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 Pointed Venus

The Pointed Venus, Anomalocardia cuneimeris (Conrad, 1846), is found occasionally on the island beaches. It belongs to the large Venus Clam family, the Veneridae, which also includes better known local species such as the Southern Quahog (Mercenaria campechiensis) and the Sunray Venus (Macrocallista nimbosa). Perhaps because of its small size (never larger than one-inch long) or delicate colors, the Pointed Venus doesn’t strike a note with casual collectors. I find the shell elegant, however, wi

The Tinted Cantharus

The Tinted Cantharus (Gemophos tinctus (Conrad, 1846) is a relatively common gastropod around the islands, where is found living mostly on Oyster reefs. The shell is thick and heavy for its size, with a reticulated (“criss-crossed”) sculpture and color pattern of varied shades of brown and reddish brown. The egg cases are spherical, depressed in the center, and are attached to hard surfaces by a round base. The Tinted Cantharus, Gemophos tinctus, from Sanibel. The photos of egg cases were taken

The White-crested Tellin

The White-crested Tellin, Tellidora cristata (Récluz, 1842) is an uncommon local clam that stands out thanks to its extremely thin, almost flat shell. An inch-long White-crested Tellin is only 1/8" thick! (A shape-related analogy for those of you into fishing: a White-crested Tellin is to other Tellins what a Lookdown is to a Pompano or a Jack.) This clam, always white, sometimes bears a set of tooth-like projections in front and back of the shell “beak.” Paired valves are not easy to come by,

The Trapped Sunray Venus, or a Meal Gone Wrong!

This Nine-armed Sea star (Luidia senegalensis) "choked for life" on the shell of a Sunray Venus (Macrocallista nimbosa). Many species of Sea Stars are known to feed on clams; the Sea Star distends the end of its gut to feed on the mollusk, and sometimes the shell gets stuck in the process. The Sea Star was able to continue living, growing "around" the shell. The Sea Star was found by Museum friend Regina Salis (Rochester, NY) during the first week of March 2014, on Sanibel. Two views of the Nin

The Red-brown Ark

The Red-brown Ark, Barbatia cancellaria (Lamarck, 1819), is a relative of the famous Turkey Wing. The species lives offshore in the Gulf of Mexico, attached by a bundle of fibers (called byssus) to the underside of rocks and coral ledges. Valves of the Red-brown Ark have been found recently on Captiva and the Blind Pass area, where they have been found in sand deposited by the recent beach renourishment project. The shell in the illustration was found by Karla Mason of Grand Blanc, Michigan, on

The Transverse Ark

The Transverse Ark, Anadara transversa (Say, 1822), reaches 1.5 inches in size, and is seldom found in pairs. The species may be considered as the “ugly duckling” among the Sanibel shells: often neglected by collectors, it is the most common shell found in our beaches, according to an article published in 2012 by citizen scientist Susan Hewitt from New York, NY, in the magazine “The Festivus.” The Transverse Ark, Anadara transversa, from Sanibel. Photo by José H. Leal. #TransverseArk #Anadara

The Ribbed Cantharus

The Ribbed Cantharus, Hesperisternia multangula (Philippi, 1848), is a very variable species ranging in color from brown-marked to orange shells. The Ribbed Cantharus closely resembles two species of oyster drills, the Mauve-mouth Drill and the Gulf Oyster Drill, and for this reason is also known as the False Drill. The Ribbed Cantharus has eye-catching egg cases that resemble miniature stars. The Ribbed Cantharus, Hesperisternia multangula, and its egg cases. #Hesperisterniamultangula #Rib

The Striate Piddock

The inch-long Striate Piddock, Martesia striata (Linnaeus, 1758), uses its rough shell to bore through wood. Piddocks use the front end of their shells in a semi-circular motion to drill through the wood, creating a long, cylindrical hole that is occupied for life by the animal. To collect their shells, look for “Swiss cheese-like” driftwood with the characteristic boreholes indicative of their presence. The Striate Piddock, Martesia striata, and a piece of bored driftwood found on Sanibel. #

The Placid Periwinkle

The locally found Placid Periwinkle, Echinolittorina placida Reid, 2009, received its original scientific description and name only recently: Dr. David Reid of the Natural History Museum in London named the species in 2009, as part of his work on Tropical Periwinkles. Its shell is small (about 0.5 inch at most), pointed and solid. Found on the splash zone, on rocks or other hard substrates, in particular on seawalls, jetties, and causeway bridge pilings. The Placid Periwinkle is usually found in

The Cross-hatched Lucine

Clams are Cool! The elegant, inch-long Cross-hatched Lucine, Divalinga quadrisulcata (d'Orbigny, 1846), can be distinguished from other “little white clams” from our area by the distinctive, oblique etched lines on the shell surface. This well-preserved shell was found by Gail Carr on the Captiva side of Blind Pass during one of Pam Rambo's beach walks. It was probably deposited there as a result of the recent beach renourishment around the pass. The Cross-hatched Lucine, Divalinga quadrisulca