'["llfHl'Lil !|f^ i'l DISCARDED BY FROMTHE- LIBRARY OF TRINmfCOLLEGETORDNTO %. PRESENTED A.D i^^e ny From the Library of the late Colonel Henry Brock M9AINSH&C LIMITED 4 COLLEGE ST.TQRON ^f7^^. ^^>-.^A THE SHELL BOOK Nature Books With Colour Plates American Animals Witmer Stone and Wm. Everitt Cram American Food and G David Surr Jordan AME Fishes and Barton W. Evermann Bird Homes A. R. Dugmore Bird Neighbours Neltje Blanchan Game Birds Neltje Blanchan Mosses and Lichens Nina L. Marshall Nature's Garden Neltje Blanchan The Butterfly Book Dr. W. J. Holland The Frog Book Mary C. Dickerson The Insect Book Dr. Leiand O. Howard The Moth Book Dr. W. J. Holland The Mushroom Book Nina L. Marshall The Reptile Book Raymond L. Ditmars The Tree Book Julia E. Rogers The Shell Book Frontispikcf, — Plat I copyright, 1908, by Doubleday, rage & Company ABALONES OF THE CALIFORNIA COAST 1 Splendid Abalone, Haliotis julgens, Phil. 2 Red Abalone, Haliotis rujescens, Swains. THE SHELL BOOK A POPULAR GUIDE TO A KNOWLEDGE OFTHE FAMILIES OF LIVING MOLLUSKS, AND AN AID TO THE IDENTIFICATION OF SHELLS NATIVE AND FOREIGN BY JULIA ELLEN ROGERS Author of "The Tree Book" EIGHT PLATES IN COLOUR, AND NINETY- SIX IN BLACK-AND-WHITE MOSTLY FROM PHOTOGRAPHS BY A. R. DUGMORE NEW YORK DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY 1908 s^^ Copyright, 1908, by doubleday, page & company Published, April, 1908 All Rights Reserved Including that of Translation into Foreign Languages Including the ScANDlNAVIA^' R7fL ^•OV 17 1948 TO MARION, FRANCES, AND GORDON, YOUNG CONCHOLOGISTS OF THE NEW SCHOOL, MY COMPANIONS ON THE SEA BEACH DURING A BEAUTIFUL WINTER IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, THIS BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED PREFACE Every person interested in shells has felt the need of a man- ual of the shell-bearing animals of sea and land, comparable to the comprehensive manuals provided for those who wish to study birds or insects or trees. Small hand-books serve as guides to the seashore, but they treat only detached portions of the great kingdom, Mollusca. What is needed for more serious study is a larger book in which the families of mollusks are arranged in their proper order, to give a general idea of the size and scope of the important genera, and their natural relationships. Such a popular guide should give precedence to the accepted English names of the families and of the individual species described, while attaching to each its scientific name. It is quite possible to give the general reader the information he desires in his own language, without sacrifice of scientific accuracy. A book of this kind must be the outgrowth of extensive acquaintance with living mollusks in their natural surroundings, or it will be as dead as the shells in a cabinet, and dry as the dust on the old shell catalogues. It must bring together as much as can be found out about the habits of the mollusks described, and the uses people make of them, if they have any economic value. Many shells have never yet been seen alive; others are practically unknown. It is astonishing how little is known about many species of mollusks. The standard literature of conchology has a limited circu- lation. The classics are rare and sumptuously illustrated volumes locked up in glass cases in the great libraries. These are out of date, of course. The newer treatises are expensive and very technical. Many facts of the highest interest and value are hidden away in official reports of scientific expeditions, not easily obtainable nor easily read by anyone untrained in the sciences. If I have failed in my attempt to make an interesting and useful shell book, it is not because conditions were unfavorable for my purpose. Everything and everybody worked together to help me. vii Preface In the first place I learned the difficult art of doing nothing, by which alone one can get on in studying the life of the seashore. For a long and leisurely summer cruise on the Gulf coast of Florida I have to thank the hospitable skipper of the houseboat Irene, Mr. A. W. Dimock, who judged shell study the proper foil for the more active pursuit of playing the leaping tarpon before a camera. Through his inspired suggestion and invitation, this book became a possibility. On the sub-tropical beaches of unin- habited islands time stood still, and a vast Floridian leisure pos- sessed my soul. Beyond fishing, when the sun and tide were right, no more exacting demands were made upon me than to answer the dinner horn and to go into the water when it rained. On those tide-washed shores I found at home the bright-hued creatures I had met before only in books — the most varied and most beautiful assemblage of shells to be found on any beach belong- ing to the United States. The sober-coloured east coast shells I have studied on rocky and sandy shores from Old Point Comfort to Casco Bay. My teachers have been children and sages — clam-diggers of Cape Cod, grizzled old oystermen of Long Island, men of science and veteran collectors of the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Holl, Mass. The hospitality of Dr. and Mrs. Frank Overton, of Patchogue, L. I., made most pleasant and profitable my study of the oyster industry of Great South Bay. Dr. and Mrs. Henry M. Dean showed me similar kindness when I, a stranger, went to see the making of pearl buttons from the shells of river clams in the factories at Muscatine, Iowa. On the Pacific coast Professor Josiah Keep and the group of conchologists that centres at Los Angeles, showed me many kindnesses. My greatest debt is to Mr. and Mrs. T. S. Oldroyd, of Long Beach, well known to conchologists and collectors. Be- sides giving me access to their unexcelled collection of west coast shells,they spent much time with me on the rich collecting grounds they know so well in the neighbourhood of San Pedro Bay. The Los Angeles Public Library bought a complete set of the rare and costly "Conchologia Iconica," by Reeve (in twenty quarto volumes, illustrated by 2,600 plates coloured by hand) in order that work on the book might progress during my winter in Southern Cal- ifornia. For this unusual favour I thank Mr. C. J. Lummis, librarian, and Dr. C. J. K. Jones, director of study and research. viii Preface Through the kindness of Mr. C. H. Townsend, Director of the New York Aquarium, I have had opportunity to study many mollusks ahve in the fish tanks, and in the remarkable series of balanced aquaria, in charge of Mr. L. B. Spencer, At the American Museum of Natural History, with its mag- nificent collection of shells and its library, every facility for study has been at hand. Particular thanks are due this Museum, the officers of which selected and placed at Mr. Dugmore's disposal the shells from which the color and half-tone illustrations were made. Dr. Louis P. Gratacap, Curator of Conchology, has read the book critically in manuscript, and given me, on all occa- sions, his broad knowledge of the subject and the benefit of his judgment on disputed points. I am also indebted to Mr. Maxwell Smith for painstaking research and for the use of ma- terial from his private collection. The plan and nomenclature of this book follow the accepted standard, "The Manual of Conchology," by Tryon and Pilsbry. The shifting of the Cephalopods to fourth place instead of first is justified, I think, in a shell book, because, with the exception of the chambered nautilus, these mollusks are destitute of true, external shells. Julia Ellen Rogers. New York, February i, 1908. IX CONTENTS Preface VII CHAPTER PART I: HOW TO KNOW SHELLS I How to Know Shells . . . , H The Balanced Aquarium and the Snailery PAGE 3 9 PART H: THE UNIVALVES AND CHITONS CLASS GASTEROPODA I A Typical Univalve Mollusk II The Murex Shells. Rock Shells III The Oyster Drill .... IV The Purples. Dog Winkles V The Tritons and Frog Shells VI The Spindle Shells and Band Shells VII The Whelks. Trumpet Shells . VIII The Basket Shells. Dog Whelks IX The Chank Shells .... X The Volutes and Melon Shells . XI The Mitre Shells .... XII The Margin Shells .... XIII The OUve Shells. Rice Shells. Harp Shells XIV The Dove Shells .... XV The Cross-barred Shells . 21 27 38 42 49 56 61 71 76 79 87 89 9' 100 103 XI Contents CHAPTER XVI The Auger Shells . XVII The Notch-side Shells . . XVI II The Cone Shells XIX The Conch Shells . XX The Cowries. Venus Shells XXI The Egg Shells XXII The Helmet Shells. Cameo Shells . XXIII The Tun Shells. Wine Jars. Fig Shells XXIV The Moon Shells and Velvet Shells . XXV The Slipper Shells. Cup-and-saucer Limpets XXVI The Carrier Shells .... XXVII The Sun-dial Shells XXVIII The Stair-case Shells. Ladder Shells. Wen tletraps ..... XXIX The Violet Snails . XXX The Hairy-keeled Snails . XXXI The Screw Shells. Tower Shells XXXII The Worm Shells and Pod Shells XXXIII The Blind Shells. Tube Shells XXXIV The EuHmas .... XXXV The Pyramid Shells. Obelisk Shells XXXVI The Periwinkles and Chink Shells XXXVII The Horn Shells XXXVIII The Black Snails. Marsh Snails XXXIX The River Snails XL The Spire Shells and Flood Shells XLI The Sentinel Shells . XLII The Valve Shells . XLI 1 1 The Pond Snails. River Snails XLIV The Apple Snails. Flask Snails XLV The Looping Snails . XLVI The Round-mouthed Snails XLVII The Helicinas .... XLVI 1 1 The Sea Snails. Bleeding Tooth xii 105 107 I I '7 124 35 37 [40 '43 148 54 56 57 [60 ,64 ,65 167 169 [71 72 174 79 184 186 [90 '93 194 '95 197 '99 200 202 203 Contents CHAPTER XLIX The Liotias ...... 206 L The Pheasant Shells . . . . 207 LI The Turban Shells and Star Shells 209 Lll The Top Shells and Dolphin Shells 213 LIII The Wide-mouthed Shells 220 LIV The Slit Shells 221 LV The Ear Shells. Abalones 222 LVl The Keyhole Limpets . . . . 227 LVII The Limpets. Tent Shells 231 LVIII The Chitons. Coat-of-mail Shells 237 LIX The Sea Butterflies .... 241 LX The Shell-bearing Sea Slugs 243 LXI The Naked Sea Slugs . . . -. 248 LXII The Flesh-eating Land Snails 251 LXIII The Glassy Snails 253 LXIV The Land Snails. Helices 255 LXV North American Land Snails 263 LXVI The Hungry Snails .... 271 LXVII The Banded Snails .... 273 LXVI 1 1 The Agate Shells .... 275 LXIX The Cylinder Shells .... 279 LXX The Chrysalis Shells and Door Shells . 280 LXXI The Land Slugs .... 282 LXXII The Amber Snails . . 286 LXXIII The Ear Snails .... 287 LXXIV The Pond Snails .... 290 LXXV The Siphon Shells .... 296 PART IH: THE TOOTH SHELLS CLASS SCAPHOPODA The Tooth Shells 299 XIU Contents PART IV: THE BIVALVES CHAPTER I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII XIII XIV XV XVI XVII XVIII XIX XX XXI XXII XXIII XXIV XXV XXVI XXVII XXVIII XXIX CLASS PELECYPODA A Typical Bivalve Mollusk The Watering-pot Shells and Club Shells The Ship Worm The Piddocks .... The Razor Shells. Razor Clams The Rock-borers. The Soft-shell clams. Sand Clams The Basket Clams The Duck-bill Shells and Lantern Shell The Surf Clams. Hen Clams The Semeles The Tellen Shells. Sunset Shells. Wedge Shells The Rock-dwellers The Venus Clams and Carpet Shells The Cyrenas and Pea Shells The Iceland Cyprina The Cockles. Heart Shells The Rock Oysters The Furbelowed Clams The Lucinas The Thick-shelled Hearts The Astartes. The Pearly Fresh-water Mussels The Three-angled Clams The Nut Shells The Ark Shells. Chest Shells The Mussels and Rock-eaters The Wing Shells, Pearl Oysters and Hammer Oysters. ..... The Pen Shells. Sea Wings. Fin Shells 305 310 312 315 3.8 322 324 326 327 332 336 338 345 347 354 356 357 361 363 366 369 370 373 379 381 384 387 393 401 XIV Contents CHAPTER XXX XXXI XXXII XXXIII XXXIV XXXV The Thorny Oysters . The File Shells The Scallops. Comb Shells The Jingle Shells The Window Shells The Oysters 404 408 411 419 422 423 PART V: THE CEPHALOPODS I The Many-armed Mollusks 439 II The Argonaut. Paper Nautilus 441 III The Devil-fishes. Octopi 445 IV The Spirula 449 V The Cuttle. Sepia .... 450 VI The Common Squids .... 452 VII The Flying Squids and the Giant Squids 455 VIII »EX AI The Chambered Nautilus . MD Glossary 459 467 XV COLOUR PLATES I. Abalones of the California Coast II. Univalve Shells of Tropical Seas . III. Univalve Shells of Tropical Seas . IV. Univalve Shells of Tropical Seas . V. Univalve Shells of Tropical Seas . VI. Tropical Land Shells . VII. Marine and Fresh-water Bivalve Shells VIII. Bivalve Shells of Tropical Seas • Frontispiece 78 136 ,78 212 262 344 • 422 zvu BLACK AND WHITE ILLUSTRATIONS FACINC PACE Gathering Shells ....... 4 A Beach in Southern Florida ..... 5 Fresh-water Aquarium and Marine Aquarium . 12 A Good Locality for Fresh-water Mollusks 13 Murex Shells ....... 22 Soft Parts of a Univalve ..... 23 A Typical Univalve Shell ..... 23 A Single Row of Teeth Across the Radula of Helicim convexa ........ • 23 Rose-branch Murex Shells ..... 23 Murex Shells ....... 26 Murex Shells ....... 27 Murex Shells ....... 38 Murex Shells . . ' 39 Trophons, Drill and Eupleura .... 42 Purples and Near Relatives ..... 43 Unicorn Shells and Magilus ..... 48 Tritons. ......... 49 Trumpet Shells ....... 54 Frog Shells and a Triton ..... 55 Spindle Shells and Others ..... 58 Marine Univalves ....... 59 Whelks 64 The Edible Whelk 65 Giant Pear Conch or Knobbed Whelk 70 Giant Whelks, or Pear Conchs, and Egg Ribbon 7' Dog Whelks and Others 74 A Volute and Melon Shell 75 The Musical Volute and the Junonia 86 The Imperial Volute ...... 87 Melon Shell and Mitre Shells 90 .Margin Shells and Others ..... 91 xtx Illustrations Olive Shells . . Marine Univalves ....... Auger Shells, Notch Side Shells and Crossbarred Shells A Rocky Beach Where Periwinkles Abound. Queen Conch of West Indies Cone Shells and a Conch Shell Beak Shell and Conch Shells Little Screw Shell, Pelican's Foot and Scorpion Shell Cowries ..... Cowries and Coffee Bean Shells Egg Shells ..... Helmet Shells .... Tun Shells and Helmet Shells . Large Marine Snails Moon Shells and Others . Slipper Shells and Giant Moon Shell Limpets and Carrier Shells Carrier Shell and Sun-dial Shells Wentletraps, Violet Snails and Others Periwinkles and Worm Shells Horn Shells . Marsh and Apple Snails . Round-mouthed Snails . Sea Snails and Turban Shells Star Shells and Top Shells Top Shells Top Shells and Others Ear Shells. Abalones . The Red Abalone . A Clam Fisherman on the Mississippi River Dead Man's Island, off San Pedro Harbour, Southern California ..... A Cactus Fence in Southern California Drying Abalone Meats for Export to Japan Slit Limpets and Key-hole Limpets Limpets, Chiton and Shield Shell The Giant Chiton . Chitons and Bubble Shells Land Snails and Umbrella Shell Tropical Snails 98 99 1 10 1 1 1 118 119 122 123 134 135 138 139 144 145 148 149 156 157 180 181 188 189 214 215 218 219 224 225 226 226 226 226 227 238 239 240 241 278 Illustrations Cylinder Shells, Pcnd Snails, Midas's Ear and Tooth Shells Wood-boring Bivalves . Piddocks. Rock-borers Parts of a Hard-shell Clam Razor Clams and Other Clams The Old Clam Digger Rock-borers and Hard-shell Clams Soft-shell and Other Clams Clams Useful and Beautiful Clams and Cockles Wedge Shells and Tellens Giant Clams and Sunset Shells Cockles .... Rock Oysters and a Sea Clam One Valve of the Giant Clam of Australia, and Bear's Paw Clam ......... Chestnut Crassatells, Tiger Lucina, Grooved Lunica, North- ern Cardita, Waved Astarte, Broad-ribbed Cardita Fresh-v^ater Mussels Fresh-water Mussels Making Pearl Buttons at Muscatine, Iowa Ark Shells and Others . Mussels ..... Acres of Edible Mussels . Wing Shells, Rock-dwellers and a Mussel Oysters of Tropical Seas . Pen Shells Thorny Oysters and Others Marine Bivalve Shells Scallops and a File Shell Scallop Shells .... Oysters and Jingle Shells The Oyster and Oystering on Great South Bay, Long Island Masses of Coon Oysters . Egg Cradle of the Paper Nautilus Chambered Nautilus 279 282 283 307 320 321 322 323 334 335 336 337 356 357 364 365 374 375 378 379 388 389 396 397 406 407 410 411 418 419 430 431 458 459 XXI PART I HOW TO KNOW SHELLS THE SHELL BOOK CHAPTER I: HOW TO KNOW SHELLS All up and down the ocean border, east and west and south, I have met people picking up shells. Children and grown people both give themselves to the eager search for ocean treasures left by the outgoing tide. The fascination of the pursuit — who has not yielded to it ? Who ever came back from a walk on the beach without at least a handful of shells too irresistibly pretty or interesting to leave? Ask the name of a shell and the reply is almost invariably: "It's some kind of clam," or, "It's some kind of snail." Few grown people regard with any feeling but distaste, if not disgust, "the slimy thing inside." Apparently they distrust the state- ment that the shell is but the skeleton of the living mollusk it protects. It is not surprising that a popular misconception exists as to the origin of shells. Even scientists devoted to conchology used to discard the soft parts without considering their structure. The shell was the thing. On its characters alone classification was based. Now the whole mollusk is the thing, shell and all. The name is from the Latin adjective mollis, which means soft. Some mollusks have no shells at all. Most of them have shells for protection of their soft bodies, but they do not build them, as bees make comb of wax and the white-faced hornet builds her paper palace. Mollusks are shell-builders in the same sense that you and I are bone-builders. The fleshy mantle of the mollusk secretes lime from the water and adds it, layer by layer, to the growing shell. The horny skin outside and the pearly or enamel lining protect the shell substance from the corrosive action of acids in the water. When we consider how little was known a hundred years ago about plants and animals compared with what the century has 3 How to Know Shells added; and when we think how changed is the attitude of scholars toward sciences to-day, we may well marvel that so much has been accomplished in so short a time. Science for its own sake is no such real and vital thing as science in its relation to human life. A great popular interest in natural sciences has followed the lead of scientists. Generations of Nature-lovers are coming on. Conchology, as the name confesses, was the science of shells. In 1800 two thousand species of shells were known. Now fifty thousand species of mollusks are distinguished by name. The whole specimen is studied to determine its relationships. Its life history and habits are eagerly investigated. Thus has a dead science come to life; and we shall see people opening their eyes more and more to the wonderful forms of molluscan life that are all about them, but which they have not yet learned how to see. The scope of the Mollusca is great. No other animal group has so wide and varied a range of distribution. All latitudes have their peculiar genera and species, excepting only the extreme polar regions. Land shells range from tide water to snowy moun- tain tops, to the limits of animal and vegetable life. Lakes and rivers teem with fresh-water forms. Amphibious mollusks cluster where land meets water. From the populous ocean border a diminishing list of marine forms live on the ocean bed to abyssmal depths. The pelagic mollusks live on the surface of the open sea. Mollusks there are that climb, leap, crawl, burrow, swim, dive, float, even jly; for the graceful sea arrow which darts out of water like a flying fish, is a squid, and squids are mollusks. There is no mode of locomotion denied them. From microscopic forms they range in size to the ponderous spindle-shell, a marine snail two feet long, and the giant clam, four feet across, weighing five hundred pounds. As scavengers on the ocean border and inland, mollusks are important agents of sanitation, destroying disease germs in de- caying organic matter, thereby purifying water and air. Snails destroy noxious fungi and weeds. Mollusks furnish food to man and other animals. To a large extent they are the food of cod and other fish. Our dependence upon them is no less a fact because it is indirect, as in this case. Oysters are preeminent among edible mollusks, with clams and cockles, and snails and scallops in a long train after them. An oyster is preeminent, too, as the source of the world's wealth 4 i ■ .' V'. I '• 1/ ■ c "3 £ JZ , . ^J, < ' Q Qj i " O K "• fcL, i ? :^ OS f i X H o CO In O « W K u < « X Z t o Q Z ^ P 1 o 1 pa OJ < >< H W 1— < « < > H CAl W ^ i o w K H Z 1— 1 W K CO '•! -) 11 S «t (X. i t3 (' < w n How to Know Shells in pearls. Mother-of-pearl is the lining of shells. Pearl buttons are cut from shells of the fresh-water clams. Cameos are cut from conchs and helmet shells. Sepia ink and the far-famed Tyrian dyes are molluscan secretions. Royal robes were woven of the threads by which the little pen shell clings to its rocky abode. A little cowrie of handy size and shape is the "money shell" of African tribes, the currency used in all traffic. But these interesting mollusks we can only read about. There are others closer by. Go with me down to the seashore when the tide is out. It takes time to get the eyes and the mind focused upon what one is looking at. The beach is scattered with the dead shells of its own inhabitants. Between the limits of the high and low tides is a zone of life that follows in and out the curves and angles of the crumbling sea wall. In the tide pools, under the smooth sand, on rocks, under spreading green seaweed, live the creatures of the seashore. They are retiring in disposition. Very naturally they do not wave us a welcome. How quickly a child throws away a lapful of wave-worn shells to watch the doings of a live one ! Do you see that small jet of water spouting upward? The spade thrust deftly under turns out a slim razor clam. Watch or he will dive into the sand before you can get him into the pail of sea water. Fill it half full of sand and how quickly he is out of sight. What is that ridge on the smooth sand? The boy explores it with his bare toe, and turns out a surprised moon shell. Watch the disturbed creature draw his great foot into the stout shell, and shut the world out with the horny door. Those familiar "sand collars," so fragile when they are dry, turn out to be the egg-carrier of the moon shell. And the poor clams whose shells are bored with neat round holes near the beaks are victims of the moon shell's voracious appetite. It is easy to prove this by putting the two together alive in the pail and leaving them over night. Sometimes a shell scampers clumsily over the sand instead of sedately plodding along just under the surface. It tumbles over, and reveals a sheaf of jointed arms at the opening. The original owner has been superseded by that inveterate house- hunter, the hermit crab. There is positively no end to the new discoveries one makes when the eyes are once open to the strange doings of the shore- 5 How to Know Shells dwellers. It is not study to watch them. It is one of the finest ways to put in the vacation of a brain-worker. It is true recrea- tion. If the sojourn lasts a week or longer, have a jar of sea water with sandy bottom and some green seaweed to keep it pure. Put the creatures you wish to watch into this aquarium — a miniature ocean — for your convenience and pleasure. Here the shy mollusks will lose their self-consciousness, and live their lives as contentedly and naturally as the bolder ones. If you live inland you may never achieve a vacation at the seashore. Go to the lake or the stream nearest home. Sweep the edges of the ditch with a dip net. Rake the bottom of the brook and the pond. The number of aquatic mollusks living in such situations is such that you soon abandon the idea that all but a few live in the sea. No marine specimen ever exhibits more intelligence or agility than the little bladder snail that lives on plants in ponds and ditches. Put a few in an aquarium jar in spring. The eggs, then the young, will hold your interest like a play. Through their eventful youth these little gymnasts will migrate in straight lines, at various angles, from one part of the tank to another, on threads of mucus, fme as a spider's web. Their tricks are amazing and amusing, in infinite variety. The inlander has at hand all the air-breathing mollusks, the land snails of his region. The forest snails hide under loose bark, and under decaying logs. Sun-enduring kinds hide among grass roots, and among more luxuriant vegetation, and fare forth in damp weather or only by night. The number of the land snails is very great, even in our temperate zone. Little is yet known about the life history of many of these. The limits of distribution are vague and inaccurate for many. When does this snail lay its eggs? How long do the young require to reach maturity ? When does that species seal up its doorway and go into the ground to spend the winter? The young con- chologist can ascertain the correct name of a specimen by sending it to one of the scientific institutions named on page 8, where a specialist will answer his inquiry. The careful observer, if he keeps a note-book, may discover and pass on to conchologists valuable facts in the life history of little-known species. The study of our land mollusks is very incomplete. It is a worthy and enjoyable opportunity that is open to earnest young natural- ists to-day, 6 How to Know Shells Is is worth while to make a collection of shells. This is one of the most desirable channels into which to guide the collecting zeal of children. Pennies are better invested in gay-hued sea shells at the curio shop than in the equally dazzling display in the candy shop. I could never doubt the genuineness nor the enduring quality of a child's love for a growing shell collection after spending a winter at Long Beach, Cal,, and seeing a child's small hoard of "a window shell, two Muricks (Murex) and a Turritella Cooperi I found myself!" grow till a small cabinet was needed to display and protect from dust a good variety of native and exotic species. Friends always rally to the assistance of the amateur conchologist. Shell dealers have tropical shells of great beauty at surprisingly small prices. When his experience is wider, the collector can obtain many of the species he desires by exchange with other collectors in different parts of the country, and in foreign countries. To all these resources are added his own industry in his own neighbourhood. Shell collectors are always enthusiasts, and their enthusiasm is likely to become con- tagious, especially as it is supplemented by study of mollusks alive, in the aquarium and snailery and in their native haunts. The Golden Age of Conchology was reached in the middle of the last century when Hugh Cuming returned from cruising among the islands of many seas, bringing as spoils of his wander- ings thousands of shells of the Tropics, the largest and hand- somest to be found in the world. He had twenty-five hundred different species of marine shells, and five hundred species of land shells. Such forms find refuge among groves of many-coloured corals and sea-weeds; the air-breathers hide among tropical vegetation, unseen because as gaily striped as the flowers. Many of these splendid shells were absolutely unknown to science. The tremendous effect they produced upon the shell collectors of Europe cannot be described. Magnificent private collections represented the grand passion of many wealthy and ambitious amateurs. Auction sales were patronised by persons of high social standing, noted conchologists, and shrewd speculators. These were centres of excited competition, where prices of rare and beautiful shells reached surprising heights. Most of these private collections have been absorbed by great museums, where they are displayed for the enjoyment of the public, or are at least available to those who wish to study them. How to Know Shells The great collections of this country are at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, the Academy of Sciences in Philadel- phia and the American Museum of Natural History of the City of Nev/ York. Chicago has a fine collection in its Academy of Sciences. Other cities are building up similar exhibits. Colleges and universities, public libraries and local museums house many private collections displayed where the public may use and enjoy them. In connection with the great museums scientists are devoting their lives to research. Children and others interested in shells should pay occasional visits to some great collection. Conchologists of world-wide fame are very kindly people, eager to help beginners by identifying a perplexing specimen, or by helpful suggestions. Such experiences are enlightening and impressive, and leave very pleasant memories. After such a visit we come home to our own with new pleasure. We take out the prettiest shells, finger their glossy, curving spires, and delight in their rich harmonies of colouring. We almost love them for their changeless beauty. What must it be like to gaze over a boat's side at the wonderful coral groves where such shells are seen alive! Shall we have the good luck to go some day to Jamaica, or to the Philippines, where live the most beautiful land shells in the world? Or to the East Indian or Panama beaches, with their wonderful marine forms? Pending the decision of these fascinating questions, let us take a look into the aquarium where the pond snail hangs, shell downward, calmly grazing the green scum from the top in an irregular swath. In the snailery the hungry ones have found our offering of lettuce leaves. Outside, along the garden path, in the cool stillness of the summer twilight, Stoop to watch the tube-eyed snail Creep o'er his long, moon-glittering trail. The life story of the most wonderful of tropical mollusks is not more interesting than that of the humblest snail that takes toll of our vegetable garden. 8 CHAPTER II: THE BALANCED AQUARIUM AND THE SNAILERY A PRACTICABLE WAY TO STUDY MOLLUSKS ALIVE IN YOUR OWN HOME About fifty years ago a young lady up in Vermont took home from a pond a two-quart glass jar of water in which she had collected a few tadpoles, minnows and snails, and some of the growing pond-weed among whose leafy stems she found them. In her home she kept this happy family; the water did not stale and grow turbid; the animals and plants throve as if they were still in their native pond. The secret of her success was this. The leaves of submerged plants give out oxygen which gill-breathing animals obtain from the water. They take up the carbonic acid gas given off into the water by the animals. Each kind of living thing needs the very element that the other discards. Plants and animals "purify the water" for each other. This balance of Nature is a nice one. Too many animals or too many plants upset it. Fresh water aquaria are miniature ponds, tanks or jars stocked with animal and plant life brought in from ponds or streams. If properly "balanced," the water needs no changing but remains pure and sparkling as long as the equilibrium is maintained. This is the practicable aquarium for all who live inland. Marine, or salt water aquaria are feasible for all who live near the seashore. The law of balance holds here, too. The difference is that sea water is used, and seaweeds and the animal life of the ocean furnish the proper materials for stocking it. Inland, there have been some successful marine aquaria. But it is expensive to ship sea water by rail, and making artificial sea water presents many difficulties. The stocking of these aquaria is precarious business. Successful marine aquaria inland are rare. Public aquaria, like the great institution in Battery Park, New York, which is visited by thousands of people daily, maintain 9 The Balanced Aquarium and the Snailery full-grown specimens of various animals that live in the seas as well as in rivers and lakes. For such, the water in the tanks requires constant change, or the inhabitants would die. There is a pipe bringing in a fresh supply, and an exhaust pipe carrying off the excess in each tank. The greater the surface, the better chance for fresh air, which plants and animals all need. Many animals come to the surface for air. The best aquarium imitates the pond in having the largest possible surface in proportion to its depth. A tank fitted with running water is too elaborate and too expensive an outfit for home use. The care of it soon becomes a burden. The Home-made Tank. — The image that arises in the average mind is of a tank made of an iron frame, plate glass and cement, with a large rock-work piece in the centre. Through the arch- ways and colonnades, and in and out among waving plumes of water plants there passes a procession of gay gold fishes. Let me counsel the beginner to curb his aspiration for a home-made tank. Materials cost little, and it looks reasonable to suppose that a good mechanic can put them together success- fully by simply following directions. The experience of many an ardent aquarist has been that failures succeed failures, no matter how carefully he has tried to forestall them. "Water is so thin! it will work through anywhere." Changes in tem- perature, warping of the wood, cracking of glass, disintegration of the cement in spots — these are contingencies that keep the builder of a home-made tank in constant suspense. The leak he anxiously expects for months is sure to come, like a thief in the night, to ruin his hopes. If you must have an aquarium of this type, buy it of a dealer who will guarantee it, or make good, if any faults in construction come to light. Thus risks are mini- mised, and the owner can sleep o' nights. Solid Glass Aquaria. — Rectangular tanks "made in one piece" are very satisfactory. Examine them before buying, to be sure that objects are seen without distortion through the sides. Choose one as nearly uniform in thickness as possible. The fault of these jars is that in moulding the angles are likely to be thinner than the sides, which makes them liable to crack when the temperature is variable. Cylindrical tanks, with circular bottoms and perpendicular 10 The Balanced Aquarium and the Snailery sides, are considered the most dependable shape for the home or school aquarium. Many of these are maintained in the New York schools. The slight distortion of the shape and size of an object in the water is its main fault. This is easily forgiven in a tank that gives the maximum of strength for its size. Choose one of even thickness, and perfect clearness, and free from flaws. Glass globes are beautiful but dangerous. They have too small air surface for the water they contain. Their curved sides act as a burning glass, concentrating the sun's rays, and heating the water. A sun-lit bowl of gold fish is a dazzling object. But the unfortunate creatures are suffering with the heat, blinded by the glare, and suffocating for breath! The owner is unaware that anything is wrong. It is the height of cruelty to animals to set a fish globe or any aquarium where sunshine can strike it. Three- to eight-gallon sizes are recommended by the best authorities. Smaller ones are feasible for observing the doings of particular animals. Larger ones are unmanageable in a house. Place the aquarium where the whole family can enjoy it. Set it on a small table, so it can be viewed on all sides. Set the table in front of a north window if practicable, so as to have light, but no direct sunshine. Any window may have the right light if protected by a veranda roof or an awning. If the table has a marble or metal top, set the aquarium on a wooden base, to prevent danger of cracking. Stocking the Fresh Water Aquarium. — First put into the (per- fectly clean) tank two inches of coarse gravel which has been thoroughly washed. "Bird gravel" is not so good as a coarser grade. Put in bits of rock that please your fancy, a piece of rock work if your taste leans toward artificial structures. Plants with good root systems are easily anchored in the gravel. Others may be attached to sinkers of some kind which will hold them down. A cluster of stalks may be wrapped with a strip of sheet lead and planted in the gravel. Choose vigorous young specimens, of not too many kinds. Three or four are plenty, and do not crowd the tank. Let each plant display its good points. Give it room to grow. The "Fontinalis"' of aquarists {Aniipyretica foniinalis) is a feathery moss-like plant that grows on decayed logs or on stones in the beds of streams or by springs. This is a most beautiful and useful plant for the aquarium. It can be found, and it keeps II The Balanced Aquarium and the Snailery growing, the year around; and it is one of the few best aerators of water. The Milfoil (Myriophyllum spicatum) ranks next. Its plume is rounded and full. It has the fault of dying away at intervals. The Hornwort {Ceratophyllum demersum) resembles the mil- foils, and it lasts longer. The Eel-grass or Tape Grass {Valisneria spiralis) has narrow flat leaves, like green ribbons. It is an intensely interesting study, as well as a valuable tenant of the aquarium. It takes root easily, and throws up vigorous new shoots. At blooming time the solitary buds of the fertile plants rise to the surface on slender coiled stems. The sterile flowers tumble off of their short stems and rise to the surface. Floating about, these pollen-bearers brush against the pistils of the fertile flowers, thus effecting their pollination. Thereupon the coiled stems draw down the flowers which mature, under water, the seed thus set. The sterile flowers wither. Water Thyme (Anacharis Canadensis) is one of the most vigorous of aquarium plants, and is easily obtained in many regions, where it chokes streams and canals. Pond weed (Poiamogeion densum) has a fern-like leaf, and grows well in the tank. Though not so easily obtained as the Parrot's Feather, a close relative which florists grow, it is much more desirable. The latter exhales very little oxygen, though it has a dense, showy plume. The Stoneworts, Niiella and Chara, bear tufts of silky hairs that sway most gracefully when a tadpole or a fish flips his tail near by. Water-silk (Spirogyra) is a fine network of green threads, which floats, and is often mistaken for "scum." A hand-glass brings out its beauty. Duckweeds (Lemna) float like pale threads, their minute green leaves flattened on the surface of the water. Many tiny snails and other creatures harbour and forage on them. Riccia, which looks like a sprinkling of green sawdust, is a good plant. Conferva is the botanical name of several kinds of alga?, microscopic plants, which appear as a green film lining your tank, especially if it is in a well-lighted place. Fairy ropes of it festoon the walls and connect the plumes of the plants. This is 12 1 Fresh-water aquarium, with jxjnd snails and pond 2 Marine aquarium, with hard-shellc.i ckinis and sheets of weeds. green se^ lettuce. The water in these tanks is kept pure by the plants. CO I-) o % Pi bi < I » ■Ji a 05 O < c Q O O O The Balanced Aquarium and the Snailery one of the useful aerators, and a favourite food of certain snails. It can be checked in its growth by introducing more snails, or by cutting off the light with a screen of yellow paper. Such a method is much better than darkening the room. Probably no single locality would furnish all the pond plants mentioned. But any natural pond should supply plenty of three or four kinds. If possible get water from the pond which grew the plants. If this is impracticable, use ordinary well or cistern water, or take it from the city tap. Let the plants get used to their new station before you put in the animals. Bubbles of air rising in the water show that all is well. Mollusks of rivers and ponds are at home in the fresh water aquarium, and live at peace with many other animal forms. Snails will be found among the leaves and stems of floating and submerged plants. The Pond Snails (Physa), one of the best kinds for the aqua- rium, will mow the conferva from the sides of the tank and will breed there, undisturbed, though fishes prey upon them. The Trumpet Snail (Planorbis), coiled flat like a watch spring, a far lustier fellow, may be found in ponds and ditches. Lymncea is the name of several pond snails, whose dark, handsome shells coil to the right. They are inactive, a contrast to the ambitious, left-handed Physas. Paludina, the marsh snail, may be represented sparingly. Clams will live quietly in the aquarium, travelling about when they feel like it, ploughing with extended foot through the gravel. Fishes, tadpoles and the little acrobatic Water Newt {Triton) live happily with the snails and clams, if fed regularly. Stickle- backs will build nests and hatch their young. Avoid fish over three inches long. Crayfish are best kept in separate jars; they are beasts of prey and disturbers of the peace, attacking the fish and uprooting the plants. With bits of rock they build caves in which to hide. Small bits of meat will be eaten by crayfishes and tadpoles. Insects, including "wigglers" from a neglected rain barrel (mos- quito larv^) will be eaten by the fishes. They will pick up bread crumbs. Small creatures we overlook entirely furnish food for larger animals. 13 The Balanced Aquarium and the Snailery Jars containing four or five gallons of water should maintain three or four fishes, two to three inches long, with four or five newts, three or four small tadpoles, six or eight snails and two or three clams. One or two plants extending their tops up out of the water will be appreciated by the newts, which like to take a breath of fresh air occasionally. Snails, too, and tadpoles, enjoy this chance of a change. Stocking the Marine Aquarium. — First cover the bottom of the tank with an inch of cleaned beach gravel. Pebbles of various sizes add to the beauty of this foundation and ofTer lodgment for anemones. Fill with the purest sea water obtainable. Sea lettuce {Ulva latissima) is the most desirable plant for the marine aquarium. Collect from tide pools on the beach bits of shell and rock fragments to which are attached young plants of it. Arrange them on the foundation of sand. Broad bands of this plant may be floated on bits of cork at the surface, and anchored at the bottom for a green background against which to see the animal life to best advantage. Solieria chordalis has brilliant, crimson, wiry branches in profuse bunches, a beautiful contrast to the cool green Ulva. It grows on rocks and shells at a few fathoms depth. Grenella Americana, with narrow red ribbons, is a good plant, if young specimens are used. Many beautiful seaweeds have proved to be harmful in the aquarium. Those named above are perfectly safe. Aeration is accomplished by green plants, — so the Ulva is our dependence for oxygen supply. Let the aquarium with its plants have a few days' rest before putting in the animal life. Q)rals, even tropical kinds, live comfortably in the balanced aquarium for years. A cold water species is to be had in Long Island Sound and on the Jersey coast about Long Branch. Oysters, mussels and clams live comfortably in the sand and gravel. Sea anemones "blossom," attached to stones and shells; they are among the greatest attractions of the aqua- rium. The Tube Worm (Cistenides), in its sandy horn, and Serpula, in its twisted limy tube, do well. The Ship Worm {Teredo), in a fragment of honeycombed wood, thrives in the company above described. Botryllus is a coloured, gelatinous mass, with a star-like 14 The Balanced Aquarium and the Snailery arrangement of the individual zooids, which looks somewhat like coral. It is found attached to eel-grass and to wharf piles. Sea Squirts are globular, gelatinous creatures that send out a jet of water when disturbed. They will live and multiply in the aquarium. Snails of the periwinkle group (Litiorina) are scavengers. They eat decayed vegetable matter, and pick up the crumbs dropped by fishes. The Dog Whelk (Nassa triviitata) helps at this job of cleaning, and he is an ornament to the tank. But he may drill a hole in the shell, and suck the life blood of your favourite bivalve, reminding you that he prefers fresh to stale food. Be- ware the Whelk (Buccinum) , the Moon Shell (Natica), and the Drill {Uro salpinx), ior they will slay without mercy every bivalve you put within their reach. Hydroids, microscopic creatures of exceeding beauty of form, often mistaken for delicate seaweeds, occur in the aquarium as if spontaneously, attached to the glass sides or to objects inside. Hermit and horse-shoe crabs, prawns and little blue crabs should be kept in separate jars. They are most interesting and beautiful. But they are too hungry and too selfish to share the quarters of better-mannered creatures. Do not attempt to put into one jar at one time any such number and variety of plants and animals as I have described. Understock, rather than overstock, the aquarium. Put in fresh water, as evaporation lowers the level. Feeding the Animals. — Mince a fresh clam or oyster and feed the sea anemones and corals, by holding a bit on the end of a sharp stick in front of the disk, where the tentacles can reach it. They take it eagerly. The juice lost to the water will feed the bivalves. Cease to offer it, when food is no longer taken. Feed regularly. Bits of meat or clam are good food for the car- nivors, which cannot be trusted in the general aquarium. Cleaning the Aquarium. — Dust may be removed from the surface of the water by skimming with pieces of clean white blotting paper. If dead leaves foul the water, put in more water snails, found among decayed leaves on the edges of ponds and ditches. Slime-covered corners of the same pond furnish you the kind of snail which will clean the scum off the sides and sur- face of your tank quickly. There are marine snails that will do the same work in the salt water aquarium. When such means 15 The Balanced Aquarium and the Snailery fail, a swab of flannel, wrapped close on a small block, curved to fit the sides of the jar, and affixed to a handle of convenient length, is the best cleaning tool. Wash the dirt out of the flannel after drawing it once up the glass side. A half-inch glass tube is used to take up bits of food from the bottom of the tank. With the thumb over one end, place the other close to the refuse. Lift the thumb slightly, and the object will rise in the tube. Close the top again with the thumb while taking the tube out of the water. Never leave bits of food on the bottom of the tank. If you prefer, put a hungry crayfish or crab in to clear up the garbage. But don't forget to take him out when his scavenger work is done. He is a dangerous visitor to leave there long. Plants must be removed when they show symptoms of old age. Animals, too, must be watched, and removed when they are unhealthy. Sick animals often hide under the rocks to die. Hunt them out before they foul the water. Sometimes turbid water may be cleared by dipper aeration. Dipping the water, and pouring it slowly back, with the dipper held six or eight inches above the surface, mixes fresh air with the water, and thus "makes it alive." This should be done carefully so as not to dislodge the plants, nor otherwise disturb the arrangements. Do not empty the tank until all expedients have failed. Use a siphon to draw off the water, if it has become stagnant. Carefully wash the jar, the gravel, and other contents that are to be replaced. Install plants and animals in clean fresh water. Try to avoid the necessity of another such housecleaning. Tools Needed for the Aquarium. — Handling fish and other creatures is often the cause of their death. Moreover, it is not pleasant to roll up a sleeve and dive to the elbow into an aquarium. The tools needed are few and simple. Supply these, and so avoid damage and discomfort. 1. A small dip net on a long handle, useful for the transfer of any animal from one tank to another. 2. A pair of wooden forceps longenough to reach objects on the bottom of the jar, useful in rearranging rocks, anchoring plants, etc. 3. A glass tube for taking up refuse. 4. A long, pointed stick for feeding corals, etc. 5. A long-handled swab for cleaning the inside of the jar. 16 The Balanced Aquarium and the Snailery 6. A siphon, or merely a piece of soft rubber tubing, to draw off the water in emptying tank. Much elaborate and unnecessary equipment is offered by dealers in aquarium supplies. The essentials are named above. Most of these articles can be made at home; the others may often be bought at a drug store. Wholesale houses carrying druggist's supplies usually can furnish such jars as are required. There are several firms in New York City. THE SNAILERY Intimate acquaintance with air-breathing mollusks can be cultivated only by bringing specimens from their native haunts into our own homes. Here they will be perfectly comfortable if their surroundings are made homelike. A snailery may well be a glass jar like the aquarium in size and shape. Put in a layer of woods earth three or four inches deep. Plant a few ferns or Other woodsy things, and a clump of damp moss; sink a small dish of water in a corner, and screen the top to keep the snails from escaping. Stock this little molluscan terrarium with the snails common to your nearest woods. Feed them bits of tender lettuce, which out of season you can grow in a flower-pot. In the autumn the snailery may be set on a veranda where the feeling of approaching winter will cause the snails to go into hibernation, secreting a parchment doorway after burying themselves just under the leaf mould. In June the eggs may be found in masses or ribbons in both aquarium and snailery. The development of the young snails is one of the most interesting things to watch. The modes of travel, eating habits, the use of the tentacles, foot, and other parts are best observed as the snails crawl on the glass sides of the jar. Few phenomena are more interesting than the prompt thrusting out of the jaw and toothed tongue of a hungry white- lipped snail when it is offered a bit of cabbage or lettuce. Carnivorous species in a snailery will devour the vegetable feeders. Keep watch for these, and exclude them. We have comparatively few of these, and a sharp lookout will soon discover the cannibals. 17 PART II UNIVALVES AND CHITONS. CLASS GASTEROPODA CHAPTER I: A TYPICAL UNIVALVE MOLLUSK The Pear Conch well exhibits the structure of the univalves. It is abundant from Cape Cod to Florida. On the same general plan all snails are built. THE SHELL It is a conical tube spirally wound to the right about a central axis, the columella. The closed, pointed end is the apex; the coiled whorls form the spire. The last coil is called the body whorl, for in it the body lies. The spout-like prolongation is the anterior canal. The spiral channel is the suture. The shell's mouth is called the aperture. The outer lip is opposite the columella, or inner lip. Lines of growth cross the whorls, close together, and parallel to the outer lip. The hairy skin covering the shell when it is alive is the epidermis. Lining the interior is the enamel. Between these is the main shell substance composed chieflyof lime. When the body is drawn into the shell the aperture is closed by a horny door, the operculum. Hold the spiral shell of the conch by its long stem, the an- terior canal; the apex is pointed upward; the aperture is at the right. The anterior parts of the body reach the aperture; the posterior parts extend towards the apex. The ventral part of the body is underneath when the foot is extended. It is the inner, short side of the coil. The dorsal part is the arch of the body, the long, outer side of the coil. These terms are necessary to designate the relative positions of the internal organs. THE SOFT PARTS The mantle is the fleshy web that covers the body and lines the shell. In the spire it is attached to the body, and is very thin. In the body whorl it is free from the body, and en- closes the mantle cavity. It forms a thickened collar around the body, and fits the shell aperture. This collar is attached at 21 A Typical Univalve Mollusk SOFT PARTS OF A UNIVALVE (Mantle chamber laid open) Pyrula sp. proboscis tentacles foot siphon mantle mantle chamber osphradium gills oesophagus heart ntestine d, duct of male reproductive gland k, kidney It, liver or, female reproductive gland ar, male reproductive glanJ /, /. ^1 tn, m-c, o, S, y, h, i, A TYPICAL UNIVALVE SHELL Pear Conch, Fiilgur canalkulata A, apex s. suture B, shoulder of whorl E, spire M, body whorl u. columella or inner lip L, outer lip P, aperture R, anterior canal A single row of teeth across the radula ol HeliciiM convexa, Troschel a, central, or rachidian tooth (i) b, lateral teeth (4) c, uncini, or marginal teeth (50 or more) 1 Formula: 50.4.1.4.50 C_ 22 1 Venus's Comb, Miirex tentiispina. MUREX SHELLS 2 Burnt Murex, M. adustus. 3 Golden Mouth Murex, J/, chrysosloma. ROSE-BRANCH MUREX SHELL, Miirex pdma-rosa:. A Tjrpical Univalve Mollusk certain points in tiie margin, folded and prolonged at others. The large opening permits the foot to protrude. The siphon is a tubular prolongation of the mantle, which fits into the anterior canal. The muscular organ that bears the operculum is the foot. The pedal gland opens on the sole, or disc of the foot. An anterior fold of the mantle border forms the head. A central, retractile prolongation, the proboscis, contains the radula — odontophore or rasping tongue— a flexible band set with many transverse rows of teeth, which may be seen protruding from the mouth, at the tip. The central rachidian tcoth in each row is flanked by the laterals; on the borders are the marginals or uncini. On each side of the head is an erect trian- gular projection, the tentacle; each bears a dark eye on the outer edge. The rounded arch of the body is the visceral dome. The mantle, transparent and thin here, forms the wall of the body. Through it various internal organs are visible. In the first two coils from the apex is a dark mass, the liver. The reproductive gland, brown, red or yellow, overlies the dorsal surface of the liver. The stomach, curved, light-coloured, often indistinctly seen, is just under the surface and overlies the liver on the left. The kidney, somewhat rectangular, yellowish brown to chocolate- coloured, lies on the left side, anterior to the reproductive glands. The yellowish, two-chambered heart lies in a triangular sac, the pericardium, anterior to the kidney. In females a large yellow nidamental gland lies over the back of the visceral dome, and along the side of the columellar muscle, which fastens the body to the shell. In front of the heart, and extending its overlapping plates into the mantle cavity, is the large, brown gill. The osphradium is a small brownish organ to the left of the anterior end of the gill. To the right of the gill is the hypo-branchial gland. Slitting open the mantle straight backward along the right side of the gill, and turning back the flaps, the mantle cavity lies open. Here on the right side is the anus, the opening of the intestine, on a short papilla. The opening of the nidamental gland is near by on another papilla, to the right and in front of the anus. The corresponding gland in the male is the testis. The large external male organ which resembles the proboscis, but is shorter, rises on the head behind the right tentacle. The 23 A Typical Univalve Mollusk kidney discharges by a narrow slit easily found at the back of the mantle cavity. The gills are thin and their tubular passages are lined with cilia which continually wave, creating an inward current of water from the mantle chamber. The siphon is always lifted into clear water, no matter if the foot is in the mud, for the water supply of the gills must be clean and constant. In the network of gill passages the oxygen in the water passes into the blood and the carbonic acid gas passes out in the stream of foul water discharged. The Circulation of Blood. — A vein which brings blood back pure to the heart is found along the left side of the gill. It turns downward at the posterior end of the gill and empties into the auricle. Another vein brings blood from the kidney. The gill receives blood from a vessel that borders its right side. This blood is gathered by smaller vessels from the mantle and from the glandular part of the kidney. The blood is sent from the ventricle through a short trunk, the aorta, which gives off a large branch, the visceral artery. This branches and distributes blood to the visceral dome. Now the aorta turns downward and forward, enlarges to form the "secondary heart," close to the oesophagus. From this trunk arise several vessels that carry the blood to the foot, the head, the siphon and other organs. Course of the blood: 1. Heart to the system. 2. System to the kidney. 