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

Nov 6, 2015

The Atlantic Paper Mussel

A member of the Mussel family Mytilidae, the Atlantic Paper Mussel, Arcuatula papyria (Conrad, 1846), is an elusive local species that happens more abundant in nature than its relative obscurity and scarcity in local collections would lead us to believe. One of the reasons for its status as a poorly known species is that it lives burrowing in the muddy bottoms of local bays and protected back waters, in areas that are difficult to reach and almost impossible to walk on due to

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