MURICIDAE 213 



Urosalpinx tampaensis Conrad Tampa Drill 



Tampa Bay area, west Florida. 



V2 to I inch in length; the light-brown aperture is thickened and the 

 outer lip has 6 small, white teeth. With about 9 to 1 1 sharp, axial ribs per 

 whorl, crossed by about 9 to i o equally strong spiral cords on the last whorl, 

 thus giving the shell a cancellate sculpture. The whorls in the spire show 

 only 2 spiral, nodulated cords. Exterior dark-gray. Common on mudflats. 



Genus Purpura Bruguiere 1789 

 Purpura patula Linne Wide-mouthed Purpura 



Plate 25I 



Southeast Florida and the West Indies. 



2 to 3/4 inches in length; without an umbilicus. Exterior dull, rusty- 

 gray. Columella salmon-pink. Inner borders of aperture with splotches of 

 blackish brown. Common in the West Indies, uncommon in Florida. The 

 animal exudes a harmless hquid which stains the hands and collecting bag a 

 permanent violet. 



The subspecies pansa Gould (west coast of Mexico south to Columbia) 

 is similar in most respects, but the columella is colored a whitish cream. 



Genus Thais Roding 1798 

 Subgenus Stramonita Schumacher 1817 



Thais haemastoma floridaJia Conrad Florida Rock-shell 



Plate 25a 



North Carolina to Florida, and the Caribbean. 



2 to 3 inches in length, solid, smooth to finely nodulose. Color light- 

 gray to yellowish with small flecks and irregular bars of brownish. Interior 

 of aperture salmon-pink, often with brown between the denticulations of the 

 outer lip. Running inside the aperture high up on the body whorl above the 

 parietal area, there is a strong spiral ridge. Some specimens have a faint fold 

 or phca on the base of the columella. This is a very common species, but 

 quite variable in shape and color pattern. Typical hae?7msto??M Lamarck oc- 

 curs in the Mediterranean and West Africa. See additional remarks under 

 Thais rustica. 



Thais haemastoma haysae Clench Hays' Rock-shell 



Northwest Floriaa to Texas. 



This subspecies is characterized by its large size (up to 4% inches in 



