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176 American Seashells
Brown {zonata Gould is the same) from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to Cape
Cod is similar, but rarely over % inch in length, with a flattened shelf-like
columella, and often colored with narrow, spiral bands of brown.
Family FOSSARIDAE
Genus Fossarus Philippi 1841
Fossarus elegans Verrill and Smith Elegant Fossarus
Massachusetts to North Carolina.
Plate 25c
2 to 3 mm. in length, turbinate in shape, with 4 whorls, chalky-white
to gray in color and characterized by its delicate sculpturing which consists
of 2 strong carinae on the periphery and 3 smaller ones below and a large
one bordering the chink-like umbilicus. Between the cords are numerous,
distinct, arched riblets. Outer lip thickened by a large varix. 2 or 3 smaller,
former varices commonly present on the last whorl. The base of the arched
columella is projecting. Uncommon below 70 fathoms.
Fa7mly ERATOIDAE
S7ibfa77iily ERATOINAE
Genus Erato Risso 1826
Subgenus Hespererato Schilder 1932
Erato 77iaugeriae Gray Mauger's Erato
North Carolina to Florida and the West Indies.
Plate 2 2\v
ViQ inch in length, resembling a small Marginella, but the curled-in,
thickened outer lip has a row of about 1 5 small, even-sized teeth. Upper end
of the outer lip is well-shouldered. Shell glossy, tan with a pinkish or yellow-
ish undertone. Apex bulbous. Commonly dredged on either side of Florida
from 2 to 63 fathoms.
Erato colim7beUa Menke Columbelle Erato
Monterey, California, to Panama.
% inch in length, glossy-smooth, slate-gray in color with a whitish,
thickened outer lip. Spire elevated, nucleus brown. Outer lip markedly
shouldered above, and bearing about a dozen extremely small teeth. Siphonal
canal stained inside with purple-brown. Not uncommon from shore to 50
fathoms. Occasionally washed ashore with kelp weed.
Erato vitellina Hinds Apple Seed
Bodega Bay, California, to Lower California.
Plate 20-0