72 WEST AMERICAN SHELLS 
name is Marcia kennerleyi, (Cpr.) Rve., Ken- 
nerley’s Marcia. It is nearly three inches in 
length, and is grayish white in color. 
Marcia subdiaphana, Cpr., the Translucent Mar- 
cia, lives in Alaskan waters, and also as far south 
as the Santa Barbara Channel, in tolerably deep 
water. The shell is thin, white, with an olive gray 
epidermis, and reaches a length of over two inches. 
It was described by Carpenter under the name 
Clementia. 
Figure 58  repre- 
sents one of the com- 
monest shells to be 
found on the western 
coast. It has. re- 
ceived quite a variety 
of names, buty iia 
now classed as Pad- 
phia-staminea, Conr., 
the Ribbed Carpet- 
shell, (Tapes staminea). It is one of the few 
mollusks sold freely in the San Francisco markets, 
where it is known as the Hard-shelled Clam. In 
eolor it varies from pure white to chocolate, and 
some of the varieties are prettily marked with 
chestnut chevrons. While it occurs all along the 
coast it is most abundant to the north of San 
Francisco. The name Paphia related to Paphos, 
one of the haunts of the goddess Venus, for whom 
so many shells are named. Among the numerous 
varieties of this shell we mention var. pétiti, Desh., 
the large, unmarked kind found north of the 
