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COLUMBELLIDAE 22 3
gausapata Gould (California to Alaska) is similar, but without the swollen
shoulder.
Genus Mitrella Risso 1826
Subgenus Astyris H. and A. Adams 1853
Mitrella lunata Say Lunar Dove-shell
Massachusetts to Florida, Texas and the West Indies.
Plate 25gg
%6 to M inch in length, glossy, smooth, translucent-gray and marked
with fine, axial zigzag brown to yellow stripes. Base of shell with fine, in-
cised spiral lines. Aperture constricted, slightly sinuate. Outer lip with 4
small teeth on the inside. No prominent varix. Nuclear whorls very small
and translucent. Color sometimes milky-white or mottled in brown. A very
common species found at low tide.
Mitrella raveneli Dall Ravenel's Dove-shell
North Carolina to both sides of Florida.
Plate 25CC
% inch in length, resembling lunata, but translucent-whitish, without
the mottlings, normally a slightly larger shell, more elongate, with a longer
siphonal canal, and with a rather thin outer lip which lacks the deep sinuation
found in the upper portion of the outer lip as in Iwiata. Commonly
dredged from 5 to 90 (rarely to 200) fathoms. Rarely washed ashore.
Mitrella tuberosa Carpenter Variegated Dove-shell
Alaska to the Gulf of California.
/4 inch in length, slender, with a narrow, pointed, flat-sided spire. Shell
smooth and usually glossy. Outer lip slightly thickened and with small teeth
within. Color a translucent yellowish tan with opaque, light-brown flammules
and maculations. Sometimes all brown with tiny white dots. Early whorls
in worn specimens have a lilac tinge. Periostracum thin and translucent.
Common in shallow water; 7 to 30 fathoms. M. variegata Stearns may be this
species.
Genus Amphissa H. and A. Adams 1853
This genus was formerly placed in the family Buccinidae.
Amphissa versicolor Dall Joseph's Coat Amphissa
Oregon to Lower California.
Figure 50a