Description. Shell large, reaching about 100 mm. (4 inches) in length, fusiform and rather thin. Whorls seven and moderately convex. Color a more or less uniform yellowish ivory with 15 spiral rows of square dark brown spots (holotype). Aperture elliptical and somewhat lengthened. Suture slightly indented. Outer lip thin, parietal wall thinly glazed. Columella straight with three very strongly developed plicae. Siphonal canal rather broad and straight. Sculpture: nuclear whorl smooth, remaining whorls displaying a fine reticulated pattern with the spiral lines the stronger. This sculpture becomes obsolete on the body whorl. No axial costae on the mid-whorls though the shoulder is slightly angled at this point. Nuclear whorl and calcarella small and partially submerged within the second whorl.
Remarks. (See also under S. dohrni). This species differs from dohrni by being pale yellowish ivory in color, rather than a deep yellowish orange. In addition, it has 15 spiral rows of spots, while in dohrni there are nine to ten rows. It is also lighter in structure, a little larger in size with the mid-whorls slightly angled at the periphery and is moderately shouldered on the body whorl. No axial costae present. Only a single adult specimen is known, though we possess a few young specimens which may possibly be this species.

Type locality.—Off Punta Alegre, Ca-maguey, Cuba in 385 m.
Range.—Previously only known from the northern coast of Cuba, these specimens were collected from the northwestern margin of the Great Bahama Bank, is a range extension. The species is probably found throughout the deep waters of the eastern and southern Straits of Florida.
Discussion.—When Scaphella atlantis was originally described in 1946, only a single mature specimen was known (97.5 mm in length). Since the original account, we are unsure how many more S. atlantis may have been collected, but through personal communications with a
number of other malacologists working on the genus Scaphella, it is our understanding that no shell has ever been collected that exactly matches the holotype. The true identity of Scaphella atlantis still remains unknown and many malacologists place it in synonymy with Scaphella dohrni, as it is most similar species. In their very conservative work, Weaver & du Pont (1970) synonymized a number of Scaphella species with S. dohrni. These species include S. atlantis, S. dubia, S. gouldiana, S. rohusta, S. florida, S. bermudezi, and S. cuba. Most Scaphella species are highly variable and many of the Scaphella forms undoubtedly intergrade within and throughout their ranges. It is, however, difficult to be completely confident about the taxonomic placement of various forms and species of the western Atlantic Scaphella, because the biology, ecology, and biogeography of the separate populations remain poorly known. Of the two Scaphella atlantis collected off Victory Cay, the larger specimen is fairly mature but, at only 66.5 mm, it is probably still not a fully mature specimen. The shell is moderately thin and consists of only six whorls. The color is nearly ivory white with a faint yellow undertone and has 15 spiral rows of dark brown spots on the body whorl. The outer lip is thin and the parietal wall has a thin glaze. The columella is straight with three strong plicae and a very faint underdeveloped fourth plica. The nucleus has a smooth, finely-pointed calcarella that is immersed within the first whorl, while the early whorls have a finely reticulate sculpture that is strongest on the first whorl and becomes obsolete after the third whorl. On the later whorls, the only trace of sculpture is the numerous fine growth increments that encircle the body whorl. There is a faint trace of nodulations on the penultimate and body whorl, giving the shoulder a slightly angled profile.