3. Kidney to gill. 4. Gill to heart. The auricle is the receiver of the blood. The ventricle is the pump. The pericardium is the loose bag containing the heart. The arteries distribute pure blood throughout the living tissues; the veins collect it impure from these tissues. In the kidney the blood is relieved of its urea. In the gills it receives oxygen and gives out carbonic acid gas. The kidney and the gill are the two organs that relieve the blood of the impurities collected in the liv- ing tissues. The blood of mollusks is cold and usually colourless. The Alimentary Canal. — ^The mouth is at the tip of the long proboscis; behind it is the straight oesophagus, or gullet, which leads to the stomach. The odontophore has been mentioned 24 A Typical Univalve Mollusk before as the radula. This flexible ribbon is closely set with rows of horny teeth. It plays over the end of a central, stiff cartilage rod, by means of muscles attached at both ends, and contracted alternately. Thus holes are drilled in other shells by setting the tip of the proboscis on the surface and drawing the ribbon back and forth. Two large salivary glands lie near the base of the oesophagus, with ducts to the mouth. The pancreas lies farther back on the right of the oesophagus. The liver is the third gland, furnishing juices that aid in the digestion of food. The stomach and intes- tine complete the alimentary canal, which discharges its wastes into the mantle cavity. The Nervous System. — A cluster of paired ganglia (little brains), brown in colour, encircle the oesophagus, three-fourths of an inch behind the base of the proboscis. One pair, the buccal ganglia, sends nerves to the mouth parts. Another pair, the pedal ganglia, supplies the foot. Both pairs are on the ventral side of the oesophagus. On the dorsal side the pleural and cere- bral pairs are fused and bound by commissures of nerve fibre with the visceral ganglia; and the last are connected with the abdominal ganglion, a brown mass visible just below the opening of the kidney. The cerebral ganglia are the most centralised "brains" of this mollusk, as they are not only joined, as a pair, but directly connected, by commissures or by contact, with the pedal, buccal and pleural pairs, and through the pleural with the other two. Muscles all over the body are controlled by nerves sent out from these ganglia. Sensations are brought to the nerve centres along nerves from the foot, head, and especially the sen- sitive mantle border. By these the mollusk learns all it knows of what is going on outside its shell. The Special Senses. — Snails have eyes, but generally of a low type. Sight is an unimportant sense. The sense of touch is well developed in the mantle margin; the tentacles are touch organs. The mouth has sensitive lips. The osphradium is an organ of doubtful use. It may be the seat of the sense of smell. It is believed to have a composite function of testing the water that passes over it and enters the mantle cavity. Smell is a well developed sense. The condition of the water and its fitness to furnish food and oxygen to the body are broader considerations probably determined by this generalised organ. 25 A Typical Univalve Mollusk Hearing is a very poorly developed sense in mollusks. Its special organ has been discovered in many genera of univalves and bivalves. A pair of sacs filled with liquid in which micro- scopic pebbles float, have nerves connecting them with the cere- bral ganglia. There is no denying the auditory function of these organs. As they are imbedded in the tissues, the vibrations re- ceived are modified by the medium of the flesh through which they pass. Possibly such impressions ought not to be called sound, but touch, instead. Taste as a special sense may exist, with nerve ends in the pharynx or back of the mouth. 26 1 Apple Murex, Mitrex pomutn. MUREX SHELLS 2 Operculum of Apple Murex. 3 Branched Murex, Murcx ramosus. 1 Horn Murex, \furex cornutus. MUREX SHELLS 2 Scorpion Murex, Murex scorpio. 3 Root Murex, Murex radix. CHAPTER II: THE MUREX SHELLS. ROCK SHELLS Family Muricid^ Shell spiral, fusiform, with anterior canal or notch; whorls thickened by varices or nodules at each rest period of growth; aperture roundish; operculum horny; mantle enclosed, with ruffled border whose extension lines anterior canal; foot broad, simple; eyes present; branchial plumes, two; radula long, slim, with teeth in three series; sexes distinct. A large family of marine carnivorous mollusks of high or- ganisation, which creep and swim, chiefly in warm seas. The family Muricid^e is divided by Tryon into two sub- families; I. Muricince, adorned with varices, having the nucleus of the operculum near the centre; II. Purpurince, with nodules instead of varices, and with the nucleus of the operculum near the margin. The genus Murex overshadows all the others in size, elabor- ateness of decoration, and number of species. Sub-family MURICIN^ Genus MUREX, Linn. Shell solid, or pear-shaped, with three prominent spiny or branching varices crossing each whorl, and intermediate ones of smaller size. Canal variable in length, partially closed. About two hundred and fifty species, living from low water to fifty fathoms or more, mostly on tropical or sub-tropical shores of both hemispheres. The rock shells are distinguished by the striking ornamen- tation of their whorls by spiny processes. Each varix marks the end of a period of growth, when a barricade is built to guard the temporarily closed doorway. The presence of many secondary 27 The Murex Shells. Rock Shells varices is significant: it means comparative starvation for the mollusk, which instinctively strengthens the edge of the shell when threatened with short rations. The most gaily decked murex, therefore, confesses to the greatest struggle for enough to eat. Richness of apparel is the badge of poverty and privation. Notice the varices on a number of Murex shells. Some are low ridges, scarcely emphasised by tubercles. The majority of species have these knobs prolonged into spines, horns or leaf- like expanses, short and stout, or oftener long, slender, simply or intricately branched. The largest varix fringes the outer lip. Distinct spiral ridges sculpture the spires on every whorl. The shells are solid, and limy, lined with smooth enamel, never pearly. That part of the outer varix which interferes with growth is eaten off by an acid secretion to make way for the next one. The colouring of Murex shells is usually rich, the lining flesh pink in many species. The collector of Murex has a long and interesting road to travel, and he has a cabinet of very showy, large, handsome shells for his pains. For some rare species he has had to pay a good price. Some commercial value attaches to Murex shells used by cameo-cutters and makers of fancy shell articles. The flesh of two species is eaten by the peasants on the Adriatic shores. "The "Tyrian purple" of antiquity was obtained from mol- lusks of several species of Murex and Purpura. Press the oper- culum of our humble purple, and a dull red fluid is exuded. It comes from anal glands, and is doubtless protective, like the ink of common squids. Not knowing how to get at it, the Tyrians ground the mollusks in mortar-like hollows in the rocks. The fluid was then separated by squeezing the fleshy parts and dis- carding the shell fragments. To this was added five or six times its bulk of water, and twenty ounces of soda to each hundred pounds of the mixture. Evaporation from tin or leaden vessels reduced the dye to the desired strength and colour. Wool dyed in this mixture for a few hours was worth |2oo per pound, so expensive was the method of obtaining the colour. The secret of this process, lost in ancient times, was rediscovered centuries later, but the cheaper cochineal and chemical dyes have sup- planted all others. 28 The Murex Shells. Rock Shells I follow the grouping of species used by Tryon, giving several under each sub-genus, but not attempting to describe all. TYPICAL MUREX Shell with three varices bearing long, straight spines; spire elevated; canal long, straight, narrow. The Venus's Comb, or Thin Spine Murex (M. ienuispina. Lam.) is the most beautiful of ail the rock shells, and the most wonderful in structure. The slender, straight canal is twice as long as the body of the shell. The surface is finely sculptured with alternating large and small spiral ribs. These are crossed by six varices, low ridges bearing close-set, slender, curving spines. Three sets are large, the alternating ones, small. All the long spines curve backward at the tips. The longest are on the canal. The series of parallel spines justify the name, "Venus's Comb." These delicate shells are ashy or bluish brown, the aperture marked with dark lines. Length, 6 to 8 inches. Habitat. — Indian Ocean, Japan, Northern Australia. The Bramble Murex (M. tribulus, Linn.) is one of the thin- shelled spiny rock shells, with long, narrow, straight canals. The spines are shorter, not so numerous nor so exquisitely formed and set as those of the Venus's Comb. The shell is more solid and commonplace in every particular. The ribs show faint nodules between the varices, and are often dotted with brown. There is a black-spined variety. Maximum length, 4^ inches. Habitat. — Red Sea, China, Japan. The Three- Spined Murex (A/, iernispina, Lam.) strongly resembles the last-named species, but is more delicately built throughout. Each varix bears three prominent spines. Length, 3 to 5 inches. Habitat. — Indian Ocean, Philippines, China, Japan. The "Woodcock Murex (M. scolopax, Dillw.) has a long canal. The surface between the varices is smooth and spirally banded with brown. The spines are sharp, slender and curved, the longest ones on the canal. The shell's outline has suggested the popular name. Length, 6 to 9 inches. Habitat. — Red Sea, Indian Ocean, China Seas. The Snipe's Head Murex (M. haustellum, Linn.) continues the idea of fanciful resemblances. It is a typical Murex with a broad body, and an elevated spire on a straight, slender stem. 29 The Murex Shells. Rock Shells The varices are low ridges: the spines are reduced in number and size to a few scattered tubercles. The mouth is round and has a sharp, exserted rim. The ground colour is fulvous, with spiral brown lines that widen at the tubercles. The lining is pink. Length, 3 to 4 inches. Habitat. — Mauritius, Red Sea, Indian Ocean, China, Philip- pines. The Rare Spine Murex (M. rarispina, Lam.) is marked by scattered short spines, with a few long ones on the upper margin of each whorl. The lower half of the canal is quite spine- less. Length, 3^- inches. Habitat. — Indian Ocean. The Short Spine Murex {M. brevispina. Lam.), scarcely three inches long, is whitish and has few short, curved spines on the varices. Between these spines each varix is closely tubercled. Habitat. — South Africa, Red Sea, Indian Ocean, North Australia. The Curved-beak Murex (M. recurvirostris, Brod.) has thick, leaf-like varices, crossed by strong spiral ridges, and three secondary longitudinal ridges between. The upper tubercle on each varix is prolonged into a spine. There are usually one or two spines below the aperture. The colour varies from white to purplish brown, with faint bands of darker brown, showing most distinctly in the aperture. The tip of the canal is recurved. Length, 2 to 3 inches. Habitat. — West Indies, West Central America. The Golden Mouth Murex {M. chrysostoma, Gray) has a curved canal, and further resembles the last-named species in its tubercled varices, and rare spines, in size and shape. It is yellowish drab outside; the mouth is lined with bright orange, and bordered with brown. Habitat. — Gulf of Mexico, West Indies. Sub-genus PTERONOTUS, Swains. Shell triangular; varices, three, fin-like or leaf-like; canal curved, closed, usually short. The Triangular Murex (M. trigonulus, Lam.) has its apex elevated, and the whole shell spirally ribbed; the varices are flattened ridges, the aperture is round, with a broad, leaf-like wing flaring outward, and following half way down the slim, 30 The Murex Shells. Rock Shells curving canal. Colour, whitish yellow, tinged with pink, and spotted with brown. Length, i^ inches. Habitat. — Red Sea. • Sub-genus CHICOREUS, Montf. Shell ovate or pear-shaped; varices, three, leaf-like, some- times spiny; canal short, curved, wide, nearly closed. Species mainly Oriental; some are West African; others West Indian. The Burnt Murex (A/, adusius, Lam.) has jet black fronds, short, leaf-like and irregularly spiny, crowding the varices of the stout spire and also the short canal. The underlying colour is brownish white, with rose pink (sometimes yellow) lip and colum- ella. A single large ridge rises between the varices. The spiral ribs are distinct, dark-coloured, and irregularly set with tubercles. Length, 3^ inches. Habitat. — Indian Ocean, Japan, Philippines. The Axis-horn Murex {M. axicornis, Lam.) is one of the most attractive species, owing to the long, branching fronds which adorn its varices. Seen from any angle, a graceful curved arm is lifted from the shoulder of each whorl as if its digitate extremity were beckoning. The revolving ribs are darker than the brownish fronds. The mouth is small and white inside. Length, 2 to 4 inches. Habitat. — East Indies. The Rose-branch Murex {M.palma-rosce, Lam.) is the most beautiful of this East Indian group. The solid shell is oblong fusiform, with elevated spire strongly grooved and ridged; the varices bearing stout, flattened fronds which spread into bunches of two-parted tips, beautifully branched and rosy-pink above the banded brown of the shell's surface. The columellar lip is closely toothed, a trait by which it may be distinguished from species which resemble it in other particulars. This Murex will be the delight of collectors always for its graceful shape and flower-like, rosy fronds. Length, 4 or 5 inches. Habitat. — Indian Ocean. The Apple Murex {M. pomum, Gmel.) is an abundant and well known West Indian species. Its surface is rough all over. The three varices are low and tuberculated, with secondary rows of smaller tubercles between them, and crossed by spiral laminae. The large, round mouth has a bright yellow lining. The outer 31 The Murex Shells. Rock Shells surface is yellowish brown. The toothed and frilled outer lip bears three brown spots. The columella is wide, with erect edge, brown and faintly wrinkled. The canal is short, recurved and flattened. Length, 4 to 5 inches. Habitat. — West Indies. The Single-tooth Murex (M. monodon, Sby.) has three strikingly long curving spines on each of the varices. One from the upper end of the canal describes a semicircle, curving over the back of the shell. A single strong tooth rises from the lower border of the outer lip. The columella and outer lip are rosy tinted. The exterior is usually brown, with black fronds. There is a white variety. No more elegantly decorated shell exists than this one, with its long, frond-like branching spines, arching in graceful curves from the deeply grooved body of the shell. Length, 4^ inches. Habitat. — Australia. The Branched Murex (M. ramosus, Linn.) is the largest species in the genus, attaining a foot in length, and corresponding weight and solidity. This is a favourite ornament for cabinets and mantelpieces all over the world. The three varices bear rows of recurving spiny fronds, conspicuous for their size and elaborate ornamentation. The outside is white, coloured with brown and circled with fine brown lines. The aperture is rimmed with rose pink. Young specimens are more nearly covered with fronds than old ones. Length, 6 to 12 inches. Habitat. — Indian Ocean, Red Sea, Central Pacific Islands, Australia, China. Sub-genus RHINOCANTHA, H. and A. Ads. Differs from typical Murices in having four or more varices. The Horned Murex (M. cornutus, Linn.) is club-shaped with seven varices, each armed with two or three long, hollow, backward-turning horns. The spire is depressed, the walls thin, the body whorl swollen. The surface is finely ridged. The very long canal bears a spiral row of short spines. The colour is ashy brown, or paler. Length, 6 inches. Habitat. — West Coast of Africa. The Straight-spine Murex (M. brandaris, Linn.) somewhat closely resembles M. cornuta, but is smaller throughout. Each of its six varices bears two, short diverging spines. This common 32 The rwurex Shells. Rock Shells Mediterranean Murex is eaten by poor people along the coast, though it is no delicacy. The Tyrian purple was extracted in ancient times by bruising moUusks of this species in pot holes in the rocks along the sea coast. Sub-genus HOMALOCANTHA, Morch. Whorls rounded; sutures deep; varices leaf-like and pro- duced into fingers, dilated at the tips or spiny; canal short, curved, wide, almost closed. Four Oriental species. The Scorpion Murex (M. scorpio, Linn.) is remarkable for the fmger-like, channelled fronds, flattened into broad tops, that ornament the last of its five varices. The others bear stumpy, straight spines. A deep and wide spiral suture separates the whorls, almost cutting off connection between the body whorl and the spire. The canal is wide and open. Colour, white to chocolate; varices dark-coloured. Length, ij to 2^ inches. Habitat. — Moluccas, Philippines. The Windowed Murex {M. fene stratus, Chemh.) is decorated with a regular lattice-work of ridges which intersect at right angles, leaving square dark window-like pits. There are five or six varices, bearing branched orange-yellow spines so delicate as to be broken from most specimens we see. This is one of the ele- gant fusiform rock shells. Length, i^ to 2 inches. Habitat. — Philippines, Red Sea. Sub-genus PHYLLONOTUS, Swains. This group differs from Chicoreus in having numerous varices- The more varices, the more chance for elaborate ornamenta- tion of the shell. In this sub-genus the Murex tendency to spiny outgrowths reaches its highest possibilities. The names indicate how these shells bristle with close-set fronds and prickles and laminations. The Root Murex (M. radix, Gmel.) is almost globular with short black, triangular spines set close on its ten to fifteen frondose varices. The white ground colour is almost concealed by this black stubble, which leaves only the top of the spire exposed. It looks like some rough tuberous root. Length, 3 to 5 inches. Habitat. — Panama. The Banded Murex {M. trunculus, Linn.), the commonest Mediterranean species, is modest in its pretensions. The keeled 33 The Murex Shells. Rock Shells whorls are set with low tubercles or erect cusps. The broad lip is scarcely wavy. The brownish surface has three broad bands of purple, especially bright in the aperture. From these the Tyrian dyes were obtained. Shells are found in heaps along shore, where they were crushed in course of the process. To-day this species is used as food. Length, 3 inches. The Cabbage Murex (M. hrassica, Lam.) has a stocky shape, with low spire, short canal and swollen body whorl. There are six or eight folded varices, sharply toothed along the edges, and a larger tubercle on the shoulder of each. Groups of flat tubercles lie between the varices. The mouth is wide and pink-lipped, but orange within. Three brown bands encircle the pale surface. The varices are pink at the edges. This is one of the largest rock shells. It is closely related to the species princeps, regius, imperialis, "nobles," as their names imply. The Panama and West Indian provinces are the homes of several superb species. Length, 6 to 10 inches. Habitat. — Gulf of California. The Endive Murex (M. endivia. Lam.) has a frizzled head, tipped and banded with brown, curly as the most crisp and in- viting head of endive. Length, 4 inches. Habitat. — Philippines. The Spine-ribbed Murex (A/, spinicostata, Val.) is a hand- some West Indian shell, wound with close ridges, and crossed by six or seven varices armed with hollow spines, very sharp and slightly curved. A few dead specimens have been found on the shore at Beaufort, N. C, and southward. So we claim it as an American species. Colour, white with pinkish brown spiral lines; lining, white. Length, 5 inches. Habitat. — West Indies. The Rock-dwelling Murex {M.saxatilis,\^2im.) is one of the large, many-variced species, highly coloured, and greatly desired by collectors of handsome shells. The spines spread into graceful fronds. Those on the shoulder of each whorl are larger and usually curved. The canal is curved and open, with spines on each side. The body whorl is considerably swollen. The outside is brownish yellow, banded with pink; the aperture rosy-pink, banded with darker colour. Some varieties are deep orange- pink all over. The handsomest ones come from the Indian Ocean, though collectors more recently have found as fine speci- 34 The Murex Shells. Rock Shells mens on the west coast of Africa. They reach eight inches in length. Sub-genus CEROSTOMA, Conr. Operculum with nucleus lateral; varices, three, wing-like; aperture toothed inside lip, usually with one large tooth near base. Much like Pteronotus. The Three-winged Murex {M. irialatus, Sby.) is the prize of the collector in Southern California. It is taken by dredging off San Pedro and San Diego. Three flaring, thin, often reflexed wings adorn its spire; its pale surface is banded between the varices with dark brown. The lip tooth is wanting. Length, 2 to 3 inches. The Leaf Murex (M. joliaius, Martyn) is white, with chest- nut bands, and a pronounced tooth on the lip, which distinguishes it from M. trialaiiis. Length 2 to 3 inches. Habitat. — Rocky coasts. Sitka to Santa Barbara, Cal. Nuttall's Murex {M. Nuttallii, Conr.) is whitish, or brown, banded with white. The six varices are thick, frilled rolls crossed by fine spiral striae. The lip has a row of teeth within the aperture, and one large tooth pointing down and outward. Length, i^ to 2 inches. Habitat. — California. The One-horned Murex (M. monoceras, Sby.) has fewer and larger lip teeth, more tuberculated revolving ribs, less frilling of the varices, lighter colour and a pink interior. Length, i J inches. Habitat. — Lower California. The Festive Murex (A/, festivus, Hds.) is a familiar shell to collectors in Southern California. I picked them alive from the muddy rocks exposed at low tide along the breakwater in San Pedro Bay. Dingy brownish white and coated with foreign matters they scarcely show the fine brown spiral striffi that cover the surface. The thick whorls bear three ridge-like, crested varices, which are bent backward. The small oval aperture is closed by a horny operculum. The canal forms a short tube that bends back at the tip. Length, i^ to 24 inches. Habitat. — Southern California. Sub-genus OCINEBRA, Leach Spire elevated; canal more or less closed; varices numerous, leaf-like, sometimes spinose. 35 The Murex Shells. Rock Shells The Hedgehog Murex (M. erinaceus, Linn.) is the "sting winkle" of the Enghsh fisherman, the French " cormaillot " or "perceur." It invades the oyster beds, and destroys young and old, boring through the bivalve shell, and sucking out its soft contents. When the bored shell gapes, crabs, fishes and other sea scavengers devour the solid muscular parts — "pick the bones" — while the more dainty Murex seeks new victims. It never touches dead flesh. The habits of this depredator of the oyster beds have been thoroughly investigated. Four hours, more or less, are required to drill the hole. The lingual ribbon is set upon a spot near the hinge of the victim's shell. Then the body of the borer is swayed from left to right until a small hole is made by the rasping tongue. Young borers choose young victims; mature individuals choose older ones. The Hedgehog Murex has four to seven varices, which are wing-like, and crossed by strong cord-like spiral ribs. Sometimes these crossings form prominent nodules; secondary ones and scale-like protuberances occur between the varices, quite justifying the common name by which this creature is known. Other forms have low rounded nodulesonly. Some lack varices. The shell has a dingy brown colour. The outer lip wears an elegant festooned frill. Fishermen hunt this enemy in the oyster beds, cutting off its foot above the operculum, and leaving it to die. Length, i^ to 2 inches. Habitat. — Norway to the Azores and Black Sea. The Brown Murex {M. aciculatus, Lam.) is a sharp-pointed, neatly ribbed and cross-striated brown shell, found on rocks at low water. Its body is scarlet, dotted with yellow. The canal is short, open and recurved. Length, ^ inch. Habitat. — Channel Islands to Mediterranean and Azores. Sub-genus Ocinebra is well represented on the west coast of the United States. The Carved Murex (A/, incisus, Brod.) is white, with fine spiral chestnut lines crossing its seven thick, rounded varices. Living among and under Fucus, the shells have an olive coating. At the top of each varix is a spine which curls over a deep pit in the suture. This species is found on rocks, eight fathoms deep. Length, i| to i* inches. Habitat. — Santa Catalina Island. 36 The Murex Shells. Rock Shells The Mournful Murex {M. lugubris, Brod.) is dull purplish with six rusty brown varices spread out, sometimes forming flat, curved spines. These are usually broken ofi", except near the outer lip. The shoulder of the body whorl bears the largest spines. Length, i^- inches. Habitat. — Santa Catalina Island and Santa Barbara, Cal. Poulson's Murex (A/. Poulsoni, Nutt.)has a solid, elongated shell, spindle-shaped, and grayish white, with fine revolving lines of brown. The oval aperture is pink or white. The canal is short and wide open. The varices form faint, irregular swellings. Length, i to 2 inches. Habitat. — San Pedro to Lower California. The Furrowed Murex (M. foveolatus, Hds.) is not familiar to collectors. It has seven rounded varices, furrowed by fine stride. It is a thick, clumsy shell, with a short, curved canal. The columellar lip is produced into a rim. Length, 1 inch. Habitat. — Sandy bottom, Magdalena Bay, Lower Cal. The Lurid Murex (M. luridus, Midd.) is pale, reddish yellow to chocolate-coloured, sculptured with fine sharp spiral lines and faint rounded varices, few in number. Specimens are generally worn. Length, § to i inch. Habitat. — Sitka to Southern California. The Sculptured Murex (M. inierjossus, Cpr.) is more angled at the shoulders, and narrower. The surface is deeply cut into lattice work by the crossing of the varices and the spiral stria;. Canal short, recurved. Colour, dingy gray. Length, J to | inch. Habitat. — Sitka to California. Prick's Murex {M. Fricki, Crosse) has slight, thin, frilled varices, and is elongately fusiform, with seven whorls. The aper- ture is small; the canal short and recurved. The outer lip spreads into an elegant wing-like frill. Pale, with three wide purplish zones. Length, f inch. Habitat. — California. 37 CHAPTER III: THE OYSTER DRILL Family MuRiciD/t Genus UROSALPINX, Stimps. Shell elongated, oval, longitudinally ribbed or undulated, spirally striated; varices none; aperture ending in short canal; outer lip toothed, operculum semi-cordate, nucleus lateral and a little below middle; lingual ribbon well developed; ova capsules oblong, shouldered, widest near top. A small genus of twenty recent species differing from Ocinebra in its lack of varices, open canal and smoother shell; resembling Trophon in its dentition and Purpura in its operculum. It seems to Tryon a connecting link between Murex and Fusus. Distri- bution, Atlantic coast of America, Cape Horn, Cape of Good Hope, New Zealand, California. The Oyster Drill (U. cinerea, Say) is a small unobtrusive looking citizen of rocky shores; his modest yellowish gray shell attracts little attention. The solid spire bears strong varicose folds across the whorls; the largest specimen is scarcely an inch long; the stronghold is closed by a horny door. You may find the rocks and drift-wood fragments alive with these mollusks at low tide almost anywhere from Maine to Florida. This is the "oyster drill," the despair of oystermen, who place it first among the destructive agencies against which the oyster industry has to fight constantly for its life. The animal has an extremely small foot, with a yellowish border and dotted with gray above. The small head protrudes just far enough to show its black eyes. The siphon reaches scarcely beyond the tip of the canal. The drill has an insatiable hunger and thirst for oyster pulp, and untiring industry in appeasing its appetite. It moves slug- gishly among the helpless bivalves, chooses a victim, and with its strong toothed radula soon bores a neat round hole through one valve near the hinge. It is the method used by all carniv- 38 MUREX SHELLS 1 Spine-ribbed Murex, Mtirex spinicostata 2 Cabbage Murex. Murex brassica 1 Murex trijlatus. MUREX SHELLS 2 Murex jesiiviis. 3, 4 Murex joliatus The Oyster Drill orous "snails." Through this hole the soft parts are sucked; the solid flesh may be picked at leisure from between the gaping valves. At intervals the oysterman drags his " tangle," a great mop made of untwisted rope fibre, and his dredge over the oyster beds, and destroys all the drills caught up by them. These are not effectual exterminators by any means; but they are the best things yet devised to combat the enemy. The creature's small size, its rapid multiplication and its ravages when present in numbers make continuous warfare upon it the only salvation for the oyster beds. Chesapeake Bay was probably the original home of the drill. From this locality it has migrated north and south; trans- planted with the oysters to San Francisco Bay, it has spread also on the west coast. Each female lays during a period of several weeks a total of ten to one hundred egg cases. Each one is vase-shaped, vertically flattened and keeled, of clear, parchment-like mem- brane, containing about a dozen eggs. The cases are attached by broad foot-like bases in regular rows, forming patches on the under sides of overhanging rocks, or other support, just above low water mark. The Florida Drill {U. Floridana, Conr.) differs from the Atlantic species in having shouldered whorls, the ribs forming knob-like projections at the angles. The ashy surface is not banded. Aperture, purplish. Length, \\ inches. The Mexican Drill {U. Mexicana, Rve.) has its nodulous sculpture yellowish on a chocolate ground. It is less than an inch long, and resembles U. Floridana. THE EUPLEURAS Genus EUPLEURA, H. and A. Ads. Shell ranelliform, with two prominent, and intermediate smaller varices ; aperture toothed within. Five species. Distribu- tion, West Indies, Atlantic coast of United States and Panama. This confusing genus has the shell of a Urosalpinx, the teeth of a Murex, the varices of a Ranella, and the operculum of a Purpura. Tryon considers it intermediate between Murex and Ranella. E. caudata, Say, is the type. The shell is white to dark brown, reddish brown within. There are five whorls, each shoul- 39 The Oyster Drill dered, forming a steep spire, with nine stout vertical ribs, crossed by fine, close spiral lines. Usually there are two prominent varices, opposite each other. These are sometimes reduced to small size. The lip is thick and set within a border of raised granules. The animal is white except the yellow foot. Length, ^ to i^ inches. Distribution, Massachusetts Bay to Georgia. E. Tampaensis, Conr., is more robust, with sharper ribs and shorter canal. Varices scarcely distinguishable. Length, i inch. Habitat. — West Coast of Florida. THE SMOKE SHELLS Genus TYPHIS, Montf. Shell ovate or oblong, with projecting hollow tubes between the three spinose varices; aperture roundish, prolonged into closed siphonal canal; operculum as in Murex. Species: fifteen recent, eight fossil. Distribution, warm seas. Tropical America, Cape of Good Hope, Indian Ocean, Pacific Islands, China, Australia. The Large Smoke Shell (T. grand! s, A. Ads.) is a repre- sentative species of this small genus. The ascending tube contains an extension of the mantle margin. The varices are broad, fluted, fin-like, forming a wing on either side of the basal canal. The whorls are angled, the tubes short. Length, i ^ inches. Habitat. — Gulf of California. The Four-winged Smoke Shell (T. ietrapterus, Bronn) is distinguished by the four fin-like expansions on the canal, which broaden into wing-like varices below the upcurving hollow tubes that adorn the spire. Length, i inch. Habitat. — Mediterranean Sea. The Long-horned Smoke Shell {T. longicornis, Dall) has a very long, straight anterior canal, a steep spire set with many upturned tubes, and two or more pointing downward on the body whorl. Length, ^ to i inch. Gulf of Mexico. THE TROPHONS Genus TROPHON, Montf. Shell fusiform, thin, white, with numerous sharp lamelliform varices; spaces between them, smooth or spirally ribbed; spire elevated; canal open, turned to left; aperture oval, smooth, often 40 The Oyster Drill dark-coloured. This genus is distributed chiefly in cold waters. One group is Arctic, another Antartic. Species, forty. T. clathratus, Linn., is a variable species, distributed from the Arctic Seas to Vancouver's Island, Massachusetts, Iceland, Great Britain and Norway. British forms are small, ^ inch long, with about twenty ridges on the body whorl. The American forms are larger in many regions, and they vary in number of ribs. Doubtless they are varieties of the same species. 1 he Ice- landers call this mollusk "St. Peter's Snail." T. muriciformis, Dall, found on the Alaskan coast, is almost exactly a miniature Fulgur canaliculatus in shape. It is over two inches long. It is closely related to the preceding species. The Three-cornered Trophon {T. triangulatus, Cpr.) is large but very thin, and light of weight. Its outline is triangular; the tapering stem slopes downward from the extremities of the spreading wings of the body whorl. These are numerous and so high as to overtop the elevated spire. The colour is a soft "Quaker drab," or reddish brown; the small, round aperture is lined with white. Though an occasional specimen is washed ashore near San Pedro or at Santa Catalina Island, it is so broken as to be almost valueless. The perfect ones are dredged in deep water. Their exquisite form and colouring repay the hard work it costs to get them. They are among the rare and lovely treasures of the deep. Length, 4 to 5 inches. Southern California. Belcher's Trophon {T. Belcheri, Hds.) is known among Cal- ifornia collectors 2iS Chorus Belcher i,Wds. It is broadly pear-shaped, four to six inches in length, its base a short, open canal. The colourless surface is dull and tinged with brown. The spire is elevated, the whorls distinctly angled at the shoulder, and con- tracted to deep sutures between. Crossing the whorls are many laminated varices. The lip is thin, and drawn out into a fold at the outer, widest part. This, closing into a hollow tube as growth proceeds, forms a coronal of curved horns around the spire. There is a large tooth on the lower margin of the outer lip. The columella is narrow and rolled back above a deep um- bilicus. Shells of this mollusk are picked up occasionally at low tide from San Diego to San Pedro. It is also found in Japan. Its place among the genera of Muricidie is uncertain; it has the operculum of Purpura, the tooth of Monocerus, the varices and canal of Trophon. Its dentition is like that of the Buccinidae. 41 CHAPTER IV: THE PURPLES. DOG WINKLES Family Muricid.^ Sub-family PURPURINiE Shell bears nodules but no varices; columella flattened, spread out; canal short, or a mere notch; operculum oblong, with lateral nucleus. A large sub-family whose boundaries can- not be definitely set at present. Genus PURPURA, Brug. Shell oblong-oval, last whorl large; spire short; aperture large, ovate, ending in short, oblique canal or notch; columella flattened; outer lip simple; operculum horny. A carnivorous genus, living from the water line to twenty- five fathoms' depth in all parts of the world. Recent species, fifty-seven; fossil species, forty. Tertiary. By the recession of the tide these mollusks are left out of water twice a day for several hours. They breathe air which passes over a small quantity of water retained in the branchial cavity. They are amphibious, as well as carnivorous; and well protected by their strong shells against injury by the waves and by predatory birds and mollusks. Altogether, they are adapted to succeed in the race for life. The common name of this genus has a long and interesting pedigree, which takes us far back into ancient history. The "Tyrian purple," famous because used solely for dyeing garments to be worn by emperors and kings, was obtained by crushing these mollusks in mortars or in pot holes along the rocky coasts of Tyre and other Mediterranean ports. Pliny says that 1 1 1 Pur- puras to 200 Buccina, pounded together, produced the richest shade of purple. The animals of large species were removed from their shells. The colouring matter is not contained in the shell, but in a 42 1 Trofihnit trinv!;nlnlii<:. 2 Trophon Iriangidattis. TROPHONS, DRILL AND EUPLEURA 3 Trophon Pelcheri. 4 Trophon clathratiis. 5 Vrosalpinx cinerea. 6 hupleura caudaia. PURPLES AND NEAR RELATIVES 1 Wrinkled Purple, Purpura crispala. 3 Pebble Purple, Purpura lapillus. 5. 6 Castor-bean Shell, Ridnula horrida. 2 Red-mouthed Purple, Purpura hamosloma. 4 Rock Purple, Purpura saxicola. 7 Hare's Ear, Conclwkpas Peruviana. The Purples. Dog Winkles vein or sac on the back of the body. Its use to its owner is the same as the ink of the common squid. A jet of ink colours the water, and enables the pursued to escape from an enemy. We can understand how hard and tedious was the process of obtaining this dye in quantities. The complex art of blending the juices to produce the desired play of colouring was known only in ancient Tyre, and this secret was lost when the city was destroyed. Meanwhile the cochineal bug and modern coal tar dyes have supplied cheaper materials. "In the reign of Augustus one pound of wool dyed with Tyrian purple sold for about ^36 sterling." Six pounds of liquor were required to one pound of wool. Consequently fabrics when dyed often cost their weight in gold. The Princely Purple (P. Persica, Linn.) is the type of this genus. It is oval, with a short spire; its brown surface \s regu- larly spirally grooved, and wound with a narrow band of white, dotted with brown. A row of nodules encircles the upper whorls. Columella reddish yellow; aperture wide, pinkish or bluish within; lip thin, with five interrupted brown lines crossing the inner margin. Length, 3 to 5 inches. Habitat. — Philippines. The Open-mouthed Purple (P. patula, Linn.) is like the preceding in size, colour scheme, wide columella and gaping aperture. The spire is depressed, however, and the spiral ridges are much stronger, and irregularly tubercled. The lip is fluted, and marked with the dark brown that alternates with white on the outer surface. The columella is reddish chestnut, with a dark brown semi-lunar patch at the top. The sculpture is much sharper in young than in adult specimens. Habitat. — Gulf of California, Philippines, West Indies. The Chocolate Purple (P. chocolatum, Duclos), with deep chocolate exterior, knobbed along the square shoulders, and closely ridged on the thick lip, is described as a very active mol- lusk. The early Peruvians must have used the mollusk as food, judging by the piles of shells found near the tombs at Arica. Length, 3^ inches. Habitat. — Peru. Another large species which Reeve calls P. giganiea, is con- nected by intermediate forms with P. consul, Lam. Spire is sharp; whorls encircled with fine brown lines; shoulders square, tuber- 43 The Purples. Dog Winkles culated; columella broad, flat, orange-red; aperture orange; lip margin ridged. Length 2^ to 5 inches. Habitat. — Philippines. The large species were commercially important in the earliest times because they yielded more of the precious dye than the smaller kinds. The Rock Purple or Dog Winkle (P. lapillus, Linn.) is one of the best known inhabitants of northern rocky coasts on both sidesof the Atlantic. P. saxicola, Val., of the west coast, is probably the same. This species has attained its remarkable geographical range by variations which adapt it to changed conditions of life. The collection of P. lapillus made by Cooke in Great Britain alone exhibits nineteen distinct forms. Large size, prolonged spire and small mouth characterise those found on protected coasts where food is plenty and attachment to the rocks an easy matter. A low spire, a large mouth, small size and a thick shell belong to forms taken in exposed situations where food is scarce. The most strikingly banded and brightly coloured shells are found on veined and coloured rocks, the dullest in estuaries and sheltered bays. Linnaeus called this species by a name which means "pebble": doubtless he saw, as they lay exposed by low tide, the resemblance of these numerous shells to the pebbles on the beach, and saw in that resemblance a reason for the success of the species in the struggle for existence. They share with pebbles the hard knocks all shore-dwelling mollusks get when the sea is rough. The American forms are rarely over an inch long. In England they range upward to two inches, and over, in favourable situations. The colouring varies from whitish through all the yellows and browns, bright and dingy, to dark red. The surface may be smooth or finely cancellated or beset with tubercles. The roughest specimens in Dr. Cooke's series came from the oyster beds, six fathoms deep. The activities of this purple are well known. He shambles about clumsily, or sits faithfully plying his drill. He is cordially hated by fellow pensioners on the bounty of the sea. He eats oysters and mussels, thrusting the long proboscis into the hole laboriously drilled through one of the valves, and sucking out the contents. Mytilis edulis, the edible mussel, is his favourite food. Lacking this delicacy, he will bore the shells of limpets and barnacles — even pick the bones of dead fish and crabs. 44 The Purples. Dog Winkles He is almost always eating, or in quest of food; if at rest on a rock you may believe he is digesting a full meal. The starfish, also a lover of oysters, sometimes falls upon his molluscan rival. By stealth he gathers several purples in his five fingers, laying hold of them with the delicate suckers, and bringing them to the central mouth. The stomach turned wrong side out envelops the purples which are dissolved out of their shells by the strong digestive fluids the stomach walls secrete. Hermit crabs, secure in borrowed tenements, sometimes attack and destroy a colony of purples by a concerted attack. The egg capsules of this species are like delicate pink grains of rice set on tiny stalks. They are found in groups on protected rock surfaces. "A single individual has been observed to produce 245 capsules." — Cooke. Each contains twenty to forty em- bryos. The active period of breeding is from January to April, on English coasts, but egg-laying goes on all the year round. The capsules are called "sea cups." "Horse Winkle" is the Irish name for this purple "Dog Winkle" and "Sting Winkle" are English nicknames. The original home of this species may have been northern Europe. Here it attains its maximum size. It migrated to America by way of Iceland and Nevd'oundland, no doubt, and down the Atlantic coast to Florida. Our forms are smaller and duller than the European. The operculum of P. lapillus and other small univalves is the "eye stone," kept by druggists. A cinder in the eye, or par- ticles of dust, adhere to the surface of the eye stone as the muscles move it about under the eyelid. Similarly, a flax seed removes irritating particles. Thrown in a dish of water with a dash of muriatic acid these little calcareous bodies move about as if alive. The energy they exhibit is chemical, of course, but ignorant people "tell fortunes" by the aid of these animated objects. The Florida Purple {P. Floridana, Conr.) has an elevated spire of angled whorls with fine nodules around the shoulders, it is spirally grooved and banded with yellow and black and longitudinally cross-banded with black. Lip and columella are orange; aperture paler, often banded. Canal somewhat long. Length, i^ to 2 inches. Habitat. — North Carolina to Florida. 45 The Purples. Dog \A^inkles The Rock Purple (P. saxicola, Val.) is as abundant on the CaHfornia coast as its near relative, P. lapillus, is on the coast of New England. It exhibits as great a tendency to vary. The shell is thicker, with a smaller aperture. Specimens reach one and a half inches in length, but the average specimen is less than an inch long. The dingy exterior is marked with double spiral bands of brown. The lip is sharp; the columella twisted and flattened; the spire short. Habitat. — California. The Grooved Purple (P. lima, Mart.) lives in deeper water, so is more rare than the last species. It has an elevated spire of four rounded whorls separated by deep sutures. Fifteen spiral grooves sculpture the surface uniformly. Colour, light brown. Length, \ to i inch. Habitat. — California. The Wrinkled Purple (P. crispata, Chemn.) ranges north- ward from San Francisco Bay to Alaska. The species improves as it moves to higher latitudes. Specimens from Puget Sound are two inches long, with longitudinal frills and spirally banded with rich brown. Smoother specimens, of duller hue and smaller size occur southward. The white aperture is smaller; the lip is toothed within. THE CASTOR BEAN SHELLS Genus RICINULA, Lam. Shell ovate, solid, usually with spiny processes on the numer- ous varices; aperture long, narrow, toothed; canal short, oblique; columella wrinkled; operculum horny, thin, semi-lunar. Includes thirty species, inhabiting coral reefs among Polynesian Islands. This genus, much like Purpura, contains also a sub-genus named "mulberry shells." The compact shape and spiny or lumpy surface give reasonableness to the common name. The Bristly Castor Bean Shell (R. horrida, Lam.) is stud- ded with stout black tubercles on a white ground. The flaring outer lip and the exceptionally wide columella are tinged with violet. The lip bears strong inner teeth; the columella, cross folds below the middle. Length, i to if inches. Habitat. — Hawaiian Islands, Philippine Islands. 46 The Purples. Dog Winkles The Fingered Castor Bean Shell (R, digitaia. Lam.) has long finger-Hke processes on the lip. Its spiny exterior is colour- less; the aperture, orange-red. Length, i^ inches. Habitat. — Central Pacific Islands. The largest species is R. hystrtx, Linn., a ponderous shell, with flattened spire and broad shoulder, tawny brown, set with stout, short fingers. The aperture is small and round; the flaring lip and columella are rose-coloured. Length, i^ to 2h inches. Habitat. — Central Pacific Islands. The Mulberry Shell (R. morus, Lam.) is well named. Its white spire is covered with rounded black (rarely white) nodules. The aperture is violet. Length, § to i inch. Habitat. — Polynesia. THE UNICORN SHELLS Genus MONOCEROS, Lam. Distinguished from Purpura by the distinct tooth or horn developed on the outer lip near the canal. A small genus almost exclusively confined to the west coast of America. The Angled Unicorn (M. engonatum, Conr.) lives among seaweeds on rocks swept by the tides. Its whorls are square shouldered, set apart by a deep winding suture, and forming a prolonged spire. The whorls bear fine spiral striations, crossed by wavy lines of growth. The lip is toothed, the horn is sharp and long. The shells are like the rocks in colour; especially when wet. Length, i^ inches. Habitat. — West coast of United States. The Pebbly Unicorn (M. lapilloides, Conr.) is a solid little shell, plump in form, and marked so that it resembles a granite pebble. The small aperture has a row of knobs above the horn. Length, i inch. Habitat. — West coast United States. The Sad Unicorn (M. liigubre, Sby.) reaches Southern Cali- fornia beaches from its native Mexican coast. It is dull and heavy, the aperture even, a dark brown. The lip bears white knobs of small size. Length, i inch. The Giant Unicorn (A/, giganteum, Less.), yellow, fusiform, 47 The Purples. Dog Winkles with revolving lines of brown on the smooth whorls, and the tell-tale basal tooth on the lip, is the largest of the genus. Length 3 to 5 inches. Habitat. — Chili. THE HARE'S EAR Genus CONCHOLEPAS, Lam. Shell heavy, ovate, last whorl disproportionately expanded; .spire short, turned obliquely to left, aperture wide, with slight channel at anterior margin; inner lip flattened; outer, with two small teeth; operculum small, inadequate; exterior of shell strongly ribbed and set with lamellate scales. Foot large, occupy- ing the whole aperture. Concholepas Peruvianum, Linn., lOoks like a great limpet or Haliotis, clinging to rocks on the Peruvian coast by the suction of its broad foot. The Chilians pound the rubbery flesh until it is tender, then cook it and esteem it an excellent sea food. Down the west coast the tribes use the shells for drinking cups, as they are of handy size and shape. Genus MAGILUS, Montf. Shell spiral when young, thin, few-whorled, with wide mouth; operculum ovate; later the shell is extended into a long, keeled tube. Animal highly organised. M. Antiquus, Linn., begins life with a pretty, smooth shell, like that of a whelk. Soon it attaches itself to a coral. As the polyps grow, adding thickness to the solid wall, the mollusk extends its aperture, and keeps it flush with the surface. The animal, too, keeps moving outward, closing up the shell behind it with solid lime. Habitat. — Red Sea, Indian Ocean. 48 UXICORN SHELLS AND MAGILUS 1 Giant Unicorn. Monoceros giganteum. 4 Monoceros angulatum. 2 Monoceros engoualum. 3 Monoceros higubre. 5 Magilus aniiquus. showing spiral beginning, and its later habit of living in coral. 1 Vasum ceramicum TRITONS 2 Triton lotorinm 3 Triton scaber 4 Triton tritonis CHAPTER V: THE TRITONS AND FROG SHELLS Family TRiTONiDyt Shell spiral, thick, with one or two varices to each whorl; aperture round, with thick lips, and anterior canal; operculum present; mantle enclosed; foot small, siphon short; lingual ribbon set with seven rows of teeth; eyes on tentacles. A large tropical family of three genera allied to Muricidae on one side, and Doliidse on the other. They subsist upon de- caying animal matter and live from low water to fifty fathoms depth. Genus TRITON, Montf. Shell ovate or oblong, with prominent elevated spire, ribbed and crossed by varices, usually few, remote, and non-continuous; columella smooth, wrinkled or noduled; outer lip thick, and scalloped or toothed within; canal long or short, turned up; operculum horny, ovate or annular, with nucleus marginal. A handsome tropical genus of about i 50 species, including one that reaches 18 inches in length — "almost the largest of gas- teropod mollusks," writes Tryon. Some species have world- wide distribution, accounted for by the fact that the young are pelagic and free-swimming, very different creatures from the staid adult Tritons. The metamorphosis occurs some time after hatching. "The Tritons are shells of much more solid structure than the Murices or Ranellae, and of much more simple growth. They are not furnished with any spines nor have they any ramified branches like the Murices; the rude manner in which the whorls are convoluted seems rather to indicate that their animal inhabi- tant, though possessing abundant power of calcification, is of somewhat sluggish growth." — Reeve. A very tough skin covered with hairs or bristles protects the shell externally in most species. The lip curls in as the moUusk matures, forming a marginal channel which is filled with 49 The Tritons and Frog Shells shelly material. This thickening of the lip precedes a period of rest. When growth is resumed the mantle extends the shell leaving the thickened lip behind as a varix crossing the whorl. The apex is peculiar in structure. It is horny with a thin plating of shelly substance outside. The shell is often seen chip- ped off, exposing the horny foundation. Triton's Trumpet (T. tritonis, Linn., T. variegatus, Lam.) is called "the Variegated Triton," by Reeve. Variegated it is, with buff, and brown, purple and red, in rich patterns suggesting the plumage of pheasants. The ground is pale; the dark colours are laid on in crescentic patches, no longer than the width of the spiral ridge they ornament. The columella is dark purplish brown, crossed by white wrinkles. The spire bears about a dozen flat varices. The outer lip is toothed, and whitish, with double streaks of brown soon fading into the ruddy aperture. The canal is short and recurved. This is the giant Triton which reaches sixteen or eighteen inches in length. The Pacific Islanders use it for a teakettle, the operculum being the lid and the canal, the spout. The shell is hung by a wooden hook over the fire. The long spire and swollen body whorl give a sixteen-inch Triton considerable capacity. Habitat. — New Zealand, Polynesia, Philippines, Japan, Indian Ocean. Variety nobilis, Conr., differs from the type in being broader and heavier, with a distinct shoulder, especially noticeable on the body whorl. The first few coils of the spire are quite smooth. The aperture is pale orange. The shoulder appears only on adult shells. This is the West Indian Triton, found also in the Medi- terranean and Cape Verde Islands. The Knobbed Triton {T. nodiferus, Lam.) is a big-mouthed, stout trumpet shell, with a double row of knobs encircling its spire. Instead of becoming larger on the body whorl, the knobs fade out. There are Tritons much more noticeably knobbed than this one. The gaping throat has a pale lining. Brownish yellow tessela- tions adorn the strongly ridged exterior and mark the toothed lip border. The broad, brown columella is wrinkled above and below. Length, 5 to lo inches. The species in somewhat variable forms occurs up the Atlantic Coast of Europe to the British Channel, and South to the Canary 50 The Tritons and Frog Shells Islands. In the East, it is found in Japan, Australia and New Zealand, and in Natal and Mauritius in Southern Africa. Tryon considers T. Saulice, Rve., and T. australis, Lam., variations of this species. "Madame Power found this animal capable of reproducing amputated tentacles. The Sicilians and Algerians eat the mol- lusk, and esteem it a delicacy. At Nice, the fishermen and country people make a hole in the apex of the spire and use the shell as a trumpet, which produces a braying sound. It is an indispensable instrument in the old-fashioned charivari, which she describes as a deafening serenade to signalise the marriages of ill-assorted or unpopular couples." — Tryon. The Oil-vessel Triton (7. olearium, Linn.) has a thick, broad shell, with few varices and a blunt spire, strongly ribbed and set with tubercles, more or less prominent. The ground colour is light brown, spotted alternately with dark brown and white. The aperture is flesh-coloured, the columella dark brown with raised white wrinkles. The Greek lamp is not unlike this shell in form. The skin is thin, and is marked by hairy tufted ridges in life. The animal is pale yellow, with black spots which are more remote and larger on the head; the tentacles are long and black. Length, 2 to 6 inches. Habitat. — Mediterranean, Atlantic coast of Europe and Africa; West Indies to Brazil; Australia to Japan. The Hairy Triton {T. pilearis, Linn.) is recognised by its bristly coat of olive-hued epidermis, its fusiform shape and its red mouth crossed with long white raised ridges. The pale brown exterior is streaked with revolving bands and folds of white. Length, 2 to 6 inches. Habitat. — Philippines, New Zealand. The Thigh-armour Triton (T.femor ale, Linn.) has a triangu- lar outline, and each whorl has a shoulder so distinctly angled as to stand out like a blade. The spiral ridges are rounded, separated by broad depressions which are also ridged. The ridges are dark brown, the lower areas reddish brown. This shell has a contracted base, which includes the straight canal, which is one-fourth the total length of the shell. The varices are prominent rounded folds of the ribbed surface. The rounded knobs are bright yellow. There is a thin bristly epidermis. "The varices originally served as models for the gadroon border used by 51 The Tritons and Frog Shells silversmiths in the decoration of plate." — Reeve. Lip and columella are smooth. This West Indian species is 3 to 7 inches long. The Tiger Triton (7. iigrinus, Brod.) 5 to 7 inches long, has the tiger's tawny colouring on its horny, tufted exterior. The lip flares when full grown in to a wide, wavy margin. The aper- ture is orange. Habitat. — West coast Central America. The Club Triton {T. davator, Lam.) is typical of a group of trumpet shells of pear shape, with long, narrow, twisted canal, and two shiny porcellanous lips, the inner one reflected over the columella. The revolving ridges bear tufted hairy fringes in life. The narrowed aperture has a bright red lining. The ex- terior is whitish, the rounded varices marked with brown. Length, 2 to 5 inches. Habitat. — Philippine Islands. The Pear Triton {T. pyrum. Lam.) is a bright orange shell, lined with paler colour. The teeth of the lip are very strong and white. The columella bears narrow white folds. The long nar- row base is curved. The exterior is strongly ridged and knobbed with prominent varices. The apex is blunt. Length, 3 to 4 inches. Habitat. — Philippine Islands, Indian Ocean, Madagascar, The Canaliculated Triton {T. caudaiiis, Gmel.) is dis- tinguished from the species above by the deep canal that runs around the top of each whorl. It is a white shell, with double spiral ridges, and a long, slim, twisted canal. Length, 3 inches. Habitat. — Chinese Seas. The Chinese Triton (J. Sinensis, Rve.) has the size, form and colouring, but lacks the canal that sets it and T. caudatus apart. The Quilted Triton (T. iuberosus, Lam.) has oblong swell- ings all over its surface, and the mouth is stained with dark red. The six rounded varices are prominent and light coloured. The ground is ashy or dark brown. The noduled teeth are whitish. The columella is smooth, yellowish, and thickly enamelled. The canal is long and slightly curved. This commonest of the trumpet shells exhibits considerable variation in colouring and other char- acters. Length, i ^ to 2^ inches. Habitat. — West Indies, Indo-Pacific Ocean, Polynesia, Mauri- tius. 52 The Tritons and Frog Shells The Spotted Triton {T. maculosus, Gmel.) is typical of a sub-genus in which the aperture is small, the canal short, and the spire long and gently curved. The surface is latticed with cross- ing ridges of small size. The body whorl is swollen, with a wide inner lip reflected over the smooth columella. The pale ground is spotted with brown. The thick shell is three inches long. Habitat. — Mauritius, Red Sea, Philippines. T. truncatus Hds. and T. decollatus Sby., in this sub- genus are good illustrations of decollation. The spire is elongated and destitute of varices. The apex is gone, as if cut off square by some sharp tool. Each is a Philippine species under an inch long. The shells in this group run into minute sizes. Sub-genus Priene contains large, thin, white shells, with can- cellated surfaces and swollen body whorls. They are usually lacking in varices. They are connecting links between the Tritons and related genera. The Furred Triton (T. scaher, King) has close, thick, per- sistently bristly epidermis, a low, broad spire, and wide mouth. The shell is white and finely cross-ridged. The lip is toothed within. Length, i^ to 2^ inches. Habitat. — Arctic America to California. The Cancellated Triton (7. cancellatus, Lam.) is a hand- some fusiform shell, finely or coarsely sculptured by the inter- section of many transverse and revolving ridges. Rounded nodules often mark these crossings, and these bear tufts of hair, sometimes half an inch long. Length, 3 to 4^ inches. Habitat. — Japan. Alaska to Straits of Magellan. The Oregon Triton (T. Oregonensis), described by Redfield from a half-grown specimen, is considered by Tryon identical with the preceding species. It is common on the Northwest coasts, a handsome fusiform shell, with shaggy brown skin, deeply latticed surface, and smooth, white lining. Length, 4 to 6 inches. THE WARPED SHELLS Genus DISTORSIO, Bolt. This genus differs from Triton in its distorted spire, and its irregular, contracted, thin, flaring aperture. It has three species 53 The Tritons and Prog Shells distributed widely in warm seas. D. cancellinus, Roissy, is the type. D. anus, Linn., has a very small aperture, from which the enameled lips flare into a white ruffled border, almost as wide as the body of the shell. There is scarcely any canal. The surface is cancellated, with brown bands on a white ground. Length, 2 to 3 inches. Habitat. — Red Sea Indian Ocean, Philippines. THE FROG SHELLS Genus RANELLA, Lam. The Frog Shells are mostly large and heavy, with surface granulated and tuberculated. Possibly this warty appearance accounts for the name. Possibly it is the squat shape of some species, with their sprawling leg-like tubercled processes. The genus is distinguished from the Tritons by the uniform presence of a varix on each half coil of the shell. These form thick ridges on opposite sides, making the shells distinctly two-edged. The genus of about fifty species is distributed in tropical seas. The animals are active in movements, creeping on the broad foot over coral reefs and rocks. The Spiny Frog Shell (R. spinosa, Lam.) has two thorn- like tubercles on each of its varices, and short, sharp spines on the ridges between. The shell is stout, with short spire and canal, and ovate aperture. Colour, light brown mottled with darker. Length, 2 to 3 inches. Habitat. — Mauritius, Indian Ocean, Philippines. The Californian Frog Shell (R. Calijornica, Hds.) is a fine species, 2^ to 4 inches long, with heavy, strongly ridged and tuber- culated shell, turreted spire, wide aperture, with flaring lips, and short anterior and posterior channels. The colourless surface is irregularly banded with chestnut; the lining is faintly rosy. Except for its greater thickness and stronger development of nodules, this species might be mistaken for R. ventricosa, Brod., a Peruvian species with an exceedingly thin shell. Habitat. — Southern and Lower California. The Lamp Ranella {R. lampas, Linn.), the heaviest shell 54 TRUMPET SHELLS 1, 2 Warped Shell, Distorsio cancellinus 3 Tiger Triton, Triton ligrinus FROG SHELLS AND A TRITON 1 Caliiornia, Frog Shell, Ranella Calijornica. 