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TROCHIDAE 119
T. hotessierana Orbigny from the West Indies is similar, but rarely over
Vz inch, with a more rounded periphery, with smaller, neater, equal-sized,
smooth spiral threads, and dark bluish black in color, except for a whitish
area around the narrow umbilicus. Uncommon.
Tegula excavata Lamarck Green-base Tegula
Florida Keys? Caribbean area.
34 inch in length and width. Characterized by its bluish-gray color,
corrugated sculpture (weak spiral cords and oblique lines of growth), its
concave base, thin outer lip, and especially by the blue-green to iridescentgreen
circle of color around the very deep, round, narrow umbilicus. A
variant exists in some areas which lacks the green, umbilical color and in
which the spiral cords are stronger and the shell with axial, slanting bars of
black-brown. Very common in the West Indies, along the rocky shores.
Tegula funebralis A. Adams Black Tegula
Vancouver, B. C, to Lower California.
I to I % inches in length, heavy, dark purple-black in color; smoothish,
but with a narrow, puckered band just below the suture. Weak spiral cords
rarely evident; coarse growth lines present in large, more elongate specimens.
Base rounded. Umbilicus closed or merely a slight dimple. Columella
pearly, with two small nodules at the base. A very common littoral, rock-
loving species. Do not confuse with T. gallina.
Tegula gallina Forbes Speckled Tegula
San Francisco to the Gulf of California.
Plate i8v
I to I /4 inches in length, very similar to funebralis, but a lighter, gray-
ish green color with dense, zigzag, axial stripes of purplish. The shell surface
is also coarser. A common, southern species found among littoral rocks.
Tegula brunnea Philippi Brown Tegula
Crescent City to Santa Barbara Islands, California.
I to I % inches in length, similar to funebralis, but light chestnut-brown
in color with the base often glossy, brownish white. The umbilicus is closed,
but usually with a dimple-like impression. Columella usually with only one
small tooth near the base. Common at dead low tide on rocks. Usually
heavily encrusted with algal growths.