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

Apr 17, 2020

The Wavy Clio and Its Friends

The Wavy Clio, Clio recurva (Children, 1823) is a pelagic (living in open-water) gastropod mollusk that inhabits all of the world’s oceans, at moderate depth. The adult shell measures about 20 mm (0.8 inch) and is triangular, resembling a partially flattened ice cream cone. The Wavy Clio belongs in the group of pteropod gastropods, which also includes the sea butterflies in the genus Limacina, the “canaries in the coal mine” of ocean acidification. The photo, taken by Smithso

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Curator's Corner