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 Miraculous Pedipes

A treat to those looking for microshells, the Miraculous Pedipes, Pedipes mirabilis (Megerle von Mühlfeld, 1816), is another close relative of the local Coffee Melampus (and of other local representatives of the family Ellobiidae recently covered in this column). The Miraculous Pedipes is a small species, never reaching beyond 5 mm in size (about 1/5 inch). Examination under a magnifying glass reveals a globose, light-brown or ochre-colored shell, with a delicate sculpture of spiral lines. The a

The White Melampus

The White Melampus, Ellobium dominicense (Férussac, 1821), is another close relatively of the local Coffee and Bubble Melampus (covered in the most recent “Shell of the Week” column). All Melampus belong to the family Ellobiidae, but the 3/4 –inch White Melampus is the only local species that has a light-colored shell. The White Melampus shell is light, thinner-walled, with faint growth lines. The species inhabits nearby estuarine areas, but its shells may sometimes be found on the Gulf beaches.

The Bubble Melampus

The Bubble Melampus, Melampus bullaoides (Montagu, 1808), is a close relative of the more commonly found, local Coffee Melampus (covered in last week’s column). Similarly to the Coffee Melampus, the half-inch long Bubble Melampus lives in mangrove areas, where it thrives well above the tide lines. The shell shape of the Bubble Melampus is strikingly different, however; this species has a relatively longer and pointed spire (section of the shell where the whorls, or coils, are concentrated) and s

The Coffee Melampus

The Coffee Melampus, Melampus coffea (Linnaeus, 1758), is a snail that can be found living in the mangrove forests of SW Florida, usually above the high tide line. Their shell is relatively thick, and the aperture has small serrations internally. In addition to the Coffee Melampus, the family Elobiidae includes a few other, similar species in our local area. Melampus and their kin are land snails (pulmonates), breathing air through a specialized tissue called a lung, that has no relation to the

The Garden Zachrysia

The Garden Zachrysia, Zachrysia provisoria (L. Pffeifer, 1858), is a species of land snail commonly found on Sanibel, Captiva, and many other parts of Florida. The species is originally native to Cuba, and is an invasive to Florida, the Bahamas, and several Caribbean islands. Its shell is globose, measuring a tad more than an inch (reaching 30 mm), and is white and translucent, under a brownish “skin-like” periostracum. The aperture lip is white as the rest of the shell, but not covered by the p

The Lined Tree Snail

Continuing with the discussion of some of the islands’ land snails (pulmonate gastropods), I want to introduce the quaint Lined Tree Snail, Drymaeus multilineatus (Say, 1825). The genus Drymaeus includes medium-sized to small tree snails that feed on the layers of algae, moss, and lichenes growing on the bark of trees and small bushes. The inch-long lined tree snail differs from its close relatives by the very distinctive spiral band of dark brown color along the shell suture (the line of juncti

The Florida Flatcoil

For the first time since I started writing this column in December 2013, I will introduce a local land snail as our “Shell of the Week”. Sanibel and Captiva islands are homes to rich assemblages of pulmonate (air-breathing) gastropods (snails). One of the most ubiquitous is the Florida Flatcoil, Polygyra septemvolva Say, 1818, as species that may reach about ½-inch, but that locally may be found in the 3/8-inch diameter range. As the vernacular name implies, the Florida Flatcoil has a flat, disc

The Leafy Jewel Box

The Leafy Jewel Box, Chama macerophylla Gmelin, 1791, is probably the most commonly found Jewel Box (family Chamidae) along the beaches of Sanibel and Captiva. Unlike its close relative, the free-living (and also locally found) Spiny Jewel Box (Arcinella cornuta), the Leafy Jewel Box attaches itself to hard structures such as shells, pieces of coral rock, or man-made objects such as shipwrecks and concrete bridge pilings. The attached, or lower, shell valve is deeper than the upper valve, and th

The Cut-ribbed Ark

Capable of growing beyond 4 inches, the Cut-ribbed Ark, Anadara secticostata (Reeve, 1844), is the largest among the seven species of shallow-water Ark Clams (families Arcidae and Noetiidae) found on Sanibel and Captiva. The large, yet elegant, shell of the Cut-ribbed Ark has the sculpture of curved radial ribs that is typical of other members of the family. Among other features, a faint groove that splits each rib longitudinally (hence the “cut-ribbed” qualifier in the common name) separates th

The Smooth Atlantic Tegula

Although the Smooth Atlantic Tegula, Tegula fasciata (Born, 1778), may be commonly found in other parts of Florida and of the western Atlantic Ocean, it is rarely found on Sanibel. Its shell may be almost an inch long, with a depressed ("flattened") spire, smooth, and about six whorls (shell “turns”) in fully grown specimens. The shell base is smooth, with a deep umbilicus (the “hole” under the shell). The color in this species is extremely variable, with many combinations of mottled stripes, sp