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.

One Nerite, or Two?

The introduction of DNA sequencing as a taxonomic tool in the 1980s started a revolution that keeps transforming the classification of mollusks and opening the way for better species delimitations. Molecular systematics has shown time after time not only that what we believe to be separate species are just one and the same, but also that what may be perceived as a single species may actually be two or more! Take, instance, the article by Cristiane Barroso, from the Universidade Federal do Ceará

Shell of the Week: The Elliptical Sportella

Basterotia elliptica (Récluz, 1850) is one of the rarest species of bivalves in our area. The Museum collection only houses only one valve (half-shell) of the species! This nondescript “little white clam” grows to be around 10 mm (about 0.4 inches), and is very similar to its locally found, “sister” species, the Square Sportella (presented last week in this column.) The Elliptical Sportella, however, has a more elongate shell (not necessarily “elliptical’!) The slightly damaged valve illustrated

An Ancient “Paperclip”

It is hard to forget an animal whose common name evokes the shape of commonplace, mundane objects. Take for instance, hammerhead sharks, sea stars, stick bugs, skate rays, jackknife clams, saw fish, pear whelks, green bottle flies, and many others. The Paperclip “Squid” comes to mind as a great, simple name for a mollusk that really resembles that office device. The Paperclip “Squid,” Diplomoceras maximum, reached about 1.5 m (about 5 ft) in length, and was not a true squid, but a heteromorph am

Life Imitates Art?

In the photos below, the image at left shows the distinctive hinge teeth of the Southern Quahog, Mercenaria campechiensis (Gmelin, 1791), as well as the distinct “scars” that hint at areas of contact between the living clam’s muscles and its shell. And you may be wondering about the image on the right? Well, the story goes like this: A few years ago, after taking the photo of the hinge, it looked to me like two people facing each other. But I was left with a lingering feeling that I had seen tho

Shell of the Week: The Square Sportella

Basterotia quadrata (Hinds, 1843) grows to be around 14 mm (about 0.55 inches), and has a “squarish” shell with irregular and variable outline. The shell has a slightly granular (“pebbly”) sculpture, and its hinge is garnished internally with one cardinal tooth on each valve. A ridge is present near the posterior margin. The presence of the species on Sanibel is represented in the Shell Museum collection by loose valves found in 2015–2016 by Susan J. Hewitt on Turner Beach. #squaresportella #bas

An Empowering New Gift!

The Museum received a special donation for the acquisition of essential technical equipment. The new gift, from a dear friend of the Museum who opted to stay anonymous, will further the educational and research components of the organization’s mission. With the new funds, the Museum will be acquiring a high-definition underwater web camera to stream our Giant Pacific Octopus activities. The camera is specifically designed for cold, saltwater aquariums. The new “Octocam” will make it possible for

Shell of the Week: The Calico Clam

Megapitaria maculata (Linnaeus, 1758) is one of the most attractive local bivalves. Its shell may grow to almost 70 mm (about 2.8 inches). The glossy, translucent periostracum (outer shell layer) is superimposed on a pattern of very fine growth lines. The shells bear variations on a pattern of brown-and-tan checkerboard-like markings. The Calico Clam is a member of the super-speciose (with many species) family of Venus clams, the Veneridae, which includes at least 20 species in the area of Sanib

Alphabet Cone and the Seven Chitons!

Shell Museum friend and photographer Amy Tripp captured this great image of seven Eastern Beaded Chitons, Chaetopleura apiculata, "hitchhiking" on an Alphabet Cone snail, Conus spurius, on Kice Island, to the south of Marco Island, Florida. Chiton shells are divided into eight ( or very rarely seven) plates, or valves. They belong to a class of mollusks named Polyplacophora (from the Greek words for "many," "plates," and "bearers"). The plates are interlocked, and are surrounded by a fleshy tis

A Bivalved Snail?

When discussing mollusks with members of our staff, volunteers, and visitors, I always caution them that sweeping generalizations about our beloved animals almost never work. We should be prudent and avoid saying “all marine snails have gills,” or “clams always make their homes on sand,” and so on. Exceptions abound! A standard example includes the members of the gastropod family Juliidae, minute marine snails that have their shells consisting of two separate hinged parts, or valves, just like a

Beyond Shells: The Giant Rock Scallop

The Giant Rock Scallop, Crassadoma gigantea, is another nice highlight from the cold-water touch pool at the Museum. The fact that many species of scallops can swim, relying on bursts of jet-propelled water, always comes up when we talk about the cool things mollusks do for a living. But Giant Rock Scallops are large scallops that don’t swim, spending instead their adult lives attached to hard surfaces such as rocks. Like their swimming relatives, Giant Rock Scallops have a large number of small