Shell of the Week: The Bubble Melampus

Melampus bullaoides is a close relative of the more common and local Coffee Melampus (Melampus coffea). Like the Coffee Melampus, the 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 and shorter aperture (shell “opening”). This imparts a “bullet shape” to the shell. The shell color is mahogany-brown, with fuzzy white bands near the shell suture (line where two whorls meet). The shell in the photo was collected in February 1957 on the bay side of Sanibel Island, by William C. Brumbach, “in muck at water line”.

Melampus bullaoides. From Sanibel Island. Illustration by James F. Kelly for the Museum's Digital Imaging Project.

#melampusbullaoides #bubblemelampus #ellobiidae #sanibel #mangroves