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.

Shell of the Week: The Banded Transennella

José H. Leal

Oct 8, 2021

Shell of the Week: The Banded Transennella

Transennella stimpsoni Dall, 1902 reaches 14 mm in length. The rounded-trigonal shell is smooth except for very low commarginal (“concentric”) ridges. The shell color is usually white, often with brown or violet chevron-like markings, internally infused with purple. The outer shell layer, or periostracum, is varnish-like, yellowish. Compare with the locally occurring Transennella conradina, which is more pointed posteriorly and lacks the purple color. Also known as Stimpson's

José H. Leal

Apr 20, 2018

The Northern Quahog

The Northern Quahog, Mercenaria mercenaria (Linnaeus, 1758), measures up to 120 mm (about five inches). Its shell is trigonal to rounded, with commarginal ("concentric") ridges on the outer surface. It differs from its closest relative (and local native species), the Southern Quahog, Mercenaria campechiensis, by smaller maximum size, lack of commarginal ridges on central part of the external shell surface, and, most of all, by the violet-color tinges on the internal surface o

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