2 Spiny Frog Shell. Ranella spinosa. 3 Oregon Triton, Triton Oregonensis. 4 Lamp Frog Shefl, Ranella lanipas. The Tritons and Fro^ Shells in the genus, no doubt made a useful lamp for primitive man. Its strong revolving ridges are elaborately set with nodules. The flaring lip is deeply crenulated. There is a posterior channel equal to the anterior canal. When half grown the shells are heavy and show the adult characteristics. The creamy ground colour is stained with orange brown ; the aperture has a flesh tint. In young shells the colours are brighter; the lip and aperture orange-red. Length, 3 to 9 inches. Habitat — Red Sea, Indian Ocean, Philippines. The Argus Ranella (R. Argus, Gmel.) has an ovate, ven- tricose shell with nodules of moderate size evenly distributed over its surface, sometimes large and few, sometimes small and crowded. The colourless surface is spirally banded with brown. The eyed appearance is due to wearing off the brown on the nodules. The thick lip is obscurely wrinkled inside, and often bears a tooth at the edge of the anterior canal. This species feeds by night on the skeletons of seals left by fishermen on the rocks on the Islands of Amsterdam and St. Paul (Indian Ocean). A dead bird or a fish hung as bait over night in water thirty or forty feet deep will capture them without fail. Fresh specimens are covered with a brown, wrinkled epidermis. Length, 2^ to 4 inches. Habitat. — Cape of Good Hope, Chili, Indian Ocean, New Zealand. The Beautiful Ranella (R. pulchra, Gray) has its varices prolonged into fan-like wings or fins, sculptured by ribs and nodules. The whorls are rounded, the apex elevated, the white aperture prolonged into a considerable canal. The lip and columella are narrow and smooth. Length, i§ to 2j inches. Colour, pale yellow mottled with pale brown. Habitat. — Japan, Philippines. 55 CHAPTER VI: THE SPINDLE SHELLS AND BAND SHELLS Family FusiOiC Shell more or less spindle-shaped; varices none; lip not thickened; operculum ovate; animal as in Murex. Genus FUSUS, Lam, Shell spindle-shaped; spire many-whorled, sharp-pointed, longer than body whorl; colour yellow to brown, sometimes spotted, never banded; aperture oval, striate within; canal long, narrow, straight; columella smooth, arched. A large genus of world-wide distribution in warm seas. Living species, about seventy; fossil species, from Cretaceous to Eocene, about three hundred. Some of the largest and most elegant forms to be found among shells occur in this genus. The Nicobar Spindle Shell (F. Nicobaricus, Lam.), the type of the genus, has the long, elegant spindle shape, with square- shouldered whorls, crowned with distinct nodules. The ribs below the shoulders are rounded and separated by deep fossse and inclined to be tuberculate. The pale surface is copiously flamed with dark brown. The aperture is white. The straight canal is as long as the spire. Length, 5 to 6 inches. Habitat. — Japan, Philippines. The Pagoda Spindle Shell (F. Pagoda, Less.) is a small but remarkable shell. The pyramidal spire of many whorls is orna- mented by a continuous spiral row of curving, short, upturned cusps or spines. The lower part of the body whorl is sharply keeled. The canal, almost twice as long as the spire, is wound with several spiral rows of short spurs. Colour, yellow to chest- nut. Length, 2 to 2^ inches. Depth, 14 fathoms. Habitat. — Corea. The Snout-bearing Spindle Shell (F. proboscidiferus, Lam.) is a gigantic species, resembling in shape the pear conch 56 The Spindle Shells and Band Shells of the Atlantic coast. Its whorls are grooved, and a conspicuous round knob finishes the angle of the shoulder. The apex is pro- longed into a sharp peak, set with nodules. The long, open canal is slightly bent. An umbilicus is parallel to it. A silky epidermis covers the shell. Exceptional specimens reach two feet in length. Colour, yellowish brown. Length, 8 to 12 inches. Habitat. — Australia. The Very Long Spindle Shell (F. longissimus, Gmel.) is white when the pale horn-coloured epidermis is lost. Fine stria- tions wind around its whorls, and ten large, low tubercles stand on the keeled shoulder of each. This is the longest of the spindle shaped species. F. candidum, Gmel. is the same. Length, 7 to 9 inches. Habitat. — Ceylon. The Noble Spindle Shell (F. nobilis, Rve.), a superb shell, quite like F. longissimus, was described by Reeve, from a single cabinet specimen, 10^ inches long. The Waved Fusus {F. undatus, Gmel.) has few and large tubercles made by longitudinal waves of elevation and depression which cross the fine spiral grooves. The shell is thick and white Length, 6 to 7 inches. Habitat. — Polynesian Islands The Distaff Fusus (F. colus, Linn.), tinged brown on its attenuated extremities, is as long as F. undatus and twice as slender. Fine nodules rim its whorls at the shoulder. Length, 6 to 7 inches. Habitat. — Ceylon. The Long-tail Fusus (F.longicaudus, Bory) may be a form of the last without the spiral keel on its whorls. Length, 5 to 6^ inches. Habitat. — Ceylon. The Very Slender Spindle (F. gracillimus, Ads. & Rve.), coloured a rich chestnut brown, the spiral ribs crossed by longi- tudinal folds, is like a miniature "long-tail." Length, 3 inches. Habitat. — Eastern Seas. The Needle Fusus (F. acus, Ads. & Rve.), the most graceful of the spindle shells, reduces slimness to its lowest terms. Two inches is its maximum length. In sculpture and colour it is like the last species. The aperture and canal are contracted. Habitat. — China Sea. 57 The Spindle Shells and Band shells The Morocco Fusus (F. Maroccaniis, Gmel.) is left-handed, but one inch long, and has a short canal, twisted to the right. Its finely ribbed whorls coil in a slanting position as if lifted by the large mouth. There seems to be doubt as to the location of this species, set down by some authority to the West Indies. The spindles of colder waters are small and have a more ovoid shape. The Ashy Fusus (F. cinereus, Rve., F. luieopictus, Dall) has a long spire and short canal. Strong folds and ribs cross to produce a latticed surface, marked with ashy blue on a white ground. The mouth has a brown lining. Length, i inch or less. Habitat. — San Francisco to San Diego, Cal, F. Kobelti, Dall, white, spirally pencilled with brown, with rounded, finely ribbed whorls crossed by sharp-edged folds, is a Httle known species. Length, 2 to 2^ inches. Habitat. — Catalina Island and Monterey, Cal. The Scorched Fusus {F. amhustus, Gld.), brownish yellow as if scorched, has eight keeled whorls, crossed by eight rounded varices and encircled by narrow, elevated ridges, separated by wide depressions. The roundish aperture is somewhat small; the columella smooth; channel short. Length, i to if inches. Habitat. — Mazatlan. THE BAND SHELLS Genus FASCIOLARIA, Lam. Shell spindle-shaped, with sharp spire, and long,oval aperture ending in an open, straight or twisted canal; body whorl swollen; surface spirally banded; columella smooth, with a few anterior, oblique plaits; lip crenulated within; operculum claw-shaped, filling the aperture. Animal as in Fusus, slow of movement, crawling on mud flats or burying all but the tip of the spire in the sand. Conspicuously large and handsome shells, distributed in shallows of all warm seas. Species, fourteen living, thirty fossil. The Orange Band Shell (F. auraniiaca, Lam.) is buff orange mottled with white in an irregular pattern. The whorls are keeled and set with blunt nodules. Fine dark lines in pairs wind spirally from the apex. This showy species, called "the Persian 58 Vasutn ctESlum. Bullia callosa. SPINDLE SHELLS AND OTHERS 3 Clavella sero'.ina. 4 Kobelt's Spindle S,\\e\\, Fusus Kobelti. 5 Longest Spindle Shell, Fusus lony,issimus. 6 Knobbed Spindle Shell, Fusus undatus. 7 Nicobar Spindle Shell, Fusus Ntcobarkus. MARINE UNIVALVES I Distaff Spindle Shell, Fusus colus. 4 2, 3 Tulip Band Shell, Fasciolaria tiilipa. 5 Crown Melongena, Melonpena corona. Ten-ridged Neptunea, Neptunea deccmcatata. The Spindle Shells and Band Shells Vest" in Lamarck's day, is known in cabinets, but its habitat is uncertain. Tryon doubtfully names Brazil and Cape of Good Hope. Length, 3 to 5 inches. The Tulip Band Shell (F. iultpa, Linn.) is found in shallow water, on pebbly coasts where water is calm and algae grow. A collector found several feeding upon a dead king crab. They made valiant attempts to escape, striking viciously about with their operculums. This is one of the handsomest of our native shells, the equal of any garden tulip, in form, if not in coloration. The graceful rounded whorls taper away from the swollen centre to a sharp spire and a straight canal. The surface is smooth, closely wound with the pairs of dark hair lines that characterise the family. Wavy lines of gray cross the whorls, over these are distinct ir- regularly broken longitudinal bands of bright chestnut or darker brown. In fact, colour and design vary greatly. A uniform dark mahogany form is found. The thin lip is finely scalloped. The columella is narrow, with three oblique folds. The aperture has a flesh-coloured lining. Length, 4 to 8 inches. Habitat. — North Carolina to West Indies. Var. distans, Lam., has its revolving dark lines wide apart on the whorls. It is a much smaller, smoother shell, and more delicately painted, but similarly shaped and marked. It fre- quents the same localities. It feeds upon Vermetus, thrusting its long proboscis into the limy tubes of the "worm shell" and sucking out the soft parts. The Giant Band Shell (F. giganiea, Kiener) is one of the largest known univalves. Its shell is a ponderous affair, impres- sive in size and weight. The surface is yellowish under a horny brown epidermis. The aperture is a uniform orange-red, showing no lines. The dark revolving lines are close outside. The keel of each whorl bears large, remote, low tubercles. This is the only adversary that comes off victorious in an encounter with Melon- gena corona. Superior size and strength overcome the fighter, which is smothered. Length, i to 2 feet. Habitat. — North Carolina to West Indies and Brazil. The Prince Band Shell (F. princeps, Sby.) is a giant of the tropical west coast of America. It is very graceful in form, its keeled whorls strongly ridged and deeply grooved. The exterior is a rich brown, with a persistent epidermis. The orange-red 5Q The Spindle Shells and Band Shells aperture is scored with groups of raised parallel red lines, making it look like blank music paper. Length, 6 to 9 inches. ,: Habitat. — Panama to Mazatlan. | The Salmon-coloured Band Shell (F. salmo, Wood) has a j low spire, trimmed-with nodules, a wide aperture notched above, | with crimped lip, a straight canal, and columella bearing two j strong plaits. Exterior salmon-yellow, with thin brownish epid- ermis. The body is bright red. Length, 4 to 5 inches. ^ Habitat. — Panama to Mexico. 1 60 CHAPTER VII: THE WHELKS. TRUMPET SHELLS Family Buccinid/E Shell usually thick, oblong to fusiform, with canal of moder- ate length or short; periostracum thick; columella without folds; outer lip simple, often thickened; operculum horny. A large and aggressive family of carnivorous habits, ranging from tropical to circumpolar seas. Genus MELONGENA, Schum. Shell pear-shaped, solid, dark-coloured, or banded; spire short, set with knobs and spines; aperture oval; canal short; columella and lip smooth; operculum solid, claw-like; nucleus apical. Comprises about a dozen species in warm seas of both hemispheres. The Crown Melongena {M. corona, Gmel.) has its whorls adorned with a coronal of curved, flattened spines. The longi- tudinal line of growth rise at base also in a secondary row ot spines. Between the two is a flat space, banded with white on the bluish or chestnut ground. The surface is polished. In var. bispinosa the spiny crown is a double row of smaller cusps. In some forms the basal spines are missing. Sometimes there are no spines at all. Length, 2^ to 5 inches. Habitat. — Florida, West Indies. The only mollusk that can kill one of these agile carnivors is the giant band shell, which overpowers it by main strength, and encloses it completely by the folds of its great foot. Any other rival discreetly yields whatever might be the subject of controversy, unless it is resigned to fight and be beaten. The creature lives by preference in brackish water, feeding on clams and their kin, including the razor and the non-resistant oyster. Several individuals, often more than a dozen, may be seen in a circle around an oyster that has guardedly closed its shell. They patiently wait until the weary bivalve relaxes its 61 The Whelks. Trumpet Shells muscle, and lets the shell gape. Or it may be a large Fulgur perversa, which has to lift its operculum in order to breathe. The Melongenas are ready at the signal, and all thrust in their snouts, long and tough, like black shoestrings. The victim quick- ly clamps them tight. But it must relax its hold frequently. Each yielding gives the snouts a chance to get a little further in. When the muscle is reached the rasping tongues soon disable it, and the victory is won. The "coon" oysters are Melongena's favourite food, though the gizzard plates in the stomach of this mollusk enable it to assimilate the toughest substances. The Open-mouthed Mc\ongena(M. patula,Brod.a.nd Sby.), large and dark-coloured, with wide aperture, is sometimes remotely spiny on the shoulder. The shell is brown, banded with yellow or white. The lining is orange-pink. Length, 4 to 6 inches. Habitat. — Panama to Mazatlan. M. melongena, Linn., resembles the last species in its gaping mouth and the remote shoulder spines. Colour bluish brown; interior yellowish. The animal has a long slender head with eyes on the bases of the tentacles, a brown spotted yellow foot, broad and squarish at the ends. Length, 3 to 5 inches. Habitat. — West Indies. Genus HEMIFUSUS, Swains. Shell thin, spindle-shaped, uncoloured or light yellow, spire shorter than the aperture, shoulders knobbed or spiny; canal open, wide, somewhat twisted. Six species. The Colossal Hemifusus (H. colosseus. Lam.) is drawn out into slender spindle shape, its keeled whorls bearing compressed low tubercles. The elongated aperture gradually merges into the wide, open canal. Theexterior is a uniform horn-yellow; aperture rosy. Length, 10 to 14 inches. Habitat. — Indian Ocean, Philippines. Genus NEPTUNEA, Bolt. (CHRYSODOMUS, Swains.) Shell spindle-shaped, swollen in middle, colourless or dingy; whorls rounded, covered with horny epidermis; apex elevated, papillary; canal short; aperture oval ; columella simple, smooth; operculum ovate, nucleus apical. A circumpolar genus of eighteen species. 62 The Whelks. Trumpet Shells The Red Whelk (N. aniiqua, Linn.) is used for codfish bait, and is a favourite molluscan food among the poor of Great Britain. The Hver is the tidbit, described as "more fat and tender than lobster." The DubUn marketmen call this whelk "barnagh." At Billingsgate market in London it is the " almond " and " buckie." Antiqua, the specific name, is chosen because this species is plentiful as a fossil in the Crag. Left-handed forms occur, fossil and living. This mollusk is large, the average shell three or four inches long and two inches wide. Extreme specimens are eight inches long. The shell is solid, dull-lustred, yellowish or reddish, with faint spiral ridges. The Shetland Islanders convert them into "elegant lamps," hanging them in a horizontal position with the lighted end of the wick protruding from the canal. The eggs are laid in pouch-like capsules, attached to each other in close, over- lapping clusters. The spawning time is late winter. Habitat. — Northern Europe. The Ten-ridged Neptunea (N. decemcostaia, Say) is the large and striking whelk of the Maine coast, with ten winding keels of graduated sizes decorating its swollen body whorl. On the upper whorls but two keels occur. The mouth is wide open ; the lining is pure white. The shell's exterior is dull and dirty, white or horn-coloured. The body is frequently pure white or flecked with black. The animal has the carnivorous activities of the whelk, Buccinum, with which it occurs, below low water mark. Length, 2 to 4 inches. Habitat. — New England and Nova Scotia. The Ridged Neptunea (N . lirata, Mart.) is a large Alaskan species, with light brown shell wound with nine to fifteen ribs, three seen on the spire. Sometimes the shell is smooth, by the suppression of these ribs. Length, 3 to 6 inches. Habitat. — Northwest coast of North America. N. harpa, Morch., four to six inches long, closely ribbed, pale yellow, with oval, salmon-tinted aperture, occurs at Sitka. Genus SIPHO, Klein. Shell thin, pear-shaped, or spindle-shaped, with smooth, rounded whorls; lips simple; canal and spire produced; opercu- lum ovate, with apical nucleus. Thirty-seven species. Habitat. — Circumpolar. 63 The Whelks. Trumpet Shells Stimpson's Sipho (S. Siimpsoni, Morch.) is found in water from twenty to one hundred feet deep, off the coast of New England. \t is dad in a thick, horny epidermis, which is sometimes velvety. There are seven or eight whorls, forming a very graceful shell, destitute of decoration, except for the crossing faint striae and wavy growth lines. The canal is recurved. Length, 3 to 5 inches. Habitat. — Arctic Seas to Cape Hatteras. S. pigmaeus, Gld., scarcely over an inch long, is found with the young of the large species. Its many whorls are invested with a velvety, corrugated, drab epidermis. Habitat. — New England coast to Cape Fear. Genus SIPHONALIA, A. Ads. Shell thin, ovate, spindle-shaped; whorls bearing nodose longitudinal folds and spiral ribs; colouring variegated; canal short, twisted. A genus of sub-tropical distribution, centring in Japan, but extending to America and Australia. Kellett's Spindle Shell (S. Kellettii, Forbes) has colonised the California coast from its home in Japanese waters. Its brown- ish white shell is handsomely knobbed. It is found in the shal- lows at low tide. Length, 3 to 5 inches. THE GIANT WHELKS. PEAR CONCHS. LIGHTNING SHELLS Genus FULGUR, Montf. (BUSYCON, Bolt.) Shell large, heavy, depressed below the apex, sculptured by fine revolving ridges crossed by radiating growth lines; columella drawn out into a slender stalk; body whorl large, aperture oval with elongated anterior canal; operculum horny; foot large; sexes separate; egg capsules keeled, on connecting ribbon. The Knobbed Whelk (Fulgur carica, Gmel.) is one of the two largest and most characteristic univalve mollusks of the Atlantic coast north of Cape Hatteras. Its side partner is F. canaliculaius. These two great ocean snails are much alike in 64 WHELKS I Stimpson's Whelk, Sipho Slimpsoni. 2 Ridged Whelk, Neptiinea lirata. 3 Kellett's Spindle Shell, Siphonalia Kdlettii. 4 Red Whelk, Nspliinea antiqxa THE EDIBLE WHELK, Buccimim undatum. Used as food in Northern Europe. Specimens with spires coiled to the left are occasionally found. Lower picture shows a mass of the egg capsules. The Whelks. Trumpet Shells looks and habits. On any sandy beach between Cape Cod and the Gulf of Mexico one may pick up wave-worn shells of both, and their peculiar empty egg cases, always puzzling to the uninformed, who take home a string or two among other sea treasures to ad- mire and wonder at with their friends. Naturally they do not associate the shells with these "seaweeds." Sometimes a living shell with its dirty looking inmate is picked up where the tide left it stranded; at low tide they may be found clambering about on the slippery rocks or ploughing their way through the wet sand and gravel, with the muscular foot quite buried. Hollows in the sand are caused by whelks burrow- ing below the surface. The grayish colour, marked with dull brown, protects these mollusks from discovery except when in motion. The extended foot covers the bright red lining of the shell's thin lip. At rest the mollusk retracts the stout foot which closes the .aperture with a deep-set horny door. A formidable series of knobs adorn the shoulder line of the outer whorl of the shell, each marking the end of a period of growth. This is the distinguishing characteristic of the species. In Long Island Sound, on rocky shores, the shells never attain the size they do in the open, sandy surf-beaten beaches of New Jersey. Six to nine inches in length the adults range. Juvenile forms are found of all sizes. The size and businesslike agility of this gigantic snail may lead you to quote Alice's knight: Come, tell me how it is you live, And what it is you do. Ask the oystermen along the coast. They gnash their teeth and class the Fulgur among the numerous enemies of the helpless oyster. However, since the starfish and the little "drill" exist in so much greater numbers, ruthlessly destroying the young, the toll of the whelks may be small, though they are able to devour the oldest inhabitant of the oyster bed. They subsist chiefly upon live mollusks of various kinds. A small round hole, bevelled as if by a steel tool, is made, and the whelk sucks out the juicy contents of the shell. The helpless bivalve gapes open. Little but tough muscle and ligament remains. The long, hollow channel of the Fulgur's shell contains the 65 The Whelks. Trumpet Shells muscular double siphon. One tube admits water to the gill cham- ber, the other discharges wastes. When the mollusk is in motion the siphon is extended beyond the end of the shell and upward. Under it the head protrudes, bearing the proboscis in front, and the waving tentacles, each with a little black eye on the side. The foot spreads broadly below the shell opening; the operculum lies flat on the posterior lobe. The shell is carried in a horizontal position, its spire directly above the operculum, its stem thrust forward. Few observers have ever seen the giant whelk lay her eggs, though all know the long "egg ribbon" from which little whelks emerge in the perfect image of their parents. It is known that the process of egg laying is an exhausting one and takes con- siderable time and energy. The first of the parchment-like sub- stance is extruded upon a pebble or shell fragment which is chosen as an anchor for the completed chain. The first few capsules are small and far apart on the string. Then begin the perfect egg cases, two keeled, and set close together. The string twists spirally and is often a yard long, with nearly one hundred cases. Fresh ribbons are found during all the warm months along the Atlantic coast. In each case the development of the egg progresses, until the embryo stage is past. Then a round door opens on the lower floor of the chamber, on the side opposite the connecting string. Out tumble the little whelks and begin the life of independence on the sea bottom. The Left-handed Whelk or Lightning Shell (F. per- versa, Linn.) is much like the northern species, but the spiral turns to the left instead of following the snail fashion. The young shells are bright with zigzag brown lightning streaks that radiate from the spire, crossing the fine spiral ridges that decorate the whorls. The lip is lined with brown. The knobs are blunt. The body is black. The shells fade and whiten with age; the largest speci- mens are a foot long. They live on sandy beaches, and spend much time burrowing just under the surface for bivalves. They are preyed upon by Melongena. Habitat. — Florida. Sub-genus SYCOTYPUS, Gill Shell with deep channelled suture, square-shouldered whorls, without knobs; hairy, thick, brown epidermis covers exterior; interior yellowish, smooth. 66 The Whelks. Trumpet Shells The Channelled Whelk (F. canaliculains, Say) is distin- guished from its companion by the channel that follows its sutures. The egg cases have not the double-keeled edge, but narrow to a sharp margin. In most particulars the two species are alike. The Indians cut the long, white columella of the giant whelk into beads to make their wampum belts. Three beads were worth an English penny in early Colonial days in Massachusetts. A fathom string was worth five shillings. In the South the shells are often u?ed to border garden beds and paths. Drinking vessels were made of them by Indians. Fulgur flower pots are often seen to-day in Florida. The sharp edge of the aperture made cutting tools for the aborigines. Length, 6 to 9 inches. Habitat. — Cape Cod to Texas. The Pear Conch {F. pyrum, Dillw.) has a depresseu, unarmed spire, with a deep suture. The sculpture consists of alternately weak and strong spiral striae and angular shoulder keels. Bands of pale brown cross the white ground of the whorls. The canal is long and tapering. Length, 4 to 5 inches. Habitat. — Florida and Gulf of Mexico. Genus EUTHRIA, Gray Shell spindle-shaped, smooth; aperture oval, ending in short, recurved canal. Species, ten, widely distributed. The Dark Euthria (£". dira, Rve.), liver-coloured when the ashy powder is removed, well represents the genus. Deep re- volving channels, close together, engrave the surface. The spire has longitudinal folds. Length, i to 2 inches. Habitat. — Monterey, Cal., to Sitka. Genus CANTHARUS, Bolt. Shell bucciniform, with swollen body whorl and narrowing to base; aperture and spire of about equal length; siphonal canal at posterior end of aperture; columella arched and faintly ridged. About fifty species in warm seas. The Painted Cantharus (C. iincta, Conr.) has the form of a typical Buccinum, with surface finely ribbed both ways, somewhat tuberculated, with variegated markings of brown and white. Length, i to i^ inches. Habitat. — Florida, West Indies. 67 The Whelks. Trumpet Shells C. cancellaria, Conr., is ash-coloured, has strong spiral ribs, crossed by longitudinal folds, forming fine tubercles. Lip strongly lined within; spire prolonged; canal recurved. Length, i to i^ inches. Habitat. — Gulf of Mexico. THE TYPICAL WHELKS Genus BUCCINUM, Linn. Shell oval or oblong; spire elevated, acute; epidermis horny; colour dull ashen; aperture oval, large; canal wide, short; columella expanded, smooth; outer lip thin, smooth inside; operculum ovate, nucleus sub-marginal, small; radula prominent. A carnivorous genus of few species, in northern waters. The \A^aved ^A/'helk (B. undaium, Linn.) is a circumpolar species which extends its range southward as far as New Jersey and the Mediterranean, varying from the type so far on American coasts as to induce some scientists to accept the name, B. undu- latum of Miiller. It has a steep spire of rounded coils, ridged with fine grooves and made wavy by crossing a dozen or more longi- tudinal folds that fade out at the middle of the body whorl. The animal is aggressively carnivorous, and has demonstrated its ability to adapt itself to varying circumstances. It is not surprising to find in such a mollusk that the osphra- dium, or organ of smell, is very large. It lies like a plume-shaped gland in the wall of the mantle cavity close to the gill. One might easily mistake it for a secondary breathing organ. The third and largest in the series of curved and flattened organs on the left side of the body is the gland that secretes quantities of glary mucus. The egg cases of this whelk are attached, and the mass looks like a coarse sponge when picked up on the beach. Sailors use them as a soap substitute under the name of "sea wash balls." Each capsule is a tough pouch like a large split pea, attached by its side. Several hundred eggs occupy each cell, and there are five hundred or more capsules in an average mass. As they hatch, the vigorous embryos devour the weak ones, so the numbers are greatly reduced. The development occurs in winter and re- quires about two months before the fry are ready to leave the egg capsule. 68 The Whelks. Trumpet Shells The voracity of this scavenger snail is its besetting weakness. A wicker basket baited with fish oflfal and lowered at night to a muddy bottom is drawn up loaded with whelks in the morning. The helpless lobster fisherman gnashes his teeth over the greedy mollusk which steals his bait over night, and then leaves the empty traps, The long lines set for cod are often drawn up with whelks on the hooks. On the other hand, whelks have their enemies. Cod are especially fond of them. Forty or fifty shells are sometimes found in the stomach of a single fish. Quantities of whelks are used for bait in the cod fisheries. Hermit crabs are quick to occupy empty whelk shells. The people of Northern Europe count whelks among important sea foods — a staple, not a delicacy. The Dublin method of cooking whelks is to boil them until they fall from the shell ; then fry in butter until brown. A whelk soup which sounds "good enough to eat" is made somewhat like a clam chowder. The fried whelks are added to a vegetable soup, in which they boil an hour before being served. Boiled tender, whelks are eaten with oil and vinegar. In America they are unknown as food, though plentiful on the Atlantic coast. The range of this species is from tide level to a depth of 650 fathoms, and from the Arctic Seas to the Mediterranean and New Jersey coasts. In sandy bottoms the shell is solid and strongly waved and ridged; in mud it is thin and smooth. The usual colouring is pale rusty, under a thin epidermis. Some are pure white. The body is dirty white, with black dots and streaks. Any species of such great geographical range is bound to show striking variations. The average size is three inches in length by two inches wide. A single specimen 6j inches long is probably the largest known. Pygmies represent the other extreme. Each country has its own common name for this mollusk. It is called "the roaring buckie" by Scotch children who are told that by laying the shell's mouth close to the ear one hears the murmurs of the sea imprisoned in its coiled spire. THE IVORY SHELLS Genus EBURNA, Lam. Shell ovate, smooth, ivory-white, spotted with orange-red; epidermis dark; whorls shouldered; umbilical area large, set off 69 The Whelks. Trumpet Shells by a strong rib; aperture white or tinged with violet; columehc* thickened. Lamarck erected his genus upon a shell which turns out to be Ancillaria glabrata ! This slip, however, is overlooked by Tryon, in view of the assemblage of species Larmarck made under this head. There are about twelve species inhabiting Eastern tropical seas. The Spiral Ivory Shell (E. spirata, Lam.) has a deep channel as the sutural boundary of its whorls. There is an upper and a lower notch in the large round aperture; the white surface bears series of irregular brownish spots. The sharp apex is black. Length, 2 to 3 inches. Habitat. — Ceylon, Philippines. The Square-spotted Ivory Shell {E. areolata, Lam.) is ornamented by three regular rows of square brown spots on its swollen body whorl. There is room for but one row on the upper coils. This is the largest and most striking of the ivory shells. Length, 2 to 4 inches. Habitat. — Ceylon, China Seas. The Japanese Ivory Shell {E. J aponica, Shy.) lives in sandy mud off the coast of Japan. Women and children gather the mollusks for the markets where they are offered as a staple article of food. Genus MACRON, H. and A. Ads. Shell ovate, thick, with dark, tough epidermis; spire elevated; columella wrinkled; callous at posterior end; outer lip thin, with small anterior tooth; operculum ovate. West coast of America. Kellett's Macron (M. Kellettii, A. Ads.) is a stout little whelk with a wide doorway, notched at top and bottom. A basal ridge around the whorl ends in a tooth on the outer lip. The smooth brown exterior is covered with a dark epidermal coat. Length, i inch. Habitat. — Southern and Lower California. M. lividus, A. Ads., smaller, paler brown, with epidermis distinctly ridged, is found on Southern California beaches. 70 Giant Pear Conch or Knobbed Whelk, Fulgur carica (life size), and a section of the "egg ribbon." Several embryos develop in each flat capsule. At the lower end is a cluster of the conical egg capsules of a smaller moUusk. GIANT WHELKS, OR PEAR CONCHS, AND EGG RIBBON 1 Left-handed \Vhelk, Fiilgur perversa. 2 Egg Ribbon of F.canaliculatus. Several embryos develop in each capsule. 3 Oijerculum of Fidgur perversa. 4 Channeled Whelk, Fulgitr canaliculaius. CHAPTER VIII: THE BASKET SHELLS. DOG WHELKS Family Nassid/^ Shell small, ovate; spire elongated; base of aperture a notch or short recurved canal; columella callous; operculum horny; nucleus apical. Body with forked tail; foot long and broad; siphon long; tentacles slender, bearing eyes; radula well developed; teeth arched, serrate. A world-wide marine family, near shores of temperate warm seas. Habits active, predatory. Genus NASSA, Lam. Characters of the family. Over one hundred species. These shells have their name from their resemblance to the tapering, narrow-mouthed wicker baskets used in Europe to catch fish and lobsters in. The cancellated surface of the shells suggest basketry. The mollusks are taken in considerable quantities adhering to these baskets to which they are attracted through their keen sense of smell, and their corresponding appetite for fish, dead or alive. The peasants eat the species mutahilis in Italy. The scavenger work done by these dog whelks certainly puts them on the white list of useful mollusks. The seashore is fresh and clean because they help other scavengers to remove such wrecks of fish and other creatures as the waves wash ashore. These, if left, would become vilely offensive in a short time. No better cleanser of a polluted aquarium is known than a handful oi dog whelks. The broad foot with its forked tail and lobed front is interest- ing to watch as it glides along leaving a trail in the mud. The animal finally rests under a small pellet of mud, at the end of the trail. What is intended as a mode of concealment is in reality a prominent sign board: "If your looking for the maker of this trail you '11 find him under a ball of mud at the end." The Basket Shells. Dog Whelks In the aquarium the sole of the foot is often appHed to the surface of the water, the shell hanging downward, a familiar position assumed by certain fresh water snails. The Nassas are very tenacious of life. They survive for months enforced hibernation in cabinets and neglected aquarium jars, and revive with no apparent damage when restored to their natural element. The basket shells show an astonishing tendency to variation, bringing discouragement and chaos to the systematic student who wishes to draw sharp distinctions between species. About five hundred species have been erected already, three-fourths of which Tryon has reduced to the rank of synonyms. The American species are few. « The Channelled Basket Shell (A^. fossaia, Gould) is the largest species in the family. It is one to two inches long. The surface is sculptured with revolving ridges and grooves, which show distinct and white within the wide aperture. Longitudinal grooves cross the whorls, cancellating them finely on the spire, forming strong rounded nodules on the upper half of the body whorl. The exterior is brownish yellow and dull; interior ridged, polished, callous, bright orange. Columella excavated; lip toothed. The umbilicus leads out into a deep channel that winds around the base of the body whorl. Habitat. — California. The Dog Whelk {N. trivittata, Say), of our Atlantic sea- board is a familiar inhabitant of sandy shores from Maine to Florida. The long spire has close spiral ridges, crossed by stronger, beaded ridges. The sinus, deep between the whorls, bears a strong top row of nodules, tinted pink or yellow, and faintly banded below. When the tide goes out these mollusks come quickly up from under the sand, and make for the water, the broad foot holding its forked tail erect, the tentacles waving ahead, and the siphon thrust out of the notch in the shell directly above the head. The shell lies horizontally upon the body; the small operculum is hidden by the spire. Fine dots of purple adorn the colourless body. The ■Worn-out Basket Shell (N. ohsoleta, Say) is eroded at the apex — a basket with its bottom badly damaged. This is a dark-coloured Nassa, brown or olive, lightened occasionally by a 72 The Basket Shells. Dog Whelks paler band around the body whorl. The surface is spirally grooved, but faintly so, and crossed by lines of growth. The old shells are dilapidated affairs, with a sort of marine mould grown thick upon them, like an epidermis. The aperture is dark brown with white banding; the lip simple, a callus covering the columella. The body is grayish and mottled, with the power to extend far out of the shell. Shell and body are well protected, for they are dingy, like the muddy sand in which they live. The latticed surface catches the sand, so that an exposed shell is hard to dis- cern until it moves. This Nassa lays its numerous egg-capsules in spring on the lining of the egg-collar of Natica, or on a dead clam shell, crowding them always close together. Each is an elaborately spiny, trans- parent object on a short stalk. No mollusk of equal size is more in evidence on the Atlantic coast. Especially does it throng the muddy shores where by the emptying of streams the water is somewhat brackish. On mud flats, exposed at low tide, they may be seen by thousands, scrambling nimbly about doing scavenger duty. A dead crab or fish calls together an army of them, which soon dispatch the ill-smelling object. Obliged to find live prey, they bore the shells of bivalves, and are even suspected of eating each other at a pinch. The largest is an inch long. Habitat. — Nova Scotia to Florida. The Lash Nassa (N.vibex, Say) is the handsomest of the basket shells. Strong longitudinal ridges, set far apart, cross the fine spiral ones, forming nodules at the shoulder of each whorl. The shell is heavy; the toothed lip thick; the callus of the columella spreads out into a broad flat triangular patch on the body whorl. The colouring is chestnut and white, in bands and clouds. Length, f inch. Habitat. — ^West Indies, to Chesapeake Bay and Cape Cod. The Lean Nassa (N. mendica, Gld.) has a slender, strongly sculptured shell, of fine revolving lines crossed by remote, promi- nent ridges, broken by the sutures. The exterior is marked with pale brown; the interior is white. Length, ^ to J inch. Habitat. — Puget Sound to San Diego, Cal. The Fat Nassa (A/, perpinguis, Hinds) resembles N. fossata in its stout figure, and in other particulars, but it is smaller through- 73 The Basket Shells. Dog Whelks out. The surface is finely cancellated, and marked with chestnut. The lining is bright orange. It never reaches an inch in length. Hahiiat. — Southern Califorina. The Slate Nassa {N. iegula, Rve.)is dark gray in colour, with a pale band just below the noduled shoulder of the whorl. The aperture is lined with smooth white enamel. Length, | inch. Habitat. — Southern California. The Netted Dog Whelk {N. reticulata, Linn.), found on sandy shores from Norway to the Mediterranean, has been the subject of much study. It is an inch or more in length, a robust mollusk in a solid, cancellated shell, brownish white, often banded with chocolate below the suture. Back from its thin edge the Hp is thickened and toothed; the columella is smooth with a wide- spread callus. There is considerable variability of sculpture from fine to coarse. At the recess of each tide this mollusk buries itself in the sand in a slanting position, its lurking place betrayed by a little hillock. It gets into lobster pots for the sake of the bait. Buried in the sand at the bottom of an aquarium, these mollusks will always respond to one stimulus unless it comes just after a hearty meal. Scraps of meat, fresh or stale, make an irresistible appeal. Bones with particles of meat adhering are soon buried by the mollusks. Simply passing a bit of meat over the sand, then withdrawing it, served the same purpose of drawing the animals, so strong is their sense of smell. The eggs of this Nassa are laid on seaweed. The capsules are like flat purses, the size of a spangle, on short stems. These are attached to the stems of seaweeds, and overlap each other in a single row. The young escape from the capsule through a hole at the top. They have ciliated lobes by which they swim. The antics they cut are amusing to watch, and seem to be merely playful, but are probably a struggle to resist capture by swarms of infusorians. The robust N. reticulata does great damage in the pares of Arcbachon, where the famous French oysters are raised. Like our destructive "drill," the Nassas of all ages bore the oyster shells, and suck out the soft parts of their helpless victims. The tide sweeps, in bringing fresh thousands of these destroyers, so that combating them is a long, unequal fight. Fortunate for our oyster growers the dog whelks of the 74 DOG WHELKS AND OTHERS 1 Ivory Shell, Eburna Japonica. 3 F.uthria dira. 5 Dog Whelk, Kassa trhnttaia. 2 Macron yElhiopis. 4 Dog Whelk, Nassa jossala. 6 Dog Whelk, Nassa obsoleia. 7 Canlharus tincta. 8 Chank, Turbonella pyrum. A VOLUTE AND A MELON SHELL 1,2 Bat Volute, Vohita vespcrtilio. showing variation. 3 Melon Shell, Melo Broderipii The Basket Shells. Dog Whelks Atlantic prefer dead fish to live oysters, so they are a negligible, even though numerous, element in the fauna of the coast. Other mollusks are victims of the dog whelks' patient boring. They are even suspected of cannibalism. Finally, in their decline, small hermit crabs tear them from their shells, and take possession, each making a meal of the dismembered body of its victim. CHAPTER IX: THE CHANK SHELLS Family Turbinellid.^ Shells large, heavy, ventricose, smooth or tuberculated; columellar plaits transverse, near middle, far apart; aperture long; operculum thick, claw-like, with terminal nucleus. Animal shy, sluggish in movements. A small tropical family, allied to the Buccinidai and Fusidae. Genus TURBINELLA, Lam. Shell mostly fusiform, heavy; columella bearing one to five compressed plaits; epidermis horny or fibrous; operculum horny, pointed, small; surface of shell ornamented with a great variety of sculpture and colouring. Several species are large-sized shells, qualifying for rank among the molluscan nobility. They have characters of Murex and Voluta joined. The Pear Turbinella (T. pyrum, Lam.) was named by Linnaeus Voliiia pyrum. It has the characteristic folds on the columella which was his basis for thus classifying it. Three blade- like plaits wind across the middle of the columella. The inner lip flares widely above. The outer lip is plain and thin. The canal is long and straight. The swollen body whorl is keeled, and coronated at the shoulder. The spire is depressed, and has a knobbed apex. The surface is light coloured, spotted with brown, under the olive-green epidermis; the lining is orange red. Young shells are brightest. Length, 4 to 7 inches. Habitat. — Cevlon. Besides being the type of its genus, the Pear Turbinella is the Chank or Shankh, the sacred shell of the Hindus, the national emblem of the Kingdom of Travancore. The images of the god Vishnu always carry a chank shell in one hand. The Vedas were stolen by the giant chank shell, according to the legend, and Vishnu took the form of a fish that he might go down and recover 76 The Chank Shells the lost books and destroy the thieving mollusk. Every Hindu worships the sacred shell at the beginning of every prayer; other- wise his offering would not be received. The chank fisheries of Ceylon and vicinity have great com- mercial importance. Divers bring up the ''green chanks," alive and still invested with their green covering. These have perfect shells and bring the highest prices. They are shipped to Calcutta whence they are distributed through the ordinary commercial channels. At one time the chank fisheries of Ceylon yielded the Government a revenue of ;£4,ooo per annum for divers' licenses alone. Six hundred divers were employed there. The value of the shells shipped into Calcutta and Madras in some years reached ^15,000 sterling. The Hindu artists carve and otherwise ornament chank shells; then they are suspended as oil vessels for the illumination of the temples. A reversed or left-handed specimen is worth its weight in gold. These rare shells are particularly revered in India, Siam, China and in Ceylon. The Chinese priests keep these curiously ornamented sinistral shells as sacred vessels in the pagodas, and employ them only on special occasions. Medicine is administered to the sick from them. The oil for anointing the Emperor is kept in one of these vessels awaiting thenext coronation. Most of the chanks are used in the manufacture of bracelets, armlets and bangles, an industry that centres at Dacca. A rude saw, operated by feet and hands both, cuts the shell into narrow rings or segments of circles. These are polished, painted, graved and inlaid with precious metals and gems. Elaborateness of ornamentation is seen also where cheaper materials, tinsel, spangles and glass beads, are employed. The Hindu women wear these bangles in great numbers on arms and ankles. After death they are buried with their wearers. Smooth chank shells are used to put a high polish upon paper and glazed cloth; their weight and smoothness adapt them for such work, in skilled hands. The "button" is cut from the top, and strung as a bead, or "krantah," into necklaces. These are worn by all the Sepoy soldiers in the East India service. The Artichoke Turbinella (T. scolymus, Gmel.) is the giant of this genus. Its turreted spire bears a series of six varices, the strongest on the last whorl, which gives this ponderous fusiform shell a distinct hexagonal form when viewed from above. The 77 The Chank Shells exterior is yellowish white, under a thin, fibrous, olive epidermis. The columella and interior are flesh pink. Length, 8 to lo inches. Habitat. — Brazilian coast. Vasum muricatum, Born., is a related form, stouter, armed with hollow sharp tubercles on the shoulder of each whorl, and three rows near the base. Length, 3 to 6 inches. Colour white, lined with pink. Habitat. — Florida Keys, West Indies, Panama. 78 The Shell Book Plaie 11 6 M'^«' J Ci pyriyht, 1908, by Doubleday, Page & Comp.iny UNIVALVE SHELLS OF TROPICAL SEAS 1 Carpenter's Notch-Side, Pleuroloma Carpcnicriana, Gabb. 5 Witre Shell, Mitra intermedia. Kien. 2 Spindle Volute, Valuta Uisijormis, Linn. 6 Splendid Olive Shell, Oiiva splendidula, Sby. 3 Spotted Auger Shell, Tenbra macidata, Linn. 7 Court Volute, Voliita aidica, Sby. 4 Lyria Delesserliaiia. Petit. 8 Netted Olive Shell, OHva reticidaris. Lam. CHAPTER X: THE VOLUTES AND MELON SHELLS Family Volutid/E Shell usually thick, often shining, showy, usually large, fusiform, cylindrical, oval or globular; columella projecting an- teriorly, with several revolving folds; aperture notched, canal not produced; apex blunt, papillary; operculum generally wanting; body highly coloured; foot broad in front; head dilated into flat lobes on which are borne the two sessile eyes at the bases of the tentacles; siphon large, lobed at base; radula with strongly cusped teeth. A carnivorous family living at considerable depth in tropical and sub-tropical waters, chiefly in the southern hemisphere. Genus VOLUTA, Linn. Shell ovate or fusiform, thick, solid, spire usually short, shoulders of whorls usually angled, sometimes bearing nodes or spines, aperture rather narrow; columella with a thick callous deposit, and winding plaits; lip thickened back of the sharp edge; sometimes almost reflected. A remarkable genus whose distribu- tion centres in Australian waters. The volutes might be called the "spiral shells" were this trait not constant among the gasteropods of sea and land. They are named for the folds upon the columella, a character they do not monopolise by any means. The spire is always prominent and always has a rounded, mammillate apex. The operculum is absent except in V. musica. In spite of its lack of distinctive characters in the shell, this family is not hard to distinguish from the few other "first families" of the mollusks. They are hand- some, aristocratic-looking shells, of graceful form, good size and elaborate ornamentation. Amateurs are often enthusiastic col- lectors of volutes, and many rare and valuable species are to be 79 The Volutes and Melon Sheila found in private cabinets. Our native species is one of the most rare and valuable sea i>hell to be found in American waters. Several tropical species have long been known only by single specimens in European cabinets. M. Duhant-Cilly, in 1840, described the eggs of volutes and their development. The mollusks were seen in the clear water of Magellan's Straits, each c'asping the shellsof a dead bivalve. In the convexity of one valve the volute had deposited a mem- branous mass, resembling in shape and transparency a watch glass. Some looked milky; others showed three or four perfectly formed volutes swimming about in the now clear fluid. In February, the late summer of that region, the young have attained con- siderable size. The transparent capsule has become leathery and is three to four inches across, more than half the size of the mol- lusk that laid the eggs. D'Orbigny conjectures that it expands after coming in contact with the water. The Music Volute (K. miisica, Linn.) has its whorls adorned with sets of parallel revolving lines, which look like bars of music, set the ordinary distance apart. The typical form has its "notes" grouped in single lines directly above and below the bars. Fine dots are thickly scattered between the two rows of large spots. The ground colour is a creamy flesh tint. The lines are bright chestnut, the dots dark brown. A deep bluish chocolate underlies the other colours on the body whorl. Faint wavy lines set close cross the bars. Nodules on the shoulder of all the whorls become very prominent on the last one. The lip turns out; the thick margin is marked with short stripes of dark brown. The colum- ella has five main folds on a thick callus. This species exhibits great variation of colouring, but the pattern is practically constant. Shells vary in length from two to four inches. One is pinkish red and small, var. carneolata; another is elongated in form, with pale colouring, var. ihiarella. Var. Icevigaia lacks tubercles; var. sulcata has ribs from its tubercles, and is pale fawn-coloured. This West Indian volute is the only species having an oper- culum. This is shaped like a long oyster shell, with the nucleus at the apex. The eggs are laid in flattened oval capsules the size of a finger-nail, in the concave of deep bivalve shells, to which they are glued singly, three or four in each shell. The Flag Volute {V. vexillum, Lam.) is a small flesh-tinted 80 The Volutes and Melon Shells shell with narrow bands of orange revolving around its whorls. Faint cloudings of the same colour often occur, and blotches of it mark the nodules on the shoulder of the body whorl. The apex is very sharp. This very distinct and rare species is three to four inches long, and comes from the Indian Ocean. The Waved Volute (K. undulata, Lam.) is also marked with wavy lines of rich chestnut — a flag with its stripes running longitudinally instead of spirally. It is three to four inches long, fusiform and slender, as elegant in shape as in colour and pattern. Habitat. — Australia. The Imperial Volute (K. imperialis, Lam.) wears a crown of upturned hollow tubercles on the outer three whorls of the peaked spire. Over the shining salmon-coloured surface is a netted pattern made of zigzag chestnut lines, merging occasionally into triangular blotches of solid brown. The pattern is the same on the spire, but the colour is darker. This shell has always been the admiration of conchologists, and from them received the names, "Chinese Emperor's Crown," and "The Crown of the Great Mogul." A cross section of a young shell shows the thick walls of the whorls to be made up of several layers of ivory-like substance, including the thick, almost translucent lining. The plaits of the columella are faint in the aperture, but they become very distinct as they wind toward the smooth, knob-like apex, which is almost filled solid with the callus. Length, 5 to 8 inches. Habitat. — Philippine Islands. The Magnificent Volute (K. magnifica, Lam.) is thinner than the average large shell in this genus, and its whorls are not knobbed. The spire is elevated, and ends in a rounded papilla. The outer lip flares, making a wide aperture. The creamy ground colour is banded with dark brown in a reticulated pattern. Alter- nating with these dark bands are pale ones in which the same zigzags are faintly discernible. Young shells show a brighter pattern and more contrast than older ones. The lining is a reddish orange, especially bright on the columella and lip. This is one of the largest and most distinct of the species. It is found half burying itself amongst weeds and ooze on sandy and muddy flats beyond tide mark. Length, 6 to 12 inches. Habitat. — East Australia. 