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

May 2, 2014

The Imperial Venus

Local beach renourishment episodes are known to contribute different or unusual species to the normal local diversity. As sand is pumped from offshore sites, deeper-water species are also “sucked” by the dredges and deposited on the newly formed beach. Last year’s beach enhancement on Captiva contributed several unusual species, including this Imperial Venus (Lirophora latilirata (Conrad, 1841)) valve found by Kimberly Nealon on Easter Sunday on the beach around the middle of

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Curator's Blog