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.

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

Cute Newborn Cuttles!

The Museum is home to five newborn Stumpy Cuttles! The infant Sepia bandensis (below) were born on the first week of June 2020, hatching from eggs laid by one of our resident cuttles. They currently measure around 7 mm (about 0.3 inch); the species, which may reach 70 mm (2.8 inches), and is native to the Philippines, Indonesia, and neighboring areas. Our little cuttles look pretty much like their parents, with light-brown to greenish-yellow color, mantles resembling “coats of spines,” and fins

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

What Are Ridges, Varices, Spines?

Some of the most attractive shells of marine snails are distinguished by remarkable sculptures such as ridges, varices, and spines. Take, for instance, the Venus Comb Murex, with its rows of needle-like spines; the sturdy, keel-like varices of an Angular Triton; or the blade-like varices of a Maple Leaf Triton. These sculptures are built by the snail at recurring intervals. Their positions on the shell, outline, and structure define general shell shapes that may, among other advantages to the sn

Shell of the Week: The Atlantic Abra

The Atlantic Abra, Abra aequalis (Say, 1822), is yet another little (7 mm, or about 0.3 inch) bivalve that could be included in the group that amateur and professional malacologists affectively call “little white clams”, or “LWCs.” These are several species of small, whitish bivalves that could be easily confused with one another, even by seasoned shell enthusiasts! The Atlantic Abra has a shell surface that is almost smooth, bearing only a very fine sculpture on the anterior margin of the right

snails on a leaf

A Critically Endangered Snail

Achatinella mustelina, is a rare species of Hawaiian tree snail currently classified as “critically endangered” in the Red List published...

The Enigma of Hidden Colors

Colors in animals are almost always linked to visual behaviors and species interactions. Bright colors and patterns on mollusks may help, for instance, attract a mate, warn a predatory fish of a foul-tasting or poisonous sea slug, or camouflage a snail against its habitat. We expect that most colors “serve a purpose” based on another animal, “friend or foe,” being able to see those colors. But what if pigments are present inside a clam shell, in an area that is never seen by another animal? Take