A species commonly found on the bay side of the local barrier islands, the Purplish Tagelus, Tagelus divisus (Spengler, 1794), reaches about 1.5 inches in shell length. With a spatula-shaped shell that is at least three times as long as it is wide, there is little chance for the casual collector to confuse this with any other local species. The exception is its sister species, the Stout Tagelus (which will be discussed in this column next week). The Purplish Tagelus differs from the Stout Tagelus, however, by the purplish background color and presence of purple “rays” on the internal and external shell surfaces.
The Purplish Tagelus, Tagelus divisus, from Sanibel Island. Photo by José H. Leal.