Curator's Corner

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

Feb 10, 2017

The Antillean Sphenia

The Antillean Sphenia, Sphenia fragilis (H. Adams & A. Adams, 1854) is a locally uncommon species of bivalve that reaches a little less than a half-inch in size. The shell is roughly rectangular, very thin and brittle, and chalky-white, with a very thin, yellowish-brown periostracus (the organic outer shell layers). In some cases, the shell extends posteriorly to form an elongate siphonal tube that may be as long as the rest of the shell; this tube is reinforced by a thicker

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