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.

The Sparse Dove Snail?

This locally occurring species looks very similar to and could represent the Sparse Dove Snail, Costoanachis sparsa (Reeve, 1859). Shells from Southwest Florida differ ever so slightly from other varietals of this latter species, though, by details of the sculpture, including the deeply etched spiral lines below the suture (area separating two consecutive whorls). You’ll find that we cite the species in the Museum’s identification guide as “Costoanachis aff. sparsa”. The abbreviation “aff.” sta

Shell of the Week: The Fringed Vitrinella

At about 3.5 mm (0.14 inch) in diameter, Episcynia inornata (d’Orbigny, 1842) is one of the “medium-sized” members of the microgastropod family Tornidae (some species of the family measure about 1 mm in diameter only!) Its shell has a flattened trochoid (“top shell-like”) shape, is translucent, probably transparent in the living snail, very thin and fragile, with about 5 whorls. Typically, the shell periphery is garnished with tiny teeth-like projections, with thin wisps of brownish periostracum

The Exquisite Lamellarias

Shell-less mollusks and those with a reduced or “hidden” shell typically evolved strategies that allow them to stay protected from predators in the absence of that defensive cover. Lamellarias (family Velutinidae) are small (between 5 and 20 mm) marine snails that completely envelop their shells with the mantle. Their shells (see below) are thin, fragile, and hidden, and have obviously lost their protective function. Different species in the genus Lamellaria evolved to resemble distinct marine

Shell of the Week: The Longspine Star Snail

Lithopoma phoebium (Röding, 1798) measures up to 70 mm, and has a turbinate shell that is usually wider than taller, with about 12–17 triangular spines on the shell periphery. These spines may be worn or reduced in size in some specimens. The shell base is flat, with wavy threads crossed by a few raised spiral cords. The color is variable, with light-brown and greenish hues present, and a whitish base. Although the species is common in other parts of the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean region, it i

Forbes Highlights the Museum

The Museum was recently featured in the web version of Forbes magazine. The brief article includes a brief interview with Science Director & Curator Dr. José H. Leal with rationale for the Museum and the importance of mollusks. Read the article here.

A Rare Florida Lamellaria

When looking in the Museum for a shell to illustrate the entry above, I found a slightly damaged White Ball Lamellaria, Lamellaria leucosphaera Schwengel, 1942 (photo). The species was described in 1942 by Jeanne E. Schwengel, in the journal The Nautilus (currently published by the Museum). Curiously enough, the holotype, or specimen observed and illustrated by Schwengel, deposited at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadephia, was collected at the bay end of Redfish Pass, the deep pass bet

Shell of the Week: The West Indian Alvania

Alvania auberiana (d’Orbigny, 1842) is one of the smallest mollusks found along the coast of Southwest Florida. Reaching about 1.5 mm (0.06 inch) in size at most, its shell is literally the size of a medium-sized grain of sand. A powerful hand lens or, better yet, a small microscope, reveals a sculpture of strong (relatively speaking), intercepting spiral cords and axial ridges, which render a crisscrossed aspect to the shell. The free-swimming larvae of this species leave the egg mass about sev

A Shelly Nest

In 1982, I spent 34 days in Atol das Rocas, Brazil, amassing data for what later became part of my Ph.D. dissertation on gastropod mollusks from Brazilian oceanic islands. The 89-acres atoll is inhabited by large populations of seabirds, including the Sooty Tern (Sterna fuscata). The photo shows one of their nests. Typically, in the absence of twigs, branches, and leaves, Sooty Terns use bivalve shells (mostly the Cross-barred Venus, Chione cancellata) and small coral fragments to "line" their

Blanket Octopus, Black Water, and Linda Iannello

These photos of a rare open-water Blanket Octopus, Tremoctopus violaceus, were taken by Linda Iannello off Palm Beach County, Florida. In the open ocean, lots of open-water, or pelagic, animals move up from deeper water to feed at night. The Blanket Octopus is one such species. Finding and photographing a living one, in this case a five-foot female, is no small feat. Consider this: a SCUBA diver who likes to take photos of marine animals, going out three to five miles off the coast of East Flo

Conchologists of America 2019 Convention

The 2019 COA Convention is quickly approaching. The 2019 convention celebrates the 100 Anniversary of the Museum’s Founding Director and well-known malacologist and author Robert Tucker Abbott (photo). Tucker, who was instrumental in the creation of the Museum and for imparting a professional spin to the institution from the onset, passed away just a couple of weeks before our Grand Opening on November 18, 1995. Join us in June on Captiva for a week of great programs and field trips. Early bird