Scaphella dubia: This is probably the most slender species of the genus, and one of the thinnest, though the specimens figured by Dohrn seem to have been heavier than any of those I have seen, or than are represented by any of the other figures extant. It is covered all over by fine spiral sculpture, no coarser in front than elsewhere; it has also the peculiarity noted in some species of Cymba, of sometimes being covered all over by a sort of whitish glaze, which obscures the suture, the sculpture, and the coloration. Dohrn's figures look as if the shells had been artificially cleaned, to the advantage of their appearance but the loss of scientific value. This species has normally only two plaits, which, in the adult, are generally obsolete; one of Dohrn's, however, had the columellar edge grooved, as if possessing two additional minor plaits.
A young specimen presented the following characters. Colors. Nucleus and first turn purplish brown (this fades with wear and exposure to an orange or buff) ; ground color pale salmon, or like the inside of a ripe canteloupe melon; spots smaller, more angular, and more uniform than in S. junonia, and arranged in six series; the peripheral series had twelve spots, in S.junonia only nine ; pillar like the basal color. Sculpture. The nucleus, larger than the next turn, is finely granulous as in S. junonia, but is shaped like Natica mamilla; the initial point is a point, distinctly elevated above the rest. When its original surface is worn away, the hard core with which it is filled forms a sharper and more elevated point than there was originally. The spiral striation is uniform; the whorls are compressed in front of the suture ; the ribs therefore, which do not become obsolete as soon as in S. junonia, have their shoulders some distance in front of, instead of at, the suture, as in that species; there are seventeen of them on the last turn, and they become obsolete immediately in front of the periphery as a rule ; the epidermis, smooth in the adult, is distinctly hispid in the young; there are two clear cut but small plaits on the remarkably straight columella at its posterior end. The shell is 32.0 mm. long, the last whorl, 27.0 mm., and the maximum diameter, 12.0 mm. In an adult of 90.0 mm. long, the maximum diameter is 25.0 mm.

Scaphella dubia: Scaphella dubia (Broderip, 1827) Dubious Volute
Distribution: Florida to Texas and Gulf of Mexico. DEEP WATER
Size: 197 mm (8 in).
Description: Color pinkish-orange, with irregular, sparse, spiral rows of dark brown squarish spots, periostracum yellowish-brown; shape fusiform, narrow; sculpture of fine spiral threads crossed by irregular axial growth lines; protoconch smooth and somewhat extended, when present; aperture elongate; columella straight; parietal region polished; siphonal canal straight.
Habitat: Mud to sand-mud bottoms at depths from 55 to 402 m (180 to 1320 ft). Remarks: The brown spots on this species are indistinct and not readily visible unless the periostracum is completely off. See Clench (1946, 1953); Ode (1973c). Synonym: 5. kieneri Clench) 1946.

Description. Shell large, reaching 100 mm. (4 inches) in length, fusiform and rather thin. Whorls six and slightly convex. Color a more or less uniform yellowish ivory to pinkish with six to seven spiral rows of square dark brown spots. Aperture elliptical and somewhat lengthened. Spire acute and moderately lengthened. Suture slightly indented. Outer lip thin, parietal wall thinly glazed. Columella straight, with or without one or two fairly well developed plicae. Siphonal canal rather narrow and straight. Sculpture: nuclear whorl smooth, remaining whorls with five raised spiral threads. From the third to the last whorl there may be a series of fine or rather strong axial costae at the whorl shoulder. Nuclear whorl and calcarella large and extended, sometimes being larger than the first post-nuclear whorl. The following is the original description of Broderip:
“Shell fusiform, slightly ribbed, longitudinally and transversely striated, yellowish, with many bands of interrupted, somewhat square fulvous spots; spire short, apex rude, with the papilla terminating almost acutely; the pillar very slightly marked with two plaits, and the base entire. Length 2,5 inches."

Remarks. (See also under S. kieneri). This species has had a peculiar history so far as the name is concerned. It was originally described by Broderip in 1827 from a specimen without a locality. It remained practically unknown until 1853 when the Adams brothers created the subgenus Aurinia for its reception. In 1879, Dohrn received some specimens from Agassi/ that had been collected by Pourtales off the Lower Florida Keys. Lie thought these specimens to be the same as dubia, and described and figured them under this name. However, they were quite different. This fact was noted by Sowerby, and in a review of the question (1903, p. 74) he described and figured still another species which he called dohrni. This still left the specimens of Dohrn without a name until 1940 when the name florida was given by Clench and Aguayo.
Range. Gulf of Mexico from northern Florida south to Key West.

Scaphella dubia: Florida.