Living Gallery of Aquariums and Marine Life
The Living Gallery of Aquariums and Marine Life exhibits approximately 60 species of mollusks and other animals including Giant Pacific Octopus, Two-Spot Octopus, Giant Clam, Queen Conch, Flamingo Tongue, Giant Triton, dozens of mollusks common to Southwest Florida, cold water species found in the Pacific Northwest, and corals and fish from around the world.
Aquariums depict marine environments ranging from Pacific coral reefs to red mangrove ecosystems common in Southwest Florida. Large interactive touch pools of both warm and cold-water species give visitors the opportunity to touch mollusks including Red Abalone, California Sea Hare, Lightning Whelk, Lewis Moon Snail, Horse Conch, and many others.
Supporting exhibits in the Living Gallery include videos, shell specimens, models, dioramas, photographs, and maps that explore molluscan biology, behavior, amazing stories of adaptation, and conservation challenges and successes for this group of animals with over 500 million years of history on Earth.
One of the most popular features of the Living Gallery are two large, interactive touch pools where visitors may touch and learn about dozens of mollusk species from Southwest Florida and the Pacific Northwest.
Visitors to the Living Gallery can enjoy Keeper Chats each day at 11am and 2pm, at which Museum staff share fun and interesting facts about the animals in the Museum’s care. At 3:30 daily there are Touch Pool Talks, featuring stories about the amazing biology and behavior of mollusks.
In 2022, the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum & Aquarium received accreditation by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.
Meet Some of the Residents of the Living Gallery
Giant Pacific Octopus
The largest species of octopus in the world, the Giant Pacific Octopus (GPO) has eight arms, three hearts, blue blood, and weighs an average of 90 pounds. Their arms may span up to 20 feet, the height of a two-story building.
Queen Conch
The flared pink lip of the Queen Conch’s shell helps make this mollusk one of the most beautiful and distinctive in the southern Gulf of Mexico, Florida Keys, and the Caribbean. At the Museum, Queen Conchs are exhibited with cowries and seahorses.
California Sea Hare
The California Sea Hare is a visitor favorite and is exhibited in the cold-water interactive touch pool. Their curious rhinophores, or ‘’bunny ears,’’ create a rabbit-like silhouette. They are not ears but instead act as a chemosensory organ that allows the sea hare to taste and smell its environment.
Giant Clam
Giant Clams are the largest bivalve (having a shell with two parts, or valves) mollusks in the world, with some species growing as large as four feet long. The Indian and Pacific oceans are their home. Several species are on exhibit at the Museum.
Flamingo Tongue
This tropical western Atlantic mollusk has striking orange and yellow spots on its body. These colors are not associated with its shell but rather the animal’s soft tissue, which is usually wrapped around the shell. This is the first time this species has been exhibited in a public aquarium.
Horse Conch
The Horse Conch is the largest gastropod (single shell) mollusk species in the Atlantic Ocean and the second largest gastropod in the world. It can grow up to two feet long and is Florida’s official state shell.
