Short and stocky specimens from subtidal habitats off western central Florida have been named Oliva sayana sarasotensis Petuch & Sargent, 1986 (see below). These are here considered to be a valid subspecies.
RV 3965. USA, Florida, Pine Island Sound, washed ashore, May, 2001. Scale bar is 1 cm.
"Description: Shell of medium size for subgenus; fusiform in shape, somewhat inflated, with rounded sides; spire high, protracted; color yellow-tan, bright-yellow or white, with greenish patches, overlaid with a network of fine, brown triangles; body whorl encircled with two bands of darker brown triangles, one above mid-body, one below, some specimens with large areas devoid of pattern and having the yellow or white ground color showing through; spire whorls partially covered by tan callus; aperture pale lavender to bright purple within; columellar area white, with 15 to 20 thick white plications. Holotype: Length 40 mm, width 18 mm, collected on sand bottom at 15 meter depth, approximately 15 km due west of Lido Beach, Sarasota, Florida in a large barren sandy area, which is referred to by local SCUBA divers as "the desert".".
This was a junior synonym of Oliva sayana Ravenel, 1834, for Tursch & Greifeneder (2001) and for Sterba (2004).
