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.

Museum Collections and Future Pandemics

A recent article in the online World Economic Forum highlights the importance of natural history collections for the analyses, prediction, and preparation for future pandemics. Population growth and the easy nature of international and domestic travel facilitate the outbreaks and spread of viral diseases, which in many cases originate from micro-organisms associated with wildlife. Collections preserve specimens of animals and other organisms, and those specimens ultimately reflect the diversity

Shell of the Week: The Atlantic Rangia

Measuring up to 50 mm (about 2 inches), Rangia cuneata (G.B. Sowerby I, 1832) (also known as Gulf Wedge Clam) is a brackish water bivalve native to the Gulf of Mexico. The shell is heavy, whitish, and normally covered with a thick brown periostracum. As with most species of the family Mactridae, the ligament is internal. Capable of withstanding very low water salinities, the species has invaded estuaries of the East Coast of the US and northern Europe. The species is found locally in the Caloosa

Shell of the Week: The Santo Domingo Carditid

Glans domingensis (d’Orbigny, 1853) is a small clam that grows to about 6 mm (0.24 inch). The shell is squarish, with sharp, beaded radial ribs, and the shell margin is strongly notched, crenulated. The shell color is white with small, faint pink or orange spots. Do not confuse this species with the juveniles of its more common relative, the Broad-ribbed Carditid, Cardites floridanus. These latter are narrower, with the shell “beak” displaced to one of the sides. (In the figure, the inside of th

Shell of the Week: The Spiny Piddock

Jouannetia quillingi Turner, 1955 is a member of the family Pholadidae, a group that also includes the Angel Wing (Cyrtopleura costata), and piddock species of the genus Martesia. The shell measures up to 18 mm (3/4 inch), and the left and right valves differ from each other in this species, with concentric ribs stronger on the right valve. This species is rare in shallow water, preferring to bore into rocky or coral-related offshore bottoms. The presence of special mantle glands in this species

Endangered Cuban Painted Snails

A recent feature in National Geographic online discusses the threats and pressures affecting the six species of Cuban land snail of the genus Polymita, commonly known as “painted snails." These species are arboreal (trees dwellers), and endemic (living only in that area) to Cuba. Many of their local populations were destroyed, initially by deforestation for agricultural uses, and are endangered by predation by invasive species and climate change. And their intrinsic beauty makes them serious can

Strawberry Conchs Blossom at Museum!

Recently, Aquarium Curator Rebecca Mensch secured a few new animals for the Museum’s living gallery. One of them immediately caught my fancy: Early this week, I spent some quality time with a couple of Strawberry Conchs, Conomurex luhuanus (Linnaeus, 1758), observing some of their behavior and taking photos. They are really cool and super active, what a great choice for the aquarium! The Strawberry Conch resembles its distant cousins, the Florida Fighting Conch, but with a short-spired, cone-lik

Is Shell Size Relative?

To the way a picture is taken, yes, it can be. Smart phone cameras, combined with a multitude of social media and online platforms, turned photography into a global phenomenon. Anyone can shoot and post, with the potential for hundreds or thousands of viewers to any single image, at any time. The selfie is probably the most popular kind of phone photography, for obvious reasons. Yet, one of the problems with selfies is unwanted distortion: the selfie-person gets a big nose, jutting chin, small e

Shell of the Week: The Lunate Crassinella

Giving continuity to our discussions on small local bivalves, I want to introduce one of the most distinctive species in that category: Crassinella lunulata (Conrad, 1834). Measuring at most 8 mm (about 0.32 inch), the Lunate Crassinella has an almost-triangular, flattish shell marked by 15–17 very distinctive, coarse, commarginal (“concentric”) ridges. The shell color shows variations of brownish to reddish-brown spots and rays, and the shell interior is usually brown. #crassinellalunulata #cra

Shell of the Week: The Painted Egg Cockle

Laevicardium pictum (Ravenel, 1861) is one out of three species of smooth-shelled cockles found in our local beaches. The species name (pictum, painted) alludes to the typical, very variable pattern of streaks and zigzag markings present on the shell. The Painted Egg Cockle is not as commonly found as other cockle species, probably because it lives in deeper water. The species is found most abundantly after episodes of costal re-nourishment, when sand, mollusks, and other animals from offshore a

Shell of the Week: The Atlantic Jewel Box

Pseudochama cristella (Lamarck, 1819) is a bivalve that lives permanently attached to hard surfaces such as other shells, coral rock, and even lost boat lines. The species may grow to 75 mm (about 3 inches), but is usually much smaller locally. The shell sculpture is variable, usually variations around the theme of 20–30 scaly radial ribs. The Atlantic Jewel Box is also known as the Left-handed Jewel Box; members of the jewel-box genus Chama are attached by their left valve, but species of Pseud