Page:American Seashells (1954).djvu/330

248 raised, spiral fold which is cut by i, 2, or 3 spiral, incised lines. Color varia- ble, but usually bluish gray or whitish brown with violet stains around the fasciole and lower part of the aperture. Brown and pure-white specimens are sometimes found. Abundant in summer months in sandy bays and beaches. Sometimes dredged down to 25 fathoms on gravel bottom. F^7inly MITRIDAE Genus Mitra Lamarck 1799 Mitra ftorida Gould Royal Florida Miter Plate 13! South half of Florida and the West Indies. 1/4 to 2 inches in length, with about 6 whorls. Characterized by its smooth, white, glossy whorls which bear on the last one about 1 6 spiral rows of evenly spaced, small, roundish dots of orange-brown. There are also odd patches of light orange-brown. 9 columella folds, the lower 7 being very weak. An uncommon species considered a choice collector's item. Formerly known as M. fergusoni Sowerby. Mitra swainsoni antillensis Dall Antillean Miter North Carolina to Florida and the West Indies. 3 inches in length, about M as wide, with the aperture half as long as the entire shell. 10 whorls smooth, except for 5 or 6 weak spiral threads on the upper fourth of the whorl. Columella with 4 slanting, spiral folds, the largest being the uppermost. Color grayish white with a light-brown to olive periostracum. Short siphonal canal slightly recurved. Rare. Mitra nodulosa Gmelin Beaded Miter Plate 26b North Carolina to Florida and the West Indies. % to I inch in length, solid, glossy, orange to brownish orange in color, and with about 1 7 long, axial riblets which are rather neatly beaded. Suture deep, with the whorls slightly shouldered. Columella folds 3, large and white. A common species frequently washed ashore or found under rocks at low tide. Mitra styria Dall Dwarf Deepsea Miter Lower Florida Keys and the West Indies. /4 inch in length, fusiform in shape, moderately fragile and ashen-white