2 ‘Zs OX es ZY 4) / B nny ef VOLUME XXxXI, No. 1 ISSN 0885-1263 CALIFOrW A ACADEMY OF SCIENCES NOV 1 6 1994 LIBRARY OCTOBER 1994 The Texas Conchologist is the official publication of the Houston Conchology Society, Inc., and is published three times annually at Houston, Texas. It is distributed as part of the dues to all its members. The Society holds regular meetings the fourth Wednesday in each of the fol- lowing months: August, September, October, January, February, March, April, and May. In November, the meeting is held the third Wednesday. Meetings are held at Southside Place Club House, 3743 Garnet, Houston, Texas. Meetings begin at 8:00 p. m. The Texas Conchologist is published October, February and June. Itis mailed postpaid to reqular members in U.S. postal Zones. Overseas members will be charged additional postage. Only one copy will be mailed to a family member- ship. Dues extend from the beginning of the fiscal year of June 1 through May 31. However, the June issue of the Texas Conchologist each year is the third issue due on the regular dues year beginning June 1 of the previous year. Member- ships will be accepted throughout the year but will receive issues of that fiscal year. Members receive meeting Newsletters and have all other privileges provided by the Society's by-laws. Rates and Dues Family membership $12.00 Single Membership $10.00 Student membership $ 6.00 Single issues $ 2.50 Extra sets mailed to members $10.00 (Postage for overseas members required) Subscription $12.00 (Seamail $5.00, Airmail outside U.S. $8.00) Co-Editor Distribution Co-Editor Darwin Alder Gary Olson Constance E. Boone 5415 Dickson 3706 Rice Bivd. Houston, TX 77007 Houston, TX 77005 (713) 880-5946 (713) 668-8252 Editorial Advisor Helmer Ode' 3319 Big Bend Dr. Austin, Texas 78731 (512) 452-7799 The Texas Conchologist accepts contributions for publication from amateurs, Students, and professionals, subject to approval by the Editors. Manuscripts should be typed and double spaced, and should be in the hands of the Editors the first day of the month preceding publication dates. Photos accompanying articles are welcomed. TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXXI No.1, October, 1994 SEARCH AND SEIZURE BY CONSTANCE E. BOONE ITTY BITTY Recently | had a good chuckle on seeing the above title listed in a catalog of shells. Thus describing the shell was a throw back to what | once called tiny shells in my earlier years. Now, | say micro shells! However, | thought once again about the term when | caught reference to a new genus of Cerithiodea. Believe it or not, the late Joe Houbrick, a major researcher at the Smithsonian whose work on world-wide ceriths is well Known, named a genus /ttybittium. Once again | thought about how shells have been named. The present order devised by man dates back to the system set up by Linnaeus in 1758 when a two part Latin name was given for mollusks, as well as to other animals and plants. This has been revised and added to but the basis is still there. | also know that any one can name a mollusk as long as the rules of nomenclature set up by the International Commission of Nomenclature are followed. However, it has also been evident that not everyone should name a mollusk. All you have to notice is how often names get dis- carded. One researcher a long time ago remarked to me as follows: “Any damn fool can name a shell, and I've named quite a few myself." The trick is to do it properly, especially doing enough research to de- termine if what you have really is new. It involves checking with col- lections in major museums, investigating old literature, doing enough field work, studying the animals, knowing biology of mollusks, often doing electrophoresis and other sophisticated studies and not just single Studies. It's a serious business. Long ago, now, | was involved in collecting material for a researcher who wanted to see mollusks of a newly-named species. Since the specimens could be collected in Texas, | was asked to pro- vide some. No one had studied the animals. The result was a change of genus and family. Another time | collected the first live specimens of a micro mollusk found on our beaches that resulted in a change to TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXXI No. 1, October, 1994 another family and finally for a new family. Then there is the other problem that often today gets solved. Early workers naming shells brought in by ships to Europe from foreign ex- plorations did not get the correct information about the location of the new shell to science. The new shell was named, pictured and put in the literature with the wrong geographical range. Years and years later, the shell was given another name with a different, but correct, location. It finally becomes evident to later researchers that the first named shell is exactly the same as the second named shell. The decision is made that the two are the same, and the first name takes precedence. So the second name becomes a synonym, and the older name pre- vails. A classic case is a popular cone from the Gulf of Mexico and Eastern U. S. waters, Conus delessertii Recluz, 1843. The type local- ity listed for this shell when it was described was the Red Sea. In 1939 Bartsch named the shell for a sponge diver from Tarpon Springs, Florida, who brought in the shells from the Gulf of Mexico. He called it Conus sozoni, but finally researchers declared that Recluz had this shell in 1843 but with the wrong location. Consequently, we now have to use the older name. You will still see Sozon's Cone listed as the common name in books available to collectors. It has always been interesting to me to read the Latin names given mollusks. Some are humorous, some carry geographical reference, others are personal, some honor collectors or researchers. Still others describe the shell and so on. The late Dr. Alan Solem of Field Museum, who spent years working on land snails, vowed to name a genus of a land snail which would be always the last name in the alphabetical list. So if you check in Vaught's book of the classification of living mollusca you will see the last entry in the alphabetical list is Zyzzyxdonta, a genus in the family Endodontidae. | have no idea how to pronounce this. Jerry Walls, author of Cone Shells, named Conus tribblei for his favor- ite cat, Tribble, "who in turn was named after the featureless balls of fur made famous in the science fiction play ‘The Trouble with Tribbles' by David Gerrold, from the TV show Star Trek." TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXXI No.1, October, 1994 And then, if you really want a laugh, check out some of the COMMON NAMES devised by malacologists for the Common and Scientific Names of Aquatic Invertebrates volume on mollusks, published by the American Fisheries Society (1988). This*is being revised, | under- stand, and | wonder just how many more funny common names can be devised. Some of the scientific names are amusing. There is Soleyma reidi called the gutless awning clam. Plethobasus cyphyus is a sheepnose (unionid). Diplodonta soror is a sister diplodon. Chamydoconcha orchutti is the Orcutt nakedclam. Nemocardium tinctum is a dyed micro-cockle. Tellina probina is slandered tellin. Busycon pulleyi is named a prickly whelk (How did this happen!!!) Conus delessertiiis not given a common name. (Abbott=Sozon'sCone). Gastrocopta contracta is bottleneck snaggletooth. Prophysaon foliolatum is a yellow-bordered taildropper. Nesovitrea dalliana is called depressed glass. Tridopsis fradulenta is baffled threetooth. Many of the species listed in this book have no common names. Most of the turrids do not; our Amaea mitchelli epitonium does not. I've tried so hard to learn so say the Latin names that | can't get excited about common names. Darwin Alder once called to talk about finding the stepping shell which completely dumbfounded me. | had never called the marvellous little Pedipus mirabilis a stepping shell! | try to teach the docents in the museum to tell the students to try and pronounce the Latin names. | think it is just as easy, as Myra Keen was supposed to have said to her students, to say Epitonium scalare as to say went- letrap shell. Helmer Ode' says he thinks it would be neat to name a shell Alaba nana (get it?) How about bringing in your choice of the most unusual scientific name for a shell and submit the funniest or most unusual Common name. We'll judge the names and award prizes! We suggest a deadline set for the January meeting for your suggestions. Give them to Connie, please. TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXXI No. 1, October, 1994 MOLLUSCANBITS In the Chronicle's OFF THE BEATEN FACTS column recently, the following was printed: "Qa Why do slugs melt when you pour salt on them? A: Actually, slugs don't really melt. They don't have a shell, and their outer layer of skin is completely live skin. There is no layer of dead cells on the outside, as with human skin. When you sprinle salt on a slug, the salt pulls water out of it. It also pulls away the mucous that the garden slug uses to move itself along." THE SLUGS YOU SEE IN THE GARDEN ARE MOLLUSKS, INCASE YOU WONDER WHY WE TELL YOU SOMETHING ABOUT SLUGS. kkkke From the travel section of the Houston Chronicle recently there was a story about Vietnamese food. The headline heralded: VIETNAMESE FOOD HAS ELEMENT OF SURPRISE The story from Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) told about a "“memo- rable meal" atarestaurant. After appetizers, the owner finally arrived after a delay with the TOUR DE FORCE. He explained that the cook had very carefully cooked the special dish. He then served a large roasted tentacle from a cuttlefish, said to be a relative of a squid. The tentacle was stuffed with chopped cuttlefish. (Both squids and cuttlefish are mollusks. They provide more food worldwide than from bivalves.) If you like these molluscanbits, please submit your findings from litera- ture or publications for future entries for this new feature. Constance E. Boone TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXXI No.1, October, 1994 SHELLING IN TEXAS BY DARWIN G. ALDER This was a fabulous year for shelling in Texas. It was not due to storms, hurricanes, cold weather or the usual-reasons shells are found, but because of two fabulous conventions: A.M.U. in Houston and C.O.A. in Corpus Christi, both in July of 1994. | was invited to participate in both conventions. Constance E. Boone, President, of A.M.U. asked me to provide a nice little package containing two Epitonium angulatum, for the participants of A.M.U. These were my first two conventions. Several club members had tried to prepare me for what | would experience. The bourse and auction at each convention were a sight to behold. | have never seen so many shells or learned so much about mollusks in such a short time. It was a veritible treasure trove. | was asked also to provide some drift for the field trip | was to lead to the Surfside area, hosted by the Seashell Searchers of Brazoria County. In May of 1994, | was invited to give a program at the Coastal Bend Shell Club in Corpus Christi. | stopped at San Jose Island on my way and encountered some very interesting drift in about 0-12" of water. | scooped out a large sample. | took some of it to show the members at the meeting in Corpus Christi. They were duly impressed with the number of Epitonium that it contained. In all my years of collecting at San Jose Island, this was the largest number of Epitonium ss. | had ever collected. | had packaged a number of plastic bags of this drift to take to the field trip. | also had some that | had collected from Surfside and Quintana jetties earlier in May. The Seashell Searchers of Brazoria provided the location and the food for the field trip. They were kind enough to set up microscopes and lenses for the participants to study and iden- tify the specimens in the drift. Dr. Helmer Ode' and Dr. James McLean, who are interested in micro mollusks got a first hand sampling of whai was available. Dr. McLean took back a good sample to the L.A. County Museum. Summer is probably not the best time for collecting in Texas. It is very hot and there usually isn't too much drift. October through May is the better time for collecting in Texas. The cold fronts and the accompa- 5 TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXXI No. 1, October, 1994 nying storms stir up the bottom and bring in the best kind of of "worm goop", which is the source of many fine shells. A large percentage of shells found in Texas are less than an inch in length. These must not be overlooked when collecting. My shelling venture in Texas, at the conventions, was a highlight of my career as a Sheller. There wasn't exactly the same thrill as finding shells myself, but it was a situation of looking at so many shells on exhibit that | was quite overwhelmed. | met many wonderful people at the conventions. | saw shells pur- chased from as low as $.25 to one over $2,700.00, at C.O.A. It was a feeding frenzy when the dealers had their wares displayed. One thing | did learn was that if you wanted to think about purchasing a particular shell, you had to have the dealer set it aside for you. If you didn't and left it too long, unreserved, it was gone. So, to everyone who helped make the conventions a success, | salute you and thank you for the opportunity to attend. We welcome any and all articles on Shelling in Texas, past or present. Please submit them to the editors at your earliest convenience. They can be serious or humorous or anything in between. TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXXI No.1, October, 1994 BOONEA, CHRYSALLIDA, LIA, LIAMORPHA AND PSEUDOSCILLA: AND THE RULES CONCERNING ZOOLOGICAL NOMENCLATURE BY -# HENK K. MIENIS DEPT. EVOLUTION, SYSTEMATICS & ECOLOGY HEBREW UNIVERSITY 91904 JERSULAM ISRAEL In his treatment of the Pyramidellidae in the impressive, continuing monograph concerning the marine mollusca in the northwest Gulf of Mexico, Ode' (1993) made several statements which are not in agree- ment with the current rules on zoological nomenclature. These no- menciatorial problems are briefly commented upon below. a. In the discussion of Boonea seminuda (C. B. Adams, 1839) Ode' (1993: 54) wrote: If both anatomy and shell structure turn out to be similar to that of Boonea, Chrysallida will merely be reduced to a subgenus of Boonea". This statement is repeated in slightly different wording on page 62. However, this has to be just the other way around according to the rules of priority: Boonea Robertson, 1978 should be considered a subgenus of Chrysallida Carpenter, 1856! b. In the case of Pseudoscilla Boettger, 1901 and Lia de Folin, 1873 we have a similar situation. According to the rules of priority, Lia has 18 years precedence over Pseudoscilla. However, here the situa- tion is more complicated because Lia de Folin, 1873 is indeed preoc- Cupied, even three times: Lia Escholtz, 1829 and Lia Laporte, 1834 have been proposed for coleopterans (beetles), while Lia Morch, 1852 has been introduced for Leia Albers, 1850 (non Meigen, 1828-Diptera) in the Mollusca (Urocoptidae). Pilsbry was therefore quite right in chang- ing the name Lia de Folin, 1873 into Liamorpha. However, it took me almost a week to discover where and when Pilsbry made that change. The new name is, for example, not mentioned at all in the catalogue of "New names introduced by H. A. Pilsbry in the Mollusca and Crusta- cea" (Clench & Turner, 1962)! | looked also in vain for it in the classic works concerning systematic malacology (like Thiele and Wenz) or zoological nomenclature (Zoological Record and Zoological Nomenciator). The new name Liamorpha was finally located in...the index to the genera and subgenera, volumes 2-17 of the Manual of Conchology (Pilsbry, 1898: 313). TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXXI No. 1, October, 1994 This means that if Liamorpha and Pseudoscilla are indeed related on the subgeneric level then Liomorpha has 3 years priority over Pseudoscilla. \n the case nos. 470 and 471 in the monograph by Ode' should be called respectively Liamorpha (Pseudoscilla) babylonia (C. B. Adams, 1845 and Liamorpha (Liamorpha) decorata(de Folin, 1873). Note that Lia decorata de Folin, 1870 is a nude name of which the description was published only 3 years later (de Folin, 1873: 171, plt. 6, fig. 8). References: Clench, W. J., and Turner, R. D., 1962, New names introduced by H. A. Pilsbry in the mollusca and crustacea. