For a quarter of a century, a unique Sanibel museum has held a special place in the lore of the world’s shelling capital. It has become one of the most popular destinations on Sanibel & Captiva Islands for tourists and residents alike.

More than 1 million people have gazed upon the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum’s world-class collection in those 25 years, and now they also find intriguing aquariums revealing the live animals behind those shells, including living Junonias.  

To celebrate its anniversary and the intriguing, but often overlooked, animals that create shells, the museum shares a Top 10 list of fun facts about mollusks:

1. Much sea life, including whales and dolphins, depends on mollusks for food.
2. Ocean love: A cockle’s bivalve shell is heart-shaped.
3. The Giant Pacific Octopus is a mollusk, too – its shell disappeared through millions of years of evolution.
4. Deadly efficient: The cone snail uses up to 60 toxins to capture prey.
5. Here’s looking at you: A scallop has up to 200 eyeballs, spaced along the edges of its shell.
6. Whoa: Giant clams can reach more than 4 feet across and weigh nearly 500 pounds. (And they live to 100 years old!)
7. Lefty/righty: Most snail shells coil in a right-hand direction, dextral, but just like people, a small number are left-handed, or sinistral.
8. Tenacious: The fibers that make up limpet teeth are among the world’s strongest natural materials – so they can cling to rock even in the harshest waves.
9. As shells languish in sand or mud with little oxygen, iron in the shell combines with sulfur to act as a dye, changing the shell’s color.
10. Due to changing climate and ecological disruptions, mollusks face threats to their survival that could impact life on Earth. 

To learn more about these unique animals and shells in the “Beyond Shells: The Mysterious World of Mollusks” experience, plan your visit and purchase advance tickets at shellmuseum.org.