81 The Volutes and Melon Shells The Bat Volute (K. vespertilto Linn.) is the most variable species in the genus. Gradually collections have acquired speci- mens forming a series of gradations between types assigned to specific rank by scientists in earlier days. Lamarck made four species of the specimens within his reach. These have been reduced to varieties. The typical shell is short and broad-shouldered. Tubercles, sharp, flattened and with their points curving backward, rise prominently from the shoulders of the whorls. Zigzag bands of dark brown cross the whorls on a ground colour of pale choco- late. The spire is more yellowish. Triangular patches of paler colour form a band below the most prominent tubercles. The aperture is lined with white enamel. The lip lining has a tawny edge. Possibly the hooked tubercles on this shell suggested to Linnaeus the prehensile hooks on a bat's wing. Length, 3 to 5 inches. habitat. — Philippines, Moluccas. The Courtier Volute (K, aulica, Sby.) has the elegant shape of the mitres, tapering gradually to each extremity. It wears remote, flattened tubercles on the sloping shoulders of the body whorl, but knobs are barely suggested on the whorl above, and the spire is smooth. The flesh-coloured, polished surface is finely covered with longitudinal hair lines of chestnut. Clouds or flames of salmon colour revolve in bands around the shell. The bands are sometimes edged with rows of remote, dark spots. For a long time this species was known only by a single speci- men in the Duchess of Portland's famous collection, which is now in the British Museum. Then Mr. Cuming obtained some beauti- ful specimens in the Sulu Archipelago. These differ from the type by being tuberculated. Though others have been collected since, the species is still rare, and highly valued. Length, 3 to 5 inches. Habitat. — Sulu Islands. The Handsome Volute (F. festiva, Lam.) is the rarest of all. The whorls are longitudinally ribbed, like a harp shell. The spire is elongated above a noduled shoulder; the apex is a rounded knob. The flesh-white ground is painted with interrupted bands of orange red, the pale areas between the bands narrow and marked with short brown streaks in twos and threes. The aperture is orange. 82 The Volutes and Melon Shells One worn specimen was the only material Lamarck had when he described this species. Three bright, perfect specimens in England were accessible to Reeve in 1850. They came from the east coast of Africa, but nobody knows what locality. The Large-spired Volute (K. megaspira, Sby.) is slender and fusiform, with smooth convex whorls, ending in a papillary apex. Zigzag streaks of chestnut paint a pinkish tawny ground. The aperture is small, ear-shaped, with pinkish lining. This Japanese species is used for food. It is about 4 inches long. The shell is rare in collections. The Junonia Volute iV. Junonia, Chemn.) is a rare species, confined to deep water, and found nowhere but on the east and west coasts of Florida. It has a slim ovate or spindle form, with a long aperture and short, pointed spire. The creamy surface is covered with spiral rows of squarish orange spots which follow the whorl deep into the shell. The columella has four sharp oblique folds. The lip is thin and lined with white. This is the "Peacock Tail Volute" of Reeve. The American collectors fondly call this precious shell "Junonia." The pos- sessor of a perfect specimen with its spots still dark and bright is to be congratulated. Once the demand for these shells was so great and the supply so short that a perfect specimen of good size would sell for $200. Naturally, collectors searched diligently for them. Though by no means abundant, yet they may be had now at from $1.00 to I30.00, according to size and condition. The island of Sanibel, a reef on the west coast of Florida, is classic ground for conchologists, so large is the number of molluscan genera and species represented. It seems to be the meeting ground of the Atlantic and Panama faunas, suggesting that far off time when no intervening land separated these now dissevered regions. On Sanibel one may confidently look for Junonias. They are supposed to live in water off shore, but dredges are not effective tools to capture rock-loving mollusks. When the northwester comes down across the Gulf, churning the sea to its rocky depths, a Junonia may be unexpectedly flung ashore, and buried in sand. The morning after such a storm the Floridians and the concholog- i:al aliens in their midst go forth to gather the spoils of the gale. The sophisticated native digs in the sand drift on a shore line which has faced the storm, and he is oftenest and best rewarded. 83 The Volutes and Melon Shells The ordinary beach-combing methods may recover a dull, worn Junonia, but a bright, fresh one is rarely to be found in the debris on the sand. Have you "confidently looked for Junonias" on the beach at Sanibel? Discouraged friend, so did I, and neither did I. But a friend gave me a fair specimen that a friend of hers had found on the beach at Marco, farther south. Cheer up! Sanibel is too popular; too faithfully are her beaches scanned. Try new places facing the Gulf between Key West and Tampa. Your disappointment if you fail will be lessened by the large collection of other species you are sure to make. There is a volute whose position seems to be intermediate between Voluta and Cymbium. This is the large V. mamilla, Gray, whose rounded whorls culminate in a knob-like apex, the nucleus bent to a lateral position and quite hidden from sight. In its juvenile stages this apical whorl is disproportionately large, a huge bulb, which led early conchologists to consider the young shell a monstrosity. The thin outer lip of this shell flares, the body whorl is deeply concave, and the columella is drawn away, forming a deep aperture. The lining is orange, the columellar folds and the lip margin have the brighest colour. Length, 6 to lo inches. Habitat. — Australia. Genus LYRIA, Gray The beautiful L. Delessertiana, Petit, represents a small genus half way between the mitres and the volutes. The shell is ovately spindle-shaped, with elegantly tapering spire. The solid whorls are deeply cut with longitudinal grooves. The aperture is narrowly ovate; the columella has numerous cross folds, the lowest two much larger than the rest. This shell looks like a handsome piece of carved ivory. Colour, orange, banded with white. Length, i to 2 inches. Habitat. — Madagascar. THE MELON SHELLS Genus MELO, Linn. Shell large, thin, ventricose, ovate; spire short, depressed, with knobbed apex; whorls few, smooth, angled, coronated or 84 The Volutes and Melon Shells not, posteriorly; aperture wide, oblong; columella with several oblique folds; outer lip simple, acute, cut off in front. Tropical carnivorous genus of three distinct species. The young are ar- ranged in strings^ without egg-shells, in the oviduct of the parent, where they hatch and attain some degree of growth before being extruded. The Indian Melon Shell {M. Jndica, Gmel.) is lemon or orange yellow, smooth, with som.e blotches of brown in three obscure zones outside. The distinction of this species is the drawing in of the posterior edge of the last whorl until it nearly obliterates all signs of the very small spire. Length, 6 to 9 inches. Habitat. — Indian Ocean. The Diadem Melon Shell {M. diadema, Lam.) has a diadem of stout, erect spines, set far apart around its depressed spire. The ground colour is yellow, marked with zigzag lines and irreg- ular patches of chestnut. Three revolving bars of dark chest- nut cross the longitudinal zigzags. The lining is plain orange. This shell is so deeply concave as to hold nearly a gallon of water. Length, 6 to 13 inches. Habitat. — Indian Ocean, Australia. Genus CYMBIUM, Klein Shell oval-oblong, ventricose, thin; spire short, depressed, deeply channelled, the outer whorl forming a flat edge encircling the globose nucleus; aperture oblong, wide; lip thin, flaring, simple; columella with several oblique plaits. Animal large; foot partially covering shell which is embedded in it; mantle reflected over shell; operculum, none. Four species. A peculi- arity of the genus is that the shelly matter is deposited not only by the mantle but also by the great foot. Habitat. — West Africa. The Snout Cymbium (C proboscidale, Lam.) is a large, thin, yellowish shell, with the characters of the genus. When alive the shell has a glaze deposited upon it by the enveloping mantle. The young are hatched within the parent's oviduct, and remain there until the shells are an inch long. A brood consists of four or five. When they are cast forth to take care of them- 85 The Volutes and Melon Shells selves they are fairly able to do so. High shore winds are apt to bring in quantities of this moilusk's fry, called "yet." The natives of Senegal use them for food. Length, 8 to 12 inches. Habitat. — West Coast of Africa. A smaller species, C. olla, Linn., 3 to 5 inches long, inhabits the Mediterranean coasts of Spain and Northwest Africa. It is of a pale tawny colour. C. Neptune, Gmel., 6 to 10 inches long, is yeiiowish or brownish red. C. cisum, Lam., is pale brown, elegantly marbled with chestnut. It is 3 to 5 inches long. Both are found on the west coast of Africa. 86 ; 1,2 The Musical Volute, Valuta musica. 3, 4 The Junonia, Valuta Junoiiia. THE IMPERIAL VOLUTE, Valuta imperialis CHAPTER XI: THE MITRE SHELLS Family Mitrid/E Shell fusiform, solid, sometimes ovate-oblong; spire pointed, never papillary; columella plaited, the smallest plaits nearest the base; aperture narrow, often half as long as the shell; lip thin, usually toothed; epidermis thin or wanting. Animal with .small, narrow head, bearing tentacles with eyes and a cylindrical extensile proboscis; mantle enclosed; foot small; radula variable, the laterals in many broad and comb-like; siphon long, with anterior appendage. Genus MITRA, Lam. A large genus between Voluta and Marginella. Species, 200, in Tropics; the finest inhabit Australia and the Philippine Archi- pelago. They are gregarious, nocturnal mollusks, avoiding the light, hiding by day under rocks and coral masses along the reefs Some burrow in sand. The heavy shelled species are sluggish. All are most active at flood-tide. Ribbed species crawl about coated with sandy mud, which is a protection from enemies. Some species emit a purple fluid when disturbed. The shells are among those most desired by collectors. American tropical species are among the large and gaily painted forms. Those which dare the colder shores are smaller and less ornate. Dr. Dall describes seventeen species on our southwest coast. The Episcopal Mitre (M. episcopalis, d'Arg.) is fortunately a shell widely distributed in tropical seas, else it would not be within the reach and means of amateur collectors. As it is, no one needs to go without it. Its tapering spire of smooth, solid whorls is creamy white, overlaid with orange spots in regular winding rows. The spots just below the sutures are large and irregular. Those farther below are orderly close squares. The large spots are darker than the others. The lip is toothed toward its base. Length, 4 to 5 inches, Ceylon, PhilippineSo 87 The Mitre Shells The Papal Mitre {M. papalis, Linn.) is thick and stout, painted with close spots of purplish crimson on a white ground, the spots uniformly small and squarish, often touching each other. The lip is crenate. Length, 3 to 4 inches. Habitat. — Island of Annaa, Pacific Ocean. The Pontifical Mitre (A/, pontificalis, Lam.) is smaller than the two already described, and has its whorls strongly coronated with a spiral row of triangular cusps that stand erect. Below these are some impressed lines deeply punctured with rows of pinholes. The white ground is painted with irregular rows of orange-red spots. The animal is cream-coloured, with opaque white dots. Length, 2 to 3 inches. Habitat. — Annaa and Tahiti Islands. Belcher's Mitre (M. Belcheri, Ads.) is a handsome fusi- form shell, strongly chiseled with revolving ribs; the wide sulci which separate the ribs are crossed with fine striations. A thick black epidermis coats the white surface while the mollusk is alive. Length, 4 to 5 inches. Habitat. — Deep water off the coast of Central America. Swainson's Mitre {M. Swainsoni, Brod.) is represented by a vsinety ,Antilknsis, Dall, found in deep water off Cape Lookout and among the West Indies, and in the shallower regions on the west coast. It is a slender, graceful form, with slightly rounded whorls scored with shallow, spiral lines, cancellated by cross lines of growth. The outer lip widens a trifle at base. The columella bears the four strong.oblique folds near the middle. Length, 3 104 inches. The Moor Mitre (M. maura, Swains.) a dark brown, fusiform shell, faintly lined both ways, with conspicuous ridges on the columella, is, while alive, covered with a black epidermis. Length, 1 1 to 2 inches. Habitat. — California coast. Genus MITRAMORPHA, Ads. Minute shells of this genus have stouter shape, but most of their characters proclaim their relationship with the true mitres. The columellar folds are often lacking. The Rough Mitramorpha (M. aspersa, Cpr.) is brown and strongly cancellated. Length, i inch. Habitat. — California. 88 CHAPTER XII: THE MARGIN SHELLS Family Marginellid.^ Shell pear-shaped, porcelanous, smooth or with ribs, poHshed; spire short or immersed; body whorl large; aperture nearly the whole length of the shell; outer lip with a narrow, thickened margin, toothed or smooth within; columella distinctly plaited; operculum usually wanting; foot large, square in front, tapering behind; mantle reflected over shell; tentacles close, bearing eyes; radula like that of the volutes. A family of small shells related to the Cowries, Olives, Mitres and Volutes. The principal genus has over two hundred species. Genus MARGINELLA, Lam. Characters of the family. Tropical or sub-tropical species in both hemispheres. The Bubble Margin Shell (A/, hullaia, Born.), a giant among pygmies, is pale, smooth, ovate oblong, the rounded rim of the outer lip shaded to orange. The spire is immersed, leaving a shallow pit; the columella has four clean-cut folds. Length, 2h to 3t^- inches. Habitat. — Bahia, Brazil. The Spotted Marginella (M,^M//.3^^,Dillw.), is flesh-coloured, obscurely banded with brown, and flecked all over with opaque white spots. The rim is thick and bears a few spots of reddish brown. This small, broad shouldered species occurs abundantly. Length, § to i inch. Habitat. — West Indies to Beaufort, N. C. The Ruddy Rim Shell (M. carnea, Storer) is orange red outside, and white on lip and columella, with a median white band. Length •] inch. Habitat. — Tampa Bay to West Indies, M, apicina, Menke., about \ inch long, white, or tinged with orange, blue, pink, or purple; faintly banded with a darker 89 The Margin Shells shade, occurs from Cape Hatteras to the West Indies. There are usually a few chestnut spots on the lip margin. Variety borealis, Verr., ^ inch long, occurs from Rhode Island to Cape Fear. The Pear-shaped Marginalia (A/, pyriformis, Cpr.) is a minute white shell, yV of an inch in length, sometimes tinged with orange. Habitat. — Monterey to San Diego, Cal. Genus ERATO, Risso Shell obovate, polished; spire short, conical, distinct; aper- ture narrow, long; outer lip toothed, thickened in the middle; columella plaited. Shell and animal look like a Cyprsea. E. columbella, Menke., is a little rosy "coffee-bean" shell resembling Trivia. Length, about J inch. Habitat. — Santa Barbara, Cal. E. Maugerise, Gray, represents the genus from Cape Hatteras southward to the Florida Keys and westward to Texas. GO 1 Melo diadcma. MELO\ SHELL AND MITRR SHELLS 2 Mitra Belcheri. 3 Mitra granulosa. 4 Milra episcopalis. 5 Mitra dactyhis. MARGIN SHELLS, AND OTHERS 1,2 Red-mouthed Olive, Oliva erylhrosloma. 4 Margin Shell, Eratn vitellina. 3 Margin Shell, Marghtella lnhtala. 5 Bubble Margin Shell, Marginella bullata. 6 Snout Melon Shell, Cymhium prohoscidale. CHAPTER XIII: THE OLIVE SHELLS. RICE SHELLS. HARP SHELLS Family Olivid/B Shell cylindrical or fusiform, spiral, highly coloured, por- celanous, polished; without epidermis; columella, lip, sutures and spire more or less covered with enamel deposits; outer lip simple; aperture long, obliquely notched below; operculum small or wanting; foot large, grooved above, with semi-lunar extension in front; posterior end prolonged into a point; mantle reflected over shell, forming large, tubular siphon in front, and a whip-like prolongation behind, which lies in the spiral, grooved suture; radula present; eyes borne on tentacles, or wanting. A tropical family, including few living genera. Genus OLIVA, Brug. Shell oblong, smooth, thick, heavily enameled, without epid- ermis, colour laid on in two layers in different patterns simul- taneously by mantle folds; spire short; suture canaliculated; columella plaited ; aperture long, operculum wanting. A tropical genus of about a hundred species, distributed chiefly in Central America, the Philippines, Mauritius and Ceylon. This is one of the genera in which the foot secretes the shell, at least in part. It is a trick of some shell dealers to remove with acids the outer surface of an olive shell which exposes a layer with quite different pattern. The shell may now be palmed off on an in- experienced collector as a different species or a freak of nature. The Red-mouthed Olive (0. erythrosioma, Lam.) has one dependable character, the deep orange-red aperture, but its exterior varies surprisingly, forming several distinct varieties. The shell is thick, heavy and somewhat swollen, below the pointed spire. The surface generally bears more or less distinct wide revolving bands. The pale creamy ground is sometimes covered 9T The Olive Shells. Rice Shells. Harp Shells almost to the lip by deep chocolate, banded with chestnut. At the other extreme the shell is china-white, faintly mottled and banded with fawn colour or violet. Different schemes of painting intermediate between the very dark and very light forms are seen in a moderately complete series of shells. These mollusks inhabit muddy sand in deep water. Length, 2 to 3 inches. Habitat. — Ceylon and the Philippines. The Moor Olive (0. maura, Lam.) is one of the commonest and most variable species in the genus, and one of the handsomest. It may be known by the tumidity of the shell toward the depressed spire, and the callosity at the posterior end of the rather wide white-lined aperture. There are forms with burnt orange ex- terior, faintly banded. Others are deep grayish chocolate of almost solid colour. Olive forms with flame-like streaks of deeper shade in broad bands are common. Lamarck's type was uni- formly dark-coloured; the streaked, zigzagged and mottled forms he called varieties. The base of the columella has a tinge of red in nearly all of these forms. Length, 2 to 2h inches. Habitat. — Indian Ocean to Australia. The Tiger Olive (O. iigrina, Lam.) is smaller and broader, with fine dark blue dots sprinkled thickly over an ash-coloured ground. The interior is white. A dark brown form is also described. Habitat. — East Africa to Philippines. The Two-plaited Olive (0. biplicata, Sby.) is a thin, smooth, bluish-gray shell, its suture brown. In size and form this shell is very like an olive. The blue occasionally gives way to dark brown or olive; some forms are nearly white. The aperture and the wide callus on the columella are violet-tinged. Two distinct folds on the base of the axis justify the name. These little mollusks gather in companies just below the level of the sand, burrowing for food with siphons at the surface for fresh water. Professor Keep says they migrate rapidly, and a "school" of them is not easily located. He found them once by thousands on a beach, directly after the tide had left it. He says: "You must go at the very lowest morning tide, and search till you find their beds. ... I took some of them home and put them in a jar of beach sand and sea water. The plough- shaped foot quickly digs a hole in the sand, and the long breathing- 02 The Olive Shells. Rice Shells. Harp Shells siphon which curls up through the canal and reaches through the sand up to the clear water, is like the trunk of a swimming ele- phant." I have found them just under the muddy sand along the breakwater at San Pedro, but not in companies, as Professor Keep did. The shells are oflfered for sale in quantities by curio dealers in coast towns. Portieres are made by stringing these shells, prepared by grinding off the apex. I have seen stringers alter- nate shells with glass beads. To many people these clattering strands seem desirable household impedimenta to hang in door- ways, or as draperies for windows. The shells retain their pretti- ness though mutilated, and devoted to inappropriate uses. The stringing of these olive shells began with the Indians who used them as money. These strings of shells beads were called Kol-Kol The Angled Olive (0. angidata, Lam.) is distinguished by the angular swelling of the body whorl, above the middle, and by the great thickness of the shell. The aperture is much wider than is usual in the genus. The pale ground is finely mottled with grayish brown; over this under pattern are laid longitudinal bands of dark brown in graphic, zigzag lines. The pink callus of the interior is reflected over the thick margin of the lip. The oblique folds on the columella are anterior and rather faint. The spire is short, its suture narrow and deep. The young shell lacks the angle, but the pink lining distinguishes it from species with similar markings. Length, 2h to 3J inches. The Porphyry Olive (0. porphyria, Linn.), 4 inches long, is the largest species. It is flesh-coloured under a complex net- work of longitudinally zigzag brown lines. Crowding of these lines gives the effect of irregular broad bands of chestnut. The callus reflected over the lips from within is violet-coloured and lustrous. The columella is yellowish brown with faint ridges. The paler areas of the surface are triangles outlined w;th brown. They look like a vast encampment of tents, of all sizes, on a hillside. The name "Camp Olive" is thus accounted for. The resemblance to porphyry is also pronounced. This agile mollusk is found in sandy mud flats at low tide. Habitat. — Panama to Mazatlan. The Netted Olive (0. reticularis, Lam.) has an intricate lace pattern of fine lines of brown woven upon a white ground, 93 The Olive Shells. Rice Shells. Harp Shells in the typical form. The colour is slightly faded in three re- volving bands. Fine lines, gathered as if into fringes edge the sutures. The columellar folds are numerous; only the anterior ones are strong. The apex is elongated. From the type, divergence in colour is great, leading from dark rich brown to white. But the netted pattern is rarely lost or covered up. The shells are heavy. Length, i^ to 2J inches. Habitat. — West Indies, Florida. The west coast form of the netted olive is O.araneosa, Lam., a somewhat larger, broader shell, and less cylindrical, being swollen above the middle. The spire is prominent; the body whorl drawn in below the narrow suture. The creamy ground is overlaid with chestnut or darker brown in zigzag series of indistinct spots. Habitat. — Panama to Lower California. The Lettered Olive (0. litterata, Lam.) is slender and tapers toward both extremities. The creamy ground colour bears a close netted pattern in pale brown spiral bands separating the brighter ones. Here and there are dark figures suggesting printed char- acters or hieroglyphics. The narrowing anterior end of the shell separates this species (and not very satisfactorily) from O. reticularis. The aperture is lined with violet, sometimes faded almost to white in cabinet specimens. These polished olive shells, i^ to 2^ inches long, are picked up on sand beaches from Beaufort, N. C, to Key West, and through- out the West Indies. They apparently live in colonies. I have found them alive on the inland beaches of Marco Bay, on the West coast of Florida. The two thin reflexed mantle flaps and the broad foot have the same colours and markings as the shell, and blend well with the wet sand and gravel as the creature ploughs along, half-buried, to overtake the receding water. Probably the small thin-shelled bivalves met on the way furnish daily rations of fresh meat. These "Panama shells" are collected and strung to make portieres which sell at good prices to Northern tourists. Three species are markedly different in shape from the typical cylindrical olive shell. The Fusiform Olive (O. fusiformis,L3im.) is broad shouldered with a tapering spire and base. Its pale surface is marked with 94 The Olive Shells. Rice Shells. Harp Shells brown zigzags, remote, or so close as to form areas of solid colour. Length, i-^- to 2V inches. Habitat. — West Indies. The Gibbous Olive (0. gibbosa, Born.) has a stout ovate shell, almost a cone in outline, not unlike that of Strombus pugilis. The callus on the columella, as it approaches the spire, widens and thickens, forming a great swelling, which spreads over the coils, and winds a white band to the apex. The surface is creamy white, darkened by an intricate network of chestnut, spirally banded with white below. Length, i^ to 2^ inches. Habitat. — Ceylon, West Africa. The Brazilian Olive (0. Bra{iliensis, Lam.) is a more dis- tinct cone, for its spire is flat. It is like a helmet shell. The callus that overlies it leaves the sharp apex protruding, and the greater part of the suture open. There is a thick round patch of callus at the head of the columella. The base of the shell has a broad, shiny zone of fawn colour like the lining of the lip. The body whorl is crossed with fine, close-set lines ranging from chocolate to pale violet. Length, 2 to 2J inches. Habitat. — Brazil. THE RICE SHELLS Genus OLIVELLA, Swains. This genus is very small in number of species, and in size of the shells. These are cylindrical, produced into tapering spires; they have thin horny operculums. The mollusks live under the surface on sandy beaches. A lifted pellet of sand reveals their presence. They have no eyes, nor any need of them. The foot spreads into two lobes which envelope the shell. Thrown into the water, an Olivella uses these lobes as swimming organs, by which it speeds to cover. These shells are sold by the quart for use in "fancy work." The Little Olive (0. mutica, Say), ^ inch long, or less, is a delicate thin spiral, tapering to both ends. Between the lower suture and a basal white band the body whorl is crossed by wavy lines or bands of chocolate on a pale, almost translucent ground. The aperture is half of the shell's total length. Habitat. — North Carolina to West Indies. 95 The Olive Shells. Rice Shells. Harp Shells The San Pedro Rice Shell (O. Pedroana, Conr.) has a slim, shining little shell, coloured bluish or brown, and sometimes striped with yellow. It is about ^ inch long. It lifts up a small pellet of sand, as if by thrusting up its head to see if the tide has gone away and left it. I have found them in plenty on San Pedro Bay, Cal. The Twisted Olivella (0. intoria, Cpr.) is small, too, but stout in build compared with the last species. The pale surface is spirally striped with yellow. The suture is deep; the columella bears one fold, and spreads into a large callus above. The outer lip is thin and curved at the base. Habitat. — California. Genus ANCILLARIA, Lam. Shell oliviform, of few coils, thin, polished; sutures filled with callus; lip flaring, frequently squared anteriorly; a strong spiral ridge ends in a tooth near base of body whorl; foot fissured, very large, reflected over shell; mantle prolonged in front into a long siphon; tentacles united to form veil; eyes wanting. A small genus of seventeen species of active, gliding mol- lusks, in tropical waters, chiefly East Indian. The Cinnamon Ancillaria {A. cinnemomea, Lam.) is the type, though by no means as large as the largest species in the genus. The colour is cinnamon yellow, with two bands, brown and white, around the spire. The lining is a paler tint. The flaring lip has a squarish corner below. The white columella bears fine oblique striations. The revolving basal sulcus ends in a tooth on the lip. Length, i to \\ inches. Habitat. — Red Sea, Persian Gulf. A mauritiana is like a melon shell in form and in the capacity of its deep aperture. Its colour, thinness and smooth surface are also suggestive traits. Some are pure white; all have a sliiny white columella. Length, if to 2^ inches. Habitat. — Madagascar, Australia. The Polished Ancillaria {A. glabrata, Linn.) has a spire as long as the wide aperture. This handsome fusiform species is 96 The Olive Shells. Rice Shells. Harp Shells yellow and white and highly polished. The basal grooves lead to a deep umbilicus. Length, 2 to 3 inches. Habitat. — West Indies. THE HARP SHELLS Genus HARPA, Lam. Shell large, ventricose, longitudinally ribbed; columella polished, broad and fluted above, narrow and smooth below; outer lip thickened; aperture large; operculum, none. A very distinct genus of nine species, distributed in all tropical waters except those of the Atlantic Ocean. The general outline of these shells, and the parallel series of ribs stretched from spire to base, justify the name. Harpalis, Harparia, Lyra, Cythara, Buccinum — all these generic names have been applied to members of this small group. All credit them with grace of form and perfection of fmish befitting instru- ments of music. To these attributes are added richness of colour- ing that alone would rank them above most other shell families. Combining colour harmonies of unsurpassed beauty with sym- metry and grace of line and curve, the harp shells have perhaps excited more universal' admiration than any other group of the "aristocratic shells." There is no door in a harp shell shutting the world out when the moUusk would retire and rest. There is not room enough inside for the animal. The head and tentacles, and the crescent- shaped foot protrude when the body is completely withdrawn. The colours of these fleshy parts rival those of the shell. In Mauritius the natives go out at low tide with net rakes to catch harps on the sands. The mollusk crawls rapidly along to escape the net. When hard pressed it withdraws as far as possible within its shell, and may cut off part of the foot by pressure upon the lips! This observation was made upon H. ventricosa. The shell grows through a certain period, then ceases for a time. In preparation for this period of rest the lip is thickened. The strong ribs of the harp thus correspond to the varices of Murex and Triton. The shorter the food supply, the closer the ribs of the shell. The mode of feeding of these large mollusks 97 The Olive Shells. Rice Shells. Harp Shells is a puzzle. The radula is of the oHve type, but very much degraded. The central tooth only is left in each row. The Ventricose Harp (H. veniricosa, Lam.) is swollen greatly in the middle; the most characteristic feature is the sharp angular compression of the broad ribs, ending in spinous processes that encircle the spire. Square spots of purplish red form broad spiral bands of dark colour on the paler brownish flesh-coloured ground. The interstices between the ribs are painted with bright festoons of light and dark brown. The bands show plainly in the wide aperture. The columella is widely reflected above and painted with brown blotches. Length, 2.I to 5 inches. Habitat. — Mauritius, Indian Ocean, Philippines. The Imperial Harp {H. imperialis, Chemn., H. costata, Linn.) has a far greater number of ribs, and these are rounded and very closely set. There is no room between for the peculiar festooning pattern that traverses the grooves in the other species. The spiral bands of dark brown are narrower and more numerous than in H. veniricosa. The lining is bright orange as is also the reflected area of the columella. Length, 3 to 5 inches. Habitat. — Mauritius. The Noble Harp {H. nobilis, Lam.) is very distinct, its shell much contracted toward the base, the spire elevated, the ribs remote from each other, and painted with groups of fine black lines, forming dark spiral bands. The broad sulci are painted with curly lines of brown on a paler ground colour, or mottled with dark spots on a rosy ground. Sometimes the rose tint is restricted to large square spots. Length, 2 to 3 inches. Habitat. — Indian Ocean, Philippines. The Rose Harp {H. rosea, Lam.) is distinguished from its near relative, H. nobilis, by its delicate rosy colour, the faintness and irregularity of its flat ribs, and the absence of black cross lines. Length, 2 to 3 inches. Habitat. — Senegal, Guinea. The Articulated Harp (H. articularis, Lam.) is ventricose, thin and ashy gray, the distant ribs crossed by black spots or lines, sometimes grouped. Faint festoons of gray and yellow occupy about half of each wide interstice. Some forms are flushed with pink over the gray colour scheme. Length, 2 to 4 inches. Habitat. — Pacific islands. The Crenated Harp (H. crenaia, Swains.) has a scalloped 98 1, 2 Netted Olive, Oliva rclicularis. OLIVE SHELLS 3, 4 Tiger Olive, Olha tigrina. 5,6 Camp Olive, OUva porphyria. 1 Polished Ancillaria, A ncillaria glabrata. 2 Cinnamon Ancillaria, Ancillaria cin- namomea. 5 , 3 Greater Dove Shell, Columhella major. MARINE UNIVALVES Southern Dove Shell, Columbella mer- 8 catoria. 9 Lettered Olive, Oliva litterata. 10, II Two-plaited Olive, Oliva biplicata. San Pedro Rice Shell ,0/n'e//a Pedroana. Southern Rice Shell, Olivella mutica. Swollen Harp Shell, Harpa vcr.tri- cosa. The Olive Shells. Rice Shells. Harp Shells border, and the same wavy edge is shown by the ribs, and the undulating pattern that decorates the spaces between. The width of the ribs is usually unequal, but the greatest number of them are quite narrow; the crenations form a series of spinous tubercles. Colour, blue gray, festooned between ribs with black. Ribs, chestnut, banded on pale ground. Found in muddy sand in deep water. Length, 2 to 4 inches. Habitat. — Panama. The Slender Harp (H. gracilis, Brod. and Sby.) is least of all and slim, with flat ribs far apart, delicately semi-transparent, and tinted and variegated with gray and rose, accented with bright red hair lines. Length, i V inches. Habitat. — Polynesia. The Lesser Harp (H. minor, Lam.) is slightly larger than H. gracilis, more square shouldered, decidedly darker. The narrow ribs are crossed with black lines in pairs. Wavy longitudinal markings of brown streak the spaces between ribs. Habitat. — Indian Ocean. The Conoid Harp (H. conoidalis, Lam.) is the most variable species. Its elevated spire and broad sloping shoulders, are con- stant characters. The ribs are narrow, rounded and distant. The colour scheme is brown in many shades, the pattern like the banding of an agate, crossing the ribs and festooning the inter- stices. Often the patterns are blurred, but the effect is very rich. Length, 3 to 4 inches. Habitat. — Mauritius, Indian Ocean, Philippines. 99 CHAPTER XIV: THE DOVE SHELLS Family CoLUMBELLiD/t Shell solid, small, ovately oblong or triangular, sometimes fusiform; spire exserted; anterior canal short; columella arched, tubercled below; outer lip thickened, uncurved at middle, toothed on inner face; epidermis present; operculum horny; headlong, eyes at base of tentacles, foot prolonged in front; mantle not enfolding shell. Radula present, degraded, behind the head. A family of few genera and many species. Little is known con- cerning the living mollusks. Their distribution extends into both warm and cold seas. Genus COLUMBELLA, Lam. Characters of the family. These handsome little mollusks crawl upon sand flats and on gravelly and rocky shores in the tropics and southward and northward to cold waters, in many parts of both hemispheres. There are upwards of eight hundred species named, but singularly, these have been erected upon shell characters chiefly; few of the living mollusks have even been seen, still fewer studied and figured. Lacking adequate knowledge, conchologists are throwing into the genus Columbella shells having the outer lip thickened and toothed on the inner edge. Study of the soft parts of various species will doubtless make radical changes in classification. The Common Columbella (C.mercatori a, Linn.) lives in sand two to four feet below water level, The shell is solid, broad- shouldered, with strong revolving ridges crossed by faint longi- tudinal ones. The usual form is marked with streaks of brown and white across the whorls. Pink specimens occur, of plain colour or marked with fawn in irregular spots. In some forms yellow, in others chocolate prevail. The aperture is white or yellowish. Length, * to i inch. Habitat. — Florida and the West Indies. 100 The Dove Shells The Rusty Columbella (C. nisiica, Linn.), variable in form and colouring, is an ancient species, which in its broad forms resembles C. mercatoria. It is distinguishable by its smooth sur- face and by the purplish depressions between teeth within the lip. The markings are usually bright zigzag blotches or streaks of brown on a white or orange ground. Length, \ to i inch. Habitat. — Mediterranean, West Indies and West Africa. The Lunar-marked Columbella (C. lunata, Say) has cres- cents of chestnut crossing the paler ground colour of its whorls. The shell is fusiform, nearly smooth, with small aperture and lip faintly toothed. This minute mollusk is found abundantly. The animal is pale, the foot as long as the shell, the eyes black. In spring they are seen crawling on the sand in the shallows; their natural station is clinging to stones and seaweeds a few feet below the surface. Length, i inch. Habitat. — Cape Cod to Florida. A number of species of small dove shells belong to the fauna of our west coast. The Keeled Columbella (C. carinata, Hds.) is sometimes keeled, as its name implies, but sometimes not. The large northern shells, var. gausapata, are smooth, their tawny surfaces banded with brown and flecked with white. The outer lip is toothed within, and fairly thick. The typical C» carinata is not so long, with an abruptlv angled shoulder on the body whorl. Var. Californiana is smaller and smooth, marked and coloured like var. gausapata. Length, J to | inch. Habitat. — Sitka to Lower California. The Golden Columbella (C auraniiaca, Dall) is orange yellow, translucent, gracefully fusiform, with five rounded whorls. The teeth on the lip are scarcely visible. Sometimes the whorls are marked with zigzags of chestnut. Length, \ inch. Habitat. — Monterey, Cal. C. tuberosa, Carp., a little larger, with angled body whorls, varies from white to chocolate brown, from plain colour to spots, bands and zigzags of contrasting hues, as in var. variegaia. Habitat. — Santa Barbara and San Diego, Cal. The Rosy Columbella (C. rosacea, Old.) is striated, acutely cone-shaped, rosy white, but Licking teeth on the thin lip. This minute shell. \ inch long, occurs from New England to Spitzbergen and Norway. It is obtained from the stomachs of fish. The Dove Shells C. avara, Say, follows the Atlantic coast from Massachu- setts to the west coast of Florida. It has a variable outline, and is nearly an inch long. The whorls are cancellated by inter- secting striae, the lower half of the body whorl, however, has only the revolving ridges. The yellowish ground is blotched with brown. The small aperture has teeth on both lips. This mollusk lives below low-tide level, and is most abundant on southern coasts. In life the shell has a dirty, brown epidermis. Genus AMPHISSA, H. and A. Ads. Shell whelk-like, longitudinally grooved, apex elongated; aperture spreading to form a wide anterior sinus; inner lip callous with folds below; outer lip with fine plaits inside. The 'Wrinkled Amphissa {A. corrugaia, Rve.), yellowish brown, slenderly tapering, with fine ridges, occurs from California northward. Length, f inch. A. versicolor, Dall, shows a pleasing range of colours, from black and gray to red and yellow. It is a stout little mollusk, the sculpturing of whose shell is worth examining with a lens. It clings to rocks, and may be found exposed at low tide. Length, less than -\ inch. Habitat. — California. The ^Vavy Amphissa (A.undata,Cpr.) resembles the preced- ing species in size and form, but there are remote wavy ridges crossing the fine spiral lines from apex to base. Habitat. — In mud ofi" Santa Catalina Island, Cal. 1 02 CHAPTER XV: THE CROSS-BARRED SHELLS Family CANCELLARiiDyt Genus CANCELLARIA, Lam. Shell spiral, cross-ribbed upon the whorls; aperture oblong, angulated or drawn out, bearing canal in front; columella with folds; outer lip ribbed; operculum wanting; foot broad in front; head bears tentacles with eyes at base; radula wanting; snout small. Vegetable feeders on tropical and temperate coasts. A single genus of seventy-seven living species. The West Indian C. reticulata, Linn., is deeply cut by close cross ridges so that the surface is covered with coarse granula- tions. Occasionally the radiating ridges are wide apart and wavy. The colour is whitish with markings of brown bands or variegated patches. The columella has two sharp, strong plaits. The shell is heavy and ventricose. Length, il to 2^ inches. Habitat. — Cape Hatteras to Florida. C. Cooperi, Gabb, has an elongated spire, with the body whorl somewhat constricted above the long, oval aperture. To the very tip the spire is turreted and tuberculated, for the whorls have a distinct shoulder, and the longitudinal ridges form a sharp knob at every crossing. The whorls are elegantly marked with narrow, dark brown lines. The interior shows a series of ridges, and three basal, oblique plaits cross the columella. Length, 2 inches. This handsome shell comes from deep water off the Cali- fornia coast. Fishermen drawing their nets have in many places learned that it is to their financial advantage to save all the strange shells they take with their fish. The conchologists have thus obtained some of their best treasures. Many unknowns have been brought to light by this means within recent years. When we consider how new our west coast is compared with the Atlantic seaboard, it is not surprising that more new forms are reported from that quarter. Most of the new specimens are sent by their 103 The Cross-barred Shells owners to Dr. Dall at the United States National Museum in Washington, D. C. He has given names to them. The speci- mens thus for the first time christened by a scientist are the "types" of the new species. Specimens found later are com- pared with the type to determine what they are. "Types" are usually preserved in great museums. C. cancellata, Linn., has a thick shell studded all over with sharp points left by the intersection of deep furrows crossing each other. Two bands of brown decorate the body whorl, one cir- cles each whorl above. The ground colour is creamy white. The throat of the shell also has sharp ridges and teeth. This ornamental shell is hidden in life by sand. The foot, unprotected by an operculum, has a sandy coat on the bottom, so that when it is pulled in the aperture seems to be plugged with sand. The species is found on sandy bottoms at four or five fathoms depth. The sand is no doubt a protection. The creature is slow and timid. It can extend the head and foot to surprising lengths. Length, i to i finches. Habiiat. — West Africa, Mediterranean Sea. C. Stimpsonii Calkins, is a colourless tropical species. Its whorls are angulated and noduled, the surface below the shoulder decorated with rows of smaller projections. There are two plaits on the columella. The oval aperture ends in a short canal. Length, | inch. Habitat. — Cape Sable, Florida. 104 CHAPTER XVI: THE AUGER SHELLS Family Terebrid^ Genus TEREBRA, Brug. Shell heavy, long, taper-pointed, regularly spiral, of many flat whorls; aperture small, notched in front; columella without folds; operculum horny, annular; head large with eyes on tips of tentacles; foot round in front, elongated behind; radula present; proboscis large. A single genus of about 170 living and 25 fossil species. Inhabit shallow water in warm seas. Few of the members of this tropical family are found in the cold waters of our coasts. These species are small and dull com- pared with the large and highly coloured species represented in museum collections. All have the characteristic tapering spire with many flat whorls. They are usually polished and mottled or banded with some shade of brown on a. pale ground. Some are trimmed with nodules upon the whorls. The Variegated Auger Shell {T. variegai a, Gra.y) is streaked and spotted with brown on a whitish ground colour. A strong raised band revolves below each suture. The remaining part of the whorl is flat and finely striated. Fine wavy folds cross these striations. The raised bands bear prominent cross folds, between which are bright spots of brown. The body whorl has a central band of white dividing the cloudy brown cross streaks. The shell is polished, china-like and heavy. Length, 2+ to 3^ inches. Hahitai. — West Africa, China Sea, Galapagos Islands to Lower California. The Spotted Auger Shell (7. maculaia, Linn.) is a good type of the tropical members of the family. Heavy, solid, with many closely wound, flattened whorls winding down from a taper-pointed apex, it forms a needle cone of extreme elegance and mathematical exactness. The lower whorls are smooth, the upper ones longitudinally ridged. The ground colour is creamy white. 105 The Auger Shells On it are wound two bands of coloured spots, the upper one of chestnut, the lower of purple or slate, with a dark line separating the two. The Polynesians fashion these shells into chisels for use in building their canoes. The flesh they eat. Length, 4 to 6 inches. Habitat. — South Sea Islands. T. dislocata, Say, is a grayish brown or yellowish white j auger shell, i to 2 inches long, with surface sculptured by wavy \ longitudinal folds and fine spiral groves. The whorl bears a I raised, beaded band just below the suture. The columella has one 1 distinct ridge. Habitat. — North Carolina to West Indies. ; T. protexta, Conrad, is very slender, with somewhat convex, i finely striated whorls crossed by fine, sharp-edged longitudinal i folds, set close together. It is china-like in texture, brown shad- \ ing lighter. Length, i inch. Habitat. — Gulf Coast of Florida to Cape Hatteras. 106 CHAPTER XVII: THE NOTCH-SIDE SHELLS Family Pleurotomid/€ Genus PLEUROTOMA, Lam. Shell spindle-shaped, with anterior canal of more or less length; aperture oval ; lip thin, notched near the suture; opercu- lum usually present, horny, annular; head broad; tentacles wide apart, with eyes at base; siphon long; mantle border notched below notch in shell ; radula present ; teeth long, hollow, connected with poison gland. A large family of little known shells found in all seas. The spindle-shaped shell, drawn out at both extremities, has the tell-tale anal slit, or notch, in the outer lip near its junc- ture with the spire. By this sign we know them. Some have the anterior canal short, but the spire is always elongated. Reeve lists 369 species. Many of these are described from single speci- mens, so the number is probably far too great. The Great Notch-side {P.grandis,Gra.y), the largest species, is six inches long; its greatest diameter is about one inch. In this graceful spindle-shaped shell one sees the notch-sides at their best. The whorls are delicately chiselled in many sharp revolving ridges, with fine raised striae between. Broken longitudinal and spiral lines of brown handsomely decorate the yellowish exterior. The finest and closest dots follow the sutures. Habitat. — China Seas. The White Notch-side (P. T/rgo, Lam.) shows a glossy white surface where the horny epidermis is removed. Its whorls are deeply cut into ridges, the central one forming a strong keel. A series of these shells exhibits considerable variation. The spire is in every case longer than the canal. The name "White Tower of Babel," has been given thisspecies. Length, 3 to 4 inches. Habitat. — West Indies. Carpenter's Notch-side (P. Carpenteriana, Gabb.) has a regular spindle shape, tapering gracefully to base and apex. 107 The Notch-side Shells But it is not drawn out into needle-like extremities as some species are. Its whorls are flat, sculptured by revolving grooves and marked by brown lines that follow the strongest ridges. The ground colour is yellow, with a tinge of red. The notch is a mere sutural curve in the lip. The aperture widens below. Length, 2 to 3 inches. Habitat. — California. The Left-handed Notch-side (P. perversa, Gabb.) coils its ten or twelve rounded whorls so that the aperture is on the left side, contrary to the usual univalve rule. This is a slim little shell with very graceful curves, including a very decided S shape in the lip which forms a deep notch below the suture. Wavy longitudinal striations cross the whorl which are sculptured with fine spiral lines. The colour is reddish brown with an indistinct band of white in the middle of the whorl. Over all, in life, is a greenish gray epidermis. Length, i to 2 inches. Habitat. — Southern California. The Tipsy Notch-side {P. vinosa, Dall) is a shorter, stouter shell, with rounded whorls and deep sutures. It is sinistral and has a wide notch formed by the S-curved lip. Length, about i inch. Habitat. — Aleutian Islands. The Girdled Notch-side (P. circinata, Dall) is a well pro- portioned spindle shell, coiled dextrally; each whorl has a cen- tral raised girdle or keel. The lip flares outward to form the notch. Half the length of the shell is occupied by the large aperture. Length, 2 to 3 inches. Habitat. — Behring Sea. The Unarmed Notch-side {P. inermis, Hds.) represents a section of the genus distinguished by the slender spire, short curved canal, thick lip, and a sinus near (but not reaching) the suture. The pinkish gray exterior is cut by fine revolving ridges and cross grooves with a sharp angle at the middle of each whorl, giving it the appearance of "herring-bone" decoration. The colour shades deeper in the hollows. Length, 1 § inches. Habitat. — Southern California. The Carved Notch-side (P. incisa. Carp.) is shaped like the preceding species, but smaller, with more convex whorls, and sculptured with fine revolving chestnut lines. It is a fraction over an inch in length. Habitat. — Puget Sound. 108 The Notch-side Shells P. maesta, Cpr., is found on Southern and Lower California beaches under stones when the tide is out. Its brown shell is strongly cross-ribbed, with beaded and spotted sutures between the whorls. Length, about i inch. P. torosa, Cpr., is cross-ribbed along the shoulder of the whorls, the protuberances contrasting with the brown ground colour. Length, over i inch. Habitat. — Southern California. Genus DRILLIA, Gray Allied to Pleurotoma, and closely resembling it, but smaller and more delicately made throughout. Well represented on our west coast. The Pencilled Drillia (D. pencillata, Cpr.) I first found alive on the sand at Terminal Island, below San Pedro harbour. It had been a notable day, for I found a large Pomaulax alive on the rocks at Dead Man's Island. The old jetty had yielded living Pectens, Pteronoti, Olivellas, bubble shells, and even a devil-fish of handy size to carry home. My good luck as a col- lector came from having as a guide Mrs. Oldroyd, whose wide knowledge of the molluscan life of the Pacific coast is recognised by all modern conchologists. She had her reward in the discovery of a rare species of Thracia, and in showing a stranger the rich fauna of San Pedro. The train was late, and we returned to the beach, for the tide was at its ebb, and daylight still lingered. Well up on the sand we discovered little pellets of sand lifted. Under each was a Drillia, thrusting itself out of the narrow doorway, as if to survey the landscape. The slender spire, the notch, and the close, angled cross lines on each whorl, identified the species. The sutural notch produces the fine herring-bone pattern of brown and yellow that decorates the coils. The largest specimens were under two inches in length. Habitat. — Southern California. The Knobbed Drillia (D. torosa, Cpr.) is a northern species, much darker brown, with a pale beaded line following the suture. Length, 3 inches. Habitat. — California northward. D. mcjesta, Cpr., like the last in size and form, substitutes 109 The Notch-side Shells cross ribs for the beading of the suture. It is olive or brown, and dull. Look for it under stones as the tide goes out. Habitat. — Southern California. The Burnt Drillia (D. empyrosia, Dall) shades from yellow to dark brown, the colour deepening toward the latest whorls. The snire is stouter than that of its relatives. Across each whorl obtuse and pale knobs or ridges pass; the suture is outlined with white. The columella is arched decidedly at a point opposite the sutural notch. This species is dredged at some depth off San Pedro, and no shells are washed ashore. The largest are scarcely two inches long. D. incisa, Cpr., ashy-hued, with revolving lines of red, resembles D. pencillata, but is half as large. Length, i inch. Habitat. — Puget Sound. The related genus, Bela, Gray, is a group of spindle shells usually notched, so we may recognise family traits in most of the species. Our dozen or more species are very small, and rare in collections, being for the most part Alaskan, many taken from deep water. Genus MANGILIA, Risso The spindle shape and narrow, long aperture characterise this group of a dozen west coast species. They are little, and rarely seen, for they are cold water forms for the most part. M. merita, Gld., has six whorls crossed by distinct, rounded ribs, intersecting sharp spiral ridges. They are pure white. Length, h inch M.variegata, Cpr., with still more prominent longitudinal ridges, is a thin, yellow shell, darkening toward the apex. The pattern is mixed and indistinct. Length, ^ inch. Habitat. — Southern California. no Auger Shells 1 Terebra cingulilera. 3 Terehra maculata. 2 Terebra ociiiala. 4 Terebra maculata. XoTCH Side Shells 5 Pleuroloma grandis. 