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phil- adelphia, Spec. Publ., 4: 1-218. Folin, L. de, 1867-1887. In L. de Folin & L. Perier (Eds.): Les Fonds de la Mer. 4 vols. Ode' H., 1993 Distribution and records of the marine mollusca in the Northwest Gulf of Mexico (a continuing monograph). Texas Conchologist, 29 (3-4): 53-65. Pilsbry, H. A., & Sharp, B., 1898. Aplacophora (authors P. & S.). Index to genera and subgenera, volumes 2-17 (author P.). Man. Conch., (1) 17 (68, 65a): 225-348, I-XXXIl, plts. 38-48. TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXXI No.1, October, 1994 MONOGRAPH BY H. ODE' Distribution and Records of the Marine Mollusca in the Northwest Gulf of Mexico (A Continuing Monograph: Superfamily Pyramidelloidea, Family Pyramidellidae Part IV) Genus Sayella Dall, 1885 The early confusion about the placement of this genus is somewhat surprising. Dall was not certain about its place and originally assigned it to the Ellobiidae. Later workers have invariably designated Sayella by names used for odostomiid pyramidellids and although Sayella undoubtedly is pyramidellid it does not appear to be related to Odostomia. The early New England material was described as ‘Jaminea", aname now only used for some ellobiid snails (See Vaught, 1989). Perry and Schwengel (1955) have erroneously given one of the com- mon Western Atlantic Sayella species the name Odostomia acutidens. That species is a true Odostomia related presumably to O. conoidea (not in the Gulf of Mexico) and may be the same. Sayella was first noted in the upper Miocene or Lower Pliocene of Louisiana and was described under the name Syrnola thelma Dall, 1913. In his notorious paper of 1955 Bartsch described several Sayella species under such names as Odostomia (Odostomia) coxi, Orinella (Orinella) pliocena and Odostomia (Evala) willcoxi. Earlier he had described Pyramidella (Syrnola) winkleyi Bartsch, 1909, which is a synonym of Sayella fusca - C.B. Adams. | suspect, but cannot prove, that Sayella is related to the Pacific Agatha. Another genus that might be related is the circumnarctic Volutaxiella Strebel, 1908 (missed in Vaught, 1989). Noted should be the absence of Sayella in the Eastern Atlantic. Abbott, 1974 errone- ously puts Sayella producta in the genus Syrnola. Sayella differs from Odostomia in several respects. Most specimens are reddish brown or horn colored, in Texas often with a whitish subsutural band. Odostomia s s. is mostly purely white and seldom light yellowish. On a microscopic scale there is a clear difference with true Odostomia. Under large magnification, when the lighting is cor- rect, often well-defined spiral sculpture can be seen, which gives the shell surface of Sayella a reticulated aspect. In old specimens which are chalky and worn this sculpture can be completely erased. Finally 9 TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXXI No. 1, October, 1994 in Sayella the columellar plica ends not at 90 degrees but appears more as a fold on it. One of the difficulties in recognizing Sayella is the variability in shape with age and the differences in size of mature specimens. | suspect that among the many taxa created for this genus only a few can be called truly different species. All were defined purely by the geometry of the shell. Unfortunately, until much more analytical anatomical work is done and the animals have been studied in their natural habitat no convincing picture of the species can be obtained. Small juveniles are impossible to identify. Here | shail report several so called "species", which when more detailed information becomes available may prove to be only a single species, of which many morphological forms can occur. A telling argument that many of these forms are not different species is that one can collect often many of these forms at the same location in Texas coastal bays. That so many closely related "species" live in the same habitat is unlikely. Of all these forms quite small sized specimens can occur. These may not be different species but speci- mens which for unknown reasons never grew to normal size. Some are here listed separately. 505. Sayella laevigata (d'Orbigny, 1842) Chemnitzia laevigata d'Orbigny, 1842 [in Sagral, Hist. I'lle Cuba, Mollusques, Vol. 1, p. 227, pl. 17, figs. 7-9, St. Tho- mas. This very common species has been described under many different names. A fairly complete synonymy has been given by Abbott (1954) who included most of Bartschs' (1955) absurd species. Sayella laevigata is an extremely variable species. Whether such species as S. livida, chesapeakea, crosseana, hemphilli, bahamensis, watlingsi, fusca and producta are merely morphs of it, is still an open question. When one considers the total mass of material of Sayella in the N.W. Gulf of Mexico, one finds that no clear cut separa- tion can be made on the basis of shell shape and shell size. Here nevertheless on somewhat arbitrary grounds a dis- tinction between several forms is made; but it is recognized that further research may show that many of the so called Sayella species are merely morphs of one or at most 10 TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXXI No.1, October, 1994 two species. The shape of S. laevigata as usually figured is that of a not fully mature specimen, in which the final body whorl has not yet fully developed. In that form, the shell is regularly conical and looks very much like figure 658 in Rios (1975). The figure in Calnan (1980) however is Eulimastoma harbisonae Bartsch. Warmke and Abbott (1961) figure an immature specimen of wide apical angle. The drawings by Abbott 1958 and 1974, represent a juvenile and an almost mature specimen which has developed a more fusiform shape. In some specimens the body whorl for unknown reasons expands in diameter so that the shell assumes the shape of Sayella fusca as figured by Clench and Turner (1950). The best illustration of S. laevigata can be found in Andrews (1971), labelled Odostomia laevigata. Some syn- onyms are Odostomia (Syrnola) caloosaensis (Dall, 1892); Odostomia (Odostomia) bassleri Bartsch, 1955 and Odostomia (Odostomia) burnsi Bartsch, 1955. Records HMNS survey collection: 33 lots, from 0-71/2 fms, of which 6 lots contain live collected material. Only a single lot from offshore, all others from beaches and coastal bays (South Padre Island, Aransas Bay, Matagorda Bay, East Matagorda Bay and Galveston West Bay.) Max. size: 4.9 mm. Most specimens, however, are under 4 mm. Geographical range: "North Carolina to Florida and the West Indies. Brazil" (Abbott, 1974). E. P. A.: Sayella has not been reported for the Panamic faunal prov- ince. 506. Sayella crosseana Dall, 1885 Sayella crosseana Dall, 1885; Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., Vol. 8 (17), p. 286, pl. 18, fig. 10. Recent, Cedar Keys, Florida. This is a long slender species which is figured by Andrews (1971), but labelled "Sayella c. f. lividaRehder". As all other sayellas it is rather variable and also the suture varies in depth. Sometimes the last whorl is expanded but most speci- mens from Texas Bays are long, slender and somewhat fusiform. The apical angle in juveniles is definitely much 11 TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXXI No. 1, October, 1994 smaller than in another "species" of a rather Cerion-like as- pect, which Abbott (1974) labels S. livida. The nucleus is small and about halfway immersed. In an exceptionally long specimen of at least 9 whorls the color is brown and the body whorl is less than one third of the total length, but in smaller specimens and juveniles the body whorl may be more than one half of the total length. A short small form is not rare among the survey material. Also a few specimens with deeper suture resembling S. fusca are present so that | suspect that crosseana may be merely a southerly race of S. fusca. Records HMNS survey collection: 23 lots, from 0-1 fms., of which three contain live collected material (Matagorda Bay). All other lots come from bay beaches from South Padre Island to Galveston Bay. Max. size: 6.0 mm. Geographical range: "Egmont Key, West Florida; Texas; West Indies" (Abbott, 1974). E. P.A.: Sayella does not appear in the Panamic faunal province. 507. Sayella livida Rehder, 1935 Sayella livida Rehder, 1935; Nautilus, Vol. 48 (4), p. 129 pl. 7, fig. 7. Corpus Christi Bay, Texas. The name "livida Dall" was first used by Singley (1894) but is anomen nudum. It was later listed by Johnson (1934), but still not validated until 1935 by Rehder, who is now the author according to the rules of nomenclature. S. livida is a fairly common form of the complex of Sayella and can be easily confused with the slightly more slender crosseana. Both "species" differ in the magnitude of the apical angle. The color of this species is often more gray- ish than the other sayellas and then rarely with a slightly brownish hue near the bottom of the columella. Consider- ing the material in the survey collection it is probable that S. livida is merely a form of S. crosseana because they 12 TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXXI No.1, October, 1994 often are extremely similar in appearance and both live in the same ecological niche, and even the possibility cannot be excluded that both species are merely forms of S. laevigata. Among the survey material is a small number of small but mature appearing specimens. Records HMNS survey collection: 20 lots from 0-1 fms., of which 4 contain live collected material [Laguna Madre at South Padre Island, Aransas Bay, Matagorda Bay.] Also from beachdrift. Max. size: 4.6 mm. Geographical range: "Texas" (Abbott, 1974). E. P. A.: Sayella does not occur in the Panamic faunal province. 508. Sayella (?) sp. indet A. It is only for lack of a better classification that this species is listed here as a Sayella. The whorls are minutely spirally Striated by striae which can only be seen under high magni- fication. Its nucleus is highly elevated, far more than in the other Sayella species mentioned earlier, and is not im- mersed. In shape the shell is regularly fusiform similar to some juvenile sayellas from the coastal bays. Although much larger it resembles in some ways juvenile Careliopsis, but it never develops the same styliform aspect. All survey material comes from offshore waters, mostly below 20 fms., which points to a relationship very different from Sayella. Records HMNS survey collection: 7 lots, no live material from 12 fms. off Port Isabel to 32 fms. off Galveston; 5 lots from 23-27 fms. off Freeport, TX on muddy sand bottoms. Max. size: 1.4 mm. Geographic range: unknown. E. P.A.: not determined. 509. Sayella sp. indet B. A single specimen of a very small species was obtained from 30-31 fms. in algal grit from the 18 fms. lump. The collumellar plica is much reduced and can just be observed as a minor fold low on the columella. The only specimen is 13 TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXXI No. 1, October, 1994 bleached but there remains a faint brownish cast at the un- derside of the aperture. More material is necessary before any identification can be made. Records HMNS survey collection: 1 lot from the 18 fm. lump at about 30 fms. from algal grit. No live material. Max. size: 2.4 mm. Geographical range: unknown E. P. A.: Not in the Panamic faunal province. Genus Brachystomia Monterosato, 1884 This interesting genus is represented in the N. W. Gulf of Mexico by only a single species. Usually Brachystomiais considered a subgenus of Odostomia ss. but both genera have little in common. Brachystomia appears to be closely related to the eulimastomid odostomias. Its operculum is the same and its nucleus is of the immersed type. Under the microscope one can sometimes see in fresh specimens [live col- lected before corrosion of the outer surface of the shell can begin] under high magnification very fine spiral lines which in some cases give the impression that they are formed out of a row of microscopic dots. Kobelt (1905) who gave many excellent descriptions of Western European material described the type species B. rissoides Hanley, 1844 as having very fine growth lines and still finer spirals so that a some- what reticulate sculpture on a still finer microscopic scale is formed. Like B. rissoides, the only N. W. Gulf of Mexico species is variable in shape. 