The Superb Gaza, Gaza superba (Dall, 1881), is a beautiful and now rare gastropod from the deep Gulf of Mexico. It has a transparent shell layer covering the iridescent layer. The shell in the photos was not polished but it is in unusual great condition. It occurs in deep water, from 47 to 1006 m.

It used to be brought up by shrimp boats in the 1960's and 1970's but in recent years it has been rarely collected because of the dearth of oceanographic expeditions collecting material in deepwater, and shrimp fishing operations have dwindled in the Gulf of Mexico.

There is some evidence that this species is actually common at depth and it may be a dominant species between 500-600 m (Hicks in Tunnell at el., 2010, p. 57). More information can be found on the same book, page 119.

The shell shown in the photo was collected by a research vessel in the 1970's off Texas, but collection data are not available.