6 Pleuroloma carpetiteria. Crossbarred Shells 7 Cancellaria cancellata, 8 Cancellaria reticulata. i A rocky beach where Periwinkles (Liltorina) abound. Queen Conch, Slrombus gigas, of West Indies. CHAPTER XVIII: THE CONE SHELLS Family Conid/^. Genus CONUS, Linn. Shell heavy, porcellanous, inversely conical; spire broad, body whorl tapering to notched base; aperture long, narrow; lip thin, with sinus at suture; surface usually smooth, with striae crossing the whorl, variously marked, under thin epidermis; operculum claw-shaped; head with snout enclosed in a long cylindrical veil, eyes on bases of tentacles; teeth set on a tubular prolongation of the proboscis; foot long, narrow; mantle enclosed, ending in anterior siphon. A single genus of over four hun- dred species, preying on other mollusks in tropical waters. Fossil species, one hundred. This is one of the shell families it is easy to recognise at sight. The name defines the shape of the shell. Few of us will ever see the mollusks alive, but every alert collector may, and will, have specimens of the shells. Both alive and dead, cone shells are handsome. We cannot imagine the wondrous beauty of tropical beaches. Fishes and all other creatures inhabiting the limpid water rival the birds and insects in brilliance of colouring and grace of motion. No more beautiful forms and colours are found in the flowers and foliage of tropical plants than are matched among the seaweeds and gorgonias and sea anemones that form the groves among coral reefs. The cones do their share to make the coral groves beautiful as fairy land. They are favourites with collectors, holding their own with cowries and other high-priced shells. Some species are not only beautiful but rare, a combination of characters which in the case of the "glory of the sea" iC. gloria-marts) has run the price at auctions to £4^ sterling, and keeps it up even now near the high water mark of shell prices. Six specimens III The Cone Shells of five different species of Conus sold at auction in 1865 averaged over £20 (1 1 00) apiece. The white cones are in great demand in the islands of the Pacific, especially large individuals, cross sections of which are polished and worn as armlets by native women. Small white cones are strung into necklaces. European dealers do a large business in these shells, charging theislanders high prices for them. Other rare species of shells native to inland waters have some- times been discovered in necklaces which sailors have obtained in exchange for cheap trinkets that pleased aboriginal eye. From accounts we have from naturalists who have made the acquaintance of the large cones on tropical beaches we might infer that they are vicious in temper, striking at the hand that ventures to pick them up, and dealing death with the stroke. This is the cone at bay, and afraid for his own safety. The same writers tell us that these mollusks are timid and not bold; they move slowly; when disturbed they retire into holes in the rocks. Their food is chiefly bivalve mollusks whose shells are bored through by the circular toothed tip of the snout. The juices of the body are sucked through the opening. The cones deposit their eggs in flat, leaf-like capsules, set in rows on edge, on the surface of dead shells and like objects. A band of thin but tough membrane holds them together and fast to the shell. The young escape through a hole in the outer margin of the capsule. The shells of cones are usually large and thick, though some species are as small as a grain of rice. The absorp- tion of the substance of the internal subdivisions of the spire goes on until they become very thin. This adds to the store of building material available for thickening the outer shell. It also gives more room for the body as it grows larger. If I should undertake to describe all the four hundred and more species which are assigned to this genus the equilibrium of this book would be entirely destroyed. Anyone who has a cone in his collection can recognise it by the family characters. I shall describe a few of the most striking species, the largest one, the handsomest, the highest priced, the most venomous and the most common cabinet species, before going on with the descrip- tions of the few native species, none of which is omitted. The Promethean Cone (C.Prometheus, Hwass),isthe giant, occasionally measuring nine inches in length, though this is far 112 The Cone Shells above the average. As cones go, this is unusually thin for its size. The spire is rounded but very low; the sutures are chan- neled. Each whorl has an angled shoulder next to the suture. The surface is white overlaid with cloudy bands made of small dots and patches and zigzags of brownish yellow. Habitat. — East Africa. The Rhododendron Cone (C. rhododendron, ]a.y) borrows its colour from the flowering shrub familiar to many in parks and gardens. It does not abandon brown altogether, but subordinates it to the broad mottled bands of bluish rose colour. The white areas between have fine brown dots sprinkled over them, and brown stains overlie the rose-colour to a varying extent. The china-like shell is deeply grooved upon the flat spire, below the sharp angle of the body whorl, and on its lower half. The middle portion is smooth. This Australasian species averages about two inches in length. Tryon thinks it "parhaps the most beautiful speciesinthe genus." To be positive on this question is impossible. The Glory of the Sea (C. gloria-maris, Hwass) is a cone of unusal slenderness, with a high-peaked spire. It is magnificent in finely reticulated orange brown lines, enclosing triangular spaces. Over this network are three unequal bands of deep chestnut, made of small blotches set in somewhat regular order. The length of this species ranges from three to five inches. This is a very rare and highly prized species. Habitat. — Philippines. Hugh Cuming, the great English shell collector, loved to tell of his varied and thrilling experiences in the Pacific Islands. The most wonderful event of his life occurred on the Philippine Island of Juena. He was out on a coral reef. Casually turning over a stone he saw three living specimens of the rare and costly gloria-maris before his eyes. "I almost fainted with delight!" he exclaimed in recounting the event. But he did n't. Two were young ones, the third an adult. They are now safe in cabinets; every collector of cones knows just where, and just how rich he ought to be if he hopes ever to buy one. Cuming made his unexampled "find" in 1838. In a short time an earthquake shook that reef into the sea. There have been no more cones of the coveted species found in that region. Indeed, the whole number known to conchologists is less than a ^3 The Cone Shells dozen. Most of these are in museums, and are not likely to change hands. 1 note in the Nautilus of October, 1890, that a speci- men secured by a collector in Europe is valued by him at I500. Mrs. Constable of New York has a fine specimen in the admirable conchological collection made by her late husband. The species is practically extinct. Though no American museum can show a shell of this species, many libraries have Reeve's "Conchologia Iconica." A fine colour plate of a gloria-maris, life size, forms the frontis- piece of the first volume. The Cloth-of-goldCone (C./^A:f/Z^, Linn.) is stout and heavy, with low-peaked spire. The exterior is covered with longitudinal zigzag lines of dark brown and yellowish blotches arranged to form three broken bands of darker colour on a white ground, divided by brown lines into triangular patches. Altogether the resemblance to some intricate brocaded fabric is striking, and the name is well chosen. The virulence of the poison of this species is vouched for by good authority. Deaths by gangrene following bites of this species are known to occur. The natives of the South Seas declare that the mollusk spits the poison several inches. Length, 2 to 4 inches. Habitat. — Red Sea, Ceylon, Australasia. The Lettered Cone (C. literatus, Linn.) bears row after row of oblong brown characters on its white surface. A yellow under- colour groups these rows into indistinct bands. The spire is fiat and in adult shells roughly calcareous and colourless, as if the peak had been ground ofl" and not polished. This is one of the com- monest and most striking of the cones. Length, 3 to 6 inches. Habitat. — East Indies. The Thousand-dotted Cone (variety millepunctatus of the species above) has the same characters except that the dots are much smaller and more numerous. The heaviest and stoutest of the cone shells is C. betulinus, Linn. In life it is covered with a thick, reticulated brown coat. Under this the smooth porcellanous substance is yellow, finely cross-banded with rows of dark brown dots. Three or four strong varices occur on the body whorl. The spire is scarcely elevated Length, 3 to 6 inches; breadth of shoulder, 2 to 4 inches. Habitat. — East Africa to Philippines. 114 The Cone Shells The Virgin Cone (C. virgo, Linn.) is striking in its lack of colour markings so characteristic of the family. The heavy shell is yellowish white with violet stain on the basal part. Fine striations cover the surface. Polished specimens have a white china-like, artificial appearance, but they still preserve the violet colouring. Length, 2h to 4 inches. Habitat. — Red Sea to Australia. The Marbled Cone (C. marmoreus, Linn.), commonly seen in collections, is strongly marked with large white creamy spots, mostly triangular, separated by bands of dark brown. It is one of the showiest species in the genus. The spire is low and blunt, its sutures concave, its ridges set with tubercles. The ground colour outside and within the aperture has a pink flush. The pattern and proportion of colour varies in this species, which gives rise to a few distinct varieties. The typical form is a good- sized shell, quite heavy, about "half and half" dark and light, in colours and pattern described above. Intermediate gradations unite all the varieties. The bite of this species is much to be dreaded, as the barbed teeth are charged with venom and inflict severe wounds. Length, 4 to 5 inches. Habitat. — China Seas. The Court Cone (C.aulicus, Linn.) has a narrowshell tapering to its spire without a distinct shoulder — imitating the olive shells in form, rather than the cones. Its brown surface is bright with triangular white spots arranged without definite order. Fine raised lines groove the surface. This is the East Indian species which Arthur Adams describes as possessing a beautiful mottled red and white proboscis. It is a defensive organ as well. This writer saw a specimen strike the hand that took it from the water, inflicting a deep triangular wound with the sharp teeth that rim the cylindrical tongue. It was a poisoned bite, too, that burned and swelled angrily and gave acute pain, but healed after forming a watery blister. Length, 3 to 5 inches. Habitat. — East Indies. Several tropical species have reputations for venomous bites likely to prove serious. Examination of a single tooth shows it to have a hollow tube running from tip to poison gland as in the fang of a serpent or a spider. Besides, it has a sharp, back- ward-pointing barb below the tip. The South Pacific Islanders know which are the most dangerous species. "A native of th? 1 1^ The Cone Shells Island of Matupi, New Britain, who had been bitten by a Conus geographus at once cut small incisions with a sharp stone all over his arm and shoulder. The blood flowed freely, and the native explained that if he had not taken these precautions he would have died." — Cooke. The California Cone (C. Calijornicus, Hds.) is a plain little colourless shell when the cinnamon-brown epidermis wears off. The largest is less than two inches long. The spire rounds up to the elevated peak. The body whorl is rather square-shouldered. There are occasionally cloudings of pale chestnut on the spire and about the base of the shell. Southern California. The Florida Cone (C Floridanus, Gabb.) has a low but very steep spire and a squarish keeled shoulder whorl. The yellow ground is streaked with broken lines of brown spots grouped so as to leave bands of white between. Single rows of dots are often seen on the lower part of the body whorl. Length, i to 2A inches. Children on the Florida beaches call these much admired shells "Chinese tops." The serried dots look much like the characters of some unknown alphabet, and the perfect cone shape and sharp little apex suggest spinning capabilities. Habitat. — Florida. The Protean Cone (C Proteus, Hwass) varies, as its name suggests, in colour and markings. It is a square-shouldered cone with a sharp apex, with its white surface darkened by splotches of brown arranged in spiral bands, often interrupted, and painted with longitudinal white streaks. A single broad canal occurs on the depressed spire. Length, i to 3 inches. Habitat. — West Indies, Florida. The Mouse Cone (C. mits, Hwass) has a high turbinated spire set with white tubercles and the body whorl with raised spiral striae. Broken streaks of chestnut cross the whorls; a white spiral band often occurs in the middle of the body whorl. Clouding of blue often underlies the striping, just below the angled shoulder. Olive stains may occur near the base. Length, i to 2 inches. West Indies, Florida. Peale's Cone (C. Pealii, Green) has an unusually steep spire and strong grooves on the lower half of the body whorl. The yellowish ground is spotted with brown and white dots in spiral lines. Length, i inch. Bahamas, Florida. 1 16 CHAPTER XIX: THE CONCH SHELLS Family Strombid/^ Shell heavy, porcellanous, with conical spire; aperture elongated, channeled at both ends; outer lip generally thickened and dilated; curved sinus for the head near basal canal; oper- culum claw-like, horny, notched on edge; foot narrow in front, arched and broad behind; head with contractile snout, highly developed eyes' tentacles rising from stout eye-stalks; radula well developed; siphon short. Active, intelligent mollusks, chiefly carrion-feeders, found on reefs in tropical seas. Shells used in manufacture of porcelain and lime, in cameo-cutting and for ornament. Animal sometimes eaten. THE TYPICAL CONCHS Genus STROMBUS, Linn. Shell ovate, solid, usually tubercled, lip dilated only when full grown, polished within. About sixty-five species, chiefly of large size, represented in Florida by a few West Indian species. The Queen Conch (S. gigas, Linn.) is the largest mollusk native to any part of this country. It ranks with the giant shells anywhere, indeed, for it occasionally measures a foot in length, and attains a weight of five pounds. Moreover, it is a handsome shell, for its horny, rough exterior has polished rosy lips and lining. Valuable pink pearls are sometimes found within the mantle folds, though they are but semi-precious, being china- Hke in texture rather than pearly. The pink outer layer of the lip has a white foundation, and is used by cameo-cutters. Shells which give greater colour contrast between the raised figure and its background are preferred in the cameo trade. The pink fades by exposure to light in both pearls and cameos. In spite of these faults conch shells are much used. ii7 The Conch Shells Quantities are shipped yearly to Liverpool and other cities to manufacturers of porcelain. Ground to powder, they are espe- cially adapted to this use. Though it lives only in tropical waters I fancy the conch is pretty well known all over the country. People call it by its name, and are always glad to have specimens. They are a com- mon ornament on mantels, and most shell fanciers have them. The first one I ever saw came from the grocer. He had several barrels of them, and presented one to each purchaser of a quarter's worth of a new brand of laundry soap! Few who live near the ocean can realise what a profound sensation this shrewd advertis- ing device created among the prairie folk whose largest and most beautiful native mollusk is the dingy, but pearly-lined river clam. In Florida these giants clamber over the coral reefs, and in still greater number along the coasts of the West Indian isles. The "fountain shell" is a popular name, though I do not know why. You may see the bare walks and flower beds outlined by rows of weather worn and ugly conch shells in many southern cottage gardens, and conch shell hanging-baskets overflowing with trailing vines suspended in windows and from the lower limbs of trees. The dinner horn on the plantation is often a conch with its spire sawed off. The welcome "shell blow" calls the West Indian Negroes from the sugar cane fields at noon. I have seen these conchs also on Iowa farms and on ranches in Wyoming serving the same purpose. The ancient inhabitants of the islands made various rude weapons and utensils from this over- abundant shell. These have been unearthed from shell mounds in Florida and elsewhere. Alive among its coral rocks the conch is master of the situa- tion. The shell is massive, but the animal is strong enough to carry it without inconvenience. The muscular body thrusts out the arching foot, which extends forward a thumb-like process, the foot proper, with a creeping disk scarcely larger than a thumb nail. The enlarged hind portion of the foot bears the claw-like operculum on its extremity. The peculiar foot gives rise to a peculiar gait. The conch is impulsive in temperament. It does not glide, but jumps along, striking the sharp claw into the sand, and flopping the shell from side to side as it proceeds. A most astonishing sight is a frightened conch taking long leaps, and making quick turns to escape capture ii8 CONE SHELLS AND A CONCH SHELL 1 California Cone, Conns Californicus. 2 Marbled Cone Shell, Comts marmoratics. 3 Fighting Conch Shell, Strombus pugilis. 4 Lettered Cone Shell, Conns lileratiis. 5 X'irgin Cone Shell, Conns virgo, showing absorption of inner coils of spire. 1 Rostellaria fusus BEAK SHELL AND CONCH SHELLS 2 Strombus auris-Dianx 3 Strombus Peruvianus 4 Strombus costatus The Conch Shells when pursued. If placed on its back, it rights itself by a somer- sault. A downward slope is a great advantage, for here the weight of the shell becomes a propulsive force, and the foot is kept busy lifting the shell into positions of unstable equilibrium, when a slight push of the operculum sends it rolling down hill. This is convenient in getting back to the water after being stranded on the beach. The giant conch is the scavenger of our tropical beaches; it is believed to subsist wholly on carrion. The sense of smell is as keen as the remarkable eyesight. Dead fish and other animal refuse attract great numbers to the spot where it is placed. These creatures are easily captured with a bait of meat. In turn they are used as food by part of the population of the Bahamas, and at Key West. Indeed, the inhabitants are called "conchs" in mild contempt by Floridians and others whose taste in shell fish does not include this "buzzard" mollusk. The Goliath Conch (S. Goliath, Chemn.), a rare West Indian species, is 8 to lo inches long; its lip is spread to unusual length and breadth, forming a great wing. The aperture is lined with orange brown. The spire is banded with double grooves, and knobbbed with blunt tubercles above. The Fighting Conch (S. pugilis, Linn.), 3 to 4 inches long when full grown, is very common on the Florida coast, east and west. The spire is tapering, the whorls sculptured with fine parallel revolving grooves, the upper margin of each whorl set with sharp knobs. The aperture has an anterior and a posterior canal and a notch for the head in the broad outer lip near the tapering base of the shell. Outside, the pale colour of the shell is clouded with brown in bands or patches, often purplish, darken- ing on the body whorl. The shell lining is polished, as is also the columella. The lip is orange or deep red, shading back to purple, finally to pink. The species exhibits considerable variability. Forms lacking the knobs on the shells have been described as a distinct species, alatus. Intermediate forms unite this smooth-shelled form as a variety to the species pugilis. It is an exciting experience to watch these conchs on a Florida beach contriving to get back to the water after being 1 19 The Conch Shells Stranded by the tide. One rarely sees in Florida such an illustra- tion of strenuousness. The extended hook is struck into the wet sand, and over the shell rolls; the second stroke flings it in an- other direction. You can see the radula working rapidly as the proboscis is lifted. Obstacles are avoided, corners are turned, wherever possible the conch makes a leap, and at last plunks joyfully into the water. Not seldom does a hand- some specimen escape the amazed collector by jumping out of the boat. This handsome "molluscan buzzard," with all its pugnacity, accommodates within its shell a little crab, named by Miss Rath- bun, Pinnotheres siromhi. Perfect amity seems to exist between them. The mutual advantage of this arrangement is not quite clear to me. It is possible for northern aquariums to have fighting conchs as tenants. Live specimens have been shipped to Philadelphia in no better wrappings than newspaper, sur- viving the long journey to be studied for months in a jar of sea water. It is true, however, that the exiles refuse food. At least this is the experience of one student. He made every eflfort to supply them. The Hawk Wing Conch (S. costatus, Gmel.), found in the West Indies, is 5 to 6 inches long, a heavy ovate shell whose short sharp-pointed spire is decorated on all its whorls with blunt knobs, those on the body whorl very large. The lip is thick and dilated, tapering at both ends. The lining is white or reddish. It requires some effort to see the resemblance to a hawk's wing in the expanded lip of this shell. The Angel Wing Conch (5. gallus, Linn.), 4 to 6 inches long, has a long, channeled fmger considerably higher than the elongated, knobbed spire. The shell has a long curved basal stem and the lip flares widely. The exterior is ridged spirally and marked with blotches of orange brown. The aperture is tinged with the same colour. 5. auris-Diana has a similar form. Habitat. — Red Sea. The other species range from the size of a cocoanut to less than an inch long. They vary from the stout ovate shape of average conchs to slender spindle shape on one hand and typical cone shape on the other. High colouring is com- 120 The Conch Shells mon. All tropical seas have their representatives. Yet the largest, finest and most prolific species of the genus live in the West Indies. THE SCORPION SHELLS. SPIDER SHELLS Genus PTEROCERA, Lam. Shell spiral, oval, heavy, the outer lip prolonged into long finger-like processes. Animal like Strombus. Ten species. Our American coasts have no representatives of this striking group. They are sociable, shore-loving mollusks, closely allied to Strombus. Where our genus exaggerates the outer lip into an unnecessary wing, these species use an equal amount of material in the long, curved fingers that make the mollusks look like great spiders or scorpions, travelling upon six or eight legs. The young have plain-lipped shells until quite well grown. Then the points grow out as hollow canals containing filaments from the mantle margin. Ultimately they become solid. The surface bears strong knobs and ridges, and the smooth, polished aperture has a pink or orange lining. Tropical seas of the eastern hemisphere. P. bryonia, Chemn.,from the Society Islands, is the largest species. The description above just fits it. The specimens approach a foot in length. Ponderous and coarse outside, the wide aperture reveals an expanse of fawn-coloured enamel tinged with pink that is truly beautiful. THE LITTLE BEAK SHELLS Genus ROSTELLARIA, Lam. Shell spindle-shaped, with elevated spire of many smooth whorls, the last prolonged into a slender anterior canal; posterior canal extends from the top of the aperture, outer lip thickened, dilated, set with teeth; operculum not saw-toothed. Animals similar to Strombus in structure and habits, though usually timid and suspicious, whereas the conchs are bold. They inhabit the China Sea, the Red Sea and the Philippine region, in deep water. Tryon describes ten species. Type, R. curta, Sby. The comparative variability of certain of these shells has 121 The Conch Shells made a strong demand for them among collectors. A little one, R. powisii, Petit, rare but by no means the most beautiful species, brought 200 francs at a sale in 1877. R. fusus, Linn., with the most graceful spindle shape, is the prize of the genus. It has a stem as long as its spire and six short teeth on the outer lip. Length, 6 to 8 inches. Habitat. — China. THE LITTLE SCREW SHELL Genus TEREBELLUM, Lam. Shell slenderly conical, china-like, spire blunt; aperture narrow, notched; lip sharp, simple; columella straight, truncate; one eye pedicel very long, protruded through the anterior notch in the shell. T. subulatum, Lam., is a dainty "lady finger" in form and size. Nothing but structural characters of the fleshy parts suggest its relationship with the strombs. It is well described above. The polished white surface is daintily mottled with brown. The body whorl is four-fifths of the total length. It looks more like a slim little olive shell than anything else. The creature is shy and sensitive to disturbance. While taking observations it is a strange-looking object, with its one eye thrust out so far, and waving about, while the pointed shell is held unsteadily in a vertical position. It takes fright easily and moves by a series of quick jumps. On one occasion a beau- tiful specimen leaped suddenly out of the hand of Mr. Hugh Cuming, the eminent English collector, as he was admiring it and congratulating himself upon getting one alive. Length, 2 inches. Habitat. — China, Philippine Islands. THE PELICAN'S FOOT Genus APORRHAIS, Dillw. Shell spiral with whorls angled and set with knobs; outer lip much expanded, ending in two to three flattened fingers, as 122 J3 a o o o COWRIES 1, 2, 3 Money Cowry, Cyprcsa nioneta. 6 Measled Cowry, Cyprcea exanthema, showing 7 Eyed Cowry, CyprcBa Argus. 4,5 Nut-brown Coviiy, Cypraa spadicea. pointed spire and flaring lips in young shell. 8 Cypraa spurca. The Conch Shells long as the shell proper; posterior and anterior canal prominent. Four species in the North Atlantic. The Pelican's Foot (A. pes-pelicani, Lam.) is a strange- looking customer. The four webbed toes of a pelican's foot are certainly suggested by the modifications of this shell's outer lip. The toes and thin webs extend backward, covering a consider- able portion of the body whorl of the shell. This mollusk is slow and awkward in movement, throwing out its foot and twisting its neck in its efforts to get along. Its forked shell lip is formed late in life, after which it merely becomes thicker. By counting the layers, it is believed, one may determine the age of the individual. The flesh is eaten by the poorer classes in Venice. In Edinburgh it is called the "blobber-lipt whilk." This peculiar shell is likely to occur in any collection. It is yellowish brov/n. Length, about 2 inches. Habitat. — European seas. A. occidentalis, Beck, the western species, is known so far by its shell alone. Fish pick up the living mollusks in deep water oflf the Newfoundland Banks, and the shells are taken from their stomachs afterward. Imperfect specimens are washed ashore on Newfoundland beaches. The spire is closely ribbed both ways, and the outer lip expands into a wide, three-cornered, concave wing. Knowledge of the animal may eventually take this shell out of the genus to which it is now tentatively assigned. THE OSTRICH-FOOT SHELL Genus STRUTHIOLARIA, Lam. Shell oval oblong, spire turreted, whorls with angled, knobbed shoulder; aperture roundish, narrowed by the thickening and flattening of both lips; operculum short, claw-like, with apical projection. This New Zealand genus, containing three or four species, is allied with Strombus and Rostellaria. The form of the aperture and operculum account for the name. Length, 2 to 3 inches. Type, S. nodulosa, Mart. 123 CHAPTER XX: THE COWRIES. VENUS SHELLS Family Cypr/^id^ Shell solid, oval, or pear-shaped, ventricose, highly polished and handsomely coloured; spire covered by body whorl in adults; aperture long, narrow, ending in two short canals, both lips toothed; operculum wanting; animal large, highly coloured; mantle two-lobed, reflected over the shell, its surface warty, variously coloured; foot large, simple, oblong, with marginal folds; usually coloured; siphon broad, short, often fringed; head cylindrical, blunt, with long tentacles bearing eyes; rad- ula long, well developed; jaw horny. A large family of shy, slow-moving mollusks in warm seas, feeding on coral polyps. The shells are among the most beautiful and most highly prized. It is believed by children in many lands that the sound of their native sea is imprisoned in these shells. Shake one, and it awakens; then apply Its polished lip to your attentive ear. And it remembers its august abode And murmurs as the ocean mumurs there. — IV alter Savage Landor. Genus CYPRiEA, Linn. Characters of the family. A large genus of good-sized mollusks, highly coloured and richly ornamented in body and shell. Weinkauff describes 189 living and 97 fossil species. Three cowries live on our Florida coast, another belongs to Southern California. From these northern representatives cf a tropical genus we get but a faint notion of the wonderful richness of colour and pattern to be seen in the nearly two hundred distinct species and their varietal forms which the ardent collector assem- bles from tropical and sub-tropical coasts. The handsomest shell is not so handsome as the living animal that inhabits it, engulfmg the shell completely as it glides along in mantle folds 124 The Cowries. Venus Shells tufted with brilliantly coloured, branching, coral-like outgrowths, and numerous spots of contrasting hues. Beneath is the thick, richly coloured foot on which the creature glides with dignity and grace over the rocks, below the level of the lowest tide. "What daring is exhibited," we naturally exclaim, "by this proud aristocrat of the mollusk world, which exposes itself to countless dangers by such superlative ornamentation! How much wiser is the humble periwinkle of colder coasts, which puts on colours to match the slimy mud it lives in." Remember that tropical shores are unlike ours, even as tropical birds and flowers and fruits make ours seem tame and colourless. The traveller who has looked through the glass bottom of a Bermuda or a Santa Catalina boat, or gazed through a water glass on the painted fish and the brilliant coral groves in the harbour of Nassau needs no hint from me of the riot of colour, and wealth of ornamentation lavished by nature upon the sea beaches where the coral polyps, the gorgonias and the cowries flourish. The poet Percival must have looked upon that en- chanting scene or he could not have written, in "The Coral Grove" The floor is of sand, like the mountain drift. And pearl shells spangle the flinty snow; From coral reefs the sea plants lift Their heads where the tides, and billows flow. There, with a light and easy motion, The fan-coral sweeps through the clear, deep sea. And the purple and scarlet tufts of ocean Are bending like corn on the upland lea; And life in rare and beautiful forms Is sporting amid those bowers of stone. And is safe when the wrathful spirit of storms Has made the top of the waves his own. The cowries exhibit protective coloration just as the gorgeous tropic birds do in the blossoming silvas. The problem of the cowry shell's development has always puzzled conchologists Few scientific observers have had any evidence to submit, so speculation has helped on the controversial discussion. Because a series of shells of any well-known species shows considerable difference in size, some argued that the mollusk 125 The Cowries, Venus Shells dissolves its shell when it becomes too tight a fit, and secretes a new one of larger size. Reeve quotes a letter from Lieutenant Hankey of the Royal Navy, written in 1844, in which this gentlemen declared that he had seen more than one specimen crawl away into a sheltered hollow, where the shell, enveloped in the mantle lobes, became thinner and dull in colour and finally cracked, by muscular force exerted within. Next the solvent completed its work, leaving a naked mollusk, which soon secreted a transparent, glutinous shell, with a distinct spire and wide lip (the Cymbium shape of all juvenile cowry shells), which rapidly took on thickness, covered the spire, narrowed the aperture, thickened and toothed the two lips and painted the various layers of enamel according to the specific pattern. His reasons for not collecting a series of these remarkable shells in process of reconstruction were: ( i ) the extreme rarity of the occurrence described; and ( 2 ) the extreme fragility of the shell in its transparent state. It went into bits as if made of shellac when taken up. Reeve politely discredits much of the account, as do subse- quent authorities. However, it is generally accepted that the inside of the shell, down to the lips, is gradually dissolved as the exterior is added to; by this means room is gained for the growing body. The shell is made largely of carbonate of lime, a substance easily soluble by an acid secretion. It is believed that this process is periodic, occuring but two or three times; and that the readjustment is accomplished in retirement and in a very short time. Differences in size of adult shells of one species are believed to be individual. The stage of development of a shell may be roughly estimated by the shape, size, colour and pattern. Cy- prcea exanthema is typical. The young mollusk has a thin bulla- shaped shell, with wide aperture, and prominent spire. The surface is banded with flame-like streaks of brown. Gradually the lip thickens on the side next to the aperture, while the back and sides receive layers from the mantle edge which bury the coils of the spire completely. Lip and columella grow closer together and become toothed. Coloured layers alternate with thin coats of white enamel. The final layer of colour is in bright spots and the bands are faintly seen under the pale ground colour. 126 The Cowries. Venus Shells The enamel is much more brilHant than on any former layer, the final polish being the last constructive effort of the mantle. Cowries are used for personal adornment among uncivilised tribes. Overlapping rows of small ones cover the skin jackets worn in Borneo. The harness of elephants and horses in India are trimmed with cowry bands. Strung as beads, or sewed like buttons on clothing they satisfy the primitive craving for personal decoration in many regions. Among civilised people, in whom the same instinct persists, the small blue-backed money cowry is often seen joined in bracelets, each shell with a little cameo figure cut in the back. Sleeve buttons, brooches, beads and small charms are also made of these. Snuff-boxes, salt cellars, jewel caskets and other articles are made of the large ones. Spoon bowls, ring trays, whistles and figures of animals are some of the incongruous objects into which these shells are transmuted. Beautiful in their natural state, they rarely gain anything in this attempted "improvement. " The price of the cowry is augmented by the addition of ornamentation ; its value usually drops to zero in the hands of the enterprising manufacturer of "souvenirs." Could anything be more unseemly than a handsome tiger cowry, its beauty defaced by etching upon it, with strong acids in ornate letters and flourishes, the Lord's Prayer! This I found in company with grotesque imitations of pigs and pug dogs, punch- ladles and pin cushions, all made of cowries and jostling each other on a crowded booth counter at a seashore summer resort. A sense of the eternal fitness of things steers the person of taste by all such vulgarities; but so long as there are buyers these things will be made, and we shall see them decorating (?) mantelpieces and "what-nots" in comfortable American homes. Beware the person who, seeing a beautiful sea shell, undertakes "to make something out of it." The result is almost always inartistic, and useless. If we have fallen unthinkingly into the snare, let us atone for our fault by destroying the poor, mutilated thing forthwith. The Money Cowry (C moneta, Linn.) varies from deep canary yellow to white; the back of variety annula is encircled by a faint ring of dull red or orange. The shells are heavy, with thick, angled margins, smooth or noduled bases and blunt teeth in the apertures. In length the forms vary from | to i ^ inches. They live on the reefs of coral islands, but are happiest on sandy mud fiats. 127 The Cowries. Venus Shells A collector describes the animal as creamy white, the mantle elegantly veined with black, and fringed with numerous simple processes, ringed with white and tipped with lilac. The snout is buflp, the tentacles veined with black, and the siphon yellow with fringed tip. Habiiat. — Indian Ocean, Pacific Islands, Australia. Various shells furnish the raw material out of which wampum and other money of aboriginal tribes are made. The money cowry is a ready-made currency, like the tooth shell. It requires only to be strung. The use of cowries as money dates far back into antiquity. They were found in the ruins of Nimrud. Marco Polo found them in circulation in Yunnan, in the thirteenth century. The earliest mention of them is contained in a Hindoo arithmetic of the seventh century, a. d. Translated, the "ex- ample" reads as follows: The I of yV of I^ of f of § of ^ a dramma was given to a beg- gar by one from whom he asked an alms; tell me how many cowry shells the miser gave. Traffic in cowries has made fortunes for Dutch and English traders whose merchantmen get their cargoes in Zanzibar, or in the Indian or Pacific Ocean, where the shells have no value. These ships proceed to the West Coast of Africa, and follow the rivers inland to where tribes live which eagerly exchange their ivory and palm oil for the coveted money shells. Cowries figure largely in the slave trade. The value of these shells differs in the regions where they are the medium of exchange. They have been demonetised in many places by contact with traders who have introduced English money. The upper Nile country is an example. Shells that lack the glossy finish or are blue are "dead" and almost worthless. Bright, perfect, uniform shells are highest in value. Table of the currency valuation of cowries on the west coast of Africa. Values vary greatly in inland regions. 40 cowry shells = i string 2 J strings (100 cowries) = i English penny 50 strings (2,000 cowries) = i head 10 heads (20,000 cowries) =1 i bag 3 heads (6,000 cowries) = i dollar In the Soudan, where the people are great traders, the only 128 The Cowries. Venus Shells currency they have is cowry shells. For a dollar's worth of any thing a purchaser must pay 2,000 cowries, which weigh from five to seven pounds. It is not to be wondered at that the wheels of trade drag heavily with this burdensome currency, and progress of all kinds is impeded. In some parts of Africa 3,000 shells are worth a dollar. The price of a young wife is 60,000 to 100,000 cowries — from £4 to /8 sterling. This is $20 to I40. An older, more ordinary wife may be had for 20,000 cowries or 25 shillings, about $6. The Ring Cowry (C. moneta, var. annula, Ads.) has already been mentioned. Mr. Arthur Adams saw the young of this mollusk clinging in a glutinous mass to the mantles of their parents. Each had a transparent, very wide-mouthed spiral shell. When put into a watch glass of sea water the shells disintegrated, and the mollusks swam rapidly about by means of two mem- branous wings, finally settling down. The Eyed Cowry (C. Argus, Linn.) has as many eyes on its back as Juno's fabled peacock. Three bands of smoky brown cross the arched back, fading out into the creamy ground colour of the base. The "eyes" are rings of warm, light brown. A few of the largest are almost solid brown to the centres. Two large dark brown patches occur on each lip. The teeth are shaded with brown. Length, 2% to 4 inches. Habitat. — New Caledonia, New Hebrides, Indian Ocean. The Measled Cowry {C. exanthema, ]Jinn.)\s well "broken out" with round white spots on a chestnut ground, which fades to drab or bluish underneath. A wavy line of bluish white runs longitudinally over the back, revealing what the mottled brown areas almost conceal, three broad bands of bluish brown under- colour. The teeth are dark brown. Fine specimens are picked off of mangrove stems on the north shore at Key West. Length, 3 or 4 inches. Habitat. — West Indies, Florida. Variety cervinetta, Kiener, is a smaller shell, more cylindrical and darker than its parent species. The teeth on the columella are dark brown. It occurs on the west coast at Panama and Mazatlan. The Nut-brown Cowry (C spadicea, Swn.), the only species found on western beaches of the United States, occurs in Southern California. It is flesh-coloured on the sides and white below. 129 The Cowries. Venus Shells On the back is a brown central area edged with a band of darker brown that follows the outline of the shell. It is not frequently found and is a prize to any collector. The shells are particularly bright and glossy when taken alive. The largest are about two inches long. The Stag Cowry (C cervus, Linn.) has an inflated shell lighter in weight than the preceding species and much more roomy. Its aperture is wider in front. Its white spots are close and small and usually blurred into the chestnut ground colour. Length, 2 to 6 inches. Habitat. — Panama. The Tortoise-shell Cowry (C. iestudinaria, Linn.), the largest species in the genus, has the colouring and the mottled markings of brown tortoise shell on its back, and a multitude of white specks, like flour, sprinkled over the polished surface. The base shades into brownish flesh colour or pale fawn; the teeth are white. Young shells are obscurely banded with brown on a uniform, paler ground. Length, 4 to 6 inches. Habitat. — Ceylon. The Orange Cowry (C. aurantiiim, Martyn) is an inflated shell of ovate form with back and teeth of uniform colour, bright orange. The sides, extremities and base are white. Length, 3 to 6 inches. Habitat. — Fiji Islands, Solomon Islands, Loyalty Islands. Permission to wear an orange cowry as an ornament is a mark of the highest distinction granted among Friendly Islanders. Shells punctured with a hole in the back, occasionally seen in collections, have been worn, and are for this reason considered especially valuable. For many years collectors had to pay excessive prices for these rare shells. The especial regard in which they were held by natives of the islands prevented their dispersal to other coun- tries. An occasional traveller got hold of one for I25. Now perfect ones may be had for |2o, savs Mr. Campbell in the Nautilus, 1889. Unlike some more abundant species, they are obtained from deep water outside the reefs, which fact in itself should account for their scarcity and high price. The Map Cowry (C. mappa, Linn.) is marked lengthwise with a broad zigzag line of pale chestnut from the angles of which side branches go off alternately from left to right, singly 130 The Cowries. Venus Shells or in twos. This band is approximately median, and marks the meeting place of the two lobes of the mantle. The back is covered with fine waving chestnut lines running lengthwise. These have scattered spots of pale chestnut which become more numerous toward the pale violet-tinged, almost colourless base. The usual habit among cowries is to reserve the bright pattern and colouring characteristics of the species until just before the shell is full-grown, then to lay it on, covering up the bands and waves of colour that previously alternated with the white layers. In C. mappa there are two final coats of the same pattern laid one upon the other. Length, 2 to 3^ inches. Habitat. — Indian Ocean. The Spotted Cowry (C. guttata. Gray) is a rare and beautiful species which we are doomed to know only through pictures, unless we visit the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, the British Museum or the Museum of Leyden. A very few specimens exist in private collections in Europe. The price of this shell has reached the highest mark in the genus. In 1866 one sold for ;^42. Two I know of in this country. One is in the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, the other in the collection of Mr. Richey of Boston. The base is crossed by close sharp ridges which round the margin, and come up a little way on the sides, giving the shell a crimped border all around. This border forms a recurved flange. The back of the shell is orange-brown with pale spots of vary- ing sizes. The cross ridges are bright orange red, giving the base and border a striking colour contrast. Length, 2h inches. Habitat. — Red Sea, New South Wales. The Prince Cowry (C princeps. Gray) was long known only by a solitary specimen in the British Museum. This was a superb shell, thinner than other cowries, very much swollen in the middle, and elevated, sloping steeply to the base on all sides. The yellow ground colour of the back shades into pink, as it descends to the colourless base. A patch of brownish wavy lines like closely written characters occupies the middle of the back. A squarish blotch of darker brown stands on either side of this middle patch. The sides are spotted. The extremities have three concentric brown lines. The base and teeth are white. The first specimen was found in a private collection; it 131 The Cowries. Venus Shells was labelled "The Brindle Cowry of the Persian Gulf." No further history of its has ever come to light. A second was found on the southern shore of New Guinea. It is very high priced. Mr. McCoy of Chicago has the only one I know of in America. The White-tooth Cowry (C. Leucodon, Brod.) ranks with it in rarity and value. The sole specimen known is in the British Museum. The Tiger Cowry (C. iigris, Linn.) achieves its handsome mottled shell colouring by a devious and interesting process. First it is a uniform chestnut bay; the colour then breaks up into bands of close-set wave blotches of a richer hue; a coating of white is then superimposed, and upon that is deposited a series of rather distant zigzag flames. The rich colouring of the first state is concealed. In the next state a second layer of white is superimposed and upon this surface a number of dark spots are deposited. These are again overspread by a third white coating intermixed with numerous rich black and brown spots. — Reeve. The animal of Cyprcea iigris has more colours than the shell. A naturalist who collected specimens from three to five inches long off Cook's Island described the body with some minuteness. The upper surface of the foot is dark brown marbled with black and streaked with fawn colour. The sole is purple, shaded with brown, and veined with black. Head, siphon and tentacles, are gray. The mantle is creamy yellow, with scattered brown spots, and longitudinally veined with brown. The mantle fringe is amber, tipped with white. These cowries hide from the sun among the coral masses in shallow water. When a specimen is discovered by the collector it is seen with its shell entirely swallowed up in the dark mottled and curiously tufted mantle, which has the peculiarity of chang- ing its intensity of colour at the will of the mollusk. Touching it with a stick causes the mantle to withdraw quickly into the shell, exposing the polished back and sides. To clean a shell one must first let the animal parts decompose. It is impossible to remove the body by force when still fresh. Length, 3 to 5 inches. Indian and Pacific oceans. The rat cowry, the serpent's head, the rhinoceros and stag cowries are named for some fancied resemblance to these animals. The panther, lynx, leopard and cat cowries have colouring and markings suggesting these fur-bearers. 132 The Cowries. Venus Shells THE COFFEE-BEAN SHELLS Genus TRIVIA, Gray Shells cross-ribbed, roundish, with a concavity on the inner face of the ribbed columella. Mantle covered with papillae; foot extended far out behind the shell. The Coffee-bean Shell (T. pediculus, Linn.) is a pinkish button-like shell, tinged with brown and marked with six large black spots on the back, three on each side of the median depres- sion which runs lengthwise of the shell. Strong cross ridges encircle the shell, and continue into the aperture. Length, i to | inch. Habitat. — Florida, West Indies. The Four-spotted Coffee-bean {T. quadri-pundata, Gray) is a bit smaller, with finer cross ridges, purplish, with four small but distinct black dots along the median groove. Habitat. — Florida Keys, West Indies. The California Coffee-bean Shell (7. Calif ornica, Gray) is about the shape and size of a large grain of coffee. The dorsal depression is shallow, the twelve ribs are white and somewhat far apart. The purplish brown of the shell is dull beside the vivid scarlet of the body. When the creature extends its long tentacles and proboscis in front and its broad foot behind, the shell is swallowed up by the mantle, and makes the bright red dull by its purple showing through. T. Solandri, Gray, is twice the size of the previous species, with stronger sculpture, and a paler purple between the ribs. There is an additional tooth between each two ribs of the outer lip. Habitat. — Santa Barbara, Cal. T. sanguinea, Gray, has a bloody spot on the middle of the back. The ground colour is purplish, the ribs whitish. Length, ^ to ^ inch. Habitat. — California southward. The European Cowry (T. Europcea, Montagu) is closely ribbed, the ground colour flesh pink, the base white. The body is bright yellow, brown and pink. The mantle is broad, its surface covered with papilla?, brownish yellow or white, often dotted with scarlet and purple. Length, ^ to f inch. '33 The Cowries. Venus Shells The animal is very active but also shy, quick to withdraw into the shell at the first sign of danger. "Nun" and "Stick-farthing" are names by which this plentiful mollusk is known on some parts of the English Coast. "Gowry" was the old form of "Cowry." Charles Kingsley describes this mollusk as hanging a few inches below a rock to which it has attached itself by a glutinous thread. He also saw it float in an aquarium by means of a glutinous bubble to which it had a similar thread attachment. The distribution of this species on stony bottoms from low water to loo fathoms depth, and from the Mediterranean to the Norwegian coasts, indicates unusual powers of adaptation to different temperatures and depths. The largest forms occur farthest north. 134 COWRIES AND COFFEE BEAN SHELLS 1 California Coffee Bean Shell. Trivia Caliiornica. 2 Florida Coffee Bean Shell, Trivia prdicula 3, 4 Tiger Cowry, Cyprcea Itgris, 5 Argvis Cowrj', Cypraea Argus. EGG SHELLS 1 Ovulum volva. 2 Ovulum uniplicata on braoch of sea fan. 3 Ovulum ovum. 4 Ovulum ovum, showing internal structure. CHAPTER XXI: THE EGG SHELLS Family Ovulid^ Shell involute, body whorl covering the spire, smooth, porcellanous, whitish or dull in colouring; aperture long, its extremities usually drawn out to form two canals; inner lip smooth, outer usually ridged, bent inward; foot large; mantle reflected over shell when in use. One genus of fifty species in warm seas. Genus OVULA, Brug. The egg shells are close to the cowries in structure and habits. Unlike them, the spire of the shell is concealed from the first, and the columellar lip is rarely toothed. The egg form is modi- fied by the two terminal canals. The Swollen Egg Shell (0. gihhosa, Linn.), somewhat over an inch long, has a thick shell, blunt at the ends, highly polished, with brown clouding on a pale ground. The lips are thick and free from teeth. A swollen band encircles the shell midway between the ends. Habitat. — Florida. O. acicularis, Lam., is very smooth, slender and thin; colour, purplish or yellow. It is found closely attached to stems of sea fan. Length, § inch. Habitat. — South Carolina, Florida, West Indies. O. uniplicata. Sby., of similar habits, colour, shape and size, is distinguished by a distinct fold on the columella near the posterior end of the shell. Length, § inch. Habitat. — North Carolina to Florida, Southern California. The Californian forms are purple or violet, with pale lips. In the southeast thete are two solid colours, yellow and purple, as in the sea fans on which this mollusk lives. If a yellow fan, then it will require sharp eyes to find the yellow shells closely applied to the stems. If the fan is purple, the shells are purple. 135 The Egg Shells The Great Egg Shell {0. ovum, Linn.) is as large as a goose egg, white, tapering from its swollen middle to the blunt, canali- culated extremities. The animal is black, with stout tubercles covering its reflected mantle lobes. The shell lining is brown. The lip is incurved and wavy toothed. The Pacific Islanders in holiday attire have these white egg shells hanging from elbows, wrists, ankles and belts. They use them very effectively in decorating their canoes, houses and temples. A similar, but smaller species, O. tortilis, Martyn, with rose-coloured lining, comes from Zanzibar and the Friendly Islands. O. volva, Linn., has a canal at each end as long as the oval shell, making a total length of from three to five inches. The exterior is crossed by remote striations. The colour is a brownish flesh colour. Habitat. — China, Japan, Philippines. The Poached Egg {0. patula), the little English species, is yellow, fading into white. It lives among colonies of zoophites, resembling our slender thin-shelled species of the Southeast. The valuable cargoes of sandal-wood obtained in some of the Pacific islands for the China market are, in the first instance, purchased from the New Hebrides by means of a shell — the Ovulum angulosum, a white, porcellaneous variety of cowry with a violet-coloured lip — which is found in the Friendly Islands, but never in the sandal-wood region. This shell is so highly esteemed as an ornament by the natives of the New Hebrides that for one shell they will give in exchange a ton of sandal-wood. The trading captains go expressly to the Tongan archipelago for the shells, where they sell at a Spanish dollar each. — Simmonds. 136 The Shell Book Plate III lu ^t^. 12 * ^r 13 16 •>■ i f- >. 14 rXIVALVE SHELLS OF 9 10 11 12 Prince Cone Shell, Conns princeps, Linn. Little Moon Shell, Naiica canrcna, Linn. Bubble Cone Shell, Conns bullaliis, Linn. Textile Cone Shell, Conns textile, Linn. 1 7 Papal Mitre, Mitra papalis, Linn. Ctijiytigiit, i9-b, by Djul leday, Tage iS: Company TROPICAL SEAS 13 Bull's Mouth Helmet Shell, Cassis rufa, Linn. 14 Granulated Cone Shell, Conus granulatus, Linn. 15 Fighting Conch, Stromhus pugilis, Linn. 16 Cross-barred Shell, Cancellaria reticulata, Linn. CHAPTER XXII: THE HELMET SHELLS. CAMEO SHELLS Family CAssmiDyC Shell heavy, thick, sub-globular, or three-cornered; spire short; whorls sometimes varicose; aperture long, ending in front in a recurved channel; columella thick, widely spread out, with folds; outer lip thickened at margin and toothed within; oper- culum horny, concentric, fan-shaped; head large; tentacles with eyes at base; snout extensible; foot large; mantle large. An energetic, predatory family, living along sandy shores of warm oceans, and preying upon various bivalve mollusks. Genus CASSIS, Lam. r Characters of the family. Twenty-five species. The Red Helmet or Bull's Mouth (C Yu\a, Linn.) has a cowry-shaped brown shell, oval in outline, but with a broad spire. The surface is finely cancellated. The body whorl has three rows of low knobs. The broad, toothed lips are clouded and barred with bright orange-red, shading darker between the teeth. A wide enamel callus coats the columella. Length, 5 to 7 inches. Habitat. — Indian Ocean, Japan. The Black or Cameo Helmet Shell (C. cameo, Stimps.) was wrongly named C. Madagascarensis, by Lamarck, for it is not an inhabitant of Oriental seas. It is yellowish with brown markings. The distinguishing character is the painting with dark brown of the spaces between the ridges that surround the aperture. These cross streaks are short and distant on the lip; longer and close-set on the columella. Three spiral ridges revolve about the body whorl, bearing knobs. Length, 10 inches. Habitat. — Beaufort, N. C, to West Indies. The Sardonyx Helmet (C. iuberosa, Linn.) has a three- cornered outline, and the surface is crossed by fine lines, both 137 The Helmet Shells. Cameo Shells longitudinal and spiral. Three rows of distant nodules occur on the hump-backed body whorl. Brown blotches of varying size ornament a yellow ground. The pale ground of the broad columella is overlaid by dark brown streaks between the plications, and toward the posterior end of the aperture a big patch of bright chestnut occurs. A few large brown spots are disposed around the margin of the outer lip. This is one of the pre- ferred cameo shells; the white figure stands out clearly against a black background. Length, 6 to 8 inches. Habitat. — North Carolina to West Indies. The Flame Helmet (C. flammea, Linn.) has a high, singly ridged, conical spire, and is decorated with browns in flame-like crescentic patterns, even on the face of the expanded columellar lip. Big blackish spots follow the lip margins around. Strong knobs range along the shoulder of the body whorl, with two fainter and shorter parallel rows lower down. Length, 4 to 6 inches. Habitat. — West Indies. The Horned Helmet (C. cornuta, Linn.) is studded with three spiral rows of tubercles, between which the surface is finely honeycombed and has series of parallel rows of fine dots, the area clouded with brown. Blotches of dark brown occur on both lips and on the rows of knobs. The ground colour is creamy white. One strong varix runs down behind the columellar lip. This is not only the giant of its family, reaching a foot in length, but its distribution is over a belt that encircles the globe. It inhabits the Indian Ocean, the Philippines, Japan and the West Indies. In cameos it gives a white raised figure on an orange or pink ground. CAMEO-CUTTING The black helmet is one of the best shells for cameo-cutting. It has an "onyx ground," a dark coat under the pale outer layer, so that the figure cut will stand out well. The inner lip of a large shell should yield several brooches. Usually the back- ground is claret-coloured, instead of black. The bull's mouth is red under a white outer coating. This is known as a "sardonyx ground." C. cornuta cuts a white figure on an orange ground. The queen conch (Strombus gigas) is pink over a white ground. 138 1 Cassis tuberosa. HELMET SHELLS 2 Cassis cameo. 3 Cassis tesliculus. 4 Oniscia hiberculosa. 1 Dolium galea. TUN SHELLS AND HELMET SHELLS 2 Dolium perdix. 3 Cassis infiala. 4 Cassis tuberosa. The Helmet Shells. Cameo Shells The two semi-precious stones named in the descriptions of cameo shells call attention to the fact that cameo-cutting, one of the fine arts of antiquity, used stone only as material, for centuries. Then lava came to be used for cheap work. Shells were first used in 1820 in Italy. The best shell cameos are made in Genoa and Rome. Many cutters are at work in Paris. C. cornuta has the fault of "doubling" occasionally: that is, its two layers separate, and the work counts for naught. The pink queen conch has the fault of fading. At best, it furnishes but one good brooch. The red underlying the white in C. rufa becomes thinner and paler as it extends backward, so a single brooch and a few cuff buttons or shirt studs are all a big shell can be expected to yield. Still, the enamel is so thick and the colours so good, this species will always remain in great request for cameos. There are often twenty laminae or layers of enamel on the lip. Besides cameos, beads are cut from the linings of helmet shells. »39 CHAPTER XXIII: THE TUN SHELLS. WINE JARS. FIG SHELLS Family Doliid.