Curator’s Corner

Museum, research, and collection updates from Dr. José H. Leal, plus Shell of the Week, which highlights a different species every other Friday. Most Shells of the Week are found in Southwest Florida.

Dr. José H. Leal serves as the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum & Aquarium’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.

The 2025 Live Mollusk Count

The 2025 Live Mollusk Count took place on Sanibel Island last January 12, achieving very good results. The number of participants, methods, and count area were comparable to Live Mollusk Counts done in the recent past. The Live Mollusk Counts have been organized by the National Shell Museum & Aquarium (under the leadership of Associate Director of Education Jorden Falker) in collaboration with the Sanibel-Captiva Shell Club (under the leadership of Debi McBroom.) A West Indies Fighting Conch at West Gulf Drive beach access #1, on Sanibel. Photo: Maria Gonzalez.

Shell of the Week: The Green-based Tegula

Agathistoma excavatum reaches 18 mm (approximately 0.7 inch). The typical trochiform shape is complemented by a concave (“excavated”, hence the species-name ending) base, which sometimes can show a greenish color. The species is found in the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and the Florida Keys. The shell illustrated was found on Captiva Island on a stormy day in October 2021 by Lisa Johnstone. Its presence on the local beaches had not been registered before, and this first record for Captiva should, as usual in cases like this, be considered with caution.

Wentletraps of Southwest Florida

Wentletraps (family Epitoniidae) are everlasting favorites here in Southwest Florida. Today I present a selection of species found on the beaches of Sanibel and Captiva islands: (1) Bladed Wentletrap (Epitonium albidum); (2) Dall’s Wentletrap (Cirsotrema dalli); (3) Angulate Wentletrap (Epitonium angulatum); (4) Humphrey’s Wentletrap (Epitonium humphreysii); (5) New England Wentletrap (Epitonium novangliae); (6) Matthews’s Wentletrap (Epitonium matthewsae); (7) Leal’s Wentletrap (Epitonium leali); (8) Brown-band Wentletrap (Gyroscala rupicola); (9) Tollin’s Wentletrap (Epitonium tollini). The individual photos are not at the same scale;…

A fossil Conus shell under natural light (left) and under UV light (right). Photos by José H. Leal.

Fossil Cone Shells and UV Light

Last September 13 I discussed  how ultraviolet light (UV, aka “black light”) reveals structurally distinctive shell parts, using as an...

Mussels of Southwest Florida

This is a sampling of the local species of the family Mytilidae, which are almost always neglected in private shell collections. (1)...

Shell of the Week: The Smith’s Nutmeg

Axelella smithii   reaches 17 mm (about 0.7 inches). The shell is relatively thick and the shell sculpture includes about 8–10 raised...

Shell of the Week: The Chalcedony Phos

Antillophos chalcedonius is a relatively small (reaching 17 mm, or about 0.67 inch) gastropod, that displays a shell sculpture of strong spiral (“revolving”) threads and well-spaced axial (“vertical”) ridges. The color pattern shows variations of a white background and brownish patches that are more-or-less aligned with the axial ridges. The species is found throughout the eastern Gulf of Mexico, Florida Keys, Bahamas, and the Caribbean Basin southward to Colombia. Antillophos chalcedonius was d

The Local Muricidae

This is the first of a series depicting some of the most biodiverse families of marine mollusks from Sanibel and Captiva islands. Here are ten relatively common shallow-water species of drills and murex snails in the family Muricidae. (More species are present in deeper water offshore.) Click on the species name to see their entries in our Southwest Florida Shells guide. They are: (1) Cabrit’s Murex (Vokesimurex cabritii); (2) Pitted Murex (Favartia cellulosa); (3) Mauve-Mouth Drill (Calotrophon

Wedding Shells and Wannabe Junonias

Gastropod species of the genus Babylonia, the babylon snails, are common in the southwest Pacific and parts of the Indian Ocean. They are predatory snails with shells measuring between one to two inches in size, and marked by large, well-defined brown spots. Some of the species are popular in the marine aquarium trade in many parts of the world.They are also a food staple in parts of Southeast Asia. Most likely following from their use as food, their shells are sold by the bushel in the Internet