Curator's Corner

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

Oct 28, 2016

The Coffee Melampus

The Coffee Melampus, Melampus coffea (Linnaeus, 1758), is a snail that can be found living in the mangrove forests of SW Florida, usually above the high tide line. Their shell is relatively thick, and the aperture has small serrations internally. In addition to the Coffee Melampus, the family Elobiidae includes a few other, similar species in our local area. Melampus and their kin are land snails (pulmonates), breathing air through a specialized tissue called a lung, that ha

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