510. Brachystomia gibbosa (Bush, 1909). Odostomia gibbosa Bush, 1909: Am. Journ. Sci., 4th ser, Vol. 27, p. 482. New name for Odostomia modesta Bartsch, 1909, non Odostomia modesta Stimpson, 1851. Not pre- occupied by Chemnitzia gibbosa Carpenter, which is turbonillid. Non Odostomia modestum Deshayes, 1864, Eocene of Paris Basin (often misspelled "mo/estum’"). This is an extremely common and variable species, often obtained from beach drift. Juveniles are sometimes almost spherical, have a narrow umbilicus, and are glossy. In small material no growth lines or spiral lines of microscopic dots 14 TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXXI No.1, October, 1994 can be seen. Larger, live collected material, is often some- times yellowish white, but in rare cases ivory white and some- times has a very thin horn colored epidermis. The shapes of full grown shells vary somewhat in slender- ness, roundness of the body whorl and depth of the suture. Some specimens appear slightly keeled and others, espe- Cially juveniles, are stumpy. The umbilicus varies in width, but in most specimens is not more than a narrow slit. Once a number of live specimens collected in Galveston West Beach secreted, when transported in a handkerchief, a yel- low spot in it. There have been a number of closely resem- bling species described: virginica, ryalea and ryclea which could be identical. If it would turn out that this species as defined here is not the same as B. gibbosa Bush, 1909, one of the above labels would probably be correct. Records HMNS survey collection: 65 lots from 0-26 fms.; alive: 20 lots from 0-71/2 fms. Many lots from the coastal bays: Laguna Madre, Aransas Bay, Matagorda Bay (much live material), East Matagorda Bay, Galveston West Bay, Christmas Bay and Timbalier Bay (La). Often in beachdrift along the entire coast. Offshore at 30 feet at the end of the Galveston jetty. Also on Heald Bank and Ship Shoal (La). Max. size: 4.6 mm., but most specimens remain below 4 mm. Geographical range: "Maine to Southern Massachusetts" (Abbott, 1974). Abbott's figure shows a shell with deeper suture than most Texas material shows. E. P. A.: Although in the Dall and Bartsch, 1909 monograph no Brachystomia is mentioned for the Panamic faunal province some re- lated species are undoubtably present. Genus Eulimastoma Bartsch, 1916. The last group of odostomid species to be treated here are those that are related to Eulimastoma Bartsch, 1916, with type Odostomia (Scalenostoma) dotella Dall and Bartsch, 1909, recent from the Gulf of California, a species that lacks a columellar plica. Telloda Hertlein and Strong, 1951 is because its type is the same a full synonym. The main characters of eulimastomids are: the deeply immersed nucleus, the microscopic spiral striations (only visible in very fresh material!) and the V-shaped notched suture. For species with such characters 15 TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXXI No. 1, October, 1994 Pilsbry and Johnson, 1917 introduced Goniodostomia (Odostomia) superans from the Oligocene(?) of Santo Domingo generaly believed to be a synonym of Eulimastoma, and Laseron, 1959 created Parodostomia for an Australian species with a strong columellar plica but undoubtedly very close to Eulimastoma. Finally Corgan in 1967 introduced the generic name Kilatus for some shells collected from a Mississippi delta mudlump. These proved to be merely washed in juvenile specimens of the recent Eulimastoma weberi, living in the Coastal bays of Louisiana and Texas. A still older name may be Sulcorinella Dall and Bartsch, 1907, which was created for a fossil species with a peripheral sulcus, a single tooth and an immersed nucleus. However the name can not be used yet because Sulcorinella so far is considered purely pyramidellid and a good figure has not been published. (type Pyramidella dodona Dall). Bartsch erected the genus Eulimastoma for a number of species which are "elongate-conic in shape, nuclear whorls deeply obliquely immersed, post nuclear whorls flattened, strongly angulated at the periphery. The summit of the suceeding turn falls very much anterior to the angulated periphery and gives to whorls a decidedly overhanging appearance". To the genus Eulimastoma belong, in general, rather thick walled odostomiids without radial sculpture, with strongly V-shaped notched sutures and spiral striations. The presence of a columellar plica should not be included in the definition. Some species are without this plica, others have an exceptionally strongly developed one. Eulimastoma lives mainly in very shallow coastal waters where a num- ber of species, which | believe to be fairly recent mutants of E. canaliculata, have arisen. Many of these "species" differ from E. canaliculata by the manner in which suceeding whorls are appressed. After completion of 2 or 3 post nuclear whorls the developing whorl begins to fall down below the widest point of the periphery of the preceeding whorl. This produces a decrease in volume in the upper part of the whorl which is compensated for by a widening of the whorl at the base so that a "sawtooth " profile is produced. At the same time one or two ridges can form so that when several of these changes are combined there are many different aspects in shells which are un- doubtedly very closely related. Also the columellar plica in some forms, also probably to conserve room, has been reduced and even in some forms has completely disappeared. Life habits of Eulimastoma are unknown. In Matagorda Bay and especially in East Matagorda Bay 16 TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXXI No.1, October, 1994 most samples were very rich in Eulimastoma species and the only abundant bivalve was Mulina lateralis. | doubt that Eulimastoma para- sitizes this bivalve but their host-if any-remains unknown. Juveniles of the various species are practically indistinguishable and the more mature specimens can often be told apart only by examining their sideway profile. Because there are often intergrades this illustrates the futility of trying to identify this very difficult material by shell shape alone. Reported here are: canaliculata and two forms of it which appear very different, teres and a form intermediate to canaliculata, engonium, pocahontasae, harbisonae, weberi, and bartschi. \t is by no means certain that all these are truly different species, and | expect that future research will show a lesser number. Also noted here is that Eulimastoma occurs from Australia to the West Coast of the U.S.A., in the Panamic faunal province and in the West- ern Atlantic, but is missing in the Eastern Atlantic and the Mediterra- nean. 511. Eulimastoma harbisonae Bartsch, 1955 Eulimastoma harbisonae Bartsch, 1955 Smithsonian Misc. Coll. Vol. 125 (2), p. 82, pl. 16, fig. 1. Pliocene of St. Pe- tersburg, Florida. A rather small and easily overlooked species that has the size of E. weberi, but lacks the strongly developed spiral ridges of that species. After two post nuclear whorls have been completed the 3rd whorl in harbisonae suddenly de- scends strongly so that a deep notch is formed and about two whorls then formed are rounded without keels. The aperture is rather narrow and high and rounded below. This species has only been collected in some of the Texas coastal bays (Laguna Madre, Aransas Bay, Matagorda Bay), but sometimes in large numbers, mostly as dead shells. Calnan (1980) states that it is the most abundant gastropod in Copano Bay, but labels it as Odostomia laevigata. Similar to a few other eulimastomids, E. harbisonae produces speci- mens with open and with closed umbilicus. Bartsch, 1955 unwisely gives both different labels [harbisonae and olssoni 17 TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXX I No. 1, October, 1994 Bartsch, 1955]. There is a strongly developed columellar plica. The trivial name harbisonae is used because it was listed first. Records HMNS survey collection: 31 lots from the coastal bays only (0-1 fms.), one lot alive from along the old Aransas Bay Cause- way; rare in beachdrift along the outer beaches (Mustang Island, Matagorda). Max. size: 2.7 mm. Geographical range: described from the Pliocene of St. Petersburg, Florida. E. P.A.: not determined. 512. Eulimastoma weberi (Morrison, 1965) Odostomia weberi Morrison, 1965; Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash- ington, Vol. 78, p. 221, fig 3. Barataria Bay, Louisiana. This widespread and common species is one of the typical forms of the large Eulimastoma complex. The essential structure is typical eulimastomid: no columellar plica, a whorl with two well developed keels and microscopic spiral striations and an immersed nucleus. All specimens are rather thick-walled. There is great variability in shape. Many populations produce specimens with wide apical angles and heavy development of spiral ridges. In others, specimens grow more slender with strongly developed ridges and ap- proach smaller size E. teres, to which this species is closely related. Fresh specimens are slate gray and become white and chalky when dead. Ina few rare specimens the keels are sometimes hardly developed. Such specimens begin to approach E. harbisonae in outlook but lack the conspic- uous plica of that species (hybrids?). The specimen fig- ured by Altena (1975) from Surinam as E. weberiis not that species, but a-in Texas rare-offshore species closely related to E. teres or E. canaliculata. (See E. sp. indet A). It is still another morphological form in the large canaliculata-teres- engonium complex of genetically very closely related forms. Records HMNS survey collection: 59 lots from 0-23 fms. of which 24 contain live collected material. Rare in beachdrift, but common in all coastal bays from the Laguna Madre, Aransas Bay, Matagorda Bay, 18 TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXXI No.1, October, 1994 Galveston West Bay, to Timbalier Bay (La.). Also in shell debris from an erupting mudlump, but undoubtedly washed in. A few lots were taken in the 8-23 fms. range offshore Freeport and Galveston but the species does not live in offshore waters. Max. size: 2.7 mm. Geographical range: Only in muddy coastal bays of the north shore of the Gulf of Mexico. E. P. A.: no closely related species in the Panamic faunal province. 513. Eulimastoma teres (Bush, 1885) Odostomia engonia var. teres Bush, 1885; Trans. Conn. Acad. Arts and Sci., Vol 6, p. 467, pl. 45, fig. 7. Eulimastoma teres belongs in the highly variable complex of somewhat larger eulimastomids. Bush (1885) consid- ered E. teres a subspecies of E. engoniumand Altena (1975) described another species from Surinam (surinamense). Abbott (1974) lists teres and engonium as different species, and | believe he is correct in doing so. Typical teres can be immediately recognized by the strongly swollen ridge near the base of the whorl, producing the sawtooth profile of the shell cone. E. teres differs from typical E. engonium by being more slender and having a peripheral sulcus, but it is not always easy to separate both species especially when the shells are worn. Altena (1975) created E. engonium surinamense, which | believe is iden- tical with E. teres but denied by Altena (see Altena, 1975, p. 71). Among the abundant survey material are numerous specimens exactly resembling Altena's figure (p.72, fig. 27). In the survey material these are related by a continuous series of forms with specimens of the form given here in the figure # 3. There exists a difficulty in the E. teres complex. E. teres as defined here does not even have the vestige of a tooth. There are however specimens closely resembling E. teres, which may be somewhat smaller and thinner, with a strong columellar plica. The material is set apart here as “E. canaliculata resembling teres". 19 TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXX I No. 1, October, 1994 Specimens of teresdiffer in the number of initial post nuclear whorls which are separated by a narrow and shallow suture. Usually after about 2-3 whorls a V-shaped notched suture forms. This causes in most specimens a reduction in radial measure of the upper part of the whorl so that the peculiar aspect of overhanging whorls is created. In some speci- mens however, this sudden narrowing does not take place and the result is a perfectly straight conical shell, which closely resembles E. canaliculata; only there is no plica and the suture is much wider and deeper than in canaliculata. Immature specimens of E. teres can often be recognized by the peripheral sulcus they possess. It is formed by a thinning of the shell wall just below the periphery of the whorl. The suture can often be seen to extend to the outer margin of the aperture. In mature and senile specimens this sulcus may show up in the V-shaped notched suture. Such specimens were named surinamense by Altena (1975). Characteristic for E. teres is the forward projection of the outer lip of the aperture. Because this projection is thin-it becomes of normal thickness later when the shell develops further-it is often broken off. For this feature see the figure of E. bartschi. Records HMNS survey collection: 44 lots from 0-26 fms., 13 lots of which contain live collected material. (Only from coastal bays: Matagorda Bay, Christmas Bay, and once from Galveston West Beach). Offshore dredged material was either displaced (washed out from the bays) or are Pleistocene or Holocene fossils. Dead shells from all Texas coastal bays. Max. size: 4.8 mm. Geographical range: "Off North Carolina and South Carolina, 14 to 22 fms." (Abbott, 1974). E. P. A.: Odostomia (Scalenostoma) dotella Dall and Bartsch. 1909 from the Gulf of California is undoubtedly close but could be even closer to E. engonium. E. subdotella Hertlin and Strong, 1951 is the same as E. dotella. 20 TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXXI No.1, October, 1994 514. Eulimastoma engonium (Bush, 1885) Odostomia engonia Bush, 1885; Trans. Conn. Acad. Arts and Sci. Vol. 6, p. 446, pl. 45, fig. 9. This is a more regularly shaped and rounder species than E. teres, which can reach a larger size than E. teres. Its suture is less deep, and it lacks the second groove in the suture. In many specimens the apical angle is wider than in E. teres, but some material with rather rounded whorls can be slender. This species is rather variable with respect to the depth of the suture, size, slenderness, etc. In senile specimens the vestige of a tooth (as a very thin thread spi- ralling the columella) can often be observed. The aperture of engonium is more diamond shaped than that of E. teres. Senile specimens are often very thick walled. Eulimastoma teres is a bay form and E. engonium a shallow water off- shore inhabitant. No live collected material is in the survey collection. Of E. weberi, teres and engonium no fossil material is known. Perhaps Orinella (Sulcorinella) locklini Bartsch, 1955 is another form of this complex. Records HMNS survey collection: 29 lots, no live material from 0- 25 fms. Remarkably there is no coastal bay material in the survey collection (only one lot of a single old specimen from Matagorda Bay where E. teres is abundant). Most lots come from offshore Freeport- Galveston in 6-11 fms. and a number from beachdrift pickings from the outer beaches. (South Padre Island, Port Aransas, Galveston). _ Also from Stetson Bank and Heald Bank. Max. size: 6.5 mm. (apex broken). Geographical range: "Off Carolina to the Florida Keys, 16-200 fms." (Abbott, 1974). E. P. A.: see remarks under E. teres. 