^ Shell thin, ovate or sub-globular, with stout spire and swollen body whorl; generally with strong spiral ribs; aperture generally wide, with canal at base; operculum only in immature stages; body large, with spreading mantle; head large; eyes on sides of tentacles; proboscis remarkably large and long, flexible; foot lobed, spread out into a truncated front margin in which there is a horizontal groove. A small family of large mollusks living in seas of the tropics. Sometimes called "wine jars," because they are so capacious. Genus DOLIUM, Lam. Shell almost globular, with wide mouth ; lip ruffled ; columella channeled; basal canal straight. Used for lamps, vases, etc. Fifteen species. The Helmet Tun Shell (D. galea, Linn.), one of two species found on our coast, is a good type of the family. The shell is eight to nine inches long and fully as broad. Unlike the conchs and helmets, the tun shells are thin and light in weight, though large. The spire is small and sunken, with a deep suture in the large body whorl which constitutes the greater part of the shell. The surface has a series of parallel, deep cut, revolving grooves crossed by many faint lines of growth. The even fawn colour of the exterior is brightened by dashes of darker brown on lip, columella and spire. The umbilicus is narrow and deep. Habitat. — North Carolina to Brazil. The Partridge Tun (D. perdix, Linn.) is marked with crescents of white on a brown ground colour, strikingly resembling the plumage of a partridge. The spire of this species is much elevated. The unusual range is noteworthy. Length, 5 to 9 inches. 140 The Tun Shells. Wine Jars. Fig Shells Habitat. — Indian Ocean, Polynesia, West Africa, West Indies, Florida Keys, Brazil. The Apple Tun(D.pomnm,L\nn.) is a solid little shell, yellow- ish brown, clouded and mottled with white in about equal pro- portions. The spire is depressed, with a deep suture; the whorls bear broad, low, rounded ridges. The columella is ridged and umbilicated, with a slight excavation in the middle. An external groove sets off the flaring lip, which is thickened and crossed by sharp ridges just back of the incurving edge. These shells are rather heavy for their size. Length, 3 inches. Habitat. — Red Sea, Indian Ocean, Philippine Islands. Sub-Genus MALEA The Grinning Tun (D. ringens, Swn.) is the heaviest species in the genus. The grin is produced by the turning backward of the outer edge of the lip. The columella has a distinct excava- tion in the middle with prominent ridges above and below it. The exterior of the shell has deep wide grooves and rounded ridges which give the flaring lip a scalloped edge. Length, 4 to 9 inches. Habitat. — Peru and Panama. Genus PYRULA, Lam. Shell very thin, pear-shaped, finely ribbed, cancellated, ending in an open canal at base; spire depressed, short; lip thin, smooth; operculum and umbilicus wanting. Foot large, with wide spread; siphon, head and tentacles much elongated and narrow; mantle lobes reflected over sides of shell in use. A few species only. The Paper Fig Shell (P. papyratia, Say) is found from Beaufort, N. C, down the coast to the West Indies. I have picked up many fine specimens on the Gulf coast of Florida; how the delicate, almost transparent, things escape shattering in the surf is more than I can explain. I never saw the living mollusk. The general colour of the shell is brownish white with faint brown lines drawn down from the spire. Inside, the brown is darker. There are no spots on the finely cancellated surface. Length, 3 to 4 inches. Arthur Adams describes an East Indian species as a very 141 The Tun Shells. Wine Jars, Fig Shells shy and sensitive mollusk, hurrying along on its broad foot anJ carrying its Hght shell with ease and grace. In captivity it climbed the sides of its glass prison with equal ease and celerity. Wonder- ful blending of dainty colours he saw in the extended foot, mantle and head: pink and violet elegantly marbled and dotted with red and yellow. In front the long neck bore the head aloft, and the large black eyes peered about in a remarkable manner. The Turnip Shells, genus Rapa, are illustrated by R. -papyrijera, which exaggerates the characters of the graceful paper fig shell. 142 CHAPTER XXIV: THE MOON SHELLS AND VELVET SHELLS Family NAXiciDyt Shell globular or ear-shaped, with wide aperture; foot very large, prolonged in front and behind; radula large; mantle often engulfing the shell. Predatory moUusks which burrow in the sand for bivalves. Genus NATICA, Lam. (LUNATIA, Gray) Shell oval, globular, solid, porcellanous, smooth, with transparent epidermis, umbilicated; operculum large, semi- lunar; foot broad in front, furnished with an upper fold that is reflected back over the head and front margin of the shell. Eggs laid in collar-shaped band covered with sand. Active, carni- vorous mollusks, living in temperate and warm seas. The Moon Shell (N. heros, Say), round and smooth as an apple, is a familiar object on our east coast. The spire is flattened and very small, the coils few; the last whorl, very much larger than the others, ends in an ear-shaped aperture. The large umbilicus extends to the apex, which is often worn off, letting water pass through. The colour of these shells is ashen, streaked or clouded with brown inside and out. Dead shells are soon wave-worn and disintegrated; the protective epidermis goes with their lost youth. The operculum is horny and spiral, the nucleus near one edge. No adornment is to be seen upon the strong house that shelters this businesslike mollusk butcher. He rolls up his sleeves, so to speak, and goes after his prey in dead earnest. Put one in a tank of sea water, with sand in the bottom, and before long he recovers his equanimity, and unlocks his door. The amount of foot he unfolds is a matter of amazement when the size of the shell is taken into account. A flattened pad of flesh three times as long as the shell's diameter, and half as wide as long — this is 143 The Moon Shells and Velvet Shells the burrowing, gliding organ of locomotion. In shape it is some- what like the bottom of an old-fashioned flatiron; the broad, truncated end is forward. A fleshy band on top of the foot folds back over the head, protecting it as the burrowing foot drags the body rapidly after it through the wet sand. The eyes are wanting or buried under a thick epidermis. This blind, mole-like mollusk fmds plenty to eat in the zone just under the surface of the sand. Clams and other shell fish are there. Down comes the hood from over the head when a victim is met. The long proboscis is set, and the radula it con- tains soon has a neat round hole drilled in the shell, through which the soft parts are extracted by the sucking mouth of the bloodthirsty Natica. The largest holes drilled in various bivalve shells are usually charged to the Naticas, although the evidence is partly circum- stantial. The activity of the mollusk argues a keen appetite, and its predatory reputation is quite lived up to if a single speci- men is put into an aquarium with clams and a variety of other mollusks of less strenuous habits. Well may Natica be bold, for at the least warning of danger it draws in the foot, and the horny operculum locks the door tight. The eggs are laid in a sticky mass of clear jelly which is moulded over the shell; this explains its peculiar collar shape. There is but one layer of egg cases, arranged in regular quincunx order. A layer of fine sand covers each side of the collar, making it about the thickness of an orange peel. While this remains in the water the mucus is rubber-like, and the eggs are safely con- cealed under the protective film of gray sand. Cast ashore the sand collar becomes dry and brittle. Who has not seen these collars, six inches in diameter and open at one side, lying on the beach? It is useless to try to carry one home without having it shattered. Near hatching time the sand falls off, and the eggs b2Come visible. N. heros ranges along shore in sand or mud, devouring, besides living bivalves, dead fish and other victims of accident. On New Jersey beaches the surf clam (Madra solidissima) seems to be the prey it prefers. Its method is to clasp the victim in its voluminous foot while the drill attacks the shell near the hinge. Diameter, 3 to 4^ inches. Habitat. — Maine to New Jersey. 144 1 Paper Fig Shell, Pyrula papyratia. LARGE MARINE SNAILS 2 Turnip Shell, Rapa rapiformis. 3 Grinning Tun Shell, Malea ringens. 1 Turnip Shell, i.apa piipyracra. 2 Ear Shell, Sigarcliis perspcctiviis. MOOX SHELLS AND OTHERS 3 Velvet Shell, Vehilina la'Agata. 4 Moon Shell, Xalica caiircna. 5 Moon Shell, Natka heros. 6 Same, showing internal structure. The Moon Shells and Velvet Shells The Western Moon Shell (N. Lewisii, Gld.) is the largest species known. The shell is lighter and thinner than in N. heros. Faint spiral striations are seen on the whorls; the body whorl has an angular shoulder. The outside is yellowish white, the lining polished and stained brown. A callus lobe narrows the mouth of the deep umbilicus. This "snail of prey" has the same predatory habits as its counterpart of the east coast. Diameter, 3 to 5 inches. Habitat. — California to Alaska, Japan. N. duplicata, Say, has a flatter spire and a smoother shell thsLn N. her OS, with bluish tinge on the pale brownish upper surface. The distinguishing feature is a thick brown lobe that extends over the wide umbilicus, but does not quite close it. The spiral umbilicus is also distinctive. The sand collar is ruffled on its outer border. This species reaches but three inches in diam- eter. It has the same habit as N. heros, and a much wider range. Habitat. — New England to Florida, Gulf of Mexico. N. clausa, Brod. and Sby., is a whitish moon shell, ^ inch to 2 inches across, which has the small umbilicus entirely filled by a callus. The operculum is calcareous, bluish white. It is found in cold seas and at considerable depths. Habitat. — Greenland to Massachusetts. N. Recluziana, Desh., has a more conical shell than the eastern species, in fact is rather a turban shell in form, and very thick and heavy, with brown banded whorls shading to pale ash colour. It is about 2 to 3 inches long. The umbilicus is closed by a very thick enamel callus. The "sand collar," shaped like a horse's hoof, often has rows of the eggs of Nassa along the top. Habitat. — Southern California. N. canrena, Linn., is a Floridian and West Indian moon shell found also along the Atlantic to Cape Hatteras. The shell has spiral chestnut bars streaked diagonally with purple on a whitish ground. The base is not coloured. The wide aperture is purple-lined. The umbilicus is partially plugged with a callus. The operculum is calcareous. This is one of the small Naticas, being i to i^ inches in diameter. Some tropical moon shells are highly polished and brilliantly coloured. The Philippines furnish several of these, the "zebra," 145 The Moon Shells and Velvet Shells and "painted" moon shells, suggesting in their common names their colouring and marking. Genus SIGARETUS, Lam. Shell ea-r-shaped, white, solid, flattened; spire lateral; aperture oblique, flaring; operculum very small: umbilicus wanting; foot very large, especially the burrowing part in front. It lives in muddy sand flats of warm seas. S. perspectivus, Say, differs from the Naticas in form and in its manners. The flattened white shell is shaped like that of a Haliotis. It is called "ear shell," a good descriptive name. The immense foot suggests its relation to the moon shells. But the aggressive methods of the previous genus are a striking contrast to the halting timidity of this one. It is a slow and cautious citizen. It may well be apprehensive, for the body is exposed to dangers unknown to Natica. When the foot is con- tracted to the compass of the shell, the operculum is little or no protection, for it is a thin button, by no means large enough to cover the exposed surface of the body. This mollusk is a dainty morsel to the various "littoral pigs" that root for their daily rations in the wet sand. In its turn, it falls upon the oyster which is smothered by being enveloped in the folds of the muscular body. Rare on northern beaches, it becomes more abundant as we go down the Atlantic coast. A dotted form, S. maculatus, Say, is met on the beaches of Florida. Length, i| inches. Habitat. — New Jersey to Florida. The Frail Ear Shell (S. debilis, Gld.) is a very delicate, shallow saucer of white china, with a small spire at one end. The surface is beautifully cancellated. The creature lives just under the sand. Its food is small bivalves. Length, i inch. Habitat. — Southern California. Genus LAMELLARIA, Montagu Shell ear-shaped, internal, thin, pellucid, spire small, lateral; aperture large; operculum wanting. L. Stearnsii, Dall, is a thin, white, ear-shaped shell which in life is quite swallowed up by the mantle. Length, about J inch. Habitat. — Monterey, Cal. 146 The Moon Shells and Velvet Shells L. rhombica, Dall, white, and found in the same locaHty, is larger, has a squarish aperture; the reflexed mantle does not cover the shell. L. pellucida, Verrill, with a delicate transparent ovate shell, containing a yellowish brown animal, has been dredged from deep water off Martha's Vineyard. Length, about ^ inch. The Lamellariae come from deep water in February to spawn in the shallows. Their food consists of polyzoans. When about to lay her eggs a female eats a hole in a jelly-like compound ascidian, and in this makes a nest like a deep pot, lays the eggs in it, and covers them with a tight lid. As the young develop the nest rises above the level of the surface in which it was buried. The lid flies open at the proper time, and the fry emerge. THE VELVET SHELLS Genus VELUTINA, Flim. Shell thin, ear-shaped, mostly external, calcareous, fragile, covered with a velvety or powdery epidermis; aperture large, round, without operculum; foot large, oblong. Marine, living among stones near low tide, or out at sea. The Velvet Shell (^. Icevigata, Pennant), found northward from Cape G^d, is a transparent pinkish shell with a horny brown epidermis, velvety along the minute revolving striae. It is about h inch in length. The same species occurs from California north- ward. At Vancouver Island it is about the size of a pea. The velvet and the epidermis are easily removed, after which the shell falls to pieces. This delicate creature is able to exude a frothy white slime in considerable quantity. It is doubtless protective, serving to conceal the mollusk from enemies. •47 CHAPTER XXV: THE SLIPPER SHELLS. CUP-AND-SAUCER LIMPETS Family Calyptr/€Id.^ Shell limpet-shaped with more or less spiral apex, porcel- lanous, interior polished, usually with a septum or internal plate of variable shape; operculum wanting; pot flattened; body not twisted; gill deeply and finely feathered; head with long snout; eyes near external bases of tentacles. The limpet-like mollusks of this family are found adhering to stones and shells. It is likely that most of them stay in one spot all their lives. They adapt the shape of their shell to the irre- gularities of the chosen location, taking on the same sculpture often, and the same colours. They feed on seaweeds and animal- culae that come their way, occasionally devouring a fellow mollusk. Some genera lay their eggs under the foot as in a brood pouch. The body is supported by muscles attached to the shelly process inside the shield. THE SLIPPER SHELLS. BOAT SHELLS. SLIPPER LIMPETS Genus CREPIDULA, Lam. Shells oval, with a horizontal plate closing about one-half of the aperture. Apex lateral, spiral; head flat; foot short; very common shells on all American beaches. The Arched Slipper Shell (C. fornicaia, Linn.) is loved by children, it is useful in so many ways when seaside play- houses are to be furnished. The boat shape appeals to the imag- ination, with its broad bottom, its rounded stern and comfortable seat. Balanced on the table and on cupboard shelves these shells are the little housekeeper's joy in setting forth dolls' tea 148 1 Nalica Lewisii. SLIPPER SHELLS AND GIANT MOON SHELL 2 Crepidula plana, in old oyster shell. 3, 4 Crepidula onyx. 5, 6 Crepidula jornicata. .•?£ LIMPETS AND CARRIER 1 Hungarian Cap, Capulus Hungaricus. 5 2, 3, 4 Carrier Shell, Xenophora conchylijera, with dead 6 shell fragments cemented to the conical spire. SHELLS Cup-and-saucer Limpet, Crvribuhtm spinosum. Cup-and-saucer Limix;t, Caiyptraa cicatricosa. The Slipper Shells. Cup-and-saucer Limpets parties. There is never any scarcity of dishes; the tide is always bringing in new ones. Grown-up people, too, find a use for the empty shells. Fisher- men at Greenport, Long Island, dredge up the accumulation of dead shells and sell them to oyster growers for "stool." This means that they are scattered over the rocky floor of new beds for the embryo oysters to settle upon. "Quarter-decks" is the trade name they go by. They are taken with the "jingle shells," which frequent the same banks, and are also excellent as oyster stool, in 1887 Greenport alone sold 130,000 bushels of the two shells to the oyster growers for $5,200, an average price of four cents per bushel. English oyster beds are in some places replenished with "seed" from American growers. With these young oysters C. jornicata has been introduced. Conditions are favourable to growth, and the"crow oyster," as it is called, has become a nuis- ance. The edible oyster, when overloaded with slippers, often three to six deep, is stunted and unsightly. The parasites rob the oysters of their food, and choke them besides. There seems to be no way of getting the better of the invader. This species is the largest of its genus; the shells are from one to two inches long. The spiral apex is drawn down to one side of the posterior end of the shell. From it indistinct lines of pinkish brown, often broken into dots or broadened into streaks, paint the almost smooth surface. The polished interior is mottled with brown and violet in large patches. The par- tition is white and thin. The height of the shell arch is largely dependent upon the life of the mollusk. Some individuals are free, and have very concave shells, others affix themselves to stones, or to the shells of oysters and various other mollusks. These are modified in form by the surface to which they adhere. On a scallop shell the Crepidula will be ribbed. Sometimes slippers are found piled one upon another in tiers of six or more. This is especially common in northern waters. They feed upon seaweeds for the most part, but have been known to eat other mollusks. It is known that some of these mollusks move, and perma- nently change their positions. A certain specimen may spend a part of its life on a ribbed shell like an Area or a Pecten, then move to a smooth shell or stone. The growth of the shell will 149 The Slipper Shells. Cup-and-saucer Limpets tell the story plainly. The horseshoe crab (Limulus) often carries a load of upward of one hundred slippers. Length, i to 2 inches. Habitat. — Maine to Brazil. The Flat Slipper Shell (C. plana, Say, C. unguiformis. Lam.) is found flattened against the walls of apertures of dead shells. Growth proceeds, and the broadening shell of the slipper becomes concave on the back, parallel to the concavity of the body whorl within which it is attached. Examine the shells of Natica for slippers of this peculiar form. The shell is usually white, the apex claw-like, as Lamarck's scientific name defines it. The pointed end is fitted with a tri- angular shelf. The other end is broad like a spade. According to Professor Conklin, the female is fifteen times as large as the male. This species is small and frail. Length, i inch. Habitat. — Maine to Florida. C. aculeata, Gmel., is common on Florida and California beaches. Smaller than the arched slipper, it resembles it in being marked with brown, and having a white "seat" in the end. The shell has radiating ribs which bear faint knobs. This species has a remarkable world-wide distribution on warm beaches. C.glauca is a little hump-backed species that keeps company with the small hermit crabs which live in the dead shells of the dog whelk. It is an Atlantic coast form. The Pacific coast has several slipper shells. C. aculeata and C. plana are there. C. adimca, Sby., with high apex strongly recurved, is about an inch long. It is brown with a white shelf inside. This is the most common western species. The Wrinkled Slipper Shell (C. dorsata, Brod.) is nearly round in outline, and often bent so that the shelf is two-lobed resembling the twisted cup in some species of Calyptraea. The thin, flat shell is brown and white, and about J inch long. It is common on California beaches. The White Slipper (C Lessonii, Brod.) is handsomest in the form that wears ruffles on its shell, along the lines of growth. It is distinguished by its whiteness, its flatness and by the delicacy of its shelf. There is much variability in this Californian species. C. dilatata, Lam., is i \ to 2^ inches long, a broad oval shell, heavy, with shaggy surface and undulating margin, brown 150 The Slipper Shells. Cup-and-Saucer Limpets above and inside. Its range covers the whole Pacific coast of America. THE CUP-AND-SAUCER LIMPETS Genus CRUCIBULUM, Schum. Shell shield-shaped with funnel-shaped cup inside. The Cup-and-saucer Limpet (C scuiellatiim. Gray) has a heavy, shield-shaped shell with strong radiating ribs crossed bv concentric ridges. The hooked beak is near the centre. The general colour is brown. Inside the shell is of a darker colour and polished. The variation in form, height and markings has led to the erecting of a great many species which have been reduced more recently to the rank of varieties. Young shells differ markedly from adults. Length, 2^ inches. Habitat. — West coast of South America. Var. auriculatiim is a flat form, pale brown, usually mottled with very rough radiate ridges. It is the West Indian form. Var. tuhiferum extends north from Chili to California. Small, close ridges radiate from the apex, certain of them bearing sharp, hollow prickles. The Cup-and-saucer Limpet (C. striatum. Say) of our east coast is a small, pale cone with circular base and radiating ridges that form a scalloped border. The beak is hooked and almost overhangs the posterior edge of the shell. The flaring cup is attached by its side. Length, less than i inch. Habitat. — Whole Atlantic coast. Genus CALYPTR^EA, Lam. Shell conical, with central spiral apex; aperture basal, circular; diaphragm spiral, margin twisted, free margin convex. The European Cup-and-saucer Limpet (C. Sinensis, Linn.) is well known. Its cone is regular, with a spiral apex and circular base. The cup takes a spiral turn or two, forming a deep umbilicus. The shell is thin and smooth and round, pale yellow, shining inside. Quite often the pebble to which the young mollusk attaches itself is so small that the aperture of the shell reaches the outer limits of its surface before the adult size is 151 The Slipper Shells. Cup-and- saucer Limpets reached. Unable to grow further in this direction, the shell enlarges vertically, lifting the apex but keeping the base the same seize. This adaptability to environment produces great variation in form within the species. The female lays her yellow eggs in flat capsules which are all attached to a common stalk as are the petals of a rose. Each capsule is transparent and contains about a dozen eggs. The shield-shaped shell protects the mother mollusk and her eggs. The young hatch and are kept between the foot and the stone to which the shell is attached until they acquire the neck frills of hairs by which they are equipped for a free-swimming life. The Chinese Hat (C. mamillaris, Brod.) is a low, white cone with a central peak. It would require a doll mandarin to fit it. Inside is the characteristic twisted deck of the genus. The cir- cular rim is ^ inch in diameter. Habitat. — California northward. C. Candeana, d'Orb., occurs from Cape Hatteras to the West Indies. THE HUNGARIAN CAPS Genus CAPULUS, Montf. Shell conical, without internal plate or cup; apex spiral, posterior; muscle scar horseshoe-shaped. A genus of few species, widely distributed. The Hungarian Cap ( C. Hungaricus, Linn. ) has no tassel to pull its peak over to one side and downward, but it is a perfect cap without it. The shell has fine, close, radiating lines crossed by less frequent lines of growth. A horny epidermis, often hairy, covers the outer surface, which is as white when cleaned as the polished lining. The animal is held in the shell by a strong muscular attachment. In British waters it is found attached to shells and large rocks, especially near beds of oysters and scallops, at depths varying from seven to eighty-five fathoms. The mollusks are sedentary, shaping the shell margins to fit the station, forming shallow excavations, sometimes depositing a shelly floor. They feed on minute animal organisms and seaweed. The eggs are laid in membraneous cases which are attached in a single tuft to the foot under the neck. 152 The Slipper Shells. Cup-and-saucer Limpets This Strange limpet-like creature is found near Iceland and off Martha's Vineyard, at 69 to 458 fathoms depth. In the South it appears oflf the Florida Keys and the West Indies. The average specimen is i^ to 2 inches across, at base, and 1 to i.V inches high. Twenty fossil species are known, the earliest from Silurian rocks. THE HORSE-HOOF SHELLS Genus AMALTHEA, Schum. (HIPPONYX, Defr.) Shell thick, obliquely conical; apex hooked backward, not spiral; surface roughened; muscle scar horseshoe shaped; body oval; foot thin; head round, on slender neck; tentacles bearing eyes. Instead of an operculum, a shelly base is formed. The Horse-hoof Shell (/l. antiquaia, Linn.) is found in Florida and California and in many other sub-tropical regions. It is a concave, hoof-shaped white shell with a hairy epidermis covering the scaly growth lines. The shape is variable, for the animal lives attached to rocks. It secretes a calcareous plate between the body and the object to which it adheres. Sowerby thought this was a second valve of the shell, and so described five species as a genus of bivalve mollusks. 153 CHAPTER XXVI: THE CARRIER SHELLS Family XENOPHORiOyt Shell top-shaped, flattened, with stones or shell fragments attached as it grows; foot small, divided unequally by a groove, anterior part the larger; operculum horny. A single genus with few species, widely distributed in tropical seas. Genus XENOPHORA, Fisch. These remarkable mollusks, whose family name means "carriers of strangers," deceive and thus circumvent their enemies by glueing to the growing shells pebbles, fragments of rock or dead shells, or whole ones, if small enough to be carried. So an adult shell may bristle with "lady fmgers"(r2fm/^//<3) or ladder shells (Scalaria), making it look at first glance like a sea urchin, or one of the spiny-toothed shells of the Murex group. If instead of the spiral shells, saucer-shaped ones are used, bivalves, like heart shells and scallops, for instance, the mollusk is careful to set them with their convex sides downward so as not to catch and impede travel which, at best, is laborious business. A decided taste is exhibited by individuals, possibly modified by the supply of building materials. Some shells bear only rock fragments. Others are adorned with shells. Scientists have named the first group "mineralogists," the second, "concholo- gists." The mollusk carefully keeps the flat base of his shell free from these impedimenta, so that he may have free use of his faculties, and get a good living. From above he looks like a piece of conglomerate, a part of the sea bottom debris. Below, a mollusk, with molluscan appetite, looks out of the ample door- way of his shell. We may almost credit him with shrewdness and a sense of humour. The foot is small and cleft. The larger half extends forward and fastens its hold upon some stable object. A mighty contrac- tion of the foot muscle causes the clumsy creature to jump forward The Carrier Shells dragging the trifling hind foot after. Thus the gait is anything but a smooth gHde. It is a series of jumps, and a most laughable performance to behold. The Shell Carrier {X. conch yli so phora, Born.) is a top- shaped, pale brown shell marked by fme striae overlying irregular wrinkles on the whorls. In the shell surface are inserted various dead shells, for the evident purpose of deceiving the mollusk's enemies. The shell is normally about two inches across. With its trimmings of heart shells and the like it often doubles this measure. Habitat. — West Indies. The Pebble Carrier {X. calculi j era, Rowe) adorns the shell with bits of stone. This is a typical "mineralogist." Gracefully curved striations are concealed by the irregular decorations the mollusk superadds to Nature's efforts. Sometimes there is but a small circle of pebbles and shells of dainty and uniform size set around the shell more than half way to the peak. This exposes the main part of the shell, and seems to indicate that the mollusk chooses to make his roof beautiful at the risk of exposure. Diameter, 2 to 3 inches. Habitat. — China. 155 CHAPTER XXVII: THE SUN-DIAL SHELLS Family Solariid/^ Shell spiral, depressed, conical, top-shaped or flat; aper- ture angular; lip and columella simple; umbilicus wide, deep, usually with scalloped margin; lining not pearly; operculum spiral. Animal with large oval foot, notched in front; the eyes on the bases of the stout tentacles; radula with spiny teeth; jaws present. Genus SOLARIUM, Lam. Shell a regular, depressed cone, with an angular edge; sculp- ture elaborate, close, strong, crossing the spiral ridges forming patterns in colours. World-wide genus in warm seas. The Granulated Sun-dial Shell (5. granulatum, Lam.) found from North Carolina to the West Indies, and from Panama to Lower California, is finely checked by the crossing of spiral and radiating ridges, so as to have raised granules all over its upper surface. The flat base has them enlarged to nodules as it closes in to the narrow umbilicus. The surface is china-like, the whorls purplish, the upper edges white, and decorated with large brown dots in a single row. The largest specimens are about two inches across. S. verrucosum, Phil., is one to two inches across, with creamy yellov/ ground marked with numerous short streaks of brown. The umbilicus is narrow and has prominent teeth. This species may be a form of 5. gramdatum. West Indies. The Oriental Sun-dial Shell {S. perspectivum, Linn.) is a depressed cone with angled margin and flat base. Its whorls have a spiral depression below the sutures; this also is seen on the basal coils, and in the broad umbilicus. Narrow ridges on each side of the depression are marked with brown spots. The ground colour is yellowish brown or ashy purple. Cloudy oblique bands cross the median surface of the whorls. Diameter, 2 to 5 inches. Indian Ocean, Pacific Ocean, China to Australia. 156 CARRIER SHELL AND SUN-DIAL SHELLS 1, 2 Carrier Shell, Xenophora ealculifera, carrying both shells and pebbles. 3, 4 Granulated Sun-dial Shell, Solarium granulatum. 5, 6 Perspective Sun-dial Shell, Solarium perspectivum. WENTLETRAPS, VIOLET SNAILS AND OTHERS 1 Mottled Screw Shell, TurritcUa vanegala. 4 Precious Wcntlctrap, Scala.pretiosa. 2 Violet Snail, /aK//n>m /ra^zVti. 5 l^^Ader SheW. Scala communis. 3 Say's Wentletrap, 5ca/a 5ayana. 6 Hairv-keeled Shell, TWrWrofw ioreaWi, ^•. CHAPTER XXVIII: THE STAIRCASE SHELLS. LADDER SHELLS. WENTLETRAPS Family Scaliid^ Shell white, polished, turreted; whorls sometimes uncoiled, with longitudinal ribs bearing prominent plates; aperture round; operculum spiral, horny. Head has retractile proboscis; tenta- cles close together, with eyes at their bases; jaws toothed or spiny; radula elaborate. Sexes distinct. A creeping, carnivorous family of world-wide distribution, allied to lanthinidas. Genus SCALA, Humph. Characters of the family. Living species, 200; fossil species, 200. The peculiar flanges that decorate these shells, making them resemble spiral staircases, are the successive limits of periods of growth. Each in turn has been the shell's lip until growth began again, and it was left behind. The genus has a wide distribution from arctic to tropical seas in eastern and western hemispheres, from low water mark to abyssmal depths. The West Indies have furnished the greatest number of species. Large species measure 2^2 inches in length; one species, 4 to 5 inches. When disturbed, the wentletraps exude a purplish fluid. The Precious Wentletrap {S. pretiosa, Lam.) has had a romantic history. It was long considered a Chinese shell, but was later found also oflf the Australian coast and among the Moluccas. It is one of the largest known species, reaching 2^ inches in length. It has a broad-based spire of eight roundish whorls, smooth and white, decorated with ivory white flanges or ribs that cross the whorls at regular intervals. The sutures are deep and the umbilicus wide. The mantle has a flaring rim. About the year 1700 these shells attained an exorbitant and fictitious value in the estimation of shell collectors. Forty guineas (I200) was paid for a single specimen. Fifty years later this price 157 The Staircase Shells. Ladder Shells. Wentletraps was cut in two. The clever Chinese counterfeited the precious shells, too rare for their liking, by moulding them from a paste made of rice flour. Now the range of the species is found to be much less restricted than was supposed in the eighteenth century. A good specimen of S. pretiosa can be had of almost any curio dealer for a dollar or two. The Ladder Shell (5. Groenlandica, Chemn.), Greenland to Massachuetts Bay, has been found abundantly in the stomachs of fishes taken on the Grand Banks and farther south. The shells are picked up on Nahant beach and on the Maine coast. They are graceful, turreted, heavy, with sharp spire of ten whorls, flattened, close-set, each bearing revolving ridges and crossed by oblique, prominent white ribs. The ground colour is brown or bluish. A rib, angled at the inner point, edges the round aperture. The animal is yellowish gray, splotched with white. The foot is squarish and thick. The head is rounded above, elongated, with a shiny black eye at the base of each short tentacle. The large mouth eagerly seizes bits of fresh beef, when the mollusk is in an aquarium. Its movements are sluggish. Length, i inch. S. lineata, Say, found from New England to Florida, is a thick little ladder shell ornamented with two brown spiral bands on the body whorl. The shell is elongated, with six or seven whorls, and regular cross ribs throughout its length. Length, about h inch. S. angulata, Say, with its ribs a bit angled next to the suture above, has six to ten whorls which do not touch each other in the coil. It is about | inch long, rather stout and white. It occurs from Connecticut to Florida and Texas. S. multistriata, Say, of our Atlantic coast, is known by the multitude of its ribs that crowd closer than in any other species. It is a solid white shell of graceful form. Length, -| to f inch. S. clathratula, Ads., found on European coasts, and from New England to Cape Hatteras, is a polished white, almost trans- parent shell, slender and graceful, about h inch long. Its rounded whorls bear a great number of cross ridges. On the west coast is found S. Hindsii, Cpr., a delicate white ladder shell, scarcely an inch long, with a needle point and rounded whorl crossed by many thin, sharp ridges. Professor Keep says these shells are mounted for ear drops, sometimes, by enterprising jewellers. Southern California. 158 The Staircase Shells. Ladder Shells. Wentletraps S. Indiorum, Cpr., is found on the California coast and nortii to Vancouver Island. It is thin and white, an inch long, with numerous cross ribs on its ten whorls. Occasionally it is found in a variety, iinda, tinged brownish purple, in Southern Califor- nia. S. mirifica, a rare deep water species, I mention here because it is unique. It has the distinction of being the most highly coloured of all deep sea mollusks. As a rule abyssmal shells are dull and colourless. This notable exception is white, tinted with bright rose-colour. 159 CHAPTER XXIX: THE VIOLET SNAILS Family Ianthinid.^ Shell spiral, helicoid, fragile, semi-transparent, violet- coloured, about i^ inches in diameter; no operculum; head prolonged into a large snout; radula very large; no eyes; ten- tacles short; gill feather-like; foot small, attached to a gelatinous float filled with air bubbles to which the egg capsules are attached. Sexes separate. A pelagic family of gregarious habit found in Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. One principal genus of three species. Genus lANTHINA, Lam. The Violet Snail (/. fragilis. Lam.) drifts in schools on the ocean's surface. Let us look into the life history of this delicate little sea snail. The strangest thing about it is a family trait. The foot secretes a slimy substance which hardens in contact with water. As it is excreted, bubbles of air are captured by the extensible foot and imprisoned by the viscid exudation. So a series of pneumatic cushions unite to form the flat raft. On the underside of the float of the female the egg capsules are usually attached, neatly ranked in rows. One by one the outermost capsules are ruptured and the little snails tumble out to take their chances in the great ocean. The raft is often found afloat without its mollusk. Storms wrench many apart. Fish nip off portions of the float; the foot may add more at the end next to the body. But a violet snail bereft of its float drops to the bottom, and has no power to rise to the surface. Moribund individuals let go their foothold on the raft, and die on the ocean floor. But active individuals from which the floats were cut loose by Mr. Arthur Adams reproduced them in the aquarium when they were suspended by hooks in a position just below the surface of the water. Unhappily, many an ill wind drives the lanthina swarm 1 60 The Violet Snails shoreward. It occasionally happens that a purple band is painted on the beach, the shattered fragments of purple shells. Even those which escape breaking by the surf are unable to get back to their element because the foot is not adapted to such effort. The sun kills them and birds devour them. It is generally years before another school of lanthina is wrecked on the same beach. Violet snails are often met far off shore. But I fancy that only skilled observers would see the little fleet. The elongated raft is but a small group of bubbles on the surface. At one end of it the head and foot of the mollusk come nearly out of the water, but they look transparent. The mouth of the shell is turned upward, and the exposed outer whorl where the body lies is coloured a deep violet which blends with the deep blue of the sea. The apex is farther from the surface, and is a paler violet. The precious eggs are quite out of sight. The chief enemies of the violet snail are sea birds that skim and scan the surface for food. Against them Nature has given this little creature adequate "protective coloration" to enable it to escape detection. It has no eyes, and the only defence it offers when disturbed is to exude a little cloud of violet ink. For its food special provision is made. Small jelly-fishes which like the surface of the sea swarm in numbers so great that the violet snail has but to thrust out its prehensile proboscis to catch them. Off our Florida coasts the genus Vellela abounds, each indivi- dual a cake of jelly, bright blue, transparent, hung below with short streamers and above hoisting a three-cornered sail. This is a hydroid colony, like the Portuguese man-of-war. The violet snail seizes one with its snout, and tears it to shreds with its remarkably large rasping tongue. It is a surprise to see so delicate a mollusk tackling a "jelly-fish" four or five inches long, and well provided with protective stingers. Barnacles, which attach themselves to its shell, are occasion- ally eaten by lanthina. A blue crustacean lives on the float, asking nothing of its host but lodging and free transportation. Some contend that the young of the violet snail, as they hatch, get on the raft of their mother and secrete little floats before they are equipped for life in the water. This is doubtful, for each is born with a swimming apparatus. i6i The Violet Snails I cannot draw from my own experience a vivid picture of a stranded school of violet snails, but I here quote Mr. Charles T. Simpson's letter to the hlauiilus, April, 1897: I had collected for many years and in many countries, but had never found, perhaps, more than a dozen dead or broken shells. In January, 1883, 1 was on a schooner bound for Spanish Honduras, and we stopped at Key West, where 1 spent one of the most delightful weeks of my life gathering Cylindrellas, Chondro- pomas, Cerions and the beautiful Urthalicus, Liguusand Bulimulus multilineatus in the thick, thorny tropical scrub. We were to sail at noon on Sunday, but 1 could not resist the temptation to take one last look at the beach. So after breakfast 1 wandered out. Before 1 came to the beach I noticed that as far as the eye could see it was a mass of the most intense, glowing violet colour, and on coming up to it I was astonished to find that this colour came from untold millions of lanthinas which had been washed up during the night, for when I left the beach the evening before at dusk not one was to be seen. To say that they lined the shore gives no idea of the truth. Everywhere, from below low water to highest tide mark they were piled up, in most places, over shoe-top deep, and in the hollows of the rocks one could have waded in among them up to his knees. Shell, animal and float were all a vivid purple, the richness of which soon fades in dead shells and preserved specimens. There had been no storm, nothing but an ordinary breeze up from the south, and it is probable that an immense school had been drifting along, and where they struck the island some five miles in length, every one in that distance was stranded. I had brought no basket nor sack nor anything to collect in, but I could not bear to go away and leave that vast bed of trea- sures without taking at least a few with me. I searched in vain for a box or tin can or piece of canvas, but I could find absolutely nothing. I took out my handkerchief, knotted the corners, and tried to pull out the animals from the shells, but the whole mass was so slippery, and the shells so frail that the latter in- variably broke. So I filled the handkerchief with shells and all, as many as it would hold. Then I took off my straw hat and filled it, and that did not satisfy me, for as I wandered along I found so many finer specimens that I began to put them into my pockets, and I did not leave the shore until every pocket was bursting full. I had on a linen coat and white duck pants. The day was hot, and it seemed to me that those lanthinas melted. In a little while streaks of glowing violet began to show down my clothes. I felt a clammy, wet, uncomfortable feeling clear through to my skin, and my shoes were filled with the purple liquid. By the time I reached the city I looked like an Indian in war paint. I have no doubt that the people of Key West, 162 The Violet Snails who were just going to church, thought I was a lunatic, and perhaps they were not far from right. At last I reached the schooner, took off and threw away my suit, which was utterly ruined, and got my precious mollusks into sea water to soak. Although at least half of them were broken, yet when I cleaned them 1 had the satisfaction of counting up over two thousand good shells. When the wind blows this little sailor ashore, on Floridian, Mediterranean or Pacific Island beach, an increasing number of interested observers gather a few uninjured specimens to watch in the aquarium jar. Better opportunity still comes to the naturalist on a voyage of discovery. While one group is busy dredging for deep sea forms of life, another in a row boat, with dip-net and tin pail, may skim the surface and collect the small but wonderful pelagic mollusks. "The blind snail of the sea" is among the most interesting of the varied ocean fauna. On shipboard or in the ordinary seaside aquarium it is quite at home. 163 CHAPTER XXX: THE HAIRY-KEELED SNAILS Family Trichotropid^ Shell thin, turbinated; spire elongated; the keeled whorls bearing an epidermal fringe of hairs; aperture roundish, angled below; lip sharp; operculum laminated; foot elongated; head broad; radula well developed; eyes on sides of tentacles. Genus TRICHOTROPIS, Bred. Characters of the family. Fifteen species in arctic waters. The Northern Hairy-keel (T. horealis, Brod. and Sby.) has a thin little colourless spire, an inch long or less, with strongly keeled whorls separated by deep but narrow sinuses. In life there is a thin brownish epidermis which bears a row of hairs. Dead specimens soon lose these hairs. Habitat. — Japan, Northern Europe, Greenland to Mass- achusetts. T. cancellata, Hds., a trifle larger, checkered by longitudinal ribs crossing the spiral ones, may be but the western form of T. horealis. Habitat. — Alaska to Vancouver Island. 164 CHAPTER XXXI: THE SCREW SHELLS TOWER SHELLS Family Turritellid/€ Shell a long slender spire of many whorls with revolving striae and fine, curved lines of growth ; mouth oval, or four-angled; lip thin; operculum spiral, horny; head with broad snout; eyes on bases of long spreading tentacles; mantle edge fringed; gill plume long, single; foot short, truncate in front, narrowed behind, grooved underneath, A marine family. Genus TURRITELLA, Lam. Characters of the family. Four hundred fossil and one hundred living species, chiefly in the Old World. Very few on American beaches. A peculiarity of this genus is that the upper fourth of the shell is always empty and divided by a septum at each half-turn. The Great Screw Shell {T. terehra, Linn.) has a most elegantly turned spire, tapering to a needle point, its sixteen whorls strongly grooved and ridged as if done in a lathe. The pale surface is stained with orange, or clouded all over with fulvous brown. The largest ones I have seen are five inches long, with a breadth at base of more than one inch. The same proportions hold in the smaller specimens. They come from the Philippine Islands. The idea of the screw was suggested to the philosopher Archimedes by the spiral shell of Turritella terehra. The Marbled Tower Shell (T. marmoraius, Keiner) is an obelisk of many flattened whorls, finely marked with growth stride. It tapers but little, and the apex is blunt. The surface is clouded and reticulated with lurid chocolate shades. Length, 6 to 8 inches. Habitat. — Philippines. The Girdled Screw Shell (7. cingulata, Sby.) is a slim 165 The Screw Shells. Tower Shells "lady's finger," china-like in texture, highly polished, and wound with a series of narrow stripes in shades of brown on a white foundation. Length, 2 inches. Habitat. — Peru. The Variegated Tower Shell (T. variegata, Linn.) is clouded and streaked with chocolate colour upon a solid creamy white, china-like surface, and finely sculptured with revolving ridges. "Lady fingers" the children call these elegant shells which taper to a needle point. The sixteen flattened whorls are separated by narrow sinuses. Length, 2^ to 5 inches. Habitat. — Southern Florida, West Indies. Cooper's Tower Shell (7. Cooperi, Cpr.), two inches long, yellow, streaked and spotted with brown, with a wide sinus, and two strong ridges on the whorls, is found on sandy beaches in Southern California when the tide goes out. This is a prime favourite with children. T. acicula, Stimps., very thin and white and three-fifths inch long, is found in the stomachs of cod and other fish from Cape Cod northward. It has ten very convex whorls, each strongly ribbed. Other species have been collected by fish on our north- east coast, and have come into the hands of scientists. Of these so very few specimens are known that they are not to be found in ordinary collections. 166 CHAPTER XXXII: THE WORM SHELLS AND POD SHELLS Family Vermetid.'E Shell tubular, with septa; regularly spiral when young; whorls free, irregular when adult; aperture round; operculum circular, concave on outside; body worm-like; head long, with tentacles and eyes; foot rudimentary. Mollusks usually attached to coral rocks or imbedded in sponges. Genus VERMETUS, Ads. Shell irregularly spiral, attached on one side or free; tube partitioned repeatedly; operculum small. The Worm Shell (K. spiratus, Phil.) is a mollusk, notwith- standing its very worm-like shell, which is yellowish brown, or white, like the calcareous coverings of certain marine worms. The spiral is close and regular at first, then it becomes free and wanders off in irregular, wayward fashion. Longitudinal, angled keels on the shell, distinguish this species. It may attain a length of 6 to lo inches. To fit the attenuated shell, the body is much elongated. The foot is short and broad. There is a horny circular operculum fitting the aperture. The toothed tongue is truly molluscan. These shells often form, as if for mutual protection, an intri- cate, tangled mass. They are found in shallow water all along the Atlantic seaboard, in the West Indies and the Gulf of Mexico. V. squamigerus, Cpr., occurs in clusters on the southern California coast. Each shell is loosely twisted, and shows scaly growth lines. Colour, yellowish white. V. varians, d'Orb., forms masses on the Florida coast. The shells are irregularly convoluted, and violet brown. Genus SILIQUARIA, Brug. Shell spiral, becoming free and irregular, with a longitudinal groove, or series of holes, its whole length; operculum elevated 167 The Worm Shells and Pod Shells and spiral outside. MoUusks live on coral rock or sponges on tropical shores. The Pod Shell (5. anguina, Linn.) is like the spirally twisted pods of certain leguminous plants. The long open groove in the shell distinguishes it from the worm shell. This species begins as a close spiral, but soon becomes irregular. It is a heavy yellowish shell, cylindrical, 3 to 6 inches long, and one-half inch in diameter at its mouth. It is found imbedded in sponges. Habitat. — Mediterranean Sea. S. modesta, Dall, unmistakably a pod shell, occurs in deep water from Cedar Keys, west coast of Florida, through the West Indies. 168 CHAPTER XXXIII: THE BLIND SHELLS. TUBE SHELLS Family C^cid.^ Shell minute, tubular, spiral at first, but becoming merely cylindrical, often losing the spiral part; one or more septa in posterior end of shell; foot short, bearing horny operculum; mantle thick, fleshy, circular; tentacles bear eyes; gill single. An interesting family of one genus of small mollusks inhabiting warm seas. Genus CAECUM, Flam. The strange development of this mollusk has been recently investigated. " In the young of Caecum the apex is at first spiral but as growth proceeds and the long tube begins to form, a septum is produced at the base of the apex, which soon drops off. Soon afterwards, a second septum forms a little farther down, and a second piece drops off, leaving the shell in the normal cylindrical form of the adult." — Cooke. Much confusion has been caused by conchologists who classi- fied members of this genus at different stages of development in \videly separate groups because they had no knowledge that such changes of form occur in the life history of the individual. The Florida Blind Shell (C. Floridanum, Stimps.) is a curved white horn of about thirty-two narrow rounded whorls. The sinuses are wider than the rings. The posterior end is closed with a septum bearing a sharp point. The mouth is oblique. Length, J inch. Habitat. — Cape Hatteras to Florida. C. pulchellum, Stimps, I of an inch long, brownish, with twenty-five rings and a blunt posterior septum, comes from New Bedford, Mass., and neighbouring beaches. This "pretty blind shell" reveals its exquisite structure under the microscope, though no larger than a grain of rice. It does not escape the eye of the collector who is out for small 169 The Blind Shells. Tube Shells snails. A quantity of this species was uncovered in dry sand under a piece of driftwood on the beach at the extreme end of Long Island. It is incomprehensible to some people that grown-up men can spend time searching for shells so small they are scarcely visible to the unaided eye. "Too small to putter with," is the ultimatum. Such people cannot understand the fact that to the mind that grasps the limits of the great animal group, Mollusca, no family, however small in size or scope, is insignificant. In fact, each species and variety is big with meaning. It is only small people who fail to grasp this fact. Only the ignorant can think the naturalist, in the field or the laboratory, is wasting time. C. crebricinctum, Cpr., is red-brown, with dark streaks running lengthwise across the eight close rings. The tip is pointed. Length, \ inch. Habitat. — Southern California. C. Californicum, Dall, is a narrow curved shell with very fine rings. Length, scarcely to inch. Habitat. — San Diego, Cal. C. Cooperi, Smith, J inch long, is cross ridged, which gives it considerable beauty under a lens. It is found in New England and off Long Island. C. nitidum, Stmps., is a very swollen form contracted at both ends; the shell is shiny and pale brown. Length, tV inch. Habitat. — Florida. 170 CHAPTER XXXIV: THE EULIMAS Family Eulimid^ Shell small, porcellanous, white, polished, with slender spire; aperture oval ; foot elongated; proboscis long, retractile; jaws and radula wanting. A little-known family of small mol- lusks parasitic on bivalves, sea-urchins and sea-cucumbers. Genus EULIMA, Risso Characters of the family. Spire often curved to one side. Foot secretes a mucous filament which helps the mollusk to float. The patient host must feed itself and its parasites, which, having no chewing organs, suck liquid food from the bodies they live upon. One species which lives on the outside of a sea- cucumber is seen to have no foot developed; it is fixed to one spot as if planted. But this one has developed a proboscis three times as long as the body; the tip of this flexible organ explores the surface for as great a distance as possible, taps the skin, and sucks the cucumber's blood. Another species is parasitic on the stomach wall. It moves about on a large foot and has a very short proboscis. From arctic to tropic seas these little pests are found; some species are found attached to bivalve shells, others to the opercula of univalves. The Shining Eulima {E. niicans, Cpr.) is bluish white, a glis- tening, slender, straight spire about two-fifths of an inch long, with a small oval mouth. Vancouver Island to San Diego, Cal. E. intermedia, Cantraine,one of the few east coast species, is J to 1^ an inch long; its slender, semi-transparent spire is tinged with brown. The body whorl is elongated. Habitat. — Europe and United States, on Atlantic coasts. E. Candida, Marrat, is a good illustration of the family peculiarities of form which our native species do not emphasise. The oblique line of varices down from the spire show where the mouth was at successive stages of growth. The spire is bent slightly. Colour, white. Length, i to 2 inches. Habitat. — Island of Formosa. '7' CHAPTER XXXV: THE PYRAMID SHELLS. OBELISK SHELLS Family Pyramidellid.^ Shell slenderly spiral, of many whorls, coiled to the left; aperture entire; columella with one or more folds; operculum horny; foot extending far beyond head; proboscis long, retractile; radula wanting; tentacles flattened, ear-shaped, channeled outside. This family includes but one genus in which living species exist. They are believed to be carnivorous, despite the deficient mouth parts. Genus PYRAMIDELLA, Lam. Characters of the family. Tropical seas. The Obelisk Shell (P. conica, C. B. Ads.) is our represen- tative of this genus. It occurs in Florida and at San Diego, Cal. Its ten flat whorls are separated by a deep spiral suture. It has a slender brownish spire half an inch high. Three folds are seen on the columella. This shell is rare. Genus TURBONILLA, Leach Shell minute, awl-shaped, its many whorls crossed by sharp, close ridges, columella straight, outer lip thin, simple. A very large genus of very small pyramid shells, widely distributed, chiefly in warm seas. The Short Pyramid Shell (7. curta, Dall) is a Cerithium in form, but its daintily cross-ridged spire is but one-third of an inch long. Habitat. — Cape Hatteras southward. The Chestnut Turbonilla {T. castanea. Cpr.), with the 172 The Pyramid Shells. Obelisk Shells characteristic cross ridges on its ten flat whorls, is a rich brown on the outside. Length, ^ inch. Habitat. — CaHfornia, Genus ODOSTOMIA, Flem. Even smaller than the preceding genus, which it resembles in form, in most cases a trifle stouter and with a tooth-hke fold, always, on the curved columella. Animal lives on slimy excreta of other mollusks, or on polyps and sponges of small size. The shells are white and lack cross-sculpture. O. impressa, Say, is regularly conical but slender, its spire wound with close, grooved lines. The lip flares around an oval aperture. Length, J inch. Habitat. — Massachusetts Bay to West Indies, West Florida. 