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 25, 2020

Wentletrap Triumvirate

Like wentletraps? Here are from left: Angulate, Humphrey, and Tollin wentletraps (from left, Epitonium angulatum, E. humphreysii, and E. tollini), .three species living along the coast of Southwest Florida. Observe how the Humphrey Wentletrap has a much darker operculum (the “trapdoor”) when compared to the two other species! And Tollin Wentletrap is the smallest and daintiest among the three species, usually reaching only about 5 mm (or 0.2 inch; the photos are not to scale)

José H. Leal

Dec 1, 2017

The Tollin Wentletrap

Tollin Wentletrap, Epitonium tollini Bartsch, 1938, is one of the less common among the eight recognized species of local Wentletraps. Measuring a tad more than 0.5 inch in size, it differs from the more common Angulate and Humphrey Wentletraps by its slender shape, with a more acute spire angle (the angle formed by the “sides” of the shell.) The costae (“blades”) that comprise the bulk of the shell sculpture line up nicely along successive shell whorls. The operculum (“trapd

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Curator's Blog