515. Eulimastoma canaliculata (C. B. Adams, 1850) Odostomia canaliculata C. B. Adams, 1850, Contr, Conch. Vol. 1 (5), p. 10. recent, Jamaica. See also Clench and Turner, 1950 Occ. Pap. Moll., M. C. L., Harvard, Vol. 1 (15), p. 262, pl. 40, fig. 3. 21 TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXX I No. 1, October, 1994 This common and extremely variable species presents many difficulties because of its variability. Here it is assumed that its many different shapes are merely different morphs of a single species, because | believe that many different but quite similar species are unlikely to live in a single habi- tat. Several shapes have been figured: Clench and Turner (see above); Warmke and Abbott, 1961 (pl. 26, fig. I) and Altena, 1975 (figs. 26 a and b). Surprisingly this species is not listed in Abbott, (1974). In the bays and offshore waters E. canaliculata has developed several forms which, when seen separately in small numbers, would appear as differ- ent species to those who only consider shell shape. When large numbers of specimens become available these forms are seen to merge in the most astounding manner. In the first place there is a straight-sided slender, rather large conical form with a V-shaped suture of varying depth and a well developed columellar plica. There is also a smaller form, with a more rounded base which is not straight- sided. This form approximates the smaller E. pocahontasae which has a narrow suture. Both in deeper offshore waters and in some bays very dif- ferent looking forms can be collected. However, in several lots of many specimens these forms are impossible to sepa- rate from the straight-sided form depicted by Clench and Turner because one can easily form sequences of shells which change continuously from one form into the other. Among these forms are some rather thin-shelled ones with larger apical angles and often a keel at the periphery of the body whorl. Umbilicus and strength of the columellar plica vary. | have taken here the perhaps unusual step to sepa- rate the most divergent material out, but still retain the la- bel E. canaliculata and hope that the expert knowledge of others in the future can solve these problems. Records HMNS survey collection: 39 lots from 0-70 fms., of which 5 contain live collected material. It has been rarely taken from beachdrift [St. Joseph Isl., Galveston West Beach], often from the bays [Matagorda Bay, Aransas Bay] and from sandy sand bottoms in the 7-25 fms. range. Several lots from deeper water are anomalous and will be reported 22 TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXXI No.1, October, 1994 separately. Max. size: 3.6 mm. Geographical range: Jamaica (C. B. Adams); Curacao and Aruba (de Jong and Coomans); Surinam (Altena, 1975) and the "West Indies" (Warmke and Abbott, 1961). E. P. A.: Several "species" in Dall and Bartsch (1909) are undoubtedly closely related eulimastomids. (f. i Odostomia farella and mammillata, pl. 30, figs. 4 and 8) which both appear to be juvenile specimens. 516. Eulimastoma canaliculata C. B. Adams, form close to teres. This is a rather slender form, closely resembling E. teres, but smaller, more thinly walled, not as strongly sutured. The whorls are seldom arranged without overhang. There is a slight narrowing of the middle of the whorl so that its profile is somewhat concave. This is still another form in the con- fusing complex of eulimastomid species. There is a well developed columellar plica. | expect fully that more re- search will justify the placement of the material in E. canaliculata, and there can be no doubt that it is quite close to E. teres. The peripheral sulcus of the latter is missing in this material. Also in canaliculata the margin of the outer lip projects forward. Usually it is broken off because it is thinner than the later part of the whorl. E. canaliculata close to teres has only been collected in the coastal bays: Matagorda Bay (alive), Galveston West Bay and one lot from along the Corpus Christi Causeway. One old specimen from 11 fms. off Galveston. Records HMNS survey collection: 11 lots from 0-1 fms., of which 3 contain live collected material. Max. size: 3.0 mm. Geographical range: unknown. E. P. A.: not determined. 517. | Eulimastoma canaliculata (C. B. Adams, 1850). Deep wa- ter form. A slightly different modification, probably not more than a 23 TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXX I No. 1, October, 1994 deep water adaptation is here separated from the main stock of E. canaliculata. The differences are: 1) the whorls are slightly swollen; 2) the specimens are often more slender; 3) the body whorl is sometimes slightly larger than "normal" canaliculata; 4) the aperture is slightly squarish and often there is an open umbilicus. Records HMNS survey collection: 7 lots from 20-67 fms., but mostly below 50 fms. One lot from the mud lump fauna (La.) and one lot from Clay Pile Bank (20 fms.). No live collected material. Geographic range: unknown E. P. A.: not determined. 518. Eulimastoma sp. indet A. Of this rare offshore form only a few lots have been ob- tained (off Galveston; Heald Bank and Stetson Bank). Altena (1975) figures it as Eulimastoma weberi(p.72. fig. 28). There can be little doubt that it is closely related to the material here called "E. canaliculata close to teres." Its sideways view shows a perfectly straight profile with two minor ridges, one below and one above the suture, which for Eulimastoma is rather narrow. Most probably this is another morph of the E. canaliculata complex. Most of the survey material looks old and corroded and it could be that the particular form no longer lives along the Texas Coast. Records HMNS survey collection: 6 lots, no live material, from 4- 30 fms. Max. size: 3.0 mm. Geographical range: Surinam (Altena, 1975) E. P. A.: not determined. 519. Eulimastoma sp. indet B. This species of intermediate size is still another morph of uncertain specific status. The body whorl is strongly keeled and it appears that a narrow round chord is wound around 24 TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXXI No.1, October, 1994 the base of the whorl. Often the shell in this species ap- pears thinner than that of the larger species. It is possible that "Odostomia sp." reported and figured by de Jong and Coomans, 1988 (pl. 6, fig. 64) is this species although the Texas material has a straighter profile than their figure. Most of the survey material (not all!) has an observable columel- lar plica. This species occurs both in the coastal bays and offshore waters. Records HMNS survey collection: 13 lots form 0-16 fms. of which one contains live collected material (Christmas Bay). Also dead from Matagorda Bay. Offshore mainly from 8-16 fms. off Galveston and Freeport. Also collected in shell debris from the mudlump fauna (La.). Max. size: 3.1 mm. Geographical range: unknown E. P.A.: It is possible that Odostomia mammillata Carpenter collected at Mazatlan, Mexico is very close. 520. Eulimastoma pocahontasae (Henderson and Bartsch,1914) Odostomia (Evalea) pocahontasae Henderson and Bartsch, 1914; Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., Vol. 47 (2055), p. 45, pl. 13, fig. 6. Type from Virginia. This is in the N. W. Gulf of Mexico an offshore form, which is unexpected because the type was obtained from a coastal bay (Chincoteague Bay, Virginia). In all probability E. pocahontasae is still another adaptation of E. canaliculata to its environment. This species differs from the common straight conical E. canaliculata by its much smaller size, its shallow threadlike suture and its slightly inflated whorls. It has been taken several times offshore from Aransas Pass (71/2 fms.) to Freeport (9-25 fms.) and Galveston (6-10 fms.) It was also collected in shell grit from the "18 fathoms lump" and the "24 fathom lump" and a drowned reef off Cameron (La.) at 55 fms. One lot was collected along the old cause- way at Port Aransas, but here often deeper water material was obained, probably Pleistocene fossils. All the survey material does not have a straight conical profile but is slightly oval in outline like the figure in Abbott (1974, no. 3550) shows. The species has a well-developed plica. 25 TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXX I No. 1, October, 1994 Records HMNS survey collection: 19 lots from 0-55 fms.; no live material. Max. size: 2.7 mm. Geographical range: "Chincoteague Bay, Virginia, 2.4 mm". (Abbott, 1974). E.P.A.: There are several evaleas listed for the West Coast and the Panamic faunal province which resemble this species. 521. Eulimastoma c. f. bartschi (Winkley, 1909). Pyramidella (Sulcorinella) bartschi Winkley, 1909; Nautilus, Vol. 23 (3), p. 39, text figure, type from Wood's Hole, Mass. This is the rarest of the Texas eulimastonids. It is a rather straight sided, horn colored, thin walled species. On some specimens, under the correct lighting a number of very fine grooves on the periphery can be detected. The nucleus is of the immersed type, and there is a little developed col- umellar plica. The outer margin of the lip of the aperture projects forward. (see fig. 11.) Further research must jus- tify the placement of the species in Eulimastoma and even as a valid species (morph of pocahontasae?). It was de- scribed from New England but is omitted in Abbott (1974). Records HMNS survey collection: 7 lots, from 0-81/2 fms., of which 3 contain live collected material: one from algal scrapings near the Coast Guard Station at South Padre Island; one from sea grass near Rockport, Aransas Bay and a 3rd lot from a rock ridge 40 miles south of Galveston. Dead from Heald Bank. Max. size: 2.0 mm. Geographical range: New England, U.S.A. E. P.A.: It is possible that the species described as Evalea stocki de Jong and Coomans, 1988 is this species. 522 Eulimastoma sp. indet C. Four lots of a quite different puzzling species were obtained in deep water. They were all very small pupoid shells which at first glance would appear to be juvenile E. weberi. A single lot might have been thought a displaced specimen 26 TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXXI No.1, October, 1994 three lots from 27, 67, and 75 fms. off Freeport and one from 69 fms. off the Mississippi Delta make that unlikely. Thus this material can not be identified and more data must be obtained. It may be suggested that this material possi- bly is related to the very loosely defined genus Cricolophus Weisbord, 1962 that was based on a single fragmental shell. (Tertiary of Venezuela). Records HMNS survey collection: 4 lots from 27-75 fms.; no live collected material. Max. size: 1.2 mm. Geographical range: unknown. To be continued... fig. 1 Eulimastoma harbisonae from Aransas Pass Causeway; 2mm. 27 TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXX I No. 1, October, 1994 Fig. 2. Eulimastoma weberi from Matagorda Bay; 2.3 mm. Fig. 3. Eulimastoma teres Christmas Bay 2.4 mm. 28 TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXXI No.1, October, 1994 Fig. 4. Eulimastoma engonium Stetson Bank; 3.2 mm. a {ee Ee Fig. 5. Eulimastoma canaliculata from 12 fms. off Galveston; 2.9 mm. 29 TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXX I No. 1, October, 1994 Fig. 6. Eulimastoma canaliculata close to teres Matagorda Bay: 2.8mm. Fig. 7. Eulimastoma canaliculata deep water form 5.1 fms. off Louisiana 30 TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXXI No.1, October, 1994 % Fig. 8. Eulimastoma sp. indet A. Stetson Bank; 3.0 mm. fig. 9. Eulimastoma sp. indet. B mud lump fauna; 2.8 mm. 31 TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXX I No. 1, October, 1994 Fig. 10. Eulimastoma pocahontasae tooth present, but deep in aperture Heald Bank, 36-40 ft.; 1.6 mm. Fig. 11. Eulimastoma bartschi live from Aransas Bay, Texas; 1.3mm. 32 HOUSTON CONCHOLOGY SOCIETY, INC. Officers 1994-1995 President: Darwin G. Alder Program Vice President: Virginia Joiner Field Trip Vice-President: Dave Barziza Treasurer: Cheryl Hood Recording Secretary: Angela Doucette Corresponding Secretary: Dave Green Directors: Lonnie Hood Barbara Hudson Nancy Mustachio Harry Sharp Rusti Stover Carol Andrews Vartian Immediate Past President: Mary Martin Co-Editor, Texas Conchologist Constance E. Boone Co-Editor, Texas Conchologist Darwin G. Alder Honorary Life Members Constance E. Boone Dr. Helmer Ode' TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXXI No.1, OCTOBER 1994 Table of Contents Search and Seizure Itty Bitty by Constance E. Boone...............:::se:sssssssssessssssees 1 Molluscanbits by Constance E. BOOme...............sssssssssssssssssssssssees 4 Shelling in Texas By Darwitry Gi Ald @ Wirt icc. cicnnccesncsscapsaceosinansoectceneeeneve 5 Boonea, Chrysallida, Lia, Liamorpha and Pseudoscilla: and the Rules Concerning Zoological Nomenclature by Henk -K. MiGiinG..siiciccc oases 7 Distribution and Records of the Marine Mollusca in the Northwest Gulf of Mexico (A Continuing Monograph: Superfamily a ee Family Pyramidellidae, Part IV) by Helmer Ode ii scccai cc wacdisntdtnd opsdasvanscanradlovseiaraas 32 a CONCHOLOGIST QL evor7 T4 Gr Sie R VOLUME XXxXI, No. 2 ISSN 0885-1263 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES APR 2 6 1999 LIBRARY FEBRUARY 1995 11 2 Oliva dealbata - 6 10 Rictaxis punctostriatus * 1 2 1 Acteocina canaliculata 41 17 14 Cylichnella bidentata * - 1 1 Pyramidella crenulata - 2 - Boonea impressa 28 - 1 Fargoa bushiana * 1 - - Fargoa gibbosa * 1 1 1 Odostomia emeryi * - 1 - Odostomia laevigata * 1 - 1 Sayella livida - 2 - Eulimastoma harbisonae * - - 1 Eulimastoma teres * 2 - - Turbonilla elegantula * 3 - - Turbonilla interrupta 2 2 6 Turbonella portoricana - 1 - Turbonilla hemphilli - 5 3 Turbonilla sp. B* - 1 6 Turbonilla sp. G - - 1 Melampus bidentatus - 2 1 Pedipes mirabilis * - - 1 Dentalium texasianum 36 46 60 Nuculana acuta 24 27 10 Nuculana concentrica - 101 118 Anadara brasiliana - ZT 5 Anadara transversa 16 59 79,1pr Anadara ovalis 1 30 25,1pr Noetia ponderosa - 5 4 Brachidontes domingensis - 11 10 Brachidontes modiolus 1 - - Ischadium recurvum 3 - ; 62 TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXXI No. 2, February, 1995 Species Argopecten irradians amplicostatus Anomia simplex Crassostrea virginica Ostrea equestris Lucina pectinata Linga amiantus Parvilucina multilineata Diplodonta soror Ensitellops protexta * Aligena texasiana Mysella planulata Carditamera floridana Crassinella lunulata Crassinella martinicensis * Trachycardium muricatum Laevicardium mortoni Laevicardium (Dinocardium) robustum Mulinia lateralis Ervilia concentrica Ensis minor Tellina tampaensis Tellina versicolor Tellina alternata Tellina iris Tellidora cristata Strigilla gabbi Donax texasianus Donax variabilis roemeri Donas variabilis variabilis Abra aequalis Cumingia tellinoides vanhyningi Mytilopsis leucophaeta Tagelus divisus Polymesoda maritima Dosinia discus Cyclinella tenuis Gemma purpurea * Chione cancellata Chione grus Mercenaria campechiensis texana 63 Mag Bch PortO Port O north south - 1 62 58 1 3 85 95 14? - 2 3 20,1pr 20,1pr Ipc 2 1 : 6 20 1 3 3 T 4 10 - 1 6 1 26 3 1267 908 - 3 Ipc 1pc 14 9 7 14 1 1 - 1pr 1 . 