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.
Nannodiella vespuciana (d’Orbigny, 1842) is a very small member of the family Clathurellidae that reaches only about 6 mm (0.24 inch). The shell is spindle-shaped, with about 14–16 axial ribs crossed by 5–6 spiral threads. The aperture has a very well-defined posterior canal, forming what is known as a “turrid notch.” Color is cream-white, with part of the whorls and the aperture caramel-brown.
A new Facebook group and Instagram and Twitter accounts were recently created to promote and discuss mollusks of the Eastern Seaboard of the United States. The social media effort is based on "Mobilizing Millions of Marine Mollusks from the Eastern Seaboard (ESB) of the United States," a project recently funded by the National Science Foundation and involving 15 relevant mollusk collections in the country. The Eastern Seaboard of the USA includes 18 states, nearly 6,000 km of coastline, 73,000 k
Carrier snails (family Xenophoridae) are gastropods that attach other shells, pieces of corals, or little pebbles to their own shell. To do that, a carrier snail holds the object with the front part of its foot, adjusting it to an adequate position along the last shell whorl, where it will then be “glued” with fresh shell material secreted by the snail's mantle. Carrier snails are cousins to true conchs in the family Strombidae: The image below shows the general aspect of a carrier snail body, w
Eucyclotoma stegeri (McGinty, 1955) is a member of the family Raphitomidae that reaches about 1.3 mm (about 0.5 inch). The species has a spindle-shaped shell, with whorls strongly angled at their periphery. The sculpture consists of 8–12 axial ribs that are more prominent where the “angle” of each whorl is located (the periphery.) The color is whitish with flecks of grayish or brown color.
Ready to get scared? A radula is the ribbon of teeth used by most mollusks for feeding. Depending on the mollusk, radulas can drill, scrape, slurp, slash, or sting. During my talks on cool molluscan facts I like to showcase the radula of the Magellan Volute, Odontocymbiola magellanica (shown in two views in the illustration), which I consider to be one of the most threatening structures in mollusks! To me, the long cusps on that radula resemble the razor-sharp fingers of the everlasting movie c
One more member of the large family Mangeliidae, Cryoturris cerinella Dall, 1889) reaches about 12 mm (about 0.5 inch) in length. The shell is very elongate, tower-shaped, with a sculpture of 7–8 strongly angled ribs crossed by fine spiral threads.The aperture spans only about ¼–1/5 of the shell length. The shell color is yellowish–white, changing to (very) light–orange on last whorl.
Continuing with the saga of the large family Mangeliidae, Rubellatoma diomedea Bartsch and Rehder, 1939 reaches about 10 mm (0.4 inch) in length, and has distinctly angled whorls, and a typical “lozenge-shaped” shell. The sculpture includes about 7–10 rounded ribs per whorl crossed by fine spiral striations. The aperture comprises about half the shell length, and the color is white with a couple of broad spiral brown bands more evident on the last whorl. #rubellatomadiomedea #diomedesmangelia #m
Once again, another member of the hyper-diverse gastropod family Mangeliidae, Stellatoma stellata Stearns, 1872) grows to about 10 mm (0.4 inch) in length, and has distinctly shouldered (angled) whorls. The spire is high, and the aperture occupies about 1/3 of the shell length. There are about 10–12 prominent ribs on each whorl, and the color is yellowish to light-brown, with the inside surface of the aperture darker in color. #stellatomastellata #starmangelia #mangeliidae
Yet another member of the hyper-diverse gastropod family Mangeliidae, Pyrgocythara filosa Rehder, 1943 grows to about 7 mm (0.28 inch) in length, and has a sculpture of about 10–12 axial ribs that span the entire whorl, each rib abutting the ones in previous whorls. The ribs are crossed by finer spiral lines. The shell color in this species is very distinctive, with each half-whorl divided into an anterior brown part and posterior cream-colored one. #pyrgocytharafilosa #falsemangelia #mangeliida
Another member of the very diverse gastropod family Mangeliidae, Tenaturris bartletti (Dall, 1889) has a body whorl comprising about half of the shell length in adult individuals, and a proportionately larger last whorl in juveniles. The sculpture consists of about 15 axial ribs crossed by fine spiral threads, and the entire shell surface has a “frosty” appearance. #tenaturrisbartletti #mangeliidae #whitemangelia #sanibel