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

Sep 11, 2020

Metamorphosis in a Sea Snail

In a way that is analogous to what happens when a caterpillar becomes a butterfly, the change in lifestyle from a pelagic (open-water dweller) larva to a bottom-living adult is also known as metamorphosis. The illustration presents three shell-growth stages of an Atlantic Gray Cowrie, Luria cinerea (Gmelin, 1791). From left: the planktonic (free-living) larval shell; juvenile shell briefly after settlement to the bottom-living stage; and adult shell. They are all so different

José H. Leal

Feb 6, 2015

The Atlantic Gray Cowrie

The Atlantic Gray Cowrie, Luria cinerea (Gmelin, 1791), is a relatively common species of Cowrie inhabiting shallow coral reef areas in the tropical western Atlantic. The species is not found, however, on the coast of Southwest Florida. As it happens with most species from the Cowrie family (Cypraeidae), the Atlantic Gray Cowrie bears planktonic larvae (their babies drift in the sea), which will grow until the moment of metamorphosis to their adult, bottom-living lives. The

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Curator's Blog