3pc - 10 24 45 39,2pr 23 13 35 83, 1pr 1 : 4 3 3 3 4 1 36 25 Ipc 3 : 1 3 1 1 3 5 TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXXI No. 2, February, 1995 Species Mag PortO PortO Bch north south Anomalocardia auberiana 47 164 178 Petricola pholadiformis - Ped 1 Corbula contracta * - 4 - Corbula dietziana 9 24 34 Corbula swiftiana * - 9 - Gastrochaena hians * - - Sphenia tumida * - 1pr 1pr Hiatella arctica * - - Cyrtopleura costata - 1pc 1pc Pandora trilineata - 2 Periploma margaritaceum - 1 1 unidentified gastropods 3 6 z unidentified bivalves 2 7 6 The species indicated with an * are the ones that | found for the first time in these drift samples. The identifications and nomenclature are generally consistent with Shells and Shores of Texas, by J. Andrews. Although there are some that | have reservations about, and also a number that | have been unable to comfortably assign a name, they represent the level of knowledge that | have been able to achieve at this time. Some interesting conclusions and comparisons can be made. To start with, | was able to collect 35 species of shells that | had not collected before, plus probably some others that are not yet identified. Some of these, especially the gastropods, are probably juveniles that | am un- familiar with. At Magnolia Beach, the species having the greatest numbers are gas- tropods, Diastoma varium and Caecum pulchellum, with Acteocina canaliculata not far behind the leading bivalve species Anomalocardia auberiana. \t is also interesting that there are a number of smail gas- tropods in this sample that don't show up in the Port O'Connor mate- rial. This includes species like Cerithiopsis greeni, Seila adamsi, Rissoina catesbyana, and Caecum pulchellum. The last named is es- pecially interesting, since it showed up in such numbers in the Magno- lia Beach sample. Likewise, there are a number of species which are in the Port O'Connor samples, but not in that from Magnolia Beach 64 TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXXI No. 2, February, 1995 At Port O'Connor one species is dominant, and it is no surprise that it is Mulinia lateralis. This seems to be the norm for beach drift along the Texas coast, whether from the outer beaches or in the bays. Depar- tures from this, as in the Magnolia Beach sample, are exceptions to this rule. Anomalocardia auberiana is second in abundance in both samples, and Nuculana concentricais the third most abundant bivalve. In the sample at the north end of the beach it is exceeded by the leading gastropod, Nassarius acutus, but not at the south end. Other significant gastropoda were Diastoma variium, Natica pusilla and Crepidula plana. Definitely, this shows that a lot can be learned by collecting drift and analyzing the shells that are found in it. Many of the smaller species cannot be readily found otherwise. CONCH FRITTERS Sift together into a bowl 3/4 cup flour and 1 1/2 teaspoons each of baking powder and salt. Add 3 eggs, lightly beaten, and 2 tablespoons melted butter and beat the mixture well. Put through the finest blade of a food chooper 1 cup raw conch and 1 medium onion, and stir the mixture into the batter with 1/2 teaspoon crushed thyme. Drop the mixture by scant teaspoons into hot fat (390 degrees F.) and brown the fritters on both sides, turning them once. Drain the fritters well on absorbent paper and serve them with wedges of Key lime and tangy seafood sauce. (Courtesy GOURMET Magazine, Jan., 1965) COQUINA SOUP In one cup of water and 1/2 cup of Chablis wine, gently steam 2 quarts washed coquinas in shells for 20-25 minutes. Strain off liquid and save. Discard shells. In a double boiler, heat 1 cup of milk and 1 cup half and half. While above is heating combine 2 tablespoons soft butter with 2 tablespoons flour into smooth paste. Add this paste to the liquid strained off shells. Heat gently over low heat, stirring con- stantly until mixture thickens slightly. Now add milk and half and half mixture, seasoning with 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper and 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg. Cook gently for a few minutes on low heat. Just before removing from heat to serve, add 1 oz. sherry. (Courtesy of Chicago Shell Club). 65 TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXX! No. 2, February, 1995 SHELLING ON THE FLATS OF SAN LUIS PASS TAKE A BACK SEAT TO THE COMFORTS OF HOME BY DARWIN G. ALDER On January 20, 1995, field trip vice-president Dave Barziza and his wife Nancy arranged a trip to their beach house near San Luis Pass, Texas. There was a low tide that exposed flats and bars that are usu- ally under water . Dave had built a crow's nest at his beach house that allowed us to go about 30 feet up and get a good bird's eye view of the flats and sand bars. We took his field glasses and looked around to see the best places to try to shell and some of us, the early birds, decided to go to the Galveston side. | had spoken with Connie Boone on Friday night and told her that | was going to go down with Rusti Stover to the Galveston side of San Luis Pass and would be there sometime after 8:00 a. m. and then on to the Barziza's beach house. She said that she thought that she would go down later and meet us but was going to investigate the flats. It was not a good day for vehicles. | barely made it over to Rusti's house, because my van was really not running well. We took Rusti's car down to the beach. When we got there Rusti's battery “died", and we had to hitch rides with other participants. Dave Barziza, Rusti Stover, Carol Andrews, Angela Doucette, Harry Sharp, and | went to the beach, parked our cars under the bridge, and walked along the beach towards San Luis Pass. We didn't see very many shells. There was a small drift line with a few of the common shells readily visible but not too much else. There was some fresh gorgonia and some seaweed. We shook some of the seaweed to find small shells that were crabbed. We looked up to see someone com- ing along the beach towards us we got closer, and greeted Connie Boone. Connie had been driving and running all around looking for us at the beach. She told us that she had looked everywhere for my van and just couldn't find it. She got a bit of a chuckle when she realized it just wasn't there, but did say she was a bit frustrated trying to locate us. Shelling was not very good, so most of us walked back to our cars and returned to Nancy and Dave's beach house. There we found a few 66 TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXX! No. 2, February, 1995 club members who didn't go to the beach and were busy playing Texas Bingo. Later, even more club members showed up for the party at the beach house--so we really had a beach field trip that took second place to the Barziza's hospitality! Dave and Nancy are excellent hosts and had a veritable feast prepared. Others who came included, Yolande Ishee, Dee Balderas, Jerry and Lucy Clampit, John and Nancy Mustachio. Later we were joined by Catherine Bland and her hus- band, Steve Browning and Nancy, Bob Wall, his friend and her daugh- ter, Dave and Lucille Green There were about 20 people on the field trip. It was a beautiful day and the sun was shining brightly and the tide was low. That, in itself,should have kept us at the beach. Well, the only thing we did after that was stay indoors, eat, play games, converse, eat and play Texas Bingo, and eat. We had fried blue crab, kingfish nuggets, cabbage rolls, casseroles, potato salad, fresh bread, gumbo, snacks, treats, pecan pie, gingerbread, and a chocolate cake with a thick frosting of chocolate and pecans. The camaraderie and marvel- ous array of food took first place. There wasn't much need to have a show and tell because there wasn't much to show or tell about. We just enjoyed Dave and Nancy's shell decorations, including a basket of junonia from the dumps in Florida. We did find a few micro shells. The companionship and good times far out-weighed any shell we might have found. A few of us stayed and watched a video that Rusti took at the field trip to the scallop dumps in Apalachicola in November. It was a nice end- ing to a great day. So, our field trip to the beach turned out to be a fabulous club social, and we did have a good time. When everyone left, we started Rusti's car and by good fortune, her battery came "alive" and we headed back to Houston. 67 TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXX! No. 2, February, 1995 THE MOUND BUILDERS OF APALACHICOLA BY LESLIE ALLEN CRNCOVIC Over the Thanksgiving Holidays of 1994 a group of about 20 men and women from various parts of Texas and even Florida converged to excavate the sacred ritual mounds around the waters of Apalachicola Bay and St. Andrews Sound. In ancient times the Seminole Indians of northern Florida were known as mound builders. In Fort Walton Beach and Tallahassee there are museums at the sites of excavated mounds. The tradition of mound building is still going on today...but just in a bit different way. The largest of the mounds we excavated was about 20' tall and a little less than half a football field in size. It was built by local natives through the summer of 1994. The natives were not Seminoles but rather a variety of water borne hunters. They were gatherers of bay scallops which they used for both food and trade. The shells them- selves they simply discarded in huge piles which were shaped into large mounds awaiting a later fate. The mounds | am referring to are better known as the "Scallop Dumps", the place where empty scallop shells from the commercial fisheries and all the overcatch go to rest before they become road fill. The "discard" is what we wanted...all those extra varieties of shells they didn't mean to catch. As for the motley crew! There was no time wasted before we got hard at work. We dug, scooped, and picked over and under. Amongst our crew were members of the Houston Conchology Society, Sea Shell Searchers of Brazoria County, Coastal Bend Shell Club and even some others I'm not sure of. Probably the best finds were a small muricid, maybe a Typhus by Janey Nill; 2 Conus juliae one each by Lynn Blair and Janey Nill; a Charonia variegata, and a Pecten ravenili by me. Everyone's focus however was the Junonia. There were certainly plenty to be found, Dave and Lucille Green found 57 of them on Friday. One thing that was obviously missing in all of our finds were very small shells. There were lots of species and specimens, and lots and lots of scallops. 68 HOUSTON CONCHOLOGY SOCIETY, INC. Officers ~* 1994-1995 President: Darwin G. Alder Program Vice President: Virginia Joiner Field Trip Vice-President: Dave Barziza Treasurer: Cheryl Hood Recording Secretary: Angela Doucette Corresponding Secretary: Dave Green Directors: Lonnie Hood Barbara Hudson Nancy Mustachio Harry Sharp Rusti Stover Carol Andrews Vartian Immediate Past President: Mary Martin Co-Editor, Texas Conchologist Constance E. Boone Co-Editor, Texas Conchologist Darwin G. Alder Honorary Life Members Constance E. Boone Dr. Helmer Ode' TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXXI_ No. 2, FEBRUARY 1995 Table of Contents Search and Seizure The Spirals of Shells by Constance E. BoOOme ..............csseesssssssescseees 33 Update on Stetson Bank Conservation _ ............:::0:000 36 A Celebration Of ISlands _ ............s:ssssssssssssssssssssssssssonees 37 Distribution and Records of the Marine Mollusca in the Northwest Gulf of Mexico (A Continuing Monograph: Superfamily Pyramidelloidea, Family Pyramidellidae, Part V) Ey FRGUNIOE CG es iieicsn ce cienaressunitenepsienassndadsenass 38 South Padre island--Where the Hairy Tritons Are by Roe Davenport, Jr. ...csssssssssssssssssssssesessenees 53 Shelling in Texas By Darwith G. AIGOE — scoscisicsssevccscosnenscecrseneserseces 57 The Smaller Shells are in the Drift! by Roe Davenport, Sr. .....cscscscscccnsscssscssencsssenes 58 CORRCIT: FUTERI GS i isssse ok siern ovoies aeeieaares ron iamaentintgins 65 COUIIREEOUR” \ este ee es eee 65 Shelling on the Flats of San Luis Pass Takes a Back Seat to the Comforts of Home by Darwin G. Alder _ .........:::sssssssssssessssssssssssesees 66 The Mound Builders of Apalachicola by Leslie Allen CrinkOVic .........:cccccccssssssssssseees 68 QL 4¥O! aS HOLOGIST CAFO ACADEMY OF SCIENCE JUN -8 1995 CONE VOLUME XXXI, No. 3 53-1263 MAY 1995 The Texas Conchologist is the official publication of the Houston Conchology Society, Inc., and is published three times annually at Houston, Texas. It is distributed as part of the dues to all its members. The Society holds regular meetings the fourth Wednesday in each of the fol- lowing months: August, September, October, January, February, March, April, and May. In November, the meeting is held the third Wednesday. Meetings are held at Southside Place Club House, 3743 Garnet, Houston, Texas. Meetings begin at 8:00 p. m. The Texas Conchologist is published October, February and June. It is mailed postpaid to requiar members in U.S. postal zones. Overseas members will be charged additional postage. Only one copy will be mailed to a family member- ship. Dues extend from the beginning of the fiscal year of June 1 through May 31. However, the June issue of the Texas Conchologist each year is the third issue due on the regular dues year beginning June 1 of the previous year. Member- ships will be accepted throughout the year but will receive issues of that fiscal year. Members receive meeting Newsletters and have all other privileges provided by the Society's by-laws. Rates and Dues Family membership $12.00 Single Membership $10.00 Student membership $ 6.00 Single issues $ ©2.50 Extra sets mailed to members $10.00 (Postage for overseas members required) Subscription $12.00 (Seamail $5.00, Airmail outside U.S. $8.00) Co-Editor Distribution Co-Editor Darwin Alder Gary Olson Constance E. Boone 5415 Dickson 3706 Rice Bivd. Houston, TX 77007 Houston, TX 77005 (713) 880-5946 (713) 668-8252 Editorial Advisor Helmer Ode' 3319 Big Bend Dr. Austin, Texas 78731 (512) 452-7799 The Texas Conchologist accepts contributions for publication from amateurs, students, and professionals, subject to approval by the Editors. Manuscripts should be typed and double spaced, and should be in the hands of the Editors the first day of the month preceding publication dates. Photos accompanying articles are welcomed. TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXXI No. 3, May, 1995 SEARCH AND SEIZURE BY CONSTANCE E. BOONE HELPFUL TOOLS TO WORK WITH MICROS 1. Obtain tweezers like stamp collectors use. Buy these at a stamp store. They are the best to help pick up minute shells. 