West Coast Nassariidae — Demond 
307 
ally quite thin; basal groove deep; posterior 
canal absent; closely resembles N. perpinguis, 
but almost twice as large. 
RECENT GEOGRAPHIC RANGE: Oregon coast 
to San Ignacio Lagoon, Lower California. 
HABITAT: 30 to 40 fathoms, in mud and 
sand; rare. 
Nassarius tegula (Reeve) 
PI. II, Fig. 8 
Nassa tegula Reeve, Conch. Icon. 8: 98, pi. 
15, fig. 98, 1853; Carpenter, Brit. Assoc. 
Adv. Sci., Rpt. for 1863: 662, 1864; Tryon, 
Man. Conch. I, 4: 39, pL 13, figs. 166, 167, 
1882; Keep, West Coast Shells, p. 37, fig. 
17, 1893; Stearns, U. S. Natl. Mus., Proc. 
17: 180, 1894; Arnold, Calif. Acad. Sci., 
Mem. 3: 235, 1903., 
Arcularia tegula Reeve, Dali, U. S. Natl. Mus., 
Proc. 51: 577, 1917. 
Alectrion {Zeuxis) tegula Reeve, Dali, U. S. 
Natl. Mus., Bui. 112: 103, 1921; Waterfall, 
Cal. Univ., Pubs., Geol. Sci. 18: 78, 1929. 
Alectrion tegula (Reeve), Jordan, South. Calif. 
Acad. Sci., Bui. 23: 149, 1924; Johnson and 
Snook, Seashore Animals of the Pacific 
Coast, p. 513, fig. 533, 1927. 
Alectrion {Schizopyga) tegulus Reeve, Oldroyd, 
I. S., Stanford Univ., Pubs., Univ. Ser. 
Geol. Sci. 2(1): 267, pi. 26, fig. 10, 1927. 
Nassarius tegulus, Keen, West North Amer. 
Mar. Moll., p. 41, 1937. 
Nassarius (Nassarius) tegula (Reeve) , Grant 
and Gale, San Diego Soc. Nat. Hist., Mem. 
1: 671, pi. 26, fig. 43, 1931; Keep, West 
Coast Shells, p. 228, fig. 217, 1935; Jordan, 
Stanford Univ., Dept. Geol. Contrib. 1(4): 
114, 1936. 
''Nassa ' tegula Woodring, U. S. Geol. Survey, 
Prof. Paper 207: 73, 1946. 
TYPE SPECIMEN: Cuming Museum, Lon- 
don, England (Oldroyd, 1927). 
TYPE LOCALITY: Habitat unknown (Reeve, 
1853); California or Lower California (Old- 
royd, 1927). 
DESCRIPTION: Maximum length, 21 mm.; 
average length, 16-18 mm. ; typically 6 whorls ; 
spire short and sharp; low axial folds becom- 
ing nodose at shoulders of whorls; some- 
times faint spiral ridges; typically, body whorl 
smooth below nodes; prominent callus on 
parietal wall of body whorl; outer lip often 
thickened externally, denticulate; sutures dis- 
tinct; aperture usually slightly greater than 
1/3 length of shell with small canal at each 
end; groove at base of body whorl; much 
color variation, frequently purplish brown. 
RECENT GEOGRAPHIC RANGE: San Francis- 
co, California, to Lower California. 
HABITAT: Common on mud flats. 
Nassarius tegula tiarula ( Kiener ) new comb. 
PL I, Fig. 4 
Buccinum tiarula Kiener, Spec. Gen. et Icon. 
des Coq. Viv. (2): 111, pi. 30, fig. 4, 1834. 
Nassa tiarula Kiener, Tryon, Man. Conch. I, 
4: 41, pi. 12, figs. 174-178, 1882. 
Arcularia tiarula Kiener, Dali, U. S. Natl. 
Mus., Proc. 51: 577, 1917. 
Nassarius tiarulus (Kiener), Jordan, Stanford 
Univ., Dept. Geol. Contrib. 1(4): 114, 
1936. 
DESCRIPTION: Maximum length, 18 mm.; 
average length, 13-15 mm.; shell small, 
strong; spire short, sharp; typically 7 or 8 
whorls; body whorl about 1/2 length of shell; 
ornamentation of low axial folds, nodose at 
shoulders of whorls; body whorl usually 
smooth below nodes; sometimes faint spiral 
ribs; noticeable callus on inner lip; outer lip 
usually thickened; aperture slightly greater 
than 1/3 length of shell, denticulate within; 
sutures impressed, wavy; groove at base of 
body whorl not prominent; anterior canal 
short, recurved; posterior canal small; much 
color variation; basic color usually whitish 
or faintly yellow, often with varying numbers 
of brown spiral bands, particularly on body 
whorl; often highly polished. 
This species is exceedingly variable, parti- 
cularly in color and ornamentation. Some 
specimens possess no spiral threads, while 
