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.

Shell of the Week: The Elegant Venus Clam

José H. Leal

Jan 21, 2022

Shell of the Week: The Elegant Venus Clam

The Elegant Venus Clam, Hysteroconcha dione (Linnaeus, 1758), is found in the Caribbean but may be found sporadically off the East Coast of Florida and the Florida Keys. The Elegant Venus Clam has its shell festooned with two rows of prominent spines on the posterior end of each valve. In many sand-burrowing bivalves such as the Elegant Venus Clam, the posterior end faces up, and sometimes sticks out of the sand. The positioning of spines along the posterior end of the shell

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

Dec 4, 2020

Shell of the Week: The Calico Clam

Megapitaria maculata (Linnaeus, 1758) is one of the most attractive local bivalves. Its shell may grow to almost 70 mm (about 2.8 inches). The glossy, translucent periostracum (outer shell layer) is superimposed on a pattern of very fine growth lines. The shells bear variations on a pattern of brown-and-tan checkerboard-like markings. The Calico Clam is a member of the super-speciose (with many species) family of Venus clams, the Veneridae, which includes at least 20 species

José H. Leal

May 29, 2020

Shell of the Week: The Disk Dosinia

Last week, we examined the Elegant Dosinia, Dosinia concentrica. Today I want to introduce its closest relative, Dosinia discus (Reeve, 1850). The two species have shells that are very similar in size (about 2.75–3 inches), in their circular shape, and white color, but the Disk Dosinia differs from its “sister species,” above all, by having twice as many commarginal (“concentric”) ridges, about 16–20 per centimeter (40–48 per inch). #veneridae #venusclam #commarginal #diskdos

José H. Leal

May 22, 2020

Shell of the Week: The Elegant Dosinia

Dosinia concentrica (Born, 1778) is yet another member of the diverse venus clam family, the Veneridae. Its shell reaches 70 mm (about 2.75 inches) and its characterized by a circular shape, glossy surface, and about 8–10 commarginal ridges per centimeter (or 20–24 per inch). The color is pure white. Do not confuse with the also locally present Disk Dosinia, Dosinia discus, which has much narrower ridges that are twice as numerous. #dosiniaconcentrica #elegantdosinia #venerid

José H. Leal

May 15, 2020

Shell of the Week: The Princess Venus

Periglypta listeri (J.E. Gray, 1838) is another member of the diverse venus clam family, the Veneridae (which includes the Southern Quahog, Cross-barred Venus, Sunray Venus, and many other local species). The Princess Venus grows to about 65 mm (about 2.5 inches), and differs from other local venus clams by the sharply truncated posterior margin (on left of images), which gives a quadrangular aspect to the shell. The sculpture is vaguely similar to that of the Lady-in-waiting

José H. Leal

Mar 29, 2019

Shell of the Week: The Waxy Gould Clam

Gouldia cerina (C.B. Adams, 1845), is a relatively small (10 mm, or about 0.4 inch), locally occurring venus clam (family Veneridae). Its shell is triangular, narrow when viewed from the beak (the “top” of the shell), and sculptured with fine radial lines and commarginal (“concentric”) growth ridges. The color is white, sometimes with a few brownish radial bands and brown flecks, internally suffused with purple tinges.This species lives in shallow, sandy areas. The Waxy Gould

José H. Leal

Apr 27, 2018

The Gray Pigmy Venus

With 20 species and counting, the Venus clams family (Veneridae) is the most diverse (most species) of all the local, shallow-water bivalve families. There are species of many different sizes, ranging from the Brown Gem Clam (Parastarte triquetra) at 3 mm (about 0.12 inch) to the large Southern Quahog (Mercenaria campechiensis), which can exceed 150 mm (about 6 inches). Our featured species, the Gray Pigmy Venus, Chioneryx grus (Holmes, 1858), is one of the smallest (as its v

José H. Leal

Aug 22, 2014

The Southern Quahog

The Southern Quahog, Mercenaria campechiensis (Gmelin, 1791), is a large member of the Venus Clam family Veneridae that may grow to be 6 inches in size. The Southern Quahog is often found in the shallow, sandy-mud flats of the local bays and protected areas, where it is one of the main food sources for large Horse Conchs and Lightning Whelks. The species is very similar to the Northern Quahog, Mercenaria mercenaria, with which it is known to hybridize in controlled aquacultur

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