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 Ribbed Cantharus

The Ribbed Cantharus, Hesperisternia multangula (Philippi, 1848), is a very variable species ranging in color from brown-marked to orange shells. The Ribbed Cantharus closely resembles two species of oyster drills, the Mauve-mouth Drill and the Gulf Oyster Drill, and for this reason is also known as the False Drill. The Ribbed Cantharus has eye-catching egg cases that resemble miniature stars. The Ribbed Cantharus, Hesperisternia multangula, and its egg cases. #Hesperisterniamultangula #Rib

The Striate Piddock

The inch-long Striate Piddock, Martesia striata (Linnaeus, 1758), uses its rough shell to bore through wood. Piddocks use the front end of their shells in a semi-circular motion to drill through the wood, creating a long, cylindrical hole that is occupied for life by the animal. To collect their shells, look for “Swiss cheese-like” driftwood with the characteristic boreholes indicative of their presence. The Striate Piddock, Martesia striata, and a piece of bored driftwood found on Sanibel. #

The Placid Periwinkle

The locally found Placid Periwinkle, Echinolittorina placida Reid, 2009, received its original scientific description and name only recently: Dr. David Reid of the Natural History Museum in London named the species in 2009, as part of his work on Tropical Periwinkles. Its shell is small (about 0.5 inch at most), pointed and solid. Found on the splash zone, on rocks or other hard substrates, in particular on seawalls, jetties, and causeway bridge pilings. The Placid Periwinkle is usually found in

The Cross-hatched Lucine

Clams are Cool! The elegant, inch-long Cross-hatched Lucine, Divalinga quadrisulcata (d'Orbigny, 1846), can be distinguished from other “little white clams” from our area by the distinctive, oblique etched lines on the shell surface. This well-preserved shell was found by Gail Carr on the Captiva side of Blind Pass during one of Pam Rambo's beach walks. It was probably deposited there as a result of the recent beach renourishment around the pass. The Cross-hatched Lucine, Divalinga quadrisulca

The Florida Cone

Florida Cones, Conus anabathrum Crosse, 1865, inhabit the sandy bottoms of the bays and barrier islands of Southwest Florida, where they feed on Marine Worms. Females perform “communal spawning,” getting together to lay egg cases over relatively large areas in shallow water. The live animals and egg cases in the photo on the right were photographed by Amy Tripp during a collective spawning event near Marco Island, FL. The Florida Cone and its communal spawning. Photo by Amy Tripp. #FloridaCone

The Arrow Dwarf Triton

The Arrow Dwarf Triton, Tritonoharpa lanceolata (Menke, 1828), is a very attractive, inch-long species found on the beaches of Sanibel and Captiva. It belongs in the family Cancellariidae, the same family as the more common, local Nutmeg. The Arrow Dwarf Triton occurs from North Carolina to Florida, the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean. A very similar species, Leal's Dwarf Triton, Tritonoharpa leali Harasewych, Petit, & Verhecken, 1992 (named after yours truly!), is found off the coast of tropical B

The Stiff Pen Shell

Atrina rigida (Lightfoot, 1786) is commonly found on the beaches of Sanibel and Captiva during the winter months. Storm winds and waves remove the live, dark-shelled bivalves from the bottom, depositing them in large quantities on the beaches. Pen shells anchor themselves to the sandy bottom using a bundle of silky fibers called a byssus. The large shells are buried with the narrower side of “triangle” oriented upward. The Stiff Pen Shell, with detail showing opening of the live animal on th

frond oysters

The Frond Oyster

Shells of Dendostrea frons (Linnaeus, 1758) can be found on the islands’ beaches usually attached to other objects. The shell outline is...

The Florida Worm Snail

The Florida Worm Snail (Vermicularia knorrii), is named after its similarity with worm tubes. This Snail starts making a regularly coiled shell until it is roughly 0.5 inch long. From then on, the shell becomes uncoiled, acquiring its typical, irregular shape. The irregular shells of Worm Snails help anchor them inside sponge colonies. A close relative also found on Sanibel and Captiva is Fargo Worm Snail (Vermicularia fargoi). #Vermiculariaknorrii #FloridaWormSnail #Vermiculariafargoi

The Micromollusks — Hidden Gems of Our Beaches

Casual beachcombers may walk the beaches for years and not noticethem, but “micros” (as they are known in the jargon of shell collectors) represent a big parcel of the local diversity of mollusks. Ranging in dimensions from half an inch to the size of a grain of sand, micros may be as handsome as their larger counterparts. To find micros, collectors take home coarse sand scooped by the water line, then search for them using a hand lens or small microscope. Found locally on Sanibel and Captiva,