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 8, 2016

The Catesby Risso

The Catesby Risso, Schwartziella catesbyana (d’Orbigny, 1842), is one of the relatively common micromollusks found in Southwest Florida and other areas of the Western Atlantic. The elegant little shell measures about 4 mm (0.16 inch); the shell of a living snail is transparent , but becomes opaque after the animal dies. Fresh dead shells are often translucent. Micromollusk shells may be collected using a method that involves collection of shell-rich sand, which, after drying

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The Catesby Risso