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 Antilles Glassy Bubble

The Antilles Glassy Bubble, Haminoea antillarum (d’Orbigny, 1841), has a very thin, globose, and glass-like shell. Live animals can be seen, sometimes in larger numbers, in the bays and protected seagrass flats of Southwest Florida, in particular during the Spring. Live Glassy Bubbles completely envelop their shells with their bodies. The species is hermaphroditic (both male and female reproductive tracts in the same individual), and the egg mass consists of a transparent and gelatinous, collar-

The Striped False Limpet

The Striped False Limpet, Siphonaria pectinata (Linnaeus, 1758) is found on hard substrates (rocks, bridge pilings, concrete wharves) on Sanibel, Captiva, and other parts of Southwest Florida. The common name indicates that, in addition to the stripes on its shell, the species is not a true Limpet, being actually related to land snails and other air-breathing mollusks. The shell color pattern includes fine, alternating radial lines of black (or dark brown) and white; these lines are visible also

The Bruised Nassa

Bruised Nassa, Nassarius vibex (Say, 1822)*, are often neglected by collectors, probably because of their small size. The little snails, which never measure more than half an inch, are the "first sanitation responders" in the mud flats of SW Florida, gathering in large numbers to devour carcasses of dead fish and other marine animals as soon as they start to decompose. In a couple of experiments done by Museum volunteers using “aged” bait shrimp deployed in shallow bay water, it took only a few

The Virgin Nerite

This weekly column focuses on species known to occur in or off the barrier islands of Sanibel and Captiva and nearby areas. Today I’ll make one exception and feature a nice-looking species for which there is only one local record in the extensive collection of local shells maintained by the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum. One record, a half-inch shell collected by the late Dr. Dale V. Stingley on a mangrove root in Clam Bayou, Sanibel in 1950. The species was never found after that. Dr.

The Eastern Oyster

Because of its ability to form reefs and to filter large amounts of water, the Eastern Oyster, Crassostrea virginica (Gmelin, 1791) is an important organism living in the bays of Southwest Florida. Young oysters, called spats, live drifting in the water until it is time to settle to bottom. At that time, spats prefer to settle on and cement themselves to existing oyster shells: this is one of the reasons why oysters form large reefs that serve as homes for a myriad other marine organisms. The ph

The Rough Scallop

Despite the strong attraction Lions Paws exert on local shellers, my favorite local Pectinidae is the Rough Scallop, Lindapecten muscosus (W. Wood, 1828). The Rough Scallop derives its common name from the sculpture of micro-scales that impart a coarse aspect to the shell surface. Rough Scallops can be found in many shades of oranges, yellows, and reds. In the season 2009–10, Rough Scallop shells washed ashore in large numbers, mostly in association with the Sea Sponge Myxilla incrustans (Esper,

The Common Jingle

The Common Jingle, Anomia simplex d’Orbigny, 1853, is one of the most common species found on our very shelly shores. Common Jingles are always iridescent (like mother-of-pearl) and come in an assortment of colors: orange, yellow, white, clear, and that lead-gray that is so characteristic of the species. They are bivalves, so there are two halves for each shell. Most of the time, however, shellers find only the top valve: the bottom valve has the hole that is typical for members of the family

The Turkey Wing and Mossy Ark

This is the tale of two sister species: one gets all the glory, and the other goes "mossly" unnoticed. But these two species are actually very similar and easy to confuse. The Turkey Wing (Arca zebra) has a shell coloration that resembles the color pattern on the wings of a Wild Turkey (and the shell outline evokes the wing's shape). The Mossy Ark (Arca imbricata) lacks that strong color contrast and the well-defined pattern present on the Turkey Wing. This latter species shows a long projectio

The Minor Jacknife

The Minor Jacknife (Ensis megistus Pilsbry and McGinty, 1943) has a very delicate, elongate shell with an unusual coloration that includes purplish vertical bars internally. It is a burrower, living in fine sand and mud. Minor Jacknives inhabit and can move up and down vertical or oblique, cylindrical burrows. A Minor Jacknife can burrow rapidly by using its foot as a piston inside their dwelling. In some extreme cases, individuals are known to leap out of burrows to evade predators. The Mino

The Imperial Venus

Local beach renourishment episodes are known to contribute different or unusual species to the normal local diversity. As sand is pumped from offshore sites, deeper-water species are also “sucked” by the dredges and deposited on the newly formed beach. Last year’s beach enhancement on Captiva contributed several unusual species, including this Imperial Venus (Lirophora latilirata (Conrad, 1841)) valve found by Kimberly Nealon on Easter Sunday on the beach around the middle of the island. Imperia