2. Fragile shells can also be picked up with watercolor brushes. | usually get the ones with the least tufts and then may actually cut off a few so | have only a few left. | wet the brush with spit or water from a sponge. You need very little moisture to do the job. Gently pick up the micro shell to transport it to a vial or capsule. 3. Use empty capsules you purchase from the drug store to house micros. (You can purchase these by the hundreds, but don't go in looking like a drug addict!). Once you have safely put the shell in a capsule, it is best to put the capsule into a glass vial or small hinged plastic box. The capsule can easily disap- pear if left loose in your working area. 4. Also, you can house your micros in geology slides. They come with a large opening covered by a glass slide or they come as card- board holders with a small round opening covered with a plas- tic slide. If you use the latter, it would be best to replace the cover slide with a thin glass slide because the shells you de- posit in the geology slide tend to stick to the plastic cover slide and you can break them when you push the cover slide in and out. 5. It is usually recomended that drift or dredged samples be sieved to size material with a series of sieves. You are also advised to wash the material and dry it before sorting. | PREFER TO DRY THE MATERIAL ANDI DO NOT SIEVE AT ALL. | JUST REMOVE THE LARGER DEBRIS (ROCKS AND TWIGS) | FEEL SIEVING CAN BREAK FRAGILE SHELLS. 6. In examining material under a microscope, or head lens or enlarg- ing lamp, use black trays to see micro shells better. These shells are often white, especially the material in drift. Keep the black plastic trays some frozen food comes in. 69 TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXXI No. 3, May, 1995 7. Be VERY careful in putting your pickings in a box if you are doing a first sorting. To separate every species immediately is dif- ficult. Even though | arrrange a dozen small plastic boxes for my sorting (for different species | find), | have trouble remem- bering where | put the little critters. | prefer to pick the whole sample and then do a final sorting (maybe several sortings). That is, | do this for almost all of my finds. Occasionally, one jewel stands out and | carefully house it in a capsule and then place this in a small glass vial or plastic hinged box. | don't want to lose it. Nothing is more frustrating than dropping the goodie off the wet brush or tweezers before | can put it in a capsule. | usually put the shell and capsule together under the microscope or lens. Tiny shells have a habit of flying off tweez- ers or brushes when you are depositing them into the capsule or box. Most of you remember that | recently showed you the poison dart from a cone. The dart is a little glassy sliver, and | lost it trying to shove it from the the brush into the glass vial. | had a heck of a time finding it as it flew off to the edge of the WHITE background | had under the scope. If it had gone beyond the scope area and landed elsewhere on the table, | may never have seen it or recovered it. 8. Final sorting can be tedious. You can get divided plastic boxes but then | find | cannot move the shells easily into final capsules and boxes. So many of the shells are fragile. | usually put the first sorting into a three or four inch hinged box so | can lift out things again with tweezers and brush to sort a second time. Sometimes | resort to sharp good-sized needles that | wet with spit to gently lift out fragile micro shells and place the shells to the edge of a capsule or glass vial. It takes practice. 9. | hate plastic bags for micros. | hate shells stapled in plastic bags. To try to view the shells under a scope when you have them in a plastic bag is murder. If | have to remove a shell, | might lose it. Removing staples can always cause problems. 10. Working with micros IS great fun, but they are very hard to iden- tify. They could be juveniles; they might be adults. Who is to know? They are not always fresh in drift and often do not look at all like live-taken mollusks would. I've been fooled many, many times. They might even be fossils; they certainly could 70 TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXXI No. 3, May, 1995 be damaged and not characteristic enough to compare to pho- tos in books available to you. Besides, there are NEVER enough books for one to use. Just remember that this club has a VERY good library available at the museum. You should try and visit it sometime. MOLLUSCANBITS SNAKES ALIVE! A headline in The Houston Chronicle recently said "Threat of Being Bitten by Snake Real Along Coast." The story by Kevin Moran related that snakes could be as much dan- ger to beachgoers as sunburn, jellyfish and glass. It went on to tell about a 13-year-old boy last January who hunted driftwood at the Texas City Dike and who was struck by a water moccasin. He eventually lost most of a finger due to serious infection and lost a semester of school. The story warned that several poisonous snakes in Texas could be found near beaches---the diamondback rattlesnake, copperhead, cot- tonmouth (water moccasin) and coral. Major Maceo, commander of the Galveston Beach Patrol, said that snakebites were reported every year, especially near the west end of the island. The Southeast Texas Poison Control Center at Galveston's University of Texas Medical Branch report 80 to 90 snakebites each year. “The sand dunes are loaded with snakes." said the center direc- tor Michael Ellis. We know that after Hurricane Carla there were many snakebites as people and snakes tried to climb up in trees to escape rising water. | can relate a couple of instances where | could have been a victim while shell collecting. The very first field trip | ever made made with this club was to Sargent Beach. Mary Sutow told me to look in the grasses in the dunes because she said that janthinas often landed there after high tides. So there | went, eager to find my first purple snail. | did spot one and bent to retrieve it. A coiled rattlesnake was right by the snail. Luckily the snake was asleep in the sun. Much as | wanted that shell, | think | ran back to the surf zone as fast as | could. TI TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXX! No. 3, May, 1995 Once at Mustang Island after high tides, | walked the surf zone seek- ing shells that could be thrown up. | encountered the angriest rattle- snake | have ever seen. It was caught in the waves and couldn't quite get back on the beach. That time | left the surf zone and went up to the higher drift line. Though not on the beach, | have encountered water moccasins in riv- ers when | have been collecting fresh water mussels. | usually freeze and wait for the snake to slither or swim away. You could encounter coral snakes under debris while looking for land shells. Be careful. A snake kit in the car would be a handy item to carry when going shell collecting. You need quick help to get rid of the poison. ROBERT FULGHUM BEMOANS THE COMMON NAMES GIVEN PLANTS Almost every word Robert Fulghum wrote in his columns in The Hous- ton Chronicle in April could be applied to the awful common names given shells. | have written about these in the Texas Conchologist. Working through Field Guides, Fulghum wrote that he couldn't imag- ine what the authors were trying to say with the bizarre names given plants. "How could you look at a flowering plant and say ‘Let's call that sucker a Naked Broomrape?’'," he wrote. The purported flower has a pale violet trumpet shape with a dab of the purest yellow in the center. He said you would have to be in a bad mood to give it such a horrible common name. He ended up saying that a flower does not care about the label we apply as we pass through this earth. | am quite sure the shells do not care about the labels we give them. | have to agree that | can't think what someone was thinking when he gave a common name to a land Snail as "brown bellytooth". Maybe it described the shell, but couldn't it have been a kinder name? Contributions by Connie Boone Te TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXXI No. 3, May, 1995 BOOK REVIEW CONNIE BOONE Shells of the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts and the West Indies; R. Tucker Abbott/Percy A. Morris; Fourth Edition 1995; Houghton Mifflin Co.; $16.95; 800 species described; 74 new color plates; 115 new drawings; glossary, bibliography. This new edition of the Peterson Field Guide Series has been consid- erably updated by Dr. Abbott, and the addition of color photographs of shells and animals is certainly welcome. There are a number of new name changes included. The Pecten genera are new; even our Texas Dentalium has a new genus and the specific name is an older one. There are some confusing entries that will cause us in Texas to pause and wonder what happened. The treatment of Busycon is suspect, especially since the photo of Busycon perversum is shown as a right-handed heavily ridged speci- men ( the B. eliceans of the U. S. East Coast), and the Texas State Shell name is not mentioned. Neither is Busycon plagosum (or B. spiratum plagosum) listed. The report on Donax bothers me in that both Donax romeri and Donax variabilis are listed as separate species from Texas, as well as else- where. Donax texasianum is not listed. It still seems to me that the Northwest Gulf of Mexico and Texas get limited attention in range reports and specific inclusions. However, since American Seashells is out of print and is bulky anyway to take to the field, this new guide is welcome for the sheller to have a comprehensive look at shells in the Western Atlantic of the U.S. and Carribean. KILLER SNAILS, HEALER SNAILS Cone snails have long been prized by collectors for their beautiful shells. Biologist Baldomero Olivera of the University of Utah prizes them for their venom. Some species can instantly paralyze a fish and even kill a human. Olivera sees a medicinal potential for this venom. He has isolated a toxin from the venom of Conus magus that is being tested for a possible treat- ment for strokes. (Contributed by Gary Olson, the Article appeared in the May 1994 Issue of Discover Magazine) 73 TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXXI No. 3, May, 1995 THINGS YOU COULD SEE WHILE SHELLING BY GARY OLSON The American Alligator. Class-Reptilia; Order-Crocodilia, Family-Alligatoridae; Genus-Alliga- tor, Species-mississippiensis. Together with crocodiles, alligators are descended from reptiles that lived between 225 and 65 million years ago. The name alligator de- rives from the Spanish e/ lagarto which means "the lizard" The only other species of alligator is the smaller Chinese alligator, Alligator sinensis. The alligator shares its habitat with the American crocodile in Florida. The alligator will grow 13 to 18 feet. The tail accounts for half its length and an adult may weigh 400 to 500 pounds. The alligator spends all of its time in and around the swamps and rivers of its watery home. Alligators eat a wide variety of food, insects, shrimp, frogs, and fish. Larger ones will take almost anything, racoons, birds, turtles and other small mammals. Once widely hunted for its skins, it came close to extinction. It is now recovering and has become a tourist attraction in the southern United States. Editor's note: Roe Davenport reported that earlier this year some shellers from Louisiana on St. Joseph Island discovered what they thought was a log, until it came to life as what it was--an alligator! Now we must watch out for snakes, Portugese Man of War, sting-rays, glass, sunburn and alligators. Is shelling be- coming hazardous to our health? We certainly hope not! 74 TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXXI No. 3, May, 1995 ASTRONOMICAL USES OF SHELLS BY GARY OLSON It was predicted in the 18th century by astronomers, that the earth's rotation was slowing down. It is now known that the rate of slowing is about 0.00002 seconds per year. In 50,000 years, that's one whole second. Paleontologists have found that certaifi fossil corals contain annual rings that represent the days and years growth. Examination of fossils going back millions of years shows the average number of laminations in the ring sets increase as you go back in time. 370 million years ago fossils averaged 400 laminations per ring. The year then was about 400 days long, each day about 22 hours long. The rotation of the moon can also be looked at. The modern Nautilus lives in a chambered shell. As the animal grows it seals off the old chamber with a septum or wall. Between the septum there are an averge of 30 laminations, or about one for each day of the month. Fossil nautiloids 420 million years old show 9-10 laminations suggest- ing a 9-10 day month. That would give a day about 21 hours long, a 417 day year. Not only are shell beautiful to collect, but they are also being used in many scientific fields. MATCH IT IF YOU CAN ! BY DARWIN ALDER Baby's Ear Scaphella junonia Lightning Whelk Polinices duplicatus Edible Brown Mussel Xenophora conchyliophora True Tulip Sinum perspectivum Florida Horse Conch Aequipecten muscosus Carrier Shell Amaea mitchelli Sea Whip Simnia Crepidula fornicata Juno's Volute Busycon sinistrum Mitchell's Wentletrap Perna perna Moon Snail Fasciolaria tulipa Slipper Shell Pleuroploca gigantea Rough Scallop Simnialena marferula Match the common