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

Jul 22, 2016

The Ravenel Scallop

The Ravenel Scallop, Euvola raveneli (Dall, 1898) is one of the most elusive among the local Scallop species. It is certainly the rarest of all shallow-water Scallop species occurring in Southwest Florida (excluding the Lions Paw, Nodipecten nodosus (Linnaeus, 1758), which lives in slightly deeper water). The Ravenel Scallop can be readily distinguished from the similar and relatively more common Ziczac Scallop, Euvola ziczac (Linnaeus, 1758), by the "split" or "double" radia

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