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422 American Seashells
Tellina laevigata Linne Smooth Tellin
Southern Florida and the West Indies.
Plate 40k
2 to 3 inches in length, oval to slightly elongate, moderately compressed,
strong, with a smooth, glossy surface except for microscopic, radial scratches.
Exterior color either whitish or usually faintly rayed, or banded at the ven-
tral margins with soft, creamy-orange. Inside polished white to yellowish.
Rare in Florida, fairly common in the West Indies.
Subgenus Tellinella Morch 1853
Tellina interrupta Wood Speckled Tellin
North Carolina to south half of Florida and the West Indies.
Plate 40I
2/4 to 3% inches in length, well elongated, moderately inflated, twisted
at the posterior end where at the dorsal margin on the right valve there are
2 rough ridges. Concentric threads numerous, evenly spaced. Color whitish
with numerous small, prominent, zigzag specklings of purplish brown. Inte-
rior yellowish. Not uncommon in southeast Florida, but abundant in some
shallow West Indian bays.
Tellina idae Dall Ida's Tellin
Santa Monica to Newport Bay, California.
Figures 87a, b; 28h
2 to 2 34 inches in length, elongate, compressed. With strong, rather
evenly spaced, concentric, lamellate threads. Posterior end narrow, slightly
twisted and with a rounded, radial ridge near the dorsal margin (in right
valve) or a ridge at the dorsal margin and a furrow below it (left valve).
Ligament elongate and sunk deeply into the long, deep dorsal-margin furrow.
Color grayish white. Moderately common.
Subgenus Angulus Miihlfeld 181
Tellina agilis Stimpson Northern Dwarf Tellin
Gulf of St. Lawrence to North Carolina.
1
Plate 30X; figure 86f
Vs to Yz inch in length, moderately elongate, compressed, fairly fragile;
glossy-white externally with an opalescent sheen. Interior white. Ligament
external and prominent. With a large rounded pallial sinus almost extending
to the anterior muscle scar. External sculpture of faint, microscopic, concentric,
impressed lines. Commonly found washed on shore from Maryland
north. Formerly known as Tellina tenera Say and Angiiliis tener Say (not