name with the scientific name, commit just one to memory and see how easy it is learn the scientific names, one by one. 75 TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXX! No. 3, May, 1995 Shelling in Texas by Darwin G. Alder In previous articles, part of the micromolluscan fauna was discussed. In this article | will try to give a better idea of where to look for shells in Texas, the conditions that prevail, and briefly discuss some species. Texas is part of the Gulf of Mexico system. Except for some oyster beds or reefs, and introduced structures such as jetties, there are no naturally occuring surface rock formations in the vast Gulf Coast, which is sedimentary in nature. The Texas Coast, from the Sabine River to the Rio Grande, is composed of muds, sands and silts emptied from all the rivers which empty into the Gulf of Mexico. The coast of Texas is a series of wetlands, bays, barrier islands, with a fauna which thrives in these areas. Many visitors to Texas are disappointed by the usually muddy and uninviting waters. This is related to the nature of the sediments which empty from the rivers. Much of it is very fine silt which remains in suspension in the water for a long time, unlike the heavier gravels and sands which settle out more quickly. The only part of the Texas coast which has more frequently clear waters near shore is the area between the Colorado River and the Rio Grande. This is because all of the rivers drain directly into the bay systems or the Laguna Madre, not the open Gulf. The turbidity of the water is also influenced by the tidal changes. Beaches at incoming tides are generally more muddy than at outgoing tides. All of this means that there is a much less visibility for snorkeling in Texas waters than at other similar latitudes. The collector, therefore, has to depend more on what is around and near the jetties, or washed up in the drift line. The jetties which are man-made rock formations, have become an acceptable habitat for many types of mollusks, including murexes, littorinas, nerites and mussels. They differ greatly from the sand and muddy sand species of the bays and tidal zone. Among the more interesting of the sand dwelling mollusks, is the fam- ily Naticidae, especially Polinices (Neverita) duplicatus (Say, 1822), commonly known as the Moon Shell or Shark Eye. Another species is Sinum perspectivum (Say, 1831) known as the Baby Ear. The naticids are noted for their large bodies and the wide trail they leave in the sand as they move along. The body of the Sinum is far too large to fit inside the shell, and looks like a piece of slimy pork when collected. 76 TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXXI No. 3, May, 1995 There is a vestigal operculum which is often overlooked by most col- lectors. The Polinices also has a large body, but it can be filled with water and fluids. A shell about 2" across can have an animal that is almost as big as the palm of a hand when inflated, and when the fluids are released, it can fully fit in its shell and draw its operculum closed and seal off the aperture. This provides a measure of protection from other water creatures but has little use against the human predator. After a freeze along the beach of Saint Joseph Island, | have encoun- tered fresh dead Polinices over 3" in diameter. Sinum perspectivum is a fairly common species in the drift line. The only place that | have found a number of fresh dead species was at the flats at the end of Washington Boulevard in Port O' Connor, TX. We had gone there for a field trip just after a freeze in January and there were a number of fresh specimens to be found. The drift line is rich in species. | have always had the best luck looking around the swirl zone at the jetties. Of particular interest is the jetty on St. Joseph Island. Here one can often find a drift line which is concen- trated somewhat by meeting up with the jetty. It can be a few yards long or can be almost a mile. In May of 1994, | encountered a fabu- lous drift line. | had never found many epitonium here before. When | completed my search of the drift | had encountered thousands. This is the place where many of the prized Amaea mitchelli can be found. Of course there can be wonderful drift lines far removed from a jetty or other barrier, but these tend to not be as concentrated and extend much longer. The majority of the species | have collected in Texas have come from the drift line or in less that 2 feet of water. My favorite jetties are at Surfside, Quintana, Matagorda Beach, Matagorda Island, Port O'Connor, Fish Pass, St. Joseph Island, Mus- tang Island, Brazos de Santiago (across from the jetty at South Pa- dre), and South Padre Island. | have found the vast majority of my shells and the most unique species in association with these jetties. All of these locations are readily accessible by automobile, with the exception of Matagorda Island, which is accessible only by boat. | will discuss various shells and locations in future articles. Happy Shelling! 77 TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXX! No. 3, May, 1995 Hi Ho Hi Ho, off to the Dumps We Go by Darwin G. Alder March 15-19 was the time for the foray to the Scallop Dumps of the Panhandle of Florida, at Mexico Beach and Apalachicola. There were a number of people from the Houston Conchology Society in atten- dance, with their guests from other nearby shell clubs. Nancy and Dave Barziza, Mary Martin, Cathy Betley, Darwin Alder, Lucille Green, Ruth Anne and Derry Sparlin, Bill and Emily Oakes, Freya and Don Oates, Harry Sharp, Helen Wheeler, Connie Boone, Helen Cornellisson, Rusti Stover, Dean Woodard, Janie Nill, Nunnie Clements, Jean Roe, Bob Eckhardt and his son, composed this group of avid shellers. There are few things equal to the excitement of seeing such a massive pile of shells. Perhaps a greater thrill is finding an uncommon or rare deeper water species, usually unavailable to the average collector. When edible scallops are encountered, samples are taken to deter- mine the number and health of the scallop beds. If they are in suffi- cient quantity, then the scallop boats go into operation for the harvest. When the scallops, principally Argopecten gibbus, are harvested a large amount of other sea life is brought in at the same time. That is why shellers descend on the piles of refuse to conduct their search for hidden treasure. Much of the more desirable material is taken from the conveyor belts before it is processed and dumped, so there is somewhat less mate- rial to choose from, but there is still a magnificent array for a collector with time and dedication. We certainly had the luck and the perserverance. Some of us left early Wednesday morning, others left late Wednesday or early Thurs- day. We arrived ready to go and search diligently. We had called the owners of the scallop dumps in advance so as to have permission to enter their private property. It is both wise and courteous to do so in advance. That precludes that problems resulting in too many people taking too much advantage of a good situation. We were all looking for the fabled Junonia. This is one of the most exquisite of all the shells that could be found in the dumps. | was bound and determined to find a few of the smaller more interesting species. | especially wanted to find Niso hendersoni and Xenophora conchyliophora. | had been to the dumps a few times before and had good luck finding shells. 78 TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXXI No. 3, May, 1995 As a group, we stayed at the Rancho Inn in Apalachicola. We were convenient to most of the dumps in the area. Dave and Nancy Barziza found a road which had been covered with fresh material from the dumps, and it proved to be a fruitful location for encountering shells. A pile of shells about 20 feet high, 300 feet long and about 50 feet wide is quite an unbelievable sight. It was a little hard at first to find any- thing. You had to chose a location and move a lot of material out of the way. There is no "best" way to work the dumps. | have had good luck moving a small amount of material over a wide area or a large amount of material from a small area. The one major difference is that in a small area, there are often many of the same species close to one another. Cathy Betley, Mary Martin and | found some Aequipecten muscosus in a location at the back of one of the piles. Cathy moved a lot of surface material and the pectens began to show up. We contin- ued searching and probably found more than 25 pairs. Another good place to look is where the dirt from the bottom of the scoop is found. A lot of the smaller material can be found here. | found a number of Chione /atilirata here. Many mollusks are colonial in nature and can often be found near each other, and the same is true in the dumps. We had a good supper at The Hut in Apalachicola. There was deli- cious seafood, baked potatoes, breads and desserts, We laughed and traded jokes and stories, but we were all ready to go to sleep and arise refreshed. We had heard that there was another scallop dump near Carrabelle, so we asked directions as to where it was. After riding along a number of roads, we finally located the turnoff. Mary Martin, Dave Barziza and Cathy Betley headed down the road. Barbara Hudson and | stayed in the vehicles. We were in the woods, and there wasn't anyone else around. Barbara and | waited for what seemed a really long time. The others had gone down a road and were looking for this elusive locale. About 40 minutes and 2 miles round trip, they returned with news that it really wasn't worth the effort. Dave and | decided to try all the shrimp and scallop boats that we were able to find, but no one was scalloping, apparently it had been closed down for the season | did find one small Pleuroploca gigantea, but nothing else. We hit the dump at Apalachicola the second day. It was really neat as | had seen it the previous April, This was where my luck was going to 79 TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXXI No. 3, May, 1995 change for the better. | had determined that | would find something wonderful every day. The first day | found both valves of an orange Pecten raveneli. The next day | was looking for my Niso. | have always made lists of what | would like to find. | almost always find a wonderful shell or shells that | had not expected to find. My greatest find of the trip was a Cirostrema dalli, which | later found to be a rather rare shell. It is in the Epitonidae, which is one of my favorite families. | was truly a happy man! We went to eat at The Apalachicola Grill, where we met up with Bob Eckhardt and his son. It was a nice place and we had a Cute waitress who was most impressed with the fact that Harry travelled with three women and that | had travelled with three women. She indicated that she thought we were quite rare. We had been under threat of a rain deluge from the time we had left Houston. We did get an occasional shower, but nothing that kept us from collecting and having loads of fun. We kept going back to the dumps for more shells. Our final communal meal was devoured at the St. George Inn on St. George Island, which is east of Apalachicola across a causeway from Eastpoint about nine miles to the barrier island. It was like an old Inn, and had a nice atmosphere although the service was a bit slow. Saturday was our last day, and we went to St. Andrews Sound on Tyndall Air Force Base, which was a trip arranged by Lucille Green and Linda and Jim Brunner of the Gulf Coast Shell Club. We didn't have a low tide so we were confined to what was on the beach and in shallow water near shore. We all found some nice beach shells. Lucille found a nice Epitonium sp. | did find one live Busycon sinistrum, which was in a couple feet of water. The Fasciolaria lilium | saw was too beat up to be a good collectors item, so | left it in the hope of more future shells. The sand and beach in this part of Florida is unbelievable. It is white and almost like grains of sugar. The pine trees grow right up to the dunes and the beach. It was a neat place to sheil. | would like to see it at a very low tide. We laughed, shelled, talked, drove, hunted, collected and had a mighty fine time in the Scallop Dumps of North Florida! 80 TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXXI No. 3, May, 1995 MONOGRAPH BY H. ODE’ Distribution and Records of the Marine Mollusca in the Northwest Gulf of Mexico (A Continuing Monograph: Superfamily Pyramidelloidea, Family Pyramidellidae Part Vl) ( Turbonilla continued) 529. Turbonilla sp. indet E * This is another form in the same complex of species. In classical terminology it should be designated as a Strioturbonilla. \n fresh specimens one can see under high magnification that the intercostal areas are densely striated by very fine and crowded spiral striae which in some speci- mens run up on the side of the axial ribbing. On older cor- roded specimens these striae are mostly wiped out. This "species" undoubtedly belongs in the complex of T. crenulata and can be recognized by its somewhat scalarid suture which is more or less present in a very narrow open gutter. Records HMNS collection: 9 lots from 0-70 fms., of which 2 contain freshly collected material (7 fms. off Padre Island and off Galveston 25 fms.). Dead along Aransas Pass Causeway; on Clay Pile Bank, Stetson Bank and in Mudilump fauna. Off Cameron (La) and off Port Aransas (70 fms.) Max. size: 3 mm. Geographical range: unknown. 530. Turbonilla iolausi Bartsch, 1955 Turbonilla (Chemnitzia) iolausi Bartsch, 1955; Smithsonian Miscell. Coll., Vol. 25 (2), p. 22, pl. 3, fig. 3. Pliocene, Florida. Synonyms: Turbonilla (Cheminitzia) terra Bartsch, 1955, id, p. 25, pl. 4, fig. 3. Pliocene, Florida. Turbonilla (Cheminitzia) antaeusi Bartsch, 1955; id, p. 25, pl. 3, fig. 6. Pliocene, Florida Turbonilla (Cheminitzia) acisi Bartsch, 1955, id, p. 19, pl.3, fig. 2. Pliocene, Florida. 