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.

National Shell Museum Turns 25!

November 18, the Museum's anniversary, is always a special day for us. But this Thursday, November 18, will be extra-special, as the Museum will be celebrating its Silver Anniversary, its first quarter century of many more quarter-centuries to come! It seems like yesterday that the Museum had its Grand Opening, but the organization has seen so much progress since that bright day on Sanibel Island. The Museum's uniqueness lies in the fact that it is the only professional, educational, and fully A

Beyond Shells! The Red Turban Snail

One of the species we display in the cold-water touch pool of our Beyond Shells! exhibition is the Red Turban Snail, Pomaulax gibberosus (Dillwyn, 1817), a gastropod from the rocky shores of the West Coast of North America, where it is found from Mexico to Alaska. Red Turban Snails live from the low-tide zone and down to 80 m (about 260 ft) depth, in the cold waters of its native range. The species is usually associated with stands of Giant Kelp, Macrocystis integrifolia, on which it grazes. The

Shell of the Week: The Vespucci Dwarf Turrid

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.

“Eastern Seaboard Mollusks” in Social Media

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!

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

Shell of the Week: The Steger Daphnella

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.

Happy Radula-ween!!

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

Shell of the Week: The Waxy Mangelia

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.

Shell of the Week: The Diomedes Mangelia

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

Shell of the Week: The Star Mangelia

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