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424 America?! Seash ells
Tellina promera Dall Promera Tellin
South half of Florida and the West Indies.
Figure 86c
% inch in length, very similar to 77iera, but larger, more inflated, thicker-
shelled, more oval and with the umbones a little closer to the center of the
shell. This may be only a subspecies of mera. Quite common on both sides
of Florida.
Tellina tampaensis Conrad Tampa Tellin
South half of Florida to Texas, the Bahamas and Cuba.
Figure 86b
/4 to % inch in length, similar to mera, but more pointed posteriorly,
whitish with a faint pinkish blush, and with very numerous, microscopic,
concentric lines of growth. The pallial sinus line in this species runs forward
nearly to the anterior muscle scar and then drops almost vertically toward
the ventral margin of the shell before continuing posteriorly. In 77tera and
promera, the pallial sinus line toward the anterior muscle scar, makes a
U-shaped turn, and then runs posteriorly but does not join the lower pallial
line until about the middle of the ventral region of the valve. Common in
shallow water.
Tellina texana Dall Say's Tellin
New Jersey to south half of Florida and Cuba.
% inch in length, white with a faint opalescent sheen. Extremely close
to agilis, but distinguished by the heavy, enamel-white finish on the inside
of the shell and i or i fairly distinct radial grooves running from the poste-
rior muscle scar to the ventral margin of the valve. The faint pallial sinus
just touches the anterior muscle scar. Fairly common. T. sayi Dall (Dec.
1900) is a synonym of T. texana Dall (Nov. 1900). T. poUta Say (not
Spengler) is also this species.
Tellina sybaritica Dall Dall's Dwarf Tellin
North Carolina, the Gulf of Mexico and Cuba.
Figure 86d
y4 to Vs inch in length, very elongate, shiny, with quite strong, numerous
concentric threads or cut lines. Color varying from translucent-white,
yellowish, pinkish to bright watermelon-red. Our smallest and most colorful
Tellin, and plentiful from i to 60 fathoms. It somewhat resembles young
alternata, but the latter are smoother and have a short instead of long poste-
rior lateral tooth in the left valve, and has no lateral lamina in the left valve.