173 CHAPTER XXXVI : THE PERIWINKLES AND CHINK SHELLS Family Littorinid.^ Shell spiral, turbinate or globular, not pearly; aperture oval or circular, entire; lip simple; columella thickened, flattened; operculum horny, of few coils ; snout wide, short ; eyes on swellings at outer bases of the long tentacles; foot broad and square in front and behind, divided lengthwise; radula long and narrow. Reproduction by eggs hatched within or outside the body. Genus LITTORINA, Fer. Characters of the family. A large genus of 150 species, living on rocks between tide marks. Some live in brackish, some in fresh water. Some species are amphibious and can survive long periods of drought. Som.e live on aerial roots of mangrove trees, where they overhang the water and get the dash of its spray. The distribution of the genus is world-wide. It is rapidly spreading on American coasts. Periwinkles furnish an important article of food to European markets, where they are bought by the poorer and middle classes. They are also an important bait for fish. The Shore Periwinkle (L. littorea, Linn.) is a mollusk fitted by nature to survive in the struggle for existence. Abundant on all the shores of Northern Europe, it has colonised New Eng- land and is rapidly extending its range southward. Its solid shell and horny operculum make an impregnable fortress against foes without. The name periwinkle, is an old one. It is supposed to be modified from "petty winkle," the small one, to distinguish it in the London markets from the large winkle, or whelk, Buccinum undatum. Both are staple foods in England. Thousands of tons of this dingy little mollusk are collected each year for the city trade by women and children on the rocky coasts of the British J 74 The Periwinkles and Chink Shells Isles, and sold from corner stalls or push carts in the streets. They are used as food in other European countries. The Portu- guese of Provincetown and other points on Cape Cod gather them in quantities. An immigrant from England, this species has come to our coasts via Iceland and Newfoundland. Its invasion has rapidly progressed southward past Cape Cod and Long Island to the New Jersey beaches. On the rocky coasts of Maine it is found in greatest abundance, covering the sides of huge boulders and wharf piers exposed by the outgoing tide, clinging to seaweeds and stems of marsh grass, or crawling in ditches, and tide pools. The shells are brownish yellow to olive or gray, sometimes spirally banded with dark red and brown. Sometimes they are black. There is great variability of colouring. They are thick, with seven or eight whorls, ribbed spirally. There is no umbilicus ; the lip is thin and black; the columella broad and white. The aperture is round; the operculum horny. The spire is sharp, but the shell has a squat shape, the base and height are each about J inch. The males are smaller than the females. The periwinkle is a vegetarian, as are nearly all round- mouthed snails. Coiled inside the mouth is the radula or rasping tongue, about three times as long as the body (2h inches); it has six hundred rows of sharp, curved, tricuspid teeth, seven in each crescentic row. Here is the weapon for scraping off the algse which grows on rocks near shore. Knowing their feeding habits, the owners of oyster beds scatter periwinkles on their acreage to keep the hindering algc^e grazed close. The gait of the periwinkle is slow and uneven, one side of the foot moving forward as the other holds fast: another good instance of a "snail's pace." A median line divides the foot lengthwise into two areas which act alternately in walking. A gland in the foot secretes copious slime. The eggs are laid in masses on seaweeds or rocks. The Common Periwinkle (L. irrorata, Say) is a heavy, sharp-pointed conical shell, of a few finely ridged whorls. Num- erous chestnut dots, in spiral lines, give a brownish colour to the exterior; the smooth columella is also brown. The lipis thick but bevelled suddenly to a thin edge and dotted with brown. This is the periwinkle of the Gulf of Mexico, which has gradually pro- gressed northward for years,overlappingthe range of theless robust '75 The Periwinkles and Chink Shells L. littorea. We look for both species on rocks between tide marks, and in stagnant pools and marshes. They seem to avoid the dash of the surf, though they are built to resist harm from wave action. Length, i inch. Hahitai.—¥\ond2i to New York. The Rough Winkle (L. rudis, Don) is at best scarcely half an inch in length, with rounded whorls separated by deep sutures. The female carries her eggs until they hatch, hence the last whorl isfully two-thirds of the whole shell and the round mouth is much larger than that of a male shell of equal size. This species is banded in neutral colours, from yellow to black. It can live out of water for a week. Marked specimens on the rocks were found not to have moved for over a month. The shells of the young brood render these periwinkles inedible. Their size, also, makes them hardly worth while. Length, ^ to ^ inch. Habitat. — Atlantic and Pacific coasts. The Gray Littorina (L. planaxis, Nutt.) is known by the broad, flat excavation of the columella. The shells are smooth rather thick, dirty white, flamed in irregular, often handsome patterns. The young shells lose their brightness with age. The average diameter is h inch. Habitat. — California. The Checkered Littorina (L. scutellata, Gld.) is brown or olive, checkered with white. The average shells are ^ inch or less in length. It is a very variable species. Habitat. — West coast of United States. The Zigzag Periwinkle (L. {iciac, Dillw.), has a tall spire, angled at its periphery, and decorated with fine, zigzag stripes of brownish yellow from apex to base. The body whorl shows a median clouding of blue that is faintly seen on the upper whorls. The species is variable. Length, h to i inch. Habitat. — Texas, Florida Keys, West Indies. L. angulifera, Lam., is distributed on the Florida and Gulf coasts and in the West Indies. Genus TECTARIUS, Val. The Pagoda Littorina {T. Pagod, Linn.) is very much like a Chinese pagoda, with a row of upturned, triangular tubercles finishing the keeled margins of its whorls. Secondary tubercles 176 The Periwinkles and Chink Shells in oblique rows cross the spaces intermediate between the keels, and granulations cover the whole surface. The body whorl has a double set of strong tubercles and a smaller row between these. The simple aperture is ribbed inside and tinted with the pale chestnut that stains and streaks the colourless exterior. Alti- tude, 2h inches. Habitat. — Australia, Ceylon. The Prickly Littorina (T. muricata, Linn.) has a solid, yellowish gray shell with rounded whorls a little flattened below the sutures and beaded with sharp nodules along the spiral ribs. The aperture is nearly smooth, and brownish. This creature has lived a year in a cabinet, cheerfully taking up its aquatic life again when released. Length, i inch. Habitat. — Bahamas, West Indies, Florida. T. nodulosus, Gmel., is smaller, i to § inch long, dull olive green or brownish yellow, spirally double-keeled and beaded, with aperture smooth and brown. This "worthless Littorina," as Reeve calls it, has a world-wide distribution. Habitat. — NorthCarolina to West Indies, Ceylon, Philippines, Australia. THE CHINK SHELLS Genus LACUNA, Turton Shell thin, ovate, turbinate or round, covered with epidermis; aperture half-moon shaped; columella with groove or chink leading to umbilicus; lip sharp; operculum thin, spiral. The Atlantic Chink Shell (L. vincta, Turton) looks at first glance like an elongated znd thin specimen of Littorina. The spire is smooth, horn-coloured, or banded with brown on a purp- lish ground. The distinctive generic feature is the deep columellar groove. It lives upon seaweeds in sheltered coves, and is often quite as well represented as the periwinkles in the debris of an inshore wind. Length, ^ inch. Habitat. — Arctic seas to New Jersey. The Chink Shell (L. porreda, Cpr.) has a wide groove, and the body whorl is much enlarged. The creature is found on seaweed. It is about ^ inch in diameter. Habitat. — Vancouver Island to San Diego, Cal. 177 The Periwinkles and Chink Shells L. variegata, Cpr., streaked with chestnut, often beaded with white on the peripheral margin, has about the same distri- bution, but is one-half as large as L. porrecta. L. pallidula, Da C, with widely flaring mouth and wide umbilicus, is a yellowish species found in the North Atlantic. It is about I inch in diameter. Habitat. — New England. L. divaricata, Fab., is a glossy little chink shell, with elon- gated spire, whitish, often variously banded with brown and white. Length, about h inch. Habitat. — All cold waters of northern hemisphere, including New England and northwestern coast. '&' Genus MODULUS, Gray Shell top-shaped, solid; whorls grooved and tubercled; umbilicus narrow; columella grooved, ending below in a sharp tooth. Few species. The Florida Modulus {M . Floridanus ,(jor\x .) has a depressed spire, strongly ribbed, and crossed above the periphery by short, oblique nodular ridges. The umbilicus and the sharp tooth of the columella are the best distinguishing features. Its colour is dirty white, often tinged with brown or olive green. Diameter, ^ to § of an inch. Habitat. — West coast of Florida Keys. Genus FOSSARUS, Phil. Shell small, spiral, compact, ridged, with umbilical groove on the columella. Littorine mollusks on seaweeds. The Elegant Fossarus (F. elegans, Verr.) has its few coils most beautifully sculptured with strong winding ridges crossed by deeply chiseled, close striations. The large, round mouth crowds the grooved columella and almost covers the pit. The outer lip is frilled. Length, J inch. Habitat. — Rhode Island to Cape Fear. F. obtusus, Cpr., is a light brown, round shell, with spiral grooves that crimp the lip of the oval aperture. The umbilical chink is present, though small. Length, \ inch. Habitat. — California. 178 The Shell Bo(ik Plate IV Copyright, 1908, by Duubjeday, Page & Company UNIVALVE SHELLS OF TROPICAL SEAS 18 Open Melongena, Me'.ongena patula, B.andS. 22 Little Red Triton, Trilon riibeatla, Linn. 19 Fighting IMelongena, Mdongena pugiiiiia. Born. 23 Nicobar Spindle Shell, Fusus Xicobaricus, Chemn. 10 Leafy Frog Shell, RancUa joliala. Brod. 24 Melongena, Mdongena melongena, Linn. 21 Rudolph's Purple, Purpura Rudolphi, Linn. 25 Triton, Triton aqualilis, Rve. CHAPTER XXXVII: THE HORN SHELLS Family Cerithiid.^ Shell spiral, much elongated, of many whorls, surface tuberculated; aperture channeled in front; operculum horny, spiral; the head bears short muzzle, slender tentacles and stalked eyes. A large family of tropical and sub-tropical mollusks, living on rocks or among marine vegetation. A few forms live in brackish and fresh water. Some spend much time out of water, on stems of marsh plants. Genus CERITHIUM, Brug. Shell turreted, imperforate, varices indistinct; aperture small, with short posterior canal, the longer, anterior one oblique; outer lip expanded; inner lip thickened, concave. Siphon short; body grooved, truncated in front, narrowed behind; foot secretes a thread by which body may be suspended. It is often attached to a piece of floating seaweed. When unattached the mollusk crawls quickly along by its slender, extensible foot. It emits a green fluid when disturbed. It feeds on all sorts of decaying organic matter, even the slime of snails. Fossil species, near five hundred. C. giganteum, an Eocene fossil, is two feet long. American representatives few and of small size. Marine or amphibious mollusks in tropical seas, with a few in temperate waters. In the West Indies they swarm in great numbers and variety. One species is the sole food of flamingoes after they attain adult size. One sweep of a hand-net in the tide pools at low water on the reefs just out of Key West will gather in hundreds of them, particularly of the species septem-str latum, Say. There are hundreds sunning themselves on every exposed rock. The Brown Horn Shell (C. eburneiim, Brug.), about i inch long, has strong spiral ribs set with rounded knobs, the middle ridge bears the largest. Fine spiral striae and occasional varices '79 The Horn Shells further sculpture the surface. Chestnut dots and patches colour the depression and the aperture. Sometimes the shells are colourless. Habitat. — West Indies, Florida. The Dark Horn Shell (C. atratum, Born.) has a row of small nodules in the suture, and a larger row on the keel of the whorl, with fme strise between. A strong varix is opposite the aperture. Colour, dark gray or chocolate; aperture bluish. Length, i to ih inches. Habitat. — West Indies, Florida. C. muscarum, Say, has rounded, spirally ribbed whorls crossed by longitudinal, finely knobbed, ridges. Small brown dots cover the more depressed surfaces and often the ridges as well. This is a slender species. Length, i inch. Habitat. — Bahamas, Florida. C. litteratum, Born., is a stouter shell, i to i^ inches long, its whorls bordered above with the strongest set of tubercles, the depressed surfaces dotted and splashed with pale brown, in a pattern resembling letters. Habitat. — West Indies, Florida. C. ferrugineum, Say, is two-thirds of an inch long, dark with orange red tinge, spirally ridged and faintly knobbed, with a dark aperture. Habitat. — South Carolina to Florida. C. laeve, Quoy, a smooth species, is the largest living mem- ber of the family. It is white with many flattened whorls forming a regular spire, except that the body whorl is slightly swollen. Length, 5 to 6 inches. Habitat. — Australia. Genus CERITHIDEA, Swains. This group is distinguished by the tree-dwellers and other amphibious forms it contains. The Decollated Cerithidea, (C. decollata, Linn.), the type of the genus, is a widely distributed species of robust character, somewhat over an inch long. The apex is truncated, the rounded whorls brown, sometimes with a white line at the suture, with strong ridges and fine striae crossing all over the surface. These moUusks live on swampy coasts of warm regions. They some- 180 PERIWINKLES AXD WORM SHELLS Liltorina lilorea. Lillorina irrorala. Liltorina angulijera. 5 Liltorina p'.anaxis. 6 Pyramidella conic a. Siliquaria anguina. 7 Tectarius pagodus. 8 Vermelus spiralus. 1 Cerithium nodulosum 2 Potamides palustris HORN SHELLS 3 Telescupium jtiscum. 4 Potamides sacrata. 5 Potamides ebeninus. 6 Vertagus maculosus. 7 Cerithium lave. The Horn Shells times cover the trunks of marsh trees in Natal so thickly that not an inch of the bark is unoccupied. A naturalist who collected them at this station says that the mollusks are attached by a trifle of brittle mucus that affixes the lip to the tree. None hangs by a thread. Habitat. — Madagascar and India. C. scalariformis, Say, resembles a staircase shell (Scala), as its whorls are crossed by a multitude of distinct longitudinal riblets. It is an inch long, whitish to chocolate-coloured. In the dark shells the ribs are white. It habitually crawls up grass stems, and stays most of the time out of water. Habitat. — Florida. Genus POTAMIDES, Bron. Shell imperforate, turreted, angled, tubercled or spiny, with thick epidermis, apex often decollated; operculum horny; foot nearly circular, blunt behind; siphon fringed. A genus of tropical brackish water species which are able to live for long periods suspended above the water by threads spun from the foot. A species, P. palustris, Brug., lives in the salt marshes of the Eastern Archipelago. The natives collect these in quan- tities for food. They are roasted, then the contents of the shell are sucked out, the spire being broken off first. In Borneo the large P. telescopium, Brug., 8 to lo inches long, is an article of food. Near Calcutta this species is so abundant that the shells are burned for lime. The live mollusks are first heaped in the sun to die. P. sacrata, Gld., has a narrow, dark brown spire, with rounded whorls marked with spiral ridges and crossed by longi- tudinal ridges and occasional stronger varices. It is abundant on muddy flats at low tide. Length, i to i^ inches. Habitat. — California. Genus BITTIUM, Leach Shell elevated; whorls many and granular, with irregular varices; anterior canal short, not recurved; outer lip not reflected, usually with an exterior rib; foot narrow, square in front. Small mollusks, in temperate seas. i8i The Horn Shells B. filosum, Gld., has about eight whorls, each lined with four ridges, forming a graceful spire, ^ to § of an inch long. It is thin, of horny texture, brownish to white, and found attached to stones at low tide. Small hermit crabs often take possession of the dead shells. Sitka to Monterey, Cal. B. nigrum, Totten, is i inch long, a chocolate-coloured conical shell, cross-banded by spiral and longitudinal ridges, of which the spiral only persist on the the base of the body whorl. Habitat. — New England to Florida. B. quadrifilatum, Cpr., has four raised lines on the convex whorls of its graceful slender spire. Length, about J inch. Habitat. — Southern California. Sub-Genus CERITHIOPSIS, Forbes and Hanley Shell small, rather cylindrical, narrow, tubercled; whorls numerous, narrowing toward base; aperture small; canal short, straight; foot narrow. Inhabits northern and temperate seas. C. punctata, Linn., is a little brown shell, paler on the ridges, which intersect, making the surface finely granulated. The body whorl has a smooth concave base. Length, ^ to | inch. Habitat. — Massachusetts to Florida, West Indies. C. tubercularis, Montg., is the European horn shell found also in Florida and on the west coast of North America. It is half an inch long, however, in the New World form, twice as large as the European type. It is a dark brown shell with three rows of strong, regular tubercles. The sutures are well marked, the apical whorls smooth. Habitat. — Europe, Vancouver Island to Southern California. C. purpurea, Cpr., has whorls in which the upper half is dark brown, the lower half paler. Three series of nodules coil from base to spire. Length, J to ^ inch. California. C. terebrans, C. B. Ads., has a narrow spire sculptured with sharp spiral ridges, three on each whorl. Chocolate brown solid colour is tinged with yellow. Length, | to § inch. Habitat. — Massachusetts to West Indies. Genus TRIFORIS, Desh. Shell spiral, elongated, granular, coiled to the left, whorls numerous, aperture small with short canal. One hundred species. 182 The Horn Shells Peculiar in retaining the larval form until quite large, especially when living far from shore. T. decorata, C. B. Ads., is white overlaid with checkers of dark brown. The whorls bear three rows of beads with deep channels between. The "left-handedness" of this slim little shell makes it noticeable. Length, i to § inch. Habitat. — Florida, West Indies. A Californian form of the European T. perversa, Linn., is var. adversa. Its ribbed and beaded, yellowish brown spire coils to the left, distinguishing it from other genera of the horn shells. It is about the same size as T. decorata. 183 CHAPTER XXXVIII: THE BLACK SNAILS. MARSH SNAILS Family MELANiiOi^ Shell spiral, turreted; spire often worn; epidermis dark, thick; aperture notched or chambered in front; outer lip sharp; operculum horny, spiral. Animal with broad, short, foot; broad, non-retractile snout; tentacles far apart, bearing short eyestalks; tongue long, slim, with seven series of many-cusped teeth; mantle margin fringed; gill of stiflF, cylindrical plates. Reproduction often viviparous. A large family inhabiting fresh water lakes and rivers, in warm regions, chiefly of the Old World. Genus MELANIA, Lam. Shell with acute apex, its whorls ornamented with spines or striations; aperture oval, pointed above. Four hundred species, distributed over Southern Europe, India, Philippines, Pacific Islands, in swift tidal rivers, especially in rapids. The Melanias include forms with cancellated, tubercled and smooth shells. They range from globose to needle-like forms. The largest is under three inches long. Many species have their shells decollated — broken off at the apex. The finest species are Philippine. The Acorn Black Snail (M. glans, Busch) is smooth, oval, olive-hued, with a depressed spire; the body whorl and the aperture are both very large. Length, i inch. Habitat. — Java, Philippines. The Bristly Black Snail (M. setosa. Swains.) is globose and has its spire set with a spiral row of erect sharp spines. The black or green exterior contrasts with the pale lip and throat. Length, i^ inches. Habitat. — Philippines, Fiji Islands. M. hastula, Lea, is fawn-coloured and long and tapering 184 The Black Snails. Marsh Snails like the auger shells. Its whorls are few, cross-ribbed and some- what rounded. Length, 2 to 3 inches. Habitat. — Philippines. M. laevissima, Sby., is a solid, stout, smooth, conical shell, thick-lipped, ashy blue streaked with purple. Length, i to 2 inches. Habitat. — Mexico. Genus PALUDOMUS, Swains. Shell conical or globose; aperture large, round; peristome continuous; columella callous; operculum spiral; animal like Melania. Twenty-five species, found in India and Ceylon. Gardner's Paludomus (P. Gardneri, Rve.) is the most characteristic species. The orbicular-ovate shell is deeply sculp- tured by blunt, spiral ridges, alternately large and small; the mouth is large, the spire depressed; colours, black outside, white inside, with purple-stained lips. Length, i^ inches. Habitat. — Ceylon. The Mail-Clad Paludomus (P. loricatus, Rve.) is a stony, globose shell, wide mouthed like a Nerite, which it otherwise closely resembles. The revolving ribs are set with triangular points, like diminutive shark's teeth. The brown exterior con- trasts sharply with the white interior. Length, i^ inches. Habitat, — Ceylon. 185 CHAPTER XXXIX: THE RIVER SNAILS Family Streptomatidv^ Shell turreted or ovate; aperture angled or channeled in front; epidermis olive-hued; operculum sub-spiral; mantle not fringed. An oviparous group of five hundred species, con- fined to the United States except for a few West Indian species. They are found chiefly in the headwaters of streams rising in the mountains of the south central states. Genus lO, Lea. Shell tuberculated, with few exceptions; spire elevated; peristome flaring; canal twisted; columella smooth, concave. Few species in rivers of Tennessee and West Virginia, The Spiny lo (/. spinosa. Lea) is the most graceful of these tuberculated fusiform shells, quite as beautiful in form as the spindle shells it resembles. Under the horny epidermis obscure purplish bands appear on an olive ground. The aperture is half as long as the shell. Length, 2 inches. Habitat. — Virginia, Tennessee. The prominence of the tubercles makes this species pre- eminent among American river snails, and leads to their being mistaken for marine mollusks. Specimens found in Indian graves were called "conchs" by their discoverers, who argued that the tribes must have once lived near the shore. But no such shells occur in salt water. The River lo (I.fluviatilis, Lea) is smooth or faintly knobbed, solid, greenish, stained with purple. The canal is scarcely twisted and has a rounded end. Length, i inch. Habitat. — Tennessee region. I. inermis, Anthony, is unarmed. The smooth, elegantly fusiform shell is purplish throughout. Length, 2 inches. Habitat. — Southern States. The Turreted lo (/. turrita, Anthony) is more elongated 186 The River Snails than /. spinosa, which it imitates in its decoration of stout spines. Two faint bands traverse each whorl. Length, 2^ inches. Habitat. — Tennessee. I. brevis, Anthony, is stout and short, with stubby spines, five on the keel of each whorl. The canal is broad, but short. Length, 2 inches. Tennessee. Genus ANGITREMA, Hald. Shell conical, spiny; canal short; aperture angled; columella thickened above and below. About twelve species in Tennessee and neighbouring states. The Knotty Angitrema {A. geniculata, Hald.) is stout, solid, almost globular, with a row of round knees on the angled shoulder of the whorls. The flaring aperture is notched at both ends. The double callus on the columella is a noticeable generic trait. Colour, yellowish olive. Length, f inch. Habitat. — East Tennessee. The Armed Angitrema {A. armigera, Say) is cone-shaped, with flattened and wrinkled whorls, and tubercled on a central keel. This row of knobs is buried by the revolving lip as it grows, though their presence is discoverable just below the sutures. The horny surface is often eroded at the apex; revolving red lines obscurely mark the whorls. Length, i inch. Habitat. — Tennessee, Indiana, Kentucky. Button's Angitrema (A. Duttoniana, Lea) is a handsome species. The elegant yellow-banded spire is conical, pointed, twice as high as wide. The long aperture is notched above and below. A row of tubercles usually follows the middle of the body whorl. Sometimes there is a keel instead. Length, i inch. Habitat. — Tennessee rivers. A. verrucosa, Raf., is ellipsoid, with blunt apex and long aperture; the lower whorl only is set with several rows of promi- nent warts. The outer lip is plaited within. Colour, olive brown, with white lining. Length, § inch. Ohio River. Sub-Genus LITHASIA, Hald. Shell small, oval or short, fusiform, smooth; columella as in Angitrema; no distinct channel. Fourteen species, inhabiting rivers of the Tennessee region. .87 The River Snails The Dilated Lithasia (A. dilatata, Lea) spreads out its white lips below the oval, yellowish green spire, showing the brown lining. Low tubercles are sometimes seen on the shoulder. Length, f inch. Habitat. — Tennessee. Sub-Genus STREPHOBASIS, Lea This small group includes a few conical shells in which the short canal is twisted under the shell. A. carta, Hald., is greenish-brown and stoutly cylindrical, with a narrow aperture closed with a dark brown operculum. The canal is drawn under by the twisting of the columella. Length, I inch. Habitat. — Tennessee. Sub-Genus PLEUROCERA, Raf. Shell elongated, conical, regular; aperture with short canal; columella without callus. Tryon describes eighty-two species. The Ponderous Pleurocera {A. ponderosa, Say) is a heavy cone of flat coils, the last one keeled. The short lip canal turns to the left. The surface is olive, the lining white. Length, 2 inches. Habitat. — Tennessee. A. undulata, Say, has a handsome elevated spire of broad flat coils that cover a row of knobs, and so produce wavy folds below the deep suture. The white lip projects. Length, ij inches. Habitat. — Ohio River. A. canaliculata, Say, is distinguished by its distinct groove on the body whorl. Variable in form and size and ranging in colour from pale green or yellow to black, yet it is distinct. It is very common at the falls. Length, i inch. Habitat. — Ohio River. Genus GONIOBASIS, Lea Shell heavy, ovate or elongated; aperture angled in front, but without canal or notch. A large genus of one hundred and fifty species, one-half of the entire family, distributed east of 1 88 MARSH AXD APPLE SXAILS 1 Marsh Snail, Vhipara Bengalensis. 2 Marsh Snail. Vivipara contecloides. 3 Prickly Black Snail, Melania asperata. 4 Flattened Apple Snail, Ampullaria depressa. 9 Green Apple Snail, Campeloma decisa. 5 Marsh Snail, Vivipara inurtexla. 6 Jug Apple Snail, Ampullaria ampuUacea. 7 Purple Apple Snail, .4 m/i!///(jrM purpurea. 8 Ram's-horn Apple Snail, Ampullaria cornu-arietis. 3. 1 Cyclostoma pulchra. 2 Cydotus giganteus. 6, 7 Pterocyc'.os angulijerus. ROUND-MOUTHED SNAILS 4 Chondropoma magnifica. 5 Cyclostoma sulcata. 8 Olopoma naticoides. 9 Cvdostoma Cuvicrantim. 1 0 Cyclophorus volvulus. 1 1 Cyclophorus Siamensis. 12 Adamsiella mirabilis. The River Snails the Mississippi, but well represented (as is no other genus) on the Pacific slope of the Rocky Mountains. The collector must search for these snails in the clear water of creeks that flow down mountain slopes. The green algae are their accustomed food. The Virginian Goniobasis (G. Virginica, Gmel.) is slender and long, with about six whorls, rounded a little, and banded with red near the middle and base of each. Some forms are finely ridged throughout, with ten or twenty lines on the body whorl. The tip is always worn off. The colour is dark brown or olivaceous. Length, i to ij inches. Habitat. — Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. The Plaited River Shell (G. plicifera, Lea) has keen- edged folds crossing the whorls to the very apex of its horn-like spire. But for its dark complexion this river shell might be mistaken for one of the ladder shells, though the latter are marine mollusks and decidedly pale. Length, i inch. Habitat. — Oregon. The Sharp-Lined River Shell (G. acutifilosa, Strns.) bears a double row of sharp tubercles winding up its tall spire, and below these, on the body whorl are four or five plain, sharp keels that very prettily crimp the thin outer lip. The tip is usually missing, else the shell would be over an inch long. Habitat. — Eagle Lake, Cal. G. rubiginosa, Lea, is rusty, with spiral keels on all but the smooth body whorl. Habitat. — Oregon. G. nigrina, Lea, is black, has smooth, rounded whorls, and is slender. Length, about f inch. Habitat. — Tributaries of the Sacramento River. G. bulbosa, Gld., smooth, and swollen, lives in streams that feed the Columbia River. 189 CHAPTER XL: THE SPIRE SHELLS AND FLOOD SHELLS Family Rissoid.^ Shell small, top-shaped or elongated; mouth rounded, scarcely channeled. A family of small marine mollusks living on seaweeds, to which they are suspended by a mucous thread. Genus RISSOA, Freim, Characters of the family. Two hundred species, abundant chiefly in shallow seas. R. minuta, Totten, is a smooth, blunt-pointed shell, with rounded, finely striated whorls. It is yellowish brown and clings by a thread to the leaves of seaweeds. Length, J inch. Habitat. — New England to New Jersey. R. acutilirata Cpr., yV to } inch long, is worthy of ex- amination under a lens. Its brownish yellow surface is marked by sharp intersecting ribs. It is found on seaweed. Habitat. — San Diego, Cal. Genus RISSOINA, D'orb. Resembles Rissoa except that the aperture and operculum are ear-shaped, and the latter has a blade-like projection on its inner surface. Warm coasts. R. fenestrata, Schwartz, is a white shell, blunt at apex, drawn in at base, its rounded whorls strongly ribbed longitudi- nally and spirally, making the surface regularly "windowed," as the specific name implies. Length, | to J inch. Genus BARLEEIA, Clark Shell smooth, spiral elongated; aperture round; operculum not spiral; with internal projection. B. haliotiphila, Cpr., may be found in colonies comfortably quartered among the coralline tufts that flourish on the shell of 190 The Spire Shells and Flood Shells Haliotis, the Abalone, on the Cahfornia coast. It is a simple conical shell J inch long. Whether the Abalone is conscious of the burden it carries, 1 cannot say. Probably it counts these passengers as a part of its scheme of protective coloration. If so, then the little haliotis-lover pays for his lodging, and the migrations of the host help to keep the stationary guest mollusks supplied with food. Genus AMNICOLA, Gld. and Hald. Shell small, short, ovate or globose, thin, smooth; apex not acute; aperture broadly ovate, not oblique; lip thin, sharp; not projecting below; operculum horny, spiral. Foot short, broad, rounded behind; tentacles blunt; snout short; egg cases pod-like, short, one egg in each. A fresh-water snail of North America. Species few. A. limosa, Say, the type, is dark horn-coloured, often en- crusted with black, as it is found in muddy stream borders; the body is white, marked with brown above. Say found them numerous on the banks of Schuylkill and Delaware rivers, between high and low tides. Length, s\ inch. Habitat. — Hudson Bay region to Wisconsin and Virginia. Genus FLUMINICOLA, Stimps. Shell obliquely ovate, thick, smooth, spire blunt; inner lip flat and callous, outer lip spreading, especially below; operculum horny. Egg cases lens-shaped, containing many eggs. Found in fresh water in Oregon and California. Nuttall's Flood Shell (F. Nuitalliana, Lea) maybe distin- guished from neighbouring genera by its solid shell and sub-spiral operculum. It has been given five other generic names. The rivers of the two western states mentioned furnish plenty of specimens. Length, | inch. A green species, F. virens, Lea, somewhat slender and oblique, but very thick, and a very stout, almost spherical one. F. fusca, Hald., reddish, with white lip, and the size of a pea, inhabits Oregon streams. Genus POMATIOPSIS, Tryon. Shell small, thin, elongated, of few very much rounded whorls; aperture round, lip continuous, extended or reflected; 191 The Spire Shells and Flood Shells J operculum horny. Foot very broad; snout extensible; gill ] present, but the mollusk breathes air. P. lapidaria, Say, is a little pebble-like snail, scarce large ! enough to earn a name. It is found in moist situations, under stones, on river banks, and is able to crawl along the surface of the water with its shell hanging downward. But it is uncomfort- ] able in water. On land it progresses by fastening the tip of the ; snout, and drawing the body up to it, thus taking "steps." Length, i inch. ^ Habitat. — Michigan and Missouri to Georgia and New York. j P. Californica, Pils., has a turreted-conic, thin, brown shell J with a pit underneath the rounded whorls. Length, -g inch. j Habitat. — Small streams about San Francisco Bay. j 192 CHAPTER XLI: THE SENTINEL SHELLS Family Assiminiid.^ Shell small, globose-conical, with sharp lip; operculum of few coils, horny, nucleus on the side; gills replaced by a pul- monary sac; tentacles wanting; eyes on very long stalks, and the active mollusks appear to be keeping a sharp lookout for danger. Terrestrial or amphibious mollusks. Found in Europe, Asia and America. Genus ASSIMINEA, Leach. A. Francesise, of India, one of the few species of this sole genus in the family, remains on land for days, "looping" along at great speed, exactly like a "measuring worm," using the snout and small foot alternately. The tentacles and the eyestalks that branch from them are of equal length. Two Caiitornian species have been reported. »93 CHAPTER XLII: THE VALVE SHELLS Family Valvatid^ Shell depressed, often almost discoidal, umbilicated; oper- culum round; epidermis green. Animal with long snout and tentacles; foot cleft in front; branchial plume long, branched, thrust partially out when the mollusk is walking. Teeth of radula in seven series, broad, hooked. Fresh water or terrestrial mol- lusks. Genus VALVATA, Miill. Characters of the family. Small, thin, flat-coiled shells, found in slow-running brooks and ditches, or ponds, in Europe and North America. The eggs are laid in a single globular capsule. The capsules are fastened to pebbles or stems of plants. The Three-keeled Valve Shell (K. iricarinaia, Say) exhibits three coils, each of which bears a keeled shoulder. The mouth is round, expanding like a bell; the operculum is spiral with a central nucleus. When progressing, the gill plume is lifted above the head. Diameter, \ inch. Habitat. — Delaware River. V. sincera, Say, similar in most particulars to the preceding, has rounded whorls. The pit is larger. Habitat. — Northwest Territory. The Green Valve Shell {V. virens, Tryon), a minute, swollen top shell, bright green, is i inch in diameter. Habitat. — Clear Lake, Cal. TQ4 CHAPTER XLIII: THE POND SNAILS. RIVER SNAILS Family Viviparid>e (Paludinid/^) Shell turban-shaped; aperture simple; lip continuous; epidermis olivaceous; operculum annular; foot large; snout short, stout; right tentacle enlarged in male; eyes on base of tentacles; teeth broad, serrated. Animal ovoviviparous. Genus VIVIPARA, Lam. Shell thin; spire produced; surface smooth; body dark; head large; foot thick, not extending beyond the moderate snout; neck lappets forming troughs to admit and discharge water from the gill chamber. V. intertexta, Say, is globular, with three or four yellowish green or brownish whorls ; the elevated apex is worn at the tip; the lines on the surface are but skin deep. Lip continuous and white. Maximum length and breadth, i inch. Habitat — Marshes of Louisiana. Mr. Binney received specimens from Iowa and South Carolina. V. multicarinata, Hald., bears distinct raised revolving and cross lines, on the green conical shell. The mouth is round and large. Length, ij inches. Southern states. V. contectoides, Binney, has five greenish rounded coils forming a tall spire, and ending in a round mouth. Cross streaks intersect the four revolving bands of brown which show through the thin shell substance. A variable and handsome species, allied to the European, K. conteda. Length, i inch. Habitat. — Michigan and Arkansas to Florida. Mr. Maxwell Smith has recently found Vivipara in locks of the Erie Canal at Rochester, N. Y. Genus TULOTOMA, Hald. The Magnificent Tulotoma (T. magnifica, Conr.) is a solid conical shell with two spiral rows of tubercles on the body whorl, '95 The Pond Snails. River Snails and a single row winding to the truncated apex. This shell is the handsomest in the family. It is found on masses of crumbling limestone fallen from the river banks. The greenish epidermis contrasts pleasingly with the rich purple or salmon colour of the smooth lining. Height, i to 2 inches. Habitat. — Alabama River at Claiborne. Genus MELANTHO, Bowditch Shell ovate; spire elevated; whorls rounded, smooth; peristome continuous, simple; epidermis olive; foot large, thin, protruding much beyond the small snout; flesh pale, red-dotted; teeth small. The Heavy Melantho (M. ponderosa, Say), typifies the genus. The inner lip is applied as a thickening fold to the colu- mella. Dark streaks are painted on the greenish exterior. The lining is white; so is the surface under the horny epidermis. The animal has a curious habit of flattening the foot and curling it outward into a thin scroll, square in front. The neck lappets are not grooved as water ducts. Length, i-| to 2 inches. Habitat. — Lake Superior to Alabama. Genus LIOPLAX, Troschel Shell thin, ovate; spire elongated; foot large, square in front, rounded behind, projecting beyond small head. A few species in the United States. Variable. L. subcarinata, Say, has three rounded whorls, smooth or showing a few faint elevated revolving lines. The apex is often worn; the aperture oval. The foot is purplish in front, the head pale orange, the eyes black. Length, ^ inch. Habitat. — Delaware River. 196 CHAPTER XLIV: THE APPLE SNAILS. FLASK SNAILS Family Ampullariid^ Shell globular, with large body whorl ; spire short, depressed, sometimes making the coil flat; aperture somewhat expanded; operculum concentric. Animal with long siphon, left gill much smaller than right; muzzle ending in two long feelers; tentacles very long. An amphibious family of tropical distribution in both hemi- spheres, corresponding to the Paludinidae in ponds and streams of temperate regions. The gills lie in a large, partially closed breathing cavity, which adapts the mollusks to life out of water. In dry seasons they bury themselves in mud; indeed, they survive removal from water for months, breathing air, but probably keeping the air chamber moist. The typical genus has a green, shiny epidermis. The large eggs are laid in limy capsules, which adhere in round masses to the stems of water plants. When fresh they are beautifully coloured, crimson, pink or bluish green. Genus AMPULLARIA, Lam. Lip continuous, reflected, thickened inside, operculum horny, with shelly coat outside. A large genus of striking coloration and size. The Giant Flask Shell ( A. gigas, Spix), as large as a man's clenched fist, is a formidable snail. The great aperture almost conceals the rest of the shell with its continuous flaring rim, as one looks down into its blue-banded depths. The spire is deeply channeled and sunken well into the inflated body whorl. The horny olive surface bears many narrow bands of green. The pit is deep; the lip yellowish and spotted. Diameter, 4 to 6 inches. Habitat. — Brazil. 197 The Apple Snails. Flask Snails The Noble Flask Shell {A. nobilis, Rve.), has a more ele- vated spire, which gives the shell a squat, pear-shaped outline. The horny olive surface is obscurely banded with brown. The great aperture reveals a pale, unhanded interior, painted on the recurved lip with bright, dark red. Diameter, 4 to 5 inches. Habitat. — Brazil. In several other species the protruding thick lip is strikingl}) banded and coloured. The Paper Apple Snail {A. papyracea, Spix) is thin-shelled and black as ink. Diameter, 3 to 4 inches. Habitat. — Rivers of Western Brazil. The Island Apple Snail {A. insitlariim, d'Orb.) has its green- ish globose body whorl finely striated, and often creased as if hammered. The gaping mouth glows orange red. This species inhabits lakes and brooks, among the stems of water plants. A specimen survived a year's sojourn in a cabinet, reviving promptly when put into water. Habitat. — Isles of Parana in the La Plata River. Genus POMUS, Humphrey- Lip thin at margin; operculum horny. Inhabits South America, West Indies and Florida. "Idol Shell" is an Indian name in South America, where the shells are venerated. The Flattened Apple Snail {P. depressa, Say) is swollen almost to globular form, the spire flattened, the olive-green sur- face banded with narrow lines of darker green and brown, unequally spaced. The aperture is oval and very large, with a thin lip, scarcely flaring. The pit is nearly closed. Length and breadth, ij inches. Habitat. — Tributaries of St. John's River, Eastern Florida. 198 CHAPTER XLV: THE LOOPING SNAILS Family Truncatellid^ Shell very small, elongated, truncated; aperture round; lip continuous. Animal with small foot and head; snout large, as long as the body. Amphibious mollusks, inhabiting salt marshes and stream borders, where they walk by looping along like measuring worms, using the foot and snout. Genus TRUNCATELLA, Risso A tropical genus of world-wide range. Several species of these minute shells venture north into the States from Mexico and the West Indies. All are finely ridged across the whorls. T. bilabiata, Pfr., has a two-ridged lip. The surface is brownish, solid, elegantly carved. The apex is gone. Length, i inch. Habitat. — Cuba, Florida. T. pulchella, Pfr., is more tapering, amber and shining, about the same size, with a single thick rim. Habitat. — West Indies, Florida. The California Looping Snail (T. Californica, Pfr.) has a minute horny shell, whose smooth whorls, separated by a deep suture, form a slim cylinder a quarter of an inch long. Only practised eyes can find this little creature, looping along on sea- weed or stones, or in salt meadows on grass stems. 199 CHAPTER XLVI: THE ROUND-MOUTHED SNAILS Family CvcLOSTOMiDi^ Shell spiral, often depressed, not much elongated; mouth round, lip simple; operculum spiral, circular; foot long; lingual teeth hooked, recurved, in seven rows; mouth proboscis-like, without jaws; air sac on back of neck, with open mouth; sexes distinct; reproduction oviparous. A large family of terrestrial, air-breathing snails, resembling the Littorinidae in structure. Chiefly tropical, in the eastern hemisphere. Genus CYCLOSTOMA, Lam. Shell cone-shaped to globose, thin; umbilicus wide; oper- culum spiral, calcareous, foot divided in middle line, sides move alternately in walking; snout is used too, so locomotion is some- what like the looping snail's. A large genus, with range centred in Madagascar. Cuvier's Cyclostoma (C Cuvieranum, Petit.), the giant of the genus, much depressed and thin, is strikingly angled with two sharp keels, separated by a flat plane, and the whole surface is finely striated. The colour is dull, a pale chocolate hue, darker on the keels. The lip flares, and is thickened with an inner rim of white enamel. The pit is wide and deep, all but piercing the apex. These mollusks are representative of a group of species of large size, and handsome form and sculpture. Diameter, 2^ inches. Habitat. — Madagascar. The Natica-like Cyclostoma (C. Naticoides, Pfr.) is solid, polished, flesh-pink, with rounded whorls increasing to a swollen body whorl, and a thickened, scarcely flaring lip. An ear-like lobe of callus closes the pit. The shell lining is orange-hued. Habitat. — Socotra, north of Madagascar. 200 The Round-mouthed Snails The Beautiful Cyclostoma (C pulchra. Gray) has three exquisitely fluted coils that flare into a wide ruffle about the circular aperture. The apex is elevated, the pit deep and wide. Colour, pale brown, obscurely spotted. This is one of the most beautiful West Indian species. Diameter, i inch or more. Habitat. — Jamaica. Genus CHONDROPOMA, Pfr. Shell oblong, turreted, of few rounded whorls, aperture rounded; lip flaring; operculum spiral, flat; nucleus eccentric. Our American species, C. dentata, Say, is very plain, beside the more highly ornamented Cuban species. It is finely cancellated, yellow with brownish streaks both ways, and the slender spire is usually broken cff". The mollusk has a curious habit of spinning a thread by which it hangs suspended from a leaf or other convenient object, with its operculum closed tight. It is very quick of motion, gliding along on its foot, and advancing the shell by a series of jerks. Length, \ inch. Habitat. — Southern Florida. C. Shuttleworthi, Pfr., is variable in markings, but always brown on a pale ground. The rounded whorls are covered with close spiral striae, and the lip is bordered with a wavy frill, rayed with brown. Length, i inch. Habitat — Cuba. Genus CYCLOTUS, Guilding Shell depressed, turbinated, elegantly convoluted, broadly pitted, and enveloped in an epidermis of brown, usually banded; mouth small, circular; lip continuous, simple, sometimes flaring. Tropical. The finest species are in the New World. The Giant Cyclotus (C. giganieus, Gray) has a flattened spire of rounded whorls, the rich chestnut surface banded with a darker brown and stained with olive. The flaring lip and circular, spiral operculum are white, tinged with brown. This handsome snail frequents the woods of Panama. Diameter, 2 inches. 201 CHAPTER XLVII: THE HELICINAS Family Helicid.^ Shell top-shaped, globose or depressed; aperture semi- lunar; columella callous; lip thick; operculum not spiral, made of overlapping plates. Head bearing a stout, blunt proboscis; foot long; radula long, narrow; jaw absent. A tropical family of several genera, living in damp situations in forests. Genus HELICINA, Lam. Characters of the family. Three hundred and fifty species. Distribution, world-wide. H. orbiculata, Say, is a tiny globular shell, brownish yellow, sometimes spotted, with a thick white lip. The operculum folds back upon the columella as if hinged to it vvhen the animal is gliding along. Diameter, J inch. Hahiiai. — Tennessee to Texas and Florida. H. agglutinans, Sby., has a depressed shell and a single keel, decorated with frond-like processes. The inner lip is much thickened. Diameter, f inch. Habitat. — Philippines. H. Briarea, Poey., has a flattened dome almost covered with brown, but white below and at the sutures. The wide aperture is white and polished. Diameter, i inch. Habitat. — Cuba. 202 CHAPTER XLVIII: THE SEA SNAILS. BLEEDING TOOTH Family Neritid^ Shell solid, imperforate, top-shaped to patelliform; spire flattened; interior partitions absorbed; body whorl very large; muscle scar horse-shoe-shaped, seen in aperture; columellar region broad; lip simple or toothed; operculum calcareous, spiral or not, with prominent teeth on inner face, one of which locks behind the columellar lip. Snout short; radula long, well developed; tentacles long; eyes on stalks; gill single, on left side, triangular, free; mantle edges without cirrhi. A large family of littoral forms, most of which belong to tropical and sub- tropical oceans. They are greedy vegetable feeders, living on seaweeds. It is said that they are nocturnal in habits, ranging and feeding only at night. They are found near low water on rocks. Genus NERITA, Linn. Shell thick, smooth or spirally ridged and grooved, porcel- lanous, usually with horny epidermis; outer lip thick, columellar lip flattened, straight, toothed at margin. Animal with festooned mantle border. Feeds on algae by night. A gregarious, littoral genus, in warm oceans, including two hundred living and sixty fossil species. The Bleeding Tooth (iV. peleronta, Linn.) is found on the beaches of Southern Florida. It is well known among the coast dwellers. The broad columella bears two teeth, one or both of which are stained with a yellowish, bloody patch. The operculum is shelly and ear-shaped, and shuts more strongly because of a hinge formed by its hook locking behind one of the columellar teeth. The shell thickens greatly just back of the lip. Parallel ridges extend from spire to lip, crossed by fine strize. 203 The Sea Snails. Bleeding Tooth The "bleeding tooth" is about i^ inches long; zigzag bands of purple, red and black on a white ground make it a handsome shell. There is great variation of pattern and colouring within the species. The mollusk is a rapacious feeder upon seaweeds. It is notable for the length of its rasping tongue. N. versicolor, Gmel., is gay with streaks and squares of red and black, alternating with the whitish ground colour. Numerous strong rounded ribs follow the spiral and are crossed by zigzag markings. The species is smaller than the bleeding tooth and may be recognised by the four teeth on the convex lip of the columella. It is a West Indian species that ventures into Southern Florida. The Tessellated Nerite (A/. iessellata,GT^e^-) has a checkered dark and light surface like a chess board, or in less regular arrange- ment, resembles the pattern shown in a snake's skin. Inside the aperture the outer lip is toothed, and small teeth are borne on the columellar lip. This solid, humped species is about an inch long. It occurs on the southeast coast of Florida, frequent- ing coral reefs and rocky beaches. The three species described above are the only North Ameri- can representatives of the genus. Genus NERITINA, Lam. (NERITELLA, Humph.) Shells thin, globose, with short spire, usually smooth; colu- mellar lip broad, with fme marginal teeth, or smooth; outer lip sharp, not toothed within. This genus includes about two hundred species. They live in rivers, except a few marine and brackish water species, and some which are amphibious, clinging to roots of trees on river margins. A few are terrestrial but live among the tree foliage overhanging the water. Most of them are tropical or sub-tropical in distribution. The shells look like dainty, polished replicas of the Floridian "bleeding tooth." The animal within differs in no important particular from those of the more sturdy genus, Nerita. As with other tropical shells, there is much beauty of colour and pattern exhibited in this large group. Many forms are ornamented with spines. The European Nerite (N. fluviaiilis, Linn.) inhabits the 204 The Sea Snails. Bleeding Tooth gravelly bottoms of clear rivers; it extends over a very large area, and has many varieties, some of which live in brackish water, and a few in salt water. The shell is transverse, the last whorl much swollen, white or decorated in a great variety of colours and designs. The largest are about ^ inch in diameter. This mollusk lays its globular egg capsules on the shell of another individual. Each capsule contains fifty or sixty eggs. But only one of these develops. The remaining eggs serve to nourish the one growing offspring the capsule contains. We are strongly reminded of the "Yarn of the Nancy Bell." It would seem an unnecessary expense to feed a favoured individual on his own brothers and sisters because he happened to be the first to hatch, and so had them at a disadvantage. N. reclivata, Say, is an olive or light brown shell, marked with fine zigzag lines of black, and about f inch in diameter. it is found in inland rivers of Florida. N. viridis, Linn., is a small bright green marine species. It is rarely found on Florida and Texas coasts. N. Virginea, Linn., West Indies to Brazil, has a beautifully polished shell with markings of white and Quaker drab and gray which are strikingly like the plumage of a Guinea fowl. Some Neritinas resemble the slipper shells in form. Some add to the boat shape two wide lateral wings, doubling the width of the boat's seat. The animal is often as highly coloured as its shell, with broad foot, an enfolding mantle lining the shell's mouth, and long, slender tentacles. Genus NAVICELLA, Lam. Shell oblong, limpet-like, apex on posterior margin, columellar shelf broad, not toothed, operculum shelly; nucleus lateral. This genus of about fifty species is briefly mentioned here because its shells in a collection are likely to be referred to the limpets or the slipper shells, both of which they resemble. They come from the East Indies and Polynesia, where they live on floating sticks and roots of palm trees so as to be near the water. N. Janelli, Reel., looks like half of a bivalve shell, round- ish like a scallop, the beak at one end. Narrow longitudinal ridges are crossed by occasional lines of growth. 205 CHAPTER XLIX: THE LIOTIAS Family Liotiid/E Shell small, solid, turban-shaped, body whorl large, with longitudinal and spiral ribs and thickened lip; aperture round; operculum many-whorled, horny, with Hmy layer. Genus LIOTIA, Gray Characters of the family. Chiefly tropical species, in Pacific and Indian Oceans. A few West Indian species. Two small species inhabit shores of Santa Catalina Island, California. L. fenestrata, Cpr., is a much depressed, oblique shell, regularly sculptured by cross ridges and deep fissures. The lip is thick; the umbilicus wide and deep. Diameter, | to J inch. L. acuticosta, Cpr., has no cross ridges cutting its whorls; their angles are set with faint nodules. It is ^ inch in diameter, and less flattened than the previous species. There is no umbilicus. Both species are yellowish white. L. Bairdii, Dall, a minute, few-whorled turban, | inch in both diameters, is one of several southern species. Habitat. — Cape Hatteras southward. 206 CHAPTER L: THE PHEASANT SHELLS Family Phasianellid^ Genus PHASIANELLA, Lam. Shell spiral, with tapering apex and inflated body whorl, polished, ornamented with bright colours in elaborate pattern, not pearly within; operculum thick, convex and white without; head with long tentacles and notched veil between them; foot long, narrow, grooved in the centre. Nobody will be surprised to read that the home of this genus is in the Philippines and Australia. No pheasant's plumage exhibits more variety of colours, more intricacy of pattern than the polished surfaces of these shells. Even the northern species, though very small, exhibit wonderful beauty of decoration. The dark rich colours almost cover the pale ground colour, but leave enough showing for effective contrast. These mollusks are distinguished by a peculiarity of gait shared with certain top shells. They move one side of the foot at a time in gliding, one side remaining stationary with each "step." To most people "a snail's pace" is a metaphor, meaning a rate rather than a method of progress. The pheasant's gait is a pace, quite within the technical definition of the most exacting turfman. Without seeing it, we may imagine it a peculiar system of tacking from left to right, alternately, for the creature has but one foot, and the contractions must wag the head, if not the whole body, from side to side. The Australian Pheasant Shell (P. Ausiralis, Gmel.) is the largest of its family, 2 to 4 inches long and i to 2 inches in greatest diameter. Great variety of colouring exists within the species. Under the rich, dark bands and within the oval aperture shows the white china-like under-stratum. European and North American pheasants are seen with great- est satisfaction under a microscope. P. pulla, Linn., less than ^ inch long, occurs from England to the Azores and on Mediter- 207 The Pheasant Shells ranean and Adriatic beaches. Some have rosy patterns, others brown and yellow, others purplish and drab. P. tenuis, Mich, is a trifle longer, its whorls rounded, the pattern blending red and yellow on a pale ground. Mediterranean and Adriatic shores. Florida and the West Indies and California have represen- tatives of this genus, all very small shells, but graceful and prettily marked. P. affinis, C. B. Ads., J inch in height, is regularly dotted with pink, with broad longitudinal dull streaks clouding the pale ground colour. P. tessellata, smaller but much stouter in shape, is checkered with red lines crossing at right angles, and white figures, elongated or crescent shaped, are regu- larly scattered on its whorls. P. umbilicata, d'Orb., dotted and blotched with red on a white ground, is provided with a deep umbilicus. Cuba and Florida. On the California coast P. compta, Gld., a very small pheas- ant shell, with elongated spire, has longitudinal banding of purple or gray crossed by fine spiral lines of rose or drab. This species occurs in several distinct varieties. Sandy beaches yield plenty of the dead shells, whose beauty can only be enjoyed by using a lens. The living creatures may be collected from the blades of sea grass. 