Curator's Blog

Museum, research, and collection updates from Dr. José H. Leal, plus Shell of the Week, which highlights a different species every Friday. Most Shells of the Week—but not all—are found in Southwest Florida.

Dr. José H. Leal serves as the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum’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. Under his leadership, the Museum was awarded its first accreditation from the American Alliance of Museums in 2010.

José H. Leal

Dec 21, 2018

A Young Nutmeg

On July 25, 2014, I presented the Common Nutmeg, Cancellaria reticulata (Linnaeus, 1767), including a photo of the live snail. Today, I want to show a young, or juvenile, shell of that species. After settling to the bottom (in the case of mollusks with a planktonic, free-living larva) or hatching from an egg capsule (when there is no planktonic larval stage), young marine snails generally resemble adults of their species, though sometimes with different proportions, colors, o

José H. Leal

Jan 2, 2015

The Fine-cut Nutmeg

The Fine-cut Nutmeg, Trigonostoma tenerum (Philippi, 1848), is a close relative of the local Nutmeg (Cancellaria reticulata (Linnaeus, 1767), but, unlike this latter, is a very rare shell on local beaches, living in deeper water in the Gulf of Mexico. The Fine-cut Nutmeg is also represented in the Florida fossil record. The shell in this image was found by former Shell Museum volunteer Lois Dunnan on Sanibel in December 2003, and a second Fine-cut Nutmeg was recently found on

José H. Leal

Jul 25, 2014

The Nutmeg

The elegant Nutmeg, Cancellaria reticulata (Linnaeus, 1767), is one of the most coveted local species, always representing one of the “best finds” at the end of a successful shelling day. The species name evokes the reticulated shell sculpture and, although the Nutmeg’s food and feeding mechanisms remain unknown, the arrangement of the alimentary system suggests a diet of soft tissue or fluid. The Nutmeg belongs to the family Cancellariidae, a group of marine snails known to

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Curator's Blog

A Young Nutmeg

The Fine-cut Nutmeg

The Nutmeg