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.

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

Shell of the Week: The Tellin Semele

Despite its name, the Tellin Semele is not a tellin, but is instead a semelid, like the clam presented last week, the Concentric Ervilia. Cumingia tellinoides (Conrad, 1831) reaches 15 mm (about 0.6 inch.) The prevailing color in this species is a dirty-white, but some shells may be slightly translucent. The shell sculpture consists of fine but well-defined growth lines, and the hinge consists basically of elongate lateral teeth and an internal ligament that rests inside a spoon-shaped chondroph

Shell of the Week: The Concentric Ervilia

Measuring 5.5 mm (0.22 inch) at most, Ervilia concentrica (Holmes, 1860) is one of the smallest bivalves found on our barrier islands beaches. The species belongs in the same family (Semelidae) as its more famous (and larger) cousins, the Purplish Semele and the Atlantic Semele. The shell is elongate, with the umbo (or beak) situated almost centrally, and its sculpture consists of very fine commarginal (concentric) ridges. The prevailing color in this species is a light pink, but whitish varieta

Social Distancing, Improved Accessibility

The onset of Covid-19 coincided with the release of a new web portal (a “search page”) for the National Shell Museum collection catalog and associated records. Although many states and local governments are re-opening and relaxing limitations on public activities, it is always prudent to limit outings and communal pursuits. So, why not spend some quality time looking at some of our online collection data, including photographs? At this point, about 1,900 collection lots include image attachments

A Challenging, Striking Microgastropod!

Micromollusks* present a challenge to our efforts to visually document collection specimens. Take, for instance, the shell of Orbitestella aequicostata Raines, 2002 in the image below. That adult shell measures 0.66 mm (about 0.03 inch), and is a paratype, one of the individuals examined and referenced by Bret Raines in his original description of the species from Easter Island. (The normally whitish shell appears iridescent, as it had earlier been coated with metal for scanning electron microsc

Shell of the Week: The Disk Dosinia

Last week, we examined the Elegant Dosinia, Dosinia concentrica. Today I want to introduce its closest relative, Dosinia discus (Reeve, 1850). The two species have shells that are very similar in size (about 2.75–3 inches), in their circular shape, and white color, but the Disk Dosinia differs from its “sister species,” above all, by having twice as many commarginal (“concentric”) ridges, about 16–20 per centimeter (40–48 per inch). #veneridae #venusclam #commarginal #diskdosinia #dosiniadiscus