128 American Seashells 



acterized by its very small size, and by about a dozen obliquely set, spiral 

 bright-red lines. The top of the whorls may be solid red and with large, 

 opaque-white spots. Umbilicus a mere chink-like depression. Operculum 

 calcareous and white. Tricolia variegata Carpenter is the same (not Lamarck) . 

 Common among weeds in tidepools and among kelps offshore. 



Fmnily NERITIDAE 

 Genus Nerita Linne 1758 



Nerka peloronta Linne Bleeding Tooth 



Plate 4a 

 Southeast Florida, Bermuda and the West Indies. 



% to i^ inches in length; grayish yellow with zigzags of black and red. 

 Characterized by the blood-red parietal area which bears i or 2 whitish 

 teeth. Operculum: underside coral-pink; one half of outer side smooth and 

 dark-orange, other half smoothish or papillose and brownish green. Very 

 abundant along the rocky shores facing the open ocean. It is a popular 

 souvenir. 



Nerita versicolor Gmelin Four-toothed Nerite 



Plate 4b 

 South % of Florida and the West Indies. Bermuda. 



% to I inch in length; dirty-white with irregular spots of black and red 

 arranged in spiral rows; spirally grooved; outer lip spotted with red, white 

 and black on margin. Parietal area slightly convex, white to yellowish and 

 with 4 (rarely 5) strong teeth. Operculum: exterior brownish gray, finely 

 papillose and slightly concave. Commonly associated with N. peloronta. 

 Nerita variegata Karsten (1789) is invalid, since it appears in a non-binomial 

 work. 



Nerita tessellata Gmelin Tessellate Nerite 



Plate 4f 



Florida to Texas, the West Indies and Bermuda. 



% inch in length, irregularly spotted with black and white, sometimes 

 heavily mottled; coarsely sculptured with spiral cords of varying sizes. 

 Parietal area concave, bluish-white and bearing 2 weak teeth in the middle. 

 Operculum: exterior slightly convex, black in color. Commonly congregate 

 in large numbers under rocks at low tide. Rare in northern Florida. Do not 

 confuse with N. fulgurans Gmelin whose operculum is bluish white to yel- 

 lowish gray, not black. 



