Hi Dan,

Referring to Oldroyd's The Marine Shell of the West Coast of North
America, vol 2, part 2.
This 1927 work (reissued in 1978) points to five in all, then assigned
to the genus Thais:

Thais lamellosa franciscana Dall, 1915
Thais lamellosa neptunea Dall, 1915
Thais lamellosa hormica Dall, 1915
Thais lamellosa cymica Dall, 1915
Thais lamellosa sitkana Dall, 1915

The same work by Dall is referenced but that is all.
Abbott's 2nd addition American Seashells states, "and several forma
described by Dall in 1915: franciscana, hormica, neptunea, cymica, and
sitkana."

So, unfortunately, no definite answer to your question.

During the late 1970's, as a teenager, a friend and I found a few live
N. lamellosa during minus tides in SF.
Being the young "geeks" that we were, we correctly identified them. :^)
Later, in the early 1990's, we discovered a population near the mouth of
the Russian River in Sonoma County. In each instance, they were
partially protected on or underneath boulders. And, around that time, we
returned to the spot we had found them in SF but did not find any.

Cheers,

Bob Abela
Tamuning, Guam
http://www.guamcell.net/~babela/bobsguamshells/

-----Original Message-----
From: Conchologists of America List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Dan Yoshimoto
Sent: Tuesday, October 14, 2003 3:08 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Nucella lamellosa


Dear All,
Working several years with Nucella lamellosa (Gmelin, 1791), there came
to me a question that might appear a bit weird, but I'll ask it anyway.
Nucella lamellosa was described in 1791 by Gmelin under the genus of
Purpura.  Later, in the year 1915, William Henry Dall, in the
Proceedings of the U.S. National Museum, Vol. 49, No. 2124,named 4
varieties, besides lamellosa lamellosa.  The question is, what were
these varieties called before Dr. Dall?  It seems to me (an unwise one)
that the varieties are so different that they must have been described
under other species' names. Does anyone know what the Nucella lamellosa
varieties franciscana, hormica, neptunes and cymica were called.
        When one collects, for the first time, this species from various
locations on the Pacific coast, it is easy to think that there are lots
of species involved.  My wife and I have collected personally and from
friends, from over 70 locations and each seems to have it's own form, a
bit different from any other.  Did other concholgists/malacologists also
think that they had found different species. Dan Yoshimoto from the land
of many varieties of everything.

Dan, Hiromi & Kuma Yoshimoto
1164 Vista Dr.
Eureka, California
95503-6018
U.S.A.