Page:American Seashells (1954).djvu/533

Semele pwpiirascens Gmelin Purplish Semele Plate 40b North Carolina to south half of Florida and the West Indies. I to i^ inches in length, oblong, thin-shelled, smooth except for very fine concentric growth threads over which run another set of fine, micro- scopic concentric lines at an oblique angle. External color variable: com- monly gray or cream with purple or orangish mottlings. Interior glossy and suffused with purple, brownish or orange. A fairly common, shallow-water species. Semele bellastriata Conrad Cancellate Semele Plate 30) North Carolina to south half of Florida and the West Indies. /4 to % inch in length, similar in shape to piirpurascens, but a much smaller species with numerous radial and concentric riblets which cross to give a cancellate appearance. Some specimens well-beaded, others have the radial ribs more prominent. External color yellowish white with reddish flecks or a solid, purplish gray. Interior white, cream or suffused with mauve or violet, 5. cancellata Orbigny is this species. Fairly common just offshore. Semele nibropicta Dall Rose Petal Semele Plate 29v Alaska to Mexico. I to 1% inches in length; beaks % toward the posterior end; rather thick-shelled, especially in the south. Concentric sculpture of small, irreg- ular growth lines. Radial incised lines numerous. Periostracum thin, smooth and yellowish brown. Exterior of shell dull grayish or tannish white with faint, radial rays of light-mauve. Imterior glossy-white, with a small splotch of mauve at both ends of the hinge line. Uncommon from 20 to 50 fathoms. Se77iele rupicola Dall Rock-dwelling Semele Plate 29t Santa Cruz, California, to the Gulf of California. I to 1% inches in length. Irregular in shape: ovalish, oval-elongate or obliquely oval. Exterior yellowish cream with numerous, concentric crinkles and a few ^eak radial threads. Interior glossy, white at the center, bright purplish red at the margins and hinge. John Q. Burch finds this species com- mon in Chama and Mytilus beds and in rocks and crevices. Semele decisa Conrad Bark Semele Plate 29Z San Pedro, California, to Lower California.