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 28, 2018

The Chalky Lucine

The Chalky Lucine, Pegophysema schrammi (Crosse, 1876) is the largest of the local species of the diverse bivalve family Lucinidae. It commonly reaches 80 mm (about 3.1 inches) in length. Its shell is very inflated ("fat") and similar to the also local Buttercup Lucine (Anodontia alba), but it lacks the smooth, bright-yellow inner shell surface of this species. Instead, the inside surface of the Chalky Lucine’s valves is whitish and very rough, almost pebbly. Lucinids such as

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