Ken:

About 15 years ago when I lived in Houston we use to go down to San Luis
Pass on the west end of Galveston Island.  On one very cold windy day at
low tide we found the same live very dark purple-ish hue to the aperture
Oliva sayanas in the muddy sand on the bay side of the bridge.  They are
the darkest Oliva sayana I have ever seen, due (I think) to the dark
colored mud, probably from a high organic content.  They a gorgeous as I am
sure other members of the Houston Club could tell you.  One other
characteristic they have which I have never seen anywhere else for Oliva
sayana is a DARK BROWN protoconch!  Once gain probably due to the organic
matter.  They may also occur in other places along the Texas coast, but San
Luis Pass was the only place I ever collected any live ones!  For what it's
worth, Petuch and Sargent (1986) named a subspecies for the Texas Olives -
Oliva sayana texana.

Paul

At 05:57 PM 10/27/99 -0500, you wrote:
>Hi Art,
>
>Used to have a few O. sayana from Galveston, Texas...they were markedly
darker
>than any others, with the addition of a purple-ish hue to the aperture...very
>distinctive and beautiful.
>
>Ken Zentzis
>Wichita, Kansas
>
>Art Weil wrote:
>
>> dear Sayana fans;-
>>         Just an observation.
>>         Having collected O Sayana both from the South Carolina beaches
and from
>> the West coast of Florida, I have observed that the South Carolina
>> shells are larger, mostly by a matter of 5mm or more. But the Florida
>> shells are more colorful, the colors being more developed.
>>         Art
>
>