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 Atlantic Yellow Cowrie

Most species treated in this column are local. Once in a while, I introduce a shell from elsewhere that, for some remarkable reason, deserves some attention. The Atlantic Yellow Cowrie, Erosaria acicularis (Gmelin, 1791), is a relatively common Cowrie inhabiting shallow coral reef areas in the tropical western Atlantic. The species is not found, however, on the coast of Southwest Florida. As it happens with most species from the Cowrie family (Cypraeidae), the Atlantic Yellow Cowrie bears plankt

The Precious Cardiomya

The Precious Cardiomya, Cardiomya gemma AE Verrill and Bush, 1898, is a locally found bivalve that rarely exceeds 1/4 inch in size. Its delicate shell is characterized by 4-5 radial, well-separated ridges on the central part of the shell, and the rostrum that protrudes from its posterior end (arrow in figure). The rostrum houses the bivalve's raptorial incurrent siphon, the main structure involved in the capture of prey by this carnivorous mollusk. Cardiomyas and related species feed on small cr

The Stubby Solecurtus

The Stubby Solecurtus, Solecurtus sanctaemarthae, d'Orbigny, 1853, is a species recently recorded from Captiva Island. A single valve of the species was collected in the water at low tide on the gulf side of mid-Captiva in early May by Kimberly Nealon. The species belongs to a group of bivalves with elongate shells that include two local species, the Purplish and the Stout Tagelus. The Stubby Tagelus is a burrower that has a large body that can never be completely withdrawn inside the shell. The

The Southern Surf Clam

The Southern Surf Clam, Spisula raveneli (Conrad, 1832), is the closest relative of the Northern Surf Clam, a species widely used in clambakes and other specialties of the New England culinary. Surf Clams are also related to the Smooth and Channeled Duck Clams, two species previously featured in this weekly column. The Southern Surf Clam may grow to be 5.5 inches in size. Its young (see figure) are often found along the beaches of Southwest Florida, and sometimes may be confused by the casual co

The Sharp-rib Drill

The Sharp-rib Drill, Eupleura sulcidentata Dall, 1890, was first featured in this column in March 2015. Its shell has a "flattened" appearance, thanks to the blade-like varices ("ribs") that occur alternately every 180 degrees (every half-whorl). Sharp-rib Drills use their ribbon of teeth, known as radula, to etch tiny holes into the shells of other mollusks. Part of the feeding process, the holes allow the drill to inject paralyzing compounds into the prey's tissues. As many marine snails do, S

The Matthews Wentletrap

Matthews Wentletrap, Epitonium matthewsae Clench and Turner, 1952, was named in 1952 by Museum of Comparative Zoology's (Harvard University) curators Drs. William Clench and Ruth Turner to honor Sanibel's one and only Charlotta Matthews, a member of that family of Sanibel pioneers and founders of the Island Inn. The Matthews Wentletrap was first named as a subspecies of Epitonium multistriatum (say, 1826), and later shown to be a separate entity from that western Atlantic species. The Matthews

The Tampa Bay Top Snail

One most remarkable shallow-water species from Southwest Florida is the Tampa Bay Top Snail, Calliostoma tampaense (Conrad, 1846). Recently, I photographed one of our resident top snails, collected by Amy Tripp in Collier County. (Under a Florida State Special Activities License, museum staff and associates normally collect a limited supply of live mollusks for our live tanks, which are superbly maintained by staff marine biologist Rebecca Mensch.) The image of the live animal on the right shows

The Button Snail

The Button Snail, Modulus modulus (Linnaeus, 1758) is another local species that shows great variation in shell shape: some are stocky, others are taller, some light-gray in color, others mottled with brown flecks, some with tiny modules on the shell surface, others with smooth shell. Button Snails belong to the gastropod family Modulidae, and feed on microalgae and seaweed detritus. The shell aperture typically shows a strong chink, or notch, which forms a tooth-like lamellae, indicated by an a

The Calico Scallop

This is another long overdue tribute to a lovely local bivalve: the Calico Scallop, Argopecten gibbus (Linnaeus, 1758). Because of the range of colors and diverse patterns on their shells, Calico Scallops are one of the species that catch immediate and irrevocable attention of casual or first-time collectors walking the beaches of Southwest Florida.Calico Scallops are members of the Scallop family Pectinidae. Many Scallops are capable of short (and fast) bursts of swim, which they perform by squ

The Mauve-mouth Drill

The Mauve-mouth Drill, Calotrophon ostrearum (Conrad, 1846), is one of the local species of drills in the family Muricidae of gastropod mollusks. Reaching about an inch in length, Mauve-mouth Drills prey on small mollusks, showing a preference for bivalves such as the Coquina shown in the picture on the right. The Mauve-mouth Drill must not be confused with its "cousin," the Gulf Oyster Drill. This latter, also a member of the Muricidae family, has a slightly smaller shell, with shorter anterior