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 Mangrove Periwinkle

The Mangrove Periwinkle, Littoraria angulifera (Lamarck, 1822), is an inch-long marine gastropod that inhabits the fringes of mangrove forests of the western Atlantic Ocean, including the barrier islands of Southwest Florida. Unlike its close relative, the Cloudy Periwinkle, which forms aggregations on dead tree trunks and other dead wood, the Mangrove Periwinkle prefers to live on live mangrove trees, in particular on the prop roots, trunk, and branches of Red Mangrove trees, as seen in the pho

The Atlantic Fig Snail

The Atlantic Fig Snail, Ficus papyratia (Say, 1822), belongs in the category of the desirable local shells. Its shell is thin, and shaped like a fig (or a pear). The shell opening, or aperture, tapers gently toward the extremity of the anterior canal. The shell color is pinkish-gray to light-tan. The animal is cream-colored with dark and whitish spots. The Fig Snail’s egg cases are stacked on top of one another and attached at one small area of the fluted edge. The Atlantic Fig Snail. The egg ca

The Striate Bubble

The Striate Bubble, Bulla occidentalis A. Adams, 1850, is a local gastropod that may be seen alive in large numbers during the winter at the east end of Sanibel and other protected areas. Its fragile, barrel-shaped shell may reach 25 mm (one inch). The snail, when active, completely envelops the shell, but may retract completely into it when threatened. The Striate Bubble is a burrower, living in sandy-mud areas. Bubble snails and their relatives are hermaphroditic animals, having functional mal

The Wedge Piddock

The Wedge Piddock, Martesia cuneiformis (Say, 1822), is a wood borer that may be found in driftwood and floating logs in the Western Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. The shell, which may attain ¾ inch in length, is usually pear-shaped, and very thin. Typically, Piddock clams have the anterior (wider) part of the shell equipped with rows of tiny tooth-like projections. These act as a cheese grater, enabling the clam to bore its way into the wood. For readers who collect this column: a closely r

The Common Atlantic Marginella

The Common Atlantic Marginella, Prunum apicinum (Menke, 1828), has a shell that may reach 10 mm (almost half an inch). The shell is pear-shaped, with a highly polished surface. The outer lip of the shell is adorned with two or three darker spots. The shell of live individuals is translucent, almost transparent, revealing colors and patterns on the animal’s body within. The shell will become opaque after the death of the animal. The species is very common in the seagrass beds present all through

The Angulate Wentletrap

The Angulate Wentletrap, Epitonium angulatum (Say, 1831), is the most prevalent (and variable) within the many species of the family Epitoniidae present on Sanibel and other parts of the eastern Gulf of Mexico. The species may reach up to 25 mm in length (about an inch). Again, as it is true for other local species of Wentletraps, including the one presented in this column last week, the Humphrey Wentletrap, it is found most abundantly on the eastern half of the island, from the Lighthouse to Gu

The Humphrey Wentletrap

The Humphrey Wentletrap, Epitonium humphreysii (Kiener, 1834), is one of the many species of the family Epitoniidae present on Sanibel and other parts of the eastern Gulf of Mexico. As is true for other species of Wentletraps, it may be found most abundantly on the eastern half of the island, from the Lighthouse to Gulfside City Park Beach. Wentletraps are known to feed on soft corals, and these are known to live in the relatively calmer waters of that part of the island. The live Wentletrap in

The Lace Murex

The Lace Murex, Chicoreus dilectus (A. Adams, 1855), is one of the most desirable and collectible shells from the barrier islands of Southwest Florida. The species may reach two inches in length. Lace Murexes feed on other mollusks, and will drill on the shell surface or chisel at the shell edge of clams and other bivalves in order to reach the soft tissues of the prey. Like many local species of mollusks, Lace Murexes lay egg capsules that help protect the eggs and embryos until is time for the

The False Angel Wing

A member of the Venus Clam family Veneridae, the False Angel Wing, Petricolaria pholadiformis (Lamarck, 1818), is so named because of its superficial similarity with the famous Angel Wing, and the fact that both burrow in compact mud or peat. However, the two species belong in separate families, with the False Angel Wing sharing its genetic and anatomical features with Venus clams. Among other differences between the “true” and the False Angel Wing are the size, much smaller (to two inches) in t

The Cayenne Keyhole Limpet

The Cayenne Keyhole Limpet, Diodora cayenensis (Lamarck, 1822), is a Keyhole Limpet often found on the beaches of Sanibel and Captiva. Like most representatives of the Keyhole Limpet family, Fissurellidae, this species shows the typical keyhole-shaped orifice that serves to reroute waste water away from the head of the animal (see picture on the right). The shell has a sculpture of numerous radial riblets of which every third or fourth is larger. The animal feeds on microalgae growing on rocks o