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 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,

A Unique Lettered Olive

Shellers are always looking for that rare or unusual shell. But a unique, one-of-a-kind Lettered Olive? That’s exactly what Tom and Deb Longtin of Waukesah, Winconsin, found while shelling at Tarpon Bay Beach at low tide. This Lettered Olive (Oliva sayana), which the Longtins donated to the Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum, is technically defective (having a very long spire), most likely because of a “programming” (genetic) error. The resulting effect, however, is very pleasing to the eye. [Th