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 Eastern Beaded Chiton

Last week, I introduced the Striate Glass-Hair Chiton, mentioning that that species was the less common of two local shallow-water species of Chitons. Today, I present the other species, the more commonly found Eastern Beaded Chiton, Chaetopleura apiculata (Say, 1838). Chitons belong to a class of mollusks named the Polyplacophora (Greek for "bearers of many plates"). The Chiton shell is divided into eight (rarely seven) plates, or valves. The valves are interlocked, and are surrounded by a tiss

The Striate Glass-hair Chiton

Chitons belong to a class of mollusks named the Polyplacophora (Greek for "bearers of many plates"). The Chiton shell is divided into eight (rarely seven) plates, or valves. The valves are interlocked, and are surrounded by a tissue called the girdle. The Striate Glass-hair Chiton, Acanthochitona pygmaea (Pilsbry, 1893), is one of the two species of Chitons found locally in shallow-water. It may reach a tad more than 0.5 inch in size. The triangular central area of the valves shows longitudinal

The Lightning Pitar

For the past couple of weeks, I have been introducing different species of the family Veneridae, the Venus Clams. The Lightning Pitar, Pitar fulminatus (Menke, 1828), is one of the less common species of that family, only occasionally found on the beaches of Southwest Florida. The shell in this species has a typical "clam shape," and measures up to about 20 mm (about 3/4 inch). It displays a characteristic color pattern of a white background with light-brown tent-like markings that, when grouped

The Florida Cross-barred Venus

The Florida Cross-barred Venus, Chione elevata (Say, 1822), another member of the Venus clams family Veneridae, is one of the most common shells on the beaches of Southwest Florida. It measures up to about 25 mm (one inch). The shell valves have a characteristic sculpture of well-separated concentric ridges that are intercepted throughout the valve surface by more densely packed radial ribs. (The term radial in this case indicates a direction from shell from beak to edge, like the spokes on a wh

The Lady-in-waiting Venus

The Lady-in-waiting Venus, Chionopsis intapurpurea (Conrad, 1849), a member of the Venus clams family Veneridae. It measures up to 38 mm (about 1.5 inches). The shell valves have a characteristic sculpture of numerous, concentric ridges that are serrated on the edge. This feature gives the species its common name, as the frilly ridges apparently resemble the trimming on gowns of personal attendants (ladies-in-waiting) to female royalty. Do not mistake shells of this species for the young of the

The Brown Baby Ear

The Brown Baby Ear, Sinum maculatum (Say, 1831), a member of the Moon-snail family Naticidae. It measures up to 1.2 inches and is similar in shell shape and size to its sister species, the White Baby Ear, Sinum perspectivum. Both species are present along the coast of Southwest Florida; both share the "open" shell with broad aperture, typical of the genus Sinum, and are not capable of fully withdrawing into their shells.The Brown Baby Ear, however, is less commonly found, has a "taller" shell (i

The Pearly Entodesma

The Pearly Entodesma, Entodesma brasiliense (Gould, 1850), a member of the family Lyonsiidae, is a local shell you won't find on the local beaches. Instead, the species inhabits calm back-bay areas with very fine mud and silt bottoms, such as Roosevelt Channel between Captiva and Buck Key. The shell reaches an inch in length, is extremely thin and fragile, irregularly shaped, translucent, but with a brown periostracum (organic outer shell layer). It lives attached to other shells or small pebble

Carly Hulse headshot

The Antillean Sphenia

The Antillean Sphenia, Sphenia fragilis (H. Adams & A. Adams, 1854) is a locally uncommon species of bivalve that reaches a little less than a half-inch in size. The shell is roughly rectangular, very thin and brittle, and chalky-white, with a very thin, yellowish-brown periostracus (the organic outer shell layers). In some cases, the shell extends posteriorly to form an elongate siphonal tube that may be as long as the rest of the shell; this tube is reinforced by a thicker periostracum. Spheni

The Yellow Egg Cockle

The Yellow Egg Cockle, Laevicardium mortoni (Conrad, 1830) is the last of eight locally found species of the bivalve family Cardiidae (Cockles) covered in this column. The Yellow Egg Cockle has a smooth shell, roughly circular in shape, with a strong “ridge” on its posterior end. It measures up to an inch in size, and usually displays a color pattern with typical purple-brown zigzag or “serrated” lines set on a cream background. The internal surface of the shell is cream or yellow and shows the

The Yellow Prickly Cockle

The Yellow Prickly Cockle, Dallocardia muricata (Linnaeus, 1758) is one of eight locally found species of the bivalve family Cardiidae. Its shells are roughly circular, measure up to 1.5–2 inches in length, and bear a number of radial ribs, each rib displaying a large number of small scales. This feature is shared with another, closely related local species, the Florida Prickly Cockle. This latter bivalve, however, has a more elongate shell, with colors ranging from white to pinkish-purple, whil