8 | TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXXI No. 3, May, 1995 Bartsch described this species from the Pliocene of Florida together with a number of unnecessary names that are syn- Oonyms in his notorious paper of 1955. It occurs there to- gether with 7. crenulata Menke, which Bartsch gave unnec- essary new names. _ J. jolausi is a smaller shell than T. crenulata to which it is closely related but from which it can be easily distinguished. The shell of 7. iolausiis somewhat more swollen than the shell of 7. crenulata, its ribbing is purely vertical and much less densely crowded. Although it could be a different looking mutation of 7. crenulata, it is here recognized as a separate species, because no inter- mediates appear to exist. | have chosen the trivial name iolausi in preference of the other ones cited above because the survey material most closely resembles that particular form. Its presence on the Texas and Louisiana shelf once more stresses the close relationship between the shelf fauna and the Pliocene fauna of Florida. Records HMNS survey material: 11 lots from 0-25 fms., no live collected material. Most beach material could be Pleistocene age. Corpus Christi Causeway, Aransas Pass Causeway. Also found at Matagorda Beach and in 7 1/2-25 fms. south of Galveston and Freeport. Max. size: 3.0 mm. Geographical range: unknown. 531. Turbonilla sp. indet F. Another small pupoid form in the crenulata complex is here reported under separate label. It might be a true separate species, but it is certainly close to several forms in the com- plex. Anatomical and biological investigations will have to determine its specificity. It might be a dwarf form of T. crenulata. Records HMNS survey collection: 6 lots from 23-55 fms. of which 1 contained live collected material (23 fms. off Freeport) 5 lots from 23- 26 fms. off Freeport, one from 55 fms. off Cameron (La). Max. size: 2.6 mm. Geographical range: unknown. 82 TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXXI No. 3, May, 1995 532. Turbonilla sp. indet G. A group of rather small shells is reported here under a sepa- rate label. It is possible that they merely represent juvenile specimens of some other species, but | have not been able to place them correctly. The shells are somewhat thick- walled shells, very regularly conical in shape with a quite shallow suture. The nucleus is fairly small; the axials are straight or almost straight and often slightly opisthocline. My impression is that this material could be related to T. curta, but juveniles of that species look different. Records HMNS survey collection: 7 lots from 0-50 fms. Beach material from Indianola Beach and along the Aransas Pass Cause- way; Fresh material from 8-10 fms. rockridge off Galveston; from 50 fms. in coral rubble off the East Flower Garden Bank and in the Mudlump fauna, off the Mississippi River, LA. Max. size: 3.1 mm. Geographical Range: unknown. 533. Turbonilla sp. indet C. Three lots of a different Turbonilla were obtained from shal- low water. It differs from all other species in the area in the pattern of the sculptured ribbing. The almost straight but closely opisthocline ribs have at their upper ends a slight thickening so that they appear to have a slight ridge near the suture. The excavated interspaces do not terminate in rounded end but are squared and often it appears with the correct lighting that there is a ridge at the lower end. Also characteristic is the continuation of the ribbing over the base; no other Turbonilla on the Texas Louisiana shelf shows that character. The northern T. niveais said by Bartsch, 1909 p. 77 to have "base short, well rounded, crossed by weak con- tinuation of the axial ribs", but Abbott (1974) states for that species "ribs absent on base". Whether such a character is sufficient to claim specific status for such a shell, | cannot judge until more material becomes available. 83 TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXXI No. 3, May, 1995 Records HMNS survey collection: 3 lots, each consisting of a single dead shell. Christmas Bay; Aransas Pass Causeway; and from+/- 9 fms. from old lithified beach ridge off Galveston. Max. size: 2.5 mm. Geographical range: unknown. 534. Turbonilla c.f. heilprini Bush, 1899 Turbonilla heilprini Bush, 1899; Proc. Acad. Nat Sci.Phila., Vol. 51, p. 167, 172, pl. 8, fig. 13. recent. No location given. This small species was never properly described, and the only significant remarks concerning it state that its nucleus is very different from that of 7; penistoni and that its riblets are vertical. The material in the survey collection which | believe is T. heilprini satisfies the criteria but does not re- semble the poor figure of the species in the original Bush paper. It is a small species, rather thin shelled with a larger nucleus than T. penistoniBush. In the accompanying sketch it could not be shown that the nucleus is fairly large and forward projecting. The figure by Waller 1973 (Nautilus Vol 87 (2)) shows a specimen slightly different in outline and sculpture. In 1967 Corgan (Quat. Micromolluscan fauna of the Mudilump Province, Mississippi River Delta, p. 205-209 (unpublished) PhD. thesis described a number of small spe- cies of varying shapes which | believe are this species: Turbonilla (Turbonilla) conferta, id, p. 206-208, pl. 12, figs. 1, 5, 11. Turbonilla (Turbonilla) uncina, id, p. 205-206, pl. 12, fig. 7. Described from a single spicimen. Turbonilla (Turbonilla) heathae, id, p. 208-209, pl.12. fig. 6. Turbonilla (Turbonilla) apiculata, id, p.216-217, pl.12, fig. 8. Descriptions and figures show the wide variability of this material which is not rare on the shelf. It varies between shells with rather inflated whorls, to shells with somewhat flattened whorls (conferta of Corgan and other). The num- ber of ribs can vary considerably. Also there can be a slight tabulation of the whorls which produces a gutterlike aspect of the suture. The axials in such specimens project slightly into the suture which then looks strongly crenulated. In one sketch of a specimen with rounded, inflated whorls is shown; 84 TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXXI No. 3, May, 1995 in another a specimen with somewhat flattened whorls, the form which Corgan named T. conferta, but which | believe is the same a T. heilprini Bush. Records HMNS survey collection: 22 lots from 1 1/2 fm. (entrance to Timbalier Bay. (La) ) to 60 fms. off Galveston. Also off Padre Island (+/- 8-10 fms.) and off Freeport. Max. size: 2.5 mm. S Geographical range: Bermuda, Yucatan. 535. Turbonilla fustis Corgan, 1967 Turbonilla (Turbonilla) fustis Corgan, 1967; Micro mollus- can fauna of the Mudlump Province, Mississippi River Delta, Ph.D thesis Louisiana State University (unpublished), p. 212, pl. 11, figs. 2, 7. This rather common form of Turbonilla can immediately be recognized by its enormous nucleus of anout 3-4 whorls of which the last one sits as a balloon upon the stylus of the teleoconch. The first two whorls of the nucleus point for- ward over the crenulated rim of the teleoconch. | am not convinced that forms like this could not be ecological forms of other species, especially in a group of gastropods where the choice of host could influence the shape and develop- ment of the parasite. However, in this case, because its form is so characteristic, T. fustis is here reported as a full species and future research has to justify this. Full grown material like the shell figured is rather rare, but small juve- niles with only 2 or 3 whorls of the teleoconch are common in somewhat deeper offshore waters. Records HMNS survey collection: 10 lots, no live collected mate- rial, from 23-70 fms from off Port Aransas (70 fms.) to S.W. Pass (La) in 50 fms. Most lots in 23-30 fms. off Galveston-Freeport. Also in mudliump fauna. Max. size: 3.2 mm. Geographical range: Mudlump fauna of Mississippi River delta. 85 TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXXI No. 3, May, 1995 536. Turbonilla penistoni Bush, 1899 Turbonilla penistoni Bush 1899; Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., Vol. 51, p. 165 and 172, pl. 8, fig. 14, recent Bermuda. Synonym: Turbonilla pulchella Heilprin, 1889, The Bermu- das (non vidi) {not Turbonilla pulchella Orbigny, 1842 [in] Sagra Historie Physique etc. de I'lle Cuba, p. 220; Atlas (1853) pl. 16, figs. 14-17.} Another possible synonym: Turbonilla (Cheminitzia) atlasi Bartsch, 1955; Smiths. Miscell. Collect. no. 125 (2) p. 24, pl. 4, figs. 5a, b. Pliocene. Florida. This small species is one in the sequence T. crenulata-T. swifti. thas a rather regular shape and in essence is merely a rather small mirror image of the slender form of crenulata without the characteristic increase of the apical angle at the top. In how far all these different shell shapes represent truly different species is unclear--| personally think that the number of different species is much smaller than the pub- lished record dictates--and only future research can solve that problem. Especially about the deeper water species nothing is known concerning host-parasite relationships. Records HMNS survey collection: 27 lots-no live collected mate- rial-from 0-70 fms.; Once on the beach of Mustang Island; off Galveston, Freeport and Mustang Island; Claypile Bank and in the Mudlump fauna off Louisiana. Max. size: 4.3 mm. Geographical range: Bermuda. To be continued: 86 TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXX! No. 3, May, 1995 Fig. 1 Turbonilla sp. indet E. 3.0 mm. 1&1/2 mi. Off Padre Id., Texas 25' to 50' by diver on limestone lump. Fig. 2 Turbonilla lolausi Bartsch, 1955 Mudiump fauna off Louisiana 2.8 mm. 87 TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXX! No. 3, May, 1995 Fig. 3 Turbonilla sp. indet F, 23 fms. 40 mi. S of Freeport, Texas 2.3mm. Fig. 4 Turbonilla sp. indet G, 23 fms. off Freeport, Texas, 2.2mm. 88 TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXXi No. 3, May, 1995 Fig. 5 Turbonilla sp. indet. C, from Christmas Bay, Texas 2.5mm. Fig. 6 Turbonilla heilpriniBartsch, 1899 from 27 fms. off Freeport, Texas 3.1mm. 89 TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXXI No. 3, May, 1995 Fig. 7 Turbonilla c. f. heilprini 23 fms. off Freeport, Texas 2.5mm. Fig. 8 Turbonilla fustis Corgan, 1967 in 23 fms. off Freeport, Texas 3.2 mm. Fig.9 (goes with Fig. 8) Nucleus of T. fustis from 27 fms. off Freeport, TX 90 TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXXI No. 3, May, 1995 - ®, Fig. 10 Turbonilla penistoni Mudlump fauna of Mississippi River, LA. 4.0mm. 9] TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXX! No. 3, May, 1995 PERNA PERNA ENTERS THE BAYS BY ROE DAVENPORT, JR. Hicks and Tunnell (1994) have recently provided a complete summary of the biology and expansion of the brown mussel Perna perna (Linne, 1758) in the western Gulf of Mexico. At the time of their report, all known occur- rences of the mussel were on hard surfaces, such as jetties, pilings and oil rigs, in the open Gulf waters. Now we have a finding of the first known occurrence of the mussel in a bay environment. On February 6, 1995, | met Freida and Harold White, of Angleton, at Port O'Connor to explore that area at what we hoped would be a rather low tide. When we arrived at the small jetty in town, it was obvious that we had been blessed with a very low tide. On the north side of the jetty, there was an immense area of flats exposed, so we rushed out to see what shells were there. After spending about two hours on the flats, we had returned to the area of the jetty, and | suggested that | would like to explore the jetty itself with the water so low. Freida went in toward the back part of the jetty while Harold and | proceeded along the large granite blocks toward the end. About halfway out, | checked the outer blocks on the south side to see if there were any shells among the barnacles and algae, and turned up nu- merous Brachiodontes exustus and some /schadium recurvum. Harold was to my right to see what | was finding, when he reached out and picked a Shell to show me, and it was a small Perna perna, about 20 mm. in size. | was surprised to see it there, since | had had a recent conversation with David Hicks in which he had mentioned that all occurrences had been in open Gulf waters. Then | began looking for others, with no success. Fi- nally, on the very end of the jetty, | was able to find a second Perna perna, which measures 20 mm. Although we did not see any additional shells on that occasion, there were a number of outer edges that were not easy to get to. | did sit down abruptly on one block and Harold commented that he had been waiting to hear a splash, so | was somewhat reluctant to press my luck after that. This appears to be the first intrusion of the brown mussel into the bays in the western Gulf. It is interesting that there have been no findings of the mussel in the Corpus Christi Bay area, since it was discovered on the jetty at Port Aransas in February 1990, almost five years earlier. Reference: Hicks, David W., and John W. Tunnell, Jr., The Invasive Biol- ogy of the Edible Brown Mussel, Perna perna (Linnaeus, 1758), on the South Texas Coast: Year 1, December, 1994, Center for Coastal Studies, Texas A & M University-Corpus Christi. o2 HOUSTON CONCHOLOGY SOCIETY, INC. Officers 4 1994-1995 President: Darwin G. Alder Program Vice President: Virginia Joiner Field Trip Vice-President: Dave Barziza Treasurer: Chery! Hood Recording Secretary: Angela Doucette Corresponding Secretary: Dave Green Directors: Lonnie Hood Barbara Hudson Nancy Mustachio Harry Sharp Rusti Stover Carol Andrews Vartian Immediate Past President: Mary Martin Co-Editor, Texas Conchologist Constance E. Boone Co-Editor, Texas Conchologist Darwin G. Alder Honorary Life Members Constance E. Boone Dr. Helmer Ode' TEXAS CONCHOLOGIST Vol. XXXI No. 3, May 1995 Table of Contents Search and Seizure Helpful Tools to Work With Micros by Constance E. BOOMG ji. icici iceorec emmeueeeeeee 69 Molluscanbits contributed by Connie Boone SMAKCS AliVC vac vsnccascciecdwescieosndsntncascessaseen sate copee teaaeee cen 71 Robert Fulghum Bemoans the Common Names GIVEN; PINS. scnesdnnccocesieadeidnnsracenencceunnecaeetnmereeee aaa 72 Book Review by Connie: BOOM Gn ieccnccscscesnsvnnndicesewasacewercin teenies 73 Killer Snails, Healer Snails contributed by Caaty OlSOM eicceicsccescnuisentusneeesvedounin 73 Things You Could See While Shelling The American Alligator By: Gray ORS Oi aaiaesscesrac tl siapedeneeceeeeene 74 Astronomical Uses of Shells Dy Gary Ols Oi vissiennsnnsciecnncssonteannaeeoeesaaiaeeaeemmonem 75 Match It If You Can! by Darwitt Aldel,....cccsiiscancivanectinncelscasseaesmnumnaeaseernune 75 Shelling in Texas by Darwin G. Al@ sco. cassia hicmmueee ee washianen 76 Hi Ho Hi Ho, Off to the Dumps We Go! by Darwin G. Aldietic.c..cc.cteiciccccci eis cenncemennenes 78 Distribution and Records of the Marine Mollusca in the Northwest Gulf of Mexico (A Continuing Monograph: Superfamily Pyramidelloidea, Family Pyramidellidae, Part Vi, Turbonilla continued) Dy Felten C06 essiecitanaccncncnssisesssdubenckeienecinaatemerameees 81 Perna Perna Enters the Bays by Roe Davenport, I. \scccensscnosesssneicatensoseageenccasroiet 92