomical differences.

Spotted Slipper Snail Eggs

Last week, Museum collaborator and Shell Ambassador Amy Tripp (Marco Island, Florida) brought to my attention a slipper snail she photographed at nearby Kice Island. The photo doesn’t show much of the shell, but clearly portrays a mass of egg capsules containing developing embryos. As I peeked at the photo, my first thought was “hmm, this is a female Common Atlantic Slipper, Crepidula fornicata, brooding her eggs.” However, a quick estimate of the number of eggs in each capsule told me I was wr

Shell of the Week: The Channeled Barrel Bubble

Acteocina canaliculata (Say, 1826) reaches only 5 mm (0.2 inch). The shell is thin, slightly pear-shaped, and the spire usually spans less than 1/5 of the shell length. The protoconch (larval shell, on top) is set at 90º to the adult shell. Barrel bubbles are cephalaspidean gastropods, and, as such, have a well-defined cephalic shield. Very similar to Acteocina candei (d’Orbigny, 1841), but this latter tends to have a taller spire, being more common in open-water locations. #acteocinacanaliculat