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 15, 2019

Super-Hero Among Mollusks

What can I say that hasn’t already been said about Lightfoot, 1786, the Venus Comb Murex? If you like shells and mollusks, you probably know it as one of the most elegant and celebrated species in the history of shell collecting. Venus Comb Murexes are not very rare where they live: a large area that includes the Indo-West Pacific oceans, from East Africa to eastern Melanesia. References to the species abound in the literature and on the web. They have a striking appearance,

José H. Leal

Nov 15, 2019

A Coat of Sharp Spines

A species that need no introduction, Venus Comb Murex are predators, eating other mollusks (see previous blog entry on the species.) In turn, they can be food for large bottom-feeding fish such as stingrays and some sharks. Their sharp, long spines, however, may ward off those large predators. They also surround the snail's head and foot when the animal is moving or active, forming a "cage" around the snail that may help prevent other predators, such as small crabs, from appr

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Curator's Blog