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118 A?nerica7i Seashells
Genus Gaza Watson 1879
Gaza superba Dall Superb Gaza
Northern Gulf of Mexico to the West Indies.
Plate 3 b
I to 1 34 inches in width. Spire somewhat elevated. Color old ivory with
a golden sheen. Early whorls faintly wine-colored. Although formerly
thought to be one of our rarest shells, it is now known to be relatively common
in the Gulf of Mexico in 50 or more fathoms. It is indeed a beautiful
species.
The rare Gaza (Callogaza Dall 1881) ivatsoni Dall from deep water in
the West Indies is illustrated in figure 32a.
Subfamily MONODONTINAE
Genus Tegula Lesson 1832
Tegula fasciata Born Smooth Atlantic Tegula
Southeast Florida and the West Indies.
Plate lyp
/{> to /4 inch in width. Surface smooth; color yellowish to brown, with
a fine mottling of reds, browns and blacks; often with a narrow, pale, spiral
band of color on the periphery. Under the lens, spiral rows of alternating
red and white, short lines or dots may be seen. Some specimens may have
zigzag white bands. Interior of deep, round, smooth umbilicus and the callus
are white. Two teeth at the base of the columella. Thick adults may have
small teeth just inside the lower margin of the aperture. Whorl may be
slightly concave just below the suture. In the young only, the umbilicus
has two deep spiral grooves. Moderately common under rocks at low tide.
Tegula lividomaculata C. B. Adams West Indian Tegula
Key West and the West Indies.
% inch in width and about /4 inch in length. Top of whorls sculptured
with about a dozen fairly regular, small, spiral cords. The angular periphery
of the whorls bears the largest cord. Umbilicus round, deep, and furrowed
on its sides by two spiral cords, the upper one ending at the columella in a
fairly sizeable bead. Columella set back quite far at its upper half; the lower
section bears the bead, and below that there are several, smaller, indistinct
beads. Color of shell grayish to brownish white with small mottlings of
reddish or blackish brown. Operculum, as in all Tegula, horny and multispiral.
Formerly scalaris Anton (not Brocchi) and indusi "Gmelin." Common
under rocks in the West Indies, but uncommon on the Lower Florida
Keys.