Genus Gaza Watson 1879
Plate 3b
Northern Gulf of Mexico to the West Indies.
1 to 11⁄2 inches in width. Spire somewhat elevated. Color old ivory with a golden sheen. Early whorls faintly wine-colored. Although formerly thought to be one of our rarest shells, it is now known to be relatively common in the Gulf of Mexico in 50 or more fathoms. It is indeed a beautiful species.
The rare Gaza (Callogaza Dall 1881) watsoni Dall from deep water in the West Indies is illustrated in figure 32a.
Subfamily Monodontinae
Genus Tegula Lesson 1832
Plate 17p
Southeast Florida and the West Indies.
1⁄2 to 3⁄4 inch in width. Surface smooth; color yellowish to brown, with a fine mottling of reds, browns and blacks; often with a narrow, pale, spiral band of color on the periphery. Under the lens, spiral rows of alternating red and white, short lines or dots may be seen. Some specimens may have zigzag white bands. Interior of deep, round, smooth umbilicus and the callus are white. Two teeth at the base of the columella. Thick adults may have small teeth just inside the lower margin of the aperture. Whorl may be slightly concave just below the suture. In the young only, the umbilicus has two deep spiral grooves. Moderately common under rocks at low tide.
Key West and the West Indies.
3⁄4 inch in width and about 1⁄2 inch in length. Top of whorls sculptured with about a dozen fairly regular, small, spiral cords. The angular periphery of the whorls bears the largest cord. Umbilicus round, deep, and furrowed on its sides by two spiral cords, the upper one ending at the columella in a fairly sizeable bead. Columella set back quite far at its upper half; the lower section bears the bead, and below that there are several, smaller, indistinct beads. Color of shell grayish to brownish white with small mottlings of reddish or blackish brown. Operculum, as in all Tegula, horny and multi-spiral. Formerly scalaris Anton (not Brocchi) and indusi “Gmelin.” Common under rocks in the West Indies, but uncommon on the Lower Florida Keys.