208 CHAPTER LI: THE TURBAN SHELLS AND STAR SHELLS Family TuRBiNiDyE Shell spiral, turban-shaped, solid, with simple circular or oval aperture; operculum calcareous, heavy, convex outside, with thin, flat, spiral, horny layer on inner face, nucleus not central. Body with oval foot, square in front, bearing cirrhi along sides; head bears a veil between the two long tentacles, with two eyes on short stalks at their outer bases; radula well developed; food vegetable; habitat, shores of warm oceans. A large family of several genera, chiefly distinguished from the Trochidae by the calcareous nature of the thick operculum, and by its few coils. Genus TURBO, Linn. Shell turban-shaped, usually large, heavy; whorls rounded; aperture nearly round, more or less drawn out at base; operculum circular, flat or concave inside. The Green Snail (T. marmoratus, Linn.) of the curio-dealer and collector, is the giant of th^ family of turban shells. It has the characteristic turban shape with the spire somewhat de- pressed, and the whorls few, square-shouldered and knobbed, the body whorl much larger than the others. The largest shells are eight inches in height and diameter. The columellar region is excavated considerably; there is no umbilicus. In its natural state the green snail shell has a horny outer layer of rich green mottled with brown and white. It has opaline tints which exhibit much more beauty when the surface is rubbed to free it of the horny layer. Green prevails in the rainbow tints when the outer shell layer is entirely removed, leaving the surface uniformly pearly, inside and out. As an ornament for shell cabinets and mantelpieces these "green snails" are familiar to many. In Scandinavia the mon- archs have from the earliest times had these shells mounted in silver and studded with gems for royal drinking cups. They 209 The Turban Shells and Star Shells are not actually used as such nowadays, but kept in cabinets in deference to old usage. The Japanese cut up the soft parts of this species and use it for making chop suey. The thick, pearly substance of the shells is cut into buttons and ornaments. Habitat. — Indian Ocean, Philippines, Japan Sea. The genus Turbo is divided into several sub-genera, based upon differences of the radula and operculum. Sub-genus SARMATICUS, Gray Shell depressed, much broadened at base, with oblique long aperture and broad columella. Operculum beset outside with club-shaped processes, inside flat. The Turk's Cap (7. Sarmaiicus, Linn.) comes from the Cape region of South Africa in such quantities that shell dealers all handle it, and collectors can always get specimens. It is a hand- some shell, showing beautiful green lights in its pearly mouth. The outside of the shell is normally brown, more or less ruddy toward the apex, and showing streakings of white and orange-red toward the mouth. Underlying the coloured coat is a layer of black, brittle as lacquer, next to the pearl. A tongue of black reaches well into the aperture, encircling the columella. The thin rim of the aperture is edged with this same black, the pearl not reaching the edge. A very little grinding and rubbing removes the outer layers, and leaves the shell pearly throughout. Its alti- tude is 2 to 4 inches; diameter 3 to 5 inches. A strange coral-like or mushroom-like growth covers the outside of the operculum. The shells are made into fancy articles such as purses, stamp cases, scent bottles, pipe bowls and ring trays. The choicest specimens are made into brooches, cuflf buttons and earrings. T. petholatus, Linn., is like the pheasant shells in being smooth and brightly polished, and decorated with bright colours, combined with white, in great variety and intricacy of pattern. They are 2 to 3 inches in altitude and much more dilated at base than the pheasants. The operculum is convex on the exterior, and polished, with a bright green spot in the middle. Habitat. — Red Sea, Philippines and Indian Ocean. Sub-genus CALLOPOMA, Gray Shell turban-shaped, dark-coloured, with round aperture, and long, deep columellar groove; outside of operculum spiral with deep central pit, the outer coils with deep-cut grooves or teeth. 210 The Turban Shells and Star Shells T. fluctuosa, Wood, of the west coast, is about two inches high and perhaps a trifle wider. Outside of the pearly shell is a thin coloured layer, brown and white in a bright tesselated pat- tern, moulded over the sculpturing which consists of fine spiral and radiating ridges and rows of faint nodules on the shoulders of the whorls. The operculum is deeply cut, as described above. Habitat. — California. Genus POMAULAX, Gray Shell large, conic, solid, imperforate; periphery keeled; base flat; operculum obovate. The Wavy Pomaulax (P. undosum, Wood) is one of the large shells of the California coast. An altitudeof five inches and diameter of six inches is not unusal, though the average is lower. A horny epidermis made of fine overlapping lamina? covers the shell to its aperture. It is moulded over a series of nodules that form a ridge like a twisted cord at the outer edge of each whorl. The face of the whorl is further decorated with regular rows of fine knobs and folds. The shell has a thick pearly lining. The shelly layer is pale tinged with brown under the epidermis. The columella has a pearly crescentic groove. Cleaned with acids these pearly top shells are sold at good prices to tourists. P. inequale, Martyn,is similar to the last species but smaller, with close, uniform oblique folds crossing all its whorls, and the "twisted cord" at the periphery of each less prominent. The surface is brick red when alive. The base is deeply cut between close spiral ridges. Aperture smooth, lined with white; columel- lar edge curved, pearly, ending in a tooth below. This species is 2 inches high and 2\ inches in diameter. Habitat. — Vancouver Island southward. Genus ASTRALIUM, Link Shell conical, flattened above and below; young individuals depressed, keeled and spiny at periphery; operculum oval, spiral. The Star Shell {A. longispina, Lam.) of the West Indies, has a flattened cone, and triangular, hollow spines all around its thin outer edge, and following the coils toward the apex. The flat base is sculptured by thin laminse, radiating from the deep umbilicus. The whorls above have beside the large projecting sutural spines a thick sprinkling of recurved hollow tubercles. 21 I The Turban Shells and Star Shells The colour is dirty white, texture calcareous, aperture pearly- Hned; the operculum is smooth, white, rounded, with a depres- sion in one side. Height, i inch; diameter, 2 inches. Var. spinulosum, Lam., is found on the Florida coasts. It has a higher cone than the typical longispina, has no umbilicus, and its spines, tubercles and the basal laminae are much reduced in size. The average specimen is \l inches in altitude, and 2 inches across the base, but the ratio of height to diameter is variable. The specimens examined are decorated with brownish streaks and speckles. A. latispina, Phil., is a high cone, armed with triangular spines of small size along the outer margins of the whorls, and short, oblique ridges between. The dull white surface is streaked with brown and yellow. The base has spiral ridges crossed by fine stride. This species is i J inches high and 2 inches in diameter. Habitat. — Gulf of Mexico to Rio de Janeiro. Sub-genus LITHOPOMA A section of Astralium containing very solid, turban-shaped shells, with the whorls radiately folded or plaited, and the peri- phery rounded or keeled. The Stone Apple {A. tuber, Linn.) is a heavy turban-shaped shell, distinguished by the regular diagonal plaiting of ridges and valleys that alternately follow down its whorls. The colour follows the plan of sculpture; the valleys are dark, the elevations light. Brown and pale green overlie the dirty white ground colour. The base is paler and has finer markings. A little rubbing exposes the pearly interior substance. A character that keeps this species in the genus Astralium is the presence of spinous processes around the periphery of young shells ; these ultimately wear off. Elsewhere, in the genus Turbo, such processes become more prominent as growth proceeds. This West Indian shell occurs on East Florida beaches. It attains an altitude of two inches and an equal diameter. A. Americanum, Gmel., is of the same stony group, but with a still higher cone. The diameter of i to ij inches is generally a trifle less than the altitude. The whorls are keeled on the outer edges; oblique folds cross them, and end in a row of nodules on the keels. Habitat. — Florida Keys and throughout the West Indies. 212 The Shell Book Plate V Cupyrigiu, i9(.s, ijy Uuu, Icaaj , I'age A: Cuiiipan> UNIVALVE SHELLS OF TROPICAL SEAS 26 27 28 29 CowTy or Venus Shell, Cyprasa Maiin'liana. Linn. Imperial Turban Shell, Turbo imperialis, Linn . Fringed Dolphin Shell, Delphinula laciniata. Lam. Polished Sea Snail, Nerita polila, Linn. 34 Tiger Top Shell, 30 Magpie Top Shell, Livona pica, Linn. 31 Shell-bearing Slug, Hydatina physis, Linn. 32 Pheasant Shell. Phasianclla auslraHs, Gmel. 33 Pointed Top Shell, Trochus aciitangulus, Chemn. Calliostoma tigris. Mart. CHAPTER Lll: THE TOP SHELLS AND DOLPHIN SHELLS Family Trochid/^ Shell top-shaped or conical, spiral, pearly within; oper- culum thin, horny, spiral, usually circular, with a central nucleus; head with short, broad snout, long tentacles and simple eyes; radula well developed; three to five fleshy cirrhi on each side of mantle margin; one gill, the left; eggs laid on rocks or glued to seaweed in masses. A large family including many genera of littoral and deep- sea forms. They are chiefly vegetable feeders, living on algae. Chiefly tropical; the largest and handsomest species are distri- buted in the Pacific and Indian oceans. Some are highlv coloured in handsome patterns; all are pearly inside. A little shell, pearly and opalescent, from the East Indies, is gathered in quanti- ties to be strung into necklaces. Large specimens of top shells are favourite ornaments for cabinets; the outer shell substance is usually ground ofi^ to reveal the pearl foundation of the closely wound coils. Some species are used in the manufacture of brace- lets, buttons and pearl ornaments. Genus TROCHUS, Linn. Shell solid, regularly conical, with high spire of many close whorls, which are usually angled and decorated with beading and bright colours in striking patterns; base of shell broad, flattened; aperture oblique, angled, with spiral operculum; columella twisted, its edges generally toothed or folded. The genus is mostlv confined to the Old World tropics. The Great Top Shell (T. Niloticus, Linn.), the heaviest and largest of the top shells, is very striking in markings and coloration. The spire is sharp, the whorls white under zigzag radiating bands of red, violet or brown. The outer whorl flares decidedly, and has more and narrower stripes than the upper The Top Shells and Dolphin Shells ones. The apical coils have nodules; the outer ones are smooth. The aperture is oblique; the columella has a spiral fold above and a strong tooth below. The umbilicus is shallow. These shells are from four to five inches in diameter and a trifle less in height. Bracelets of pearl cut from these shells are highly prized by the South Sea Island women. If solid cross-sections cannot be had, two or three pieces are fastened together with string. Five or six are worn on one arm. Habitat. — Indian Ocean and Australian waters. The Acute-angled Top Shell (T. acuiangidus, Chemn.) of the same regions is a smaller shell; its apex is a very sharp point, and its white sides are variously streaked with bright red. Rows of small beads adorn the whorls. The shells average two to three inches in height and somewhat less in diameter. Habitat. — Eastern Seas. The Toothed Top Shell {T. dentatus, Forsk.) has a heavy tall spire, its coils (about twelve) armed with large remotely set knobs," which stand out perpendicular to the surface. The colour is pale, with faint and fine markings of red. There is a broad band of green or blue surrounding the axis. This species is about three inches high and two and a half inches in diameter. Habitat. — Red Sea, Persian Gulf. The Common Top Shell of the Mediterranean coasts (7. :(iiyp'hinus, Finn.) is regularly pyramidal, solid, glossy, with a strong rounded ridge spotted with brown at the base of each whorl. The ground colour ranges from brown to lilac, streaked in zigzag bands with brown. A full-grown specimen has a dozen coils. The animal is as vividly coloured as the shell. The promi- nent head has a two-lobed flap between the long tentacles. The black eyes are on short stalks. Four pairs of cirrhi are thrust out sidewise from the mantle, as the creature crawls along the sea bottom, carrying the shell erect on its back, and the oper- culum lying behind it on the extended foot. From low water mark to many fathoms depth this mollusk thrives, its food the seaweed. The shell measures somewhat over an inch in height and diameter of base. The lining is beautifully pearly. A variety, conuJoides, Lam., is found on the Atlantic coast of Europe. It shows great variability from almost smooth whorls to strong spiral ribbing, including all intermediate forms. In colouring there is little variation from the type species. The 214 SEA SNAILS AND TURBAN SHELLS 1 Navicdla Janelli. 3 2 Nerita tessdlata. 4 Neritina communis. 5 Nerilina reclivala. 6 Helicina maxima. 7 iVerilopsis radiila. 8 Nerita peleronta. Turbo Sarmaticus. 9 Turbo marmoratus. 1 0 THrJo petholalus. STAR SHELLS AND TOP SHELLS 1, 2 Long-spined Star Shell, Astralium longispina. 3 Pheasant Shell, Phasiandla auslralis. 4 The Stone Apple, Astralium tuber. 5 Wavy Top Shell, Pomaiilax utidosum. The Top Shells and Dolphin Shells Atlantic forms are more depressed than those of the Mediter- ranean. Genus LIVONA, Gray- Shell top-shaped, heavy, large, with deep umbilicus; whorls rounded; aperture roundish; outer lip sharp-edged; operculum concave outside, thin, smooth, chestnut inside, with olive green muscle scar; body fringed with numerous cirrhi. The West Indian Top Shell (Livona pica, Linn.) is found in Charlotte Harbor, West Florida, but not in such abundance as farther south. It is a popular sea food in the West Indies and in Central America. The shell itself has some commercial value; it is sometimes four inches high, oftener smaller; when cleaned and polished it shows a beautiful greenish pearly ground with strong black wavy markings. It lives in great numbers on the rocks and coral reefs, near shore, where it may be seen through the limpid water crawling along, waving two long tentacles ahead and a fringe of cirrhi almost as long on each side of the foot. When the surprised tourist sees one of these large top shells climbing a tree (a very common sight in the islands) he may be sure that the moUusk is dead and its vacated shell is inhabited by a hermit crab. Genus CHLOROSTOMA, Swains. Shell conical, solid, base of columella toothed, aperture oblique, outer lip smooth within. A large genus, chiefly of Pacific coast species. It is fairly represented in the West Indies. The Black Top Shell (C. jimehrale, A. Ads.) is found in the greatest abundance upon rocks on the California coast. It has a heavy black shell, with distinct swelling of the body whorl below the suture. The apex is blunt, the umbilicus closed; the aperture is lined with greenish pearl; there is a white nodule at the base of the columella. The shell is an inch in height and width. The Brown Top Shell (C.Jmww^Mm, Phil.), also aCalifornian species, is a clumsy brown thimble in form, about an inch long, with markings of white on the lips and a greenish pearly lining. It lives upon kelp and rocks. 215 The Top Shells and Dolphin Shells The Snake-skin Top Shell (C. pellis-serpeniis, Wood) is well named. The heavy, solid shell is ij to 2 inches in diameter, a little higher than broad. Its crowded coils are separated by linear sutures, and finely marked with dark patches in intricate patterns on yellow or pink ground colour. The aperture is lined with pearl; the columella bears a heavy tubercle in the middle, and a small tooth where it joins the thin lip cf the aperture. Habitat. — Gulf of California to Panama, Genus NORRISIA, Bayle Shell large, round, umbilicated, solid, smooth ; spire depressed, conical; whorls few, rapidly enlarging; aperture quadrangular; outer lip sinuous, thin edged; columella sinuous. An isolated genus of one species. Norris's Top Shell (/V. Norrisii, Sby.) is a common species, living upon the giant kelp on rocky beaches southward from San Francisco. The dome is depressed and tipped over by the enlarged body whorl. The apex is blunt; the sculpture consists of faint radiating lines. The colour is a rich brown turning black at the mouth of the wide umbilicus which has a greenish lining rim. The lip is thin-edged. The aperture is large and lined with pearl, A shaggy coat roughens the outside of the operculum ; inside it is smooth and multi-spiral, with a central nucleus. This species is abundant about San Diego, where it is often seen in tide pools, with the strawberry-red body extended, crawl- ing on seaweed. Shells are picked up on the beaches after violent storms. It measures one to two inches in altitude, and about two inches in diameter. Habitat. — Southern California. Genus CALLIOSTOMA, Swains. Shell pyramidal, with beautiful colouring and sculpturing; base flattened. A large genus of unusually beautiful shells. The Ringed Top Shell (C annulatum, Ma.rtyr\) is a specimen people are always interested in collecting. It is abundant in many places along our Pacific coast. Its shell is fragile, andean only be collected in fine weather, and then by going out in a boat and gathering the seaweed to which these delicate creatures cling, 216 The Top Shells and Dolphin Shells In bad weather they sink to the bottom. Fragments are picked up on the beach, but rarely a perfect shell. The whorls are yellowish, ornamented with raised brown dots in parallel rows; the depressions between the whorls and the area about the axis are shaded with purple. The exterior is almost as beautiful as the pearly lining. Height, i inch. Habitat. — California. The largest American species is C. canaliculatum, Martyn, an inch and a half high. It is conical; its revolving ribs sharp- edged and separated by spiral canals, which, however, are not purple. The ribs are pale yellow or ashy, the depressions brownish. Habitat. — Pacific coast. The Blue Top Shell (C cosiatum, Martyn) is the abundant species along the northern Pacific coast. It is conical, with a sharp apex, rounded whorls and flattened base. The whorls are ornamented by parallel yellow riblets separated by brown depressions. The aperture is round and beautifully pearly; the columella simple. This shore-dwelling species has a heavy shell. A dilute acid bath and a scrubbing removes the outer layer and exposes the blue pearl that forms the shell substance. The living mollusks crawl on rock surfaces exposed by the tide, but remain in the dark if possible. Length, f inch. Habitat. — California northward. C. gemmulatum, Cpr., is wound with strings of granules, each whorl bearing two principal rows, and many small ones. The gray surface is streaked with dark brown from the apex downward. Height, ^V inch. Habitat. — Southern California. Several recently named species have been discovered by collectors dredging in deep water off the California coast. All are easily recognisable as top shells by their characteristic form. The Pearly Top Shell {C.occidentale, Migh. and Ads.) of the Maine coast is strongly ribbed, with a row of white dots ornament- ing the pearly surface of the upper half of each whorl. It is but half an inch long, and is only obtained by dredging in gravel off shore. The Top Shell of Florida and the Carolina coast is C. euglyp- tum, A. Ads., a regular pyramid, f inch high, with a solid 217 The Top Shells and Dolphin Shells columella. The surface is white overlaid with brown and purplish spots; the ribs set with rows of small white enameled beads. It occurs as far north as Cape Hatteras, and follows the coast to Texas and Vera Cruz. Many other species occur on our Atlantic coast, but they are either rare or are deep sea forms, not often collected. C. granulatus, Born., of European seas is a thin, delicate species, with exceedingly sharp peak, inflated base, and whorls closely sculptured by thread-like riblets; those next to the sutures are set with fine beading, which gives the surface a granular appearance. It is also shiny, with pinkish ground freckled with brownish yellow. The pearly substance is easily exposed by rubbing off the outer layer with a rag dipped in dilute acid. An inch or more in altitude, it is the largest granular species to be found in Europe. The Tiger Top Shell (C iigris, Martyn) is two inches in altitude, and banded with tawny colour on the paler and fine granular whorls. It has a depressed spire with an abruptly sharp point, and flares at base into an unusually large body whorl. The bright colouring and striking pattern of the shell will keep it always a cabinet favourite. New Zealand, Australia. Genus MARGARITA, Leach Shell very small, thin, depressed, globose, with smooth or cross-striated whorls; aperture circular. The^A^avy Top Shell (M.undulata, Shy.) is a tiny mollusk, scarcely J inch high. It exists in quantities along the New England coast where it is appreciated as an edible mollusk by the codfish and its relatives. It is abundant in their stomachs at various seasons. At times of very low tide the collector may look for this species among the rocks of sheltered coves. The flattened dome is made of four rounded reddish whorls. The columella has a deep, wide umbilicus; the body whorl has many folds along its outer edge. M. cinerea, Couth., is a tiny dull greenish shell with fine lines on the lower edge of the square-shouldered whorls and strong ridges on the upper edge. Very fine and close-set oblique lines cross the ridges throughout. It is found from Cape Cod north- ward in shallow water. 218 1 Trochus Niloticus (much reduced). 2 Chlorosioma pellis-serpentis. 3 ChloTostoma brunnea. Photograph by Maxwell Smith. TOP SHELLS 4 Norrisia Norrisii. 5 Callinstoma tigris. 6 Rotclla giganlea. 7 Livona pica 8 Chlorosioma jiinebrale. 9 Calliostoma annulata. 10 Rocks at La Jolla, Cal. TOP SHELLS AND 1, 2 Channelled Top Shell, Calliostoma canaliculatum. 3 Dolphin Shell, Delphinula laciniata. 4 Wide-mouthed Snail, Gena planulala. OTHERS 5 Little Top Shell, Trochatella pulchella. 6 Ridged Top Shell, Calliostoma coslalum. 7, 8 Slit Shell, Pleurotcmana Beyrichi. The Top Shells and Dolphin Shells M. helicina, with thinner, more bulging shell, is found on northern coast, feeding on the green Laminaria leaves. Its shell is very small, about J- inch in two dimensions, distinguished by its yellowish or olivaceous colour and iridescent, metallic lustre. Habitat. — Maine, Alaska and northern Europe. THE DOLPHIN SHELLS Genus DELPHINULA, Lam. Shell of a flattened top shape, solid, heavy, with large round aperture and deep umbilicus; body whorl turns downward, nearly free from the one next to it; all whorls keeled and spinose or set with horns. The Fringed Dolphin Shell (D. laciniata, Lam.) is a good example of a striking but not very abundant genus. The outer coil is scarcely joined to the one above it, the apex is flat, and the keeled whorls are armed with spines and hollow horns of different sizes, set in parallel rows. The ground colour is white; the projections all dark red, purplish or black. The lining is pearly. Diameter, 3 inches; altitude, 2 inches. This Oriental species varies exceedingly in form, colour and sculpture, as does the whole genus. Habitat. — Philippines. 219 CHAPTER LIII: THE WIDE-MOUTHED SHELLS Family Stomatellid^ Shell small, pearly within, flattened, limpet-like or ear- shaped and spiral, but without holes or slit. This family lives in tropical regions of the Pacific Ocean. Classification is likely to need revision as the living mollusks are studied. Few have ever been seen. Within this family a series of genera show the gradations between the coiled top shell forms, with narrow mouths, closed by an operculum, through widening ear shell forms to the limpet form in which the spiral disappears. The bearing of this chain of evidence upon the problems of evolution among mollusks is obviously important. Stomatella has a depressed spire, few whorls, a regular top shape and an operculum. Stomatia has a short spire and no operculum. The animal is too large for the shell. Gena is ear- shaped like Haliotis. Broderipia illustrates the limpet form of shell in this family. The shell has an apical hook at the posterior end. It is shaped like a sugar scoop. 220 CHAPTER LIV: THE SLIT SHELLS Family Pleurotomariid^ Shell top-shaped, pearly within, with a broad anal sinus in the outer whorl which closes gradually, forming the "sinus band." A family of many fossil forms allied to Haliotidae. Genus PLEUROTOMARIA, Defr. Characters of the family. Eleven hundred fossil species of this genus are known. The recent discovery of living forms corrects the old opinion that the genus is totally extinct. Twenty good specimens have been collected in the past fifty years. They are large, and so distinct in kind as to be in great demand among collectors. The single specimen of P. Quoyana, F. and B., was purchased by an amateur in 1873 for 25 guineas. A fme large P. Adansoniana, Cr. and Fisch., is priced at ;£ioo sterling. Both of these species have been found in the region of the West Indies. The American Museum of Natural History has a three-inch specimen of P. Beyrichi, Hilgendorf, which was dredged in deep water off the coast of Japan. It is decorated with yellow and red in fme streaks on its top-shaped spire, and the sinus band ends in a deep slit at the upper (sutural) edge of the lip. The largest Adansoniana, taken alive from water one hundred fathoms deep off Guadaloupe, measured more than five inches across. The Little Slit Shells (genus Scissurella) are very small, thin-shelled mollusks with the tell-tale slit in the shell's lip. 221 CHAPTER LV: THE EAR SHELLS. ABALONES Family Haliotid^ Shell pearly, ear-shaped, shallow, spiral, with outer coil very large, enclosing the body; aperture large, oval; operculum wanting; left side of shell punctured by a curving row of holes; muscle scar large, horse-shoe shaped; foot large, fleshy, fringed; mantle slit along row of holes, tentacular gill filaments passing out at each hole; tentacles two, long; eyes two, on short stalks. Habitat, rocky shores. Distribution: California, Japan, Indian Ocean, Africa, Australia and adjacent islands. One species in European waters. The large shells furnish mother-of-pearl of commerce; foot edible; dried and used for food in the Orient. A single genus of many species. Genus HALIOTIS, Linn. "Where is the other half?" you inquire, when first introduced to the abalone shell. "There is none. It is not a bivalve shell, like the clam's, but a univalve, like the snail's," is the reply. "Then how does the animal manage to keep its body in this inverted saucer?" "That great scar in the middle of the saucer is the place where the body grows fast to the shell. Then there is considerable support given by the inturning rim on the left side, and under the coil." "How do you know which is the left side?" "The living mollusk thrusts his head out under the edge of the shell just where the row of holes ends. A pair of long ten- tacles, two eyes on short stalks and a central broad snout are the five prominent features. The tip of the broad foot is pointed backward, from under the spiral. All around outside of the edge of the shell is the fleshy, fringed margin of the mantle. The 222 The Ear Shells. Abalones creature walks on the under surface of its body. Its grip on a flat surface is astonishingly powerful." "What are the holes for?" "Through them are thrust long feelers from the mantle. Water which has bathed the gills is thrown out through these openings. The hindermost one is the anal aperture, discharging the waste matter from the intestine." "How do some holes happen to be closed?" " In young shells there are no open holes. Gradually open ones are added as the shell grows. As new ones are formed, the oldest are closed by deposits from within, always leaving a certain number open." "How old is this shell?" "Who knows? The holes are not a record of the years it has lived." ''What does the Abalone feed upon?" "Marine vegetation scraped from the rocks by means of the large rasping tongue." " Is the shell naturally so highly coloured and polished?" "Only inside. The lining, pearly and iridescent and lustrous, is nacre, secreted by certain glands in the mantle. A rough, horny coat covers the shell on the outside, and, by its resemblance to the rocks among which the ear shell lives, protects the mollusk from discovery by its natural enemies, large sea birds and rats. Under the horny layer is usually a calcareous one. The shells may be cleaned of this outer layer by the use of acids and by grinding." An abalone shell is one of the handsomest as well as one of the largest cabinet specimens obtainable from North American beaches. It is well named, "the aurora shell" and "the rainbow shell." The finest species of ear shells are found on the California coast. There the euphonious name "Abalone" is universally used. The mollusk is an important article of export. The shells furnish high grade mother-of-pearl. The muscular foot makes delicious soups and chowders, as almost any Californian will tell vou. Yet few are consumed in this country in comparison with the vast numbers that the Chinese and Japanese fishermen catch, salt and dry for shipment to China, where this is a staple sea food. We hear tales of luckless "Chinks" drowned by the rising tide, their hands caught and held as in a vise between the rock 223 The Ear Shells. Abalones and the abalone's strong foot. This is very unlikely to happen. The Chinese fisherman goes out in a boat at low tide, and inspects the crevices in the rocks to find these moUusks. Sighting one, he gives it a sharp shove with a metal wedge fastened on the end of a pole. Dislodged by this unexpected attack, the creature is easily taken in with a boat hook. In his native haunts the abalone clings with a death grip, if only he has warning. It is impossible to tear him from his place. When undisturbed the creature lumbers along with a clumsy, swinging gait, not unlike that of an elephant. He makes the best time on the surfaces of smooth rocks. Fine green pearls are sometimes found in the mantle. An ingenious experimenter trepanned the shell of several large aba- lones, and inserted small pearl beads next to the mantle. Then he closed the holes with cement. Later he found all the beads coated, and thus transformed into pearls; some were of fine quality. Of course the longer they are allowed to remain the better they become. Quantities of shells are exported to Paris and other European centres for use in inlaying in cabinet work, and for ornaments and buttons, and a multitude of small articles, like knife handles, fans, card-cases and pieces of jewellery. The Splendid Ear Shell, or Abalone {H. julgens, Phil.) is found on the coasts of Southern and Lower California. H. splendens, Rve., is a synonym. It is a thin elongated oval shell, 7 to 8 inches long, with a pearly lining that is indeed splendid as a peacock's tail, especially the roughened central patch, the muscle scar. The outer surface is uniformly dull brownish in colour, and faintly ridged with spirally radiating undulations, crossed by smaller and close-set rounded ridges. Each hole is elevated into a tubercle. From five to seven remain open. The closed tubercles are worn, as is also the depressed spire. The left side bears a flat pearly shelf, the cohimellar plate. These shells when cleaned by acids and scraping, are as beautifully pearly outside as within. They are favourite mantel and cabinet ornaments, the most brilliant object the curio-dealer shows to the eager souvenir hunter on the west coast. The Red Abalone {H. rufescens, Swains.) is larger and much heavier than H. julgens. It is the chief commercial mother-of- pearl shell of the California coast. It often attains a length of nine 224 1 Haliotis corrugata. EAR SHELLS. APALONES 2 Haliolis asinina. 3 Haliotis Cracherodii. 4 Haliolis gigantea. THE RED ABALONE, Haliotis rujescens Radula, or rasping tongue, life size, showing the minute teeth, in transverse rows. The Ear Shells. Abalones inches. Its pearly lining abounds in green and pink tints. The exterior is brick red, with lumpy surface finely sculptured with radiating and cross ridges. The holes are large and elevated; usually four are open. These shells are often polished outside, and sold for cabinet ornaments. The flesh is boiled in sea water, then dried on the rocks for export to China; the shells are shipped in quantities to Europe for use in button-making, for ornaments and for inlay work. The Smithsonian Institution has a large col- lection of treasure boxes taken from the graves of Indians on San Nicholas Island. Two handsome shells, sealed together with asphaltum, contained trinkets belonging to the dead. The Black Abalone (H.Cracherodii, Leach) is black outside, with shadings of purple or green. The lines of growth are its only sculpturing. The shell averages five inches in length, four inches in width and two inches in height. It is less shallow than the two species just described. The holes are small and not elevated; about eight are open. The pearly lining is thick and smooth, with silvery lustre and green and pink reflections. This species is abundant on the rocks along shore from the Fallerone Islands to San Diego, Cal. Young ones exhibit very interesting habits of life when kept in jars of sea water. The Rough Abalone {H. corrugaia, Gray) of Catalina Island, San Diego and southward, is often six inches long. Its shell is wrinkled and knobbed outside, and the holes are much elevated. But four are open. There is a row of nodules parallel with the tubercled row of holes and below them; a deep channel separates the two series of tubercles. The lining is wavy and brilliantly iridescent. The thin epidermis is brown or greenish, often handsomely banded. The Giant Ear Shell (H. gigantea, Chemn.),j to lo inches in length, is the largest known species. It is reddish outside, the thin leathery epidermis raised in wavy folds along the lines of growth. The row of pronounced tubercles has five open holes. The lining is wavy, with unusually beautiful iridescence. This is the "Awabi" of Japan, valuable not only for inlay work and mother-of-pearl articles curiously fashioned from the shells, but a staple article of food. Sir Edwin Arnold, writing his book, "Japonica" in Enoshima, where the awabi is taken in great quantities, says: "A strip of the membrane of this is put into the folded coloured paper — noshi — which accompanies 225 The Ear Shells. Abalones all Japanese gifts, the mollusk in question being the symbol of long life and prosperity." H. Kamschatkana, Jonas, ranges along the coasts above Japan, crosses Behring Straits and follows our Pacific coast to Monterey, Cal. It is probably a variety of the preceding species, smaller, with more pronounced lumpiness on the outside of the shell, with four open holes, a many-coloured epidermis and a silvery pearly lining. It seems to be the connecting link between the Japanese and West American species. The Ormer, (H. iuhercidata, Linn.), inhabits the Channel Islands, and follows the coast of Europe southward to the Canaries. It is regularly oval and very shallow, three or four inches long, mottled green and brown above, finely striated with the lines of growth and waved across them. The angle of the shell bears a row of six open holes in tubercles which are but slightly elevated. The muscle scar is inconspicuous; the pearly lining silvery, irides- cent. The mantle border is elaborately decorated with a fila- mentous fringe which forms a considerable extension beyond the margin of the shell. This is the "Sea Ear" of English collectors, the ".Silieux," (six eyes), of the French fishing villages. In the "kitchen mid- dens" this is a noticeable species, showing that the muscular foot was an article of food among European aborigines. Necklaces were also made by stringing perforated bits of the shell. Farmers on the Channel Islands hang strings of ormers on poles in their grain fields to jingle in the wind and gleam in the sun, and so frighten away small birds. After being cleaned, the shells are pearly throughout, and exceptionally beautiful in form and texture. H. asinina, Linn., is mentioned here because of its unusual shape. Its shell is greatly elongated and often kidney-shaped. It is rarely over three inches long. The elevated spire has three whorls. There are five to seven oblong open holes. The surface is smooth, greenish or ruddy, and ornamented with beads of several bright colours. The lining is pearly. The foot is pro- longed to correspond with the shell. This unique species is found from Japanese to Australian waters. The greatest number of kinds and variation of form among ear shells occur in the Australian region. But our own west coast is the home of the species of the largest size. 226 -,i*i No. I by courttsy of Aut ni.it;: l.itt n Co., Muscatine, la.; No. 3. phot..uT..ph by Maxwell Smith. 1 A clam fisherman on the Mississippi River, who sells his shells to the pearl button factories. 2 Dead Man's Island, off San Pedro harbor. Southern Cali- fornia, a famous collecting ground. 3 A cactus fence in Southern California, under which land snails find protection. 4 Drying abalone me.its for export to Japan. Beach near Los Angeles, Cal. 1 Emarginula Hazardi. 2 Glyphis alternaia. SLIT LIMPETS ANT) KEY-HOLE LIMPETS 3, 4 Glyphis aspera. 5 Sitbemarginula ocloradiala. 6 Fissurella volcano. 7, 8 Lucapina crenulata. CHAPTER LVI: THE KEY-HOLE LIMPETS Family Fissurellid/^ Shell broadly conical, elevated or flattened, not pearly, with apical or anterior anal slit, or hole; operculum wanting; gills, a pair, symmetrical; head well developed, with short muzzle, eyes on outer bases of tentacles on rudimentary stalks; siphon occupying notch or hole; foot fleshy, with fringed border. This large family contains more than a dozen genera and over one hundred species. The slit or key-hole distinguishes the adult shells from those of the limpets proper. In habits the mollusks are much like Acmxa. and Patella. The young key-hole limpet begins life with a spiral shell and a marginal slit. Gradually shelly matter is added which unites the margin below the slit, and the spiral seems to uncoil. It finally disappears, the slit having travelled upward and replaced it at the apex of the shell. Genus FISSURELLA, Brug. Shell steeply conical, limpet-like, but with hole in apex, bounded internally by a thickened band or callus; lining white, porcellanous; body when at rest contained in the shell. The Volcano Key-hole Limpet (F. volcano, Rve.) is sig- nificantly named. Its steep cone looks like the ash crater of the typical volcano of our geographies. A touch of realism is added by the red stripes that radiate from the apical hole, like streams of molten lava pouring down the sides. Shells of this species are common on beaches of Southern and Lower California. Very strangely, dead and worn shells are much brighter than living ones. They are ashen pink with purple rays when alive; the mantle is striped with red and the foot is yellow. They creep about on the rocks, and may be seen at low tide. F. Barbadensis, Gmel., I found on the Keys outside of Charlotte Harbour on the west coast of Florida. Its steep cone is 227 The Key-hole Limpets Strongly ribbed, with about a dozen larger ribs evenly distributed. The colouring is grayish green, sometimes tinted with pink or shaded with purple and brown. The key-hole is small and circular, with a thick green callus inside. Length, i^ inches. Genus LUCAPINA, Gray Shells large, thick, flattened, oblong-oval, finely ribbed and cross-banded, apex slightly in front of the middle, perforated by a large hole, bounded inside by a rounded callus; body large, black, like india-rubber, too big to be contained in the shell when at rest; the reflexed mantle engulfing the shell when active; edge of the mantle smooth; foot fringed; tentacles long; eyes prominent. The Great Key-hole Limpet (L. crenulata, Sby.) is easily the giant of the family. It is four to five inches long, with a broad, apical hole, often one inch long. The thick shell is white inside and smooth. The outside shades from pale buff to gray, and is marked by small but distinct radiating ridges, crossed by many concentric lines, grouped in bands showing the stages of growth. The finely scalloped border is the shell's chief beauty. Keep describes the mammoth creature that finds this shell inadequate to contain it. It resembles a brick in form and size. The huge foot is yellow, with the black mantle outside. Habitat. — Monterey to San Diego, California. The Two-spotted Key-hole Limpet (Megatebennus himac- ulatiis, Dall) is a common shell on beaches from Monterey south. It is strongly ribbed from the large apical hole to the margin, and white except for two triangular spots of black on opposite sides. In form this little limpet shell resembles that of the giant Lucapina. The animal, however, is much smaller in proportion, though the mantle is able to cover the shell completely. Length, ^ inch. Habitat. — California. Genus GLYPHIS, Cpr. This genus is separated from Fissurella (which its shell resembles externally) by the sudden posterior cutting off square of the callus that bounds the apical hole inside the shell. The 228 The Key-hole Limpets central tooth of the radula is wide. It is by internal characters proved to belong in the group with Emarginula, which has the apex usually closed, with the slit between it and the margin, riie little "chopped olT" end of the inner rim of the hole is the sign by which shells of this genus are best recognised. G. alternata, Say, is the common key-hole limpet of the Atlantic coasts. It is an inch or more in length, with a much elevated peak, and a very finely and distinctly ribbed surface. The ground colour varies from pale dingy yellow to grayish brown, and there are usually eight dark radiating stripes ornamenting the shell. The lining is white, with a deep pit back of the apical key-hole. Habitat. — Chesapeake Bay to the West Indies. The Rough Key-hole Limpet (G. aspera, Eschs.), a peaked key-hole limpet of the Pacific coast, is the largest species of its genus; the oval shell is over two inches long. Its dirty white exterior is radially streaked with regularly widening dark bands, and ridges that have thin, sharp blades. The apical hole is almost round, and very thick-walled. Habitat. — Sitka to Monterey Bay. THE SLIT LIMPETS Genus EMARGINULA, Lam. Shell oval, conical, like a clown's pointed cap, with narrow vertical slit in from the front margin. Cabinet specimens, how- ever small, can be easily traced to their proper genus by their limpet shape and this peculiar slit. The few North American species are found on the Florida Keys. Genus SUBEMARGINULA, Blainv. Shell roundish oval; apex high, near middle, curved back- ward; surface radially ribbed; anal slit a short marginal notch, with internal groove leading toward apex. Southern Florida has two species. The genus is well represented in the West Indies, and in all the archipelagoes of tropical seas. S. Rollandii, Fisch., is a little shell with radiating ribs 229 The Key-hole Limpets almost uniform in size and daintily beaded. The slit is deeper than in most species, a clear identification. Colour, pale flesh tint or green, with white rays. Length, f inch. Habitat. — Florida, West Indies. SHIELD SHELLS Genus SCUTUS, Montf. Shell oblong, depressed to platter form, thick, squarish at ends, with obscure notch in front margin; apex obscure near posterior end, pointed backward; surface without radiating ribs or markings; body black or blotched with black; mantle enveloping the shell ; snout and tentacles long. S. anatinus, Donovan, is three inches long, its shell buflF in colour, with white lining, marked with orange or reddish stains. It is an Australian mollusk and interesting as a type of the most primitive genus in its family. It has no key-hole nor slit nor groove; these characters have been progressively acquired by the family in course of its evolution. The Giant Shield Shell (S. gigas. Martens) is pale yel- low, with strong concentric waving lines and projecting edges on its thick shell. It is nearly four inches long, and three inches wide. Under the name of saru-awahi it is taken from the waters of Northern Japan and used by the natives as a staple sea food the year round. 230 CHAPTER LVII: THE LIMPETS. TENT SHELLS Family AcM/tiOy^ Shell bowl-shaped, conical, with the apex a little in front of the middle, not spiral at any stage of development; with distinct internal border of the aperture; lining never iridescent; a free branchial plume at left above neck; radula lacks middle teeth. Mostly marine mollusks living on seaweed and rocks near shore. Genus ACM/EA, Eschs. The structure of a limpet may be made out with little trouble, for an animal that lives in such a shell cannot be very secretive as to the arrangements of its "in'ards." Slip a knife blade under the shell and it rolls off the rock into your hand. The branchial plume, extended at the left side of the neck when the limpet travels, is drawn in, but not concealed. The central, muscular disk is the foot, which has very remarkable tenacity when affixed to a rock face. In front the short head with its mouth and pair of tentacles appears; encircling all is the mantle border, lining the shell. From the mouth of a dead specimen draw the toothed radula, and examine the series of teeth under a good magnifier. This is the organ which rasps the algae from the rocks. What a safe shelter is the arching roof under which this mol- lusk lives ! Yet to breathe, the shell must be slightly lifted. This gives watchful and hungry crabs and sea birds their only chance to catch limpets unawares. They are quick to save themselves when warned. Br.t many pay for their inattention with their lives. Should the strongest arm endeavour The limpet from its rock to sever, T is seen its loved support to clasp With such tenacity of grasp We wonder that such strength should dwell In such a small and simple shell. — IVordsworth. The Tortoise-shell Limpet (A.iesiudinalis,Mu\\.) , common on the Maine and Alaskan coasts, reaches iV inches in length, 231 / The Limpets. Tent Shells but in the British Isles it is smaller. Brown and green stripes radiate from the apex, crossing concentric circles of white and black on the gray ground in a more or less irregularly tesse- lated pattern. The lines of growth are rather strong, and the surface is finely sculptured with striae that cross each other. Within the aperture there is a brown and white tesselated border, then a white lining with a large owl-shaped patch of brown, the muscle scar, under the apex. This sluggish mollusk wanders forth to feed on the soft tissues of alg£e. It returns to its own place on the under side of a rock after each excursion. Var. alveus, Conr., is so thin that the checkered pattern is seen through the wall. The sides are compressed to fit the shell to the stems of seaweeds on which it lives. The elevated peak sometimes forms a forward-pointing hook. These, like the typical tortoise-shells, are found in cold waters on both Atlantic and Pacific coasts of North America, along with forms that intergrade between them. A. candeana, Orb., a Floridian species, has seven to nine rays of black running down the gray or buff sides, or the black spreads in more numerous, finer rays. Five lines of black cross the narrow inner border. The ovate shell is depressed; the surface cut by radiating striae. Length, i inch. Habitat. — West Florida, Bahamas. The west coast of the United States is particularly rich in species and varieties of this genus. I will not describe all of them, but select the most common and distinctive. The Plate Limpet {A. patina, Eschs.), modified forms of which show it to be closely related to A. testudinalis, is the most characteristic limpet of the west coast. The shell is flattened, the blunt apex near the middle; the back is gray, finely tesse- lated with black. The flesh is white. Length, 2 inches. Habitat. — Aleutian Islands to San Diego, Cal. The Rough Limpet (A. scabra, Rve.) is sculptured with close, radiating, scaly ridges diversified regularlyby ribs of greater size and elevation. Yellow with faint brown markings is the usual colouring. The apex is low, the slopes convex. The flesh is black. Var. limulata, Cpr., has a black band around the apex, and a black border inside the aperture. The rest of the interior 232 The Limpets. Tent Shells is olive green, A cap-shaped form, with coarse sculpturing is the extreme of variation in this species. Length, i ^ inches. Habitat. — California. The Ghost Limpet (A. spectrum, Rve.) has a ghostly print of a human hand showing under the white callus that lines the shell. Outside, strong rough ridges run from the peak to the crenulated margin. They are whitish, with dots of brown filling in the depressions. Shell heavy. Length, i^ inches. Habitat. — Sitka to Lower California. The Mask Limpet (A. persona, Eschs.) has its beak bent forward until it is parallel with the base, and almost above the anterior edge of the shell. Behind the apex the curve is rounding. Thus the shell has almost a perfect mask form. Strong rounded ridges, with wide flat spaces between, radiate from apex to margin, crenulating the latter. The colouring varies from olive green to black, with speckles or stripes of white. From San Francisco north and south the type diverges, becom- ing more strongly ribbed behind the apex as we go north, and tend- ing to smaller and narrower ribs and more spreading sides as we go south. It is an exceedingly variable species. Length, i inch. Habitat. — Sitka to Lower California. The Shield Limpet (A. pelta, Eschs.) has an oval, shield- shaped shell, with pointed apex near the centre, and low, coarse ribs radiating from it. A narrow black band follows the edge of the lin- ing, which is oftenest made up of scallops or disconnected square spots. The peak is more elevated than usual in a small form found near Olympia, living on the valves of mussels. The typical colour- ing is gray, striped with black, often tesselated. Length, 2 inches. Habitat. — .Meutian Islands to Southern California. The White Cap {A. mitra, Eschs.) has a creamy smooth shell, rounded up to a decided peak. The dead shells are often picked up on Pacific beaches, but the mollusk is rarely seen alive. It is scarcely an inch in height, and slightly more than an inch across the almost circular base. THE OWL SHELL Genus SCURRIA, Gray Shell large, oval, depressed, apex far toward front margin, radiating ridges obscured, except near margin, back brownish 233 The Limpets. Tent Shells gray, spongy, eroded, lining polished, darkest colour in bands from margin inward, centre brown and white. Scar of muscle horse-shoe shaped. Animal with the left branchial plume, as in Acmaea, and in addition a branchial cordon extending around the foot. The Owl Shell (S. gigantea, Gray, Lotiia gigantea, Gray), is the largest and handsomest limpet on our west coast. Young specimens have low and rounded tubercles set in curving, radiating rows on the back of the shell. In such the colouring is bright, a dark and light mottling of olive brown. The name comes from the shape of the muscle scar inside the dome, which has the outline of an owl. The shell is 3 to 4 inches long, 2 to 3 inches wide, i to 1 ^ inches high. Habitat. — San Francisco to Panama. OLD WORLD LIMPETS Family Patellid^ Shell conical, without distinct internal border; for gills a row of secondary branchi.-e are substituted, set in a ring between mantle and foot; jaw and radula well developed. A large family sub-divided upon such obscure and difficult characters as the teeth of the radula, and the branchial cordon. Genus PATELLA, Linn. Characters of the family. Shell lining almost translucent, somewhat fibrous in texture, iridescent. Patella, when young, has a nautiloid shell, but it is a remark- able fact that we are entirely ignorant, in this commonest of mollusks, of the transition stages which convert the nautiloid into the familiar conical shell. — Cooke. The European limpet chooses a spot on the surface of a rock as a place of residence, and there it sinks and smooths a shallow pit exactly fitted to its shell. We are still guessing how the creature clings with a tenacity that sustains a weight of thirty pounds before the hold gives away. Back to its own place at nightfall comes the individual after ranging over the rocks to 234 The Limpets. Tent Shells feed upon minute vegetation that grows on them in patches. A peculiar noise is made by the scraping of the rock surface by the radulas of many feeding hmpets. At rest this remarkable toothed tongue is coiled like a watch spring. Still louder is the rasping sound of limpets dragging their shells over wet barnacle-covered rocks, between tides. Instead of having true gills, like those of its near relatives, this limpet has these reduced to mere stumps, and replaced by a series of gill plates, encircling the mantle. With these breathing organs the mollusks are able to remain for hours out of sea water, and to be exposed to rain without inconvenience. The oyster catcher deftly pries their shells from the rock with its case knife bill. We shall find limpets of this genus in collections but not on our seashores. They have a wide distribution in the eastern and southern hemispheres. The Common Tent Shell or Limpet (P. vidgaia, Linn.), found from the Arctic shores to Spain, is a solid, conical shell, its peak a little in front of the centre. Ribs radiate from apex to margin; small ribs, and still smaller striae, lie between the cardinal ones. Colour varies from grayish brown to yellowish. All are streaked or mottled, and become worn or overgrown with nullipores when old. The linings of the shells are polished and often opalescent, sometimes brighter in colouring than the exterior. Length, i to 2 inches. Habitat. — Europe. The Rusty Limpet (P. ferruginea, Gmel.) is very heavy, and deeply sculptured into rounded pillars or ridges that radiate from the apex, and make the margin deeply notched. Concentric striae cross these ridges. The back is rusty brown, shaded with white in wavy lines. The lining is white porcelain. Length, 2 to 4 inches. Habitat. — Mediterranean. The finest specimens of tent shells are found in far off tropical regions. P. longicosta from the Cape of Good Hope, has the ridges of its heavy shell prolonged into thin blades. P. granu- lans has its peaked roof beset with stout prickles. The flat yellow back of P. aspera of Madeira bears a set of radiating saw- toothed ridges as sharp as knife blades. P. radians from New Zealand has a flattened, almost smooth, finely mottled exterior 235 The Limpets. Tent Shells with a shell lining like smoked pearl. P. compressa from the Philippines has its thin, yellow, finely striated shells drawn in at the sides, elevating the apex. P. Mexicana, reported as found in Mexico and Central America, is the giant of its family — of all the limpets. Its shell is ponderous, bowl-shaped, and from six to fourteen inches long. It is often used as a wash basin in Central America. The lining is white and hard, like porcelain. The live animal is black, streaked with white. P. pectinata. Born., is typical of the cap-shaped limpets, in which the apex points forward and the slope behind it is decidedly curved. Its ribs are black, and prickly, with buff or pink valleys between. Length, i to i^ inches. Habitat. — Cape of Good Hope. Limpets of this shape are often called "clowns' caps." Among the key-hole limpets genera of cap-shaped shells are also found. The "white cap" in Acmsa also has this form. 236 CHAPTER LVIII: THE CHITONS. COAT-OF-MAIL SHELLS Order Polyplacophora Shell composed of eight overlapping plates, supportea by a muscular, leathery girdle, which extends beyond the plates and folds under, forming the margin of the convex body shield; body flattened, oval; foot, the whole ventral surface of the body; mantle encircles the body; gills, multiple, forming a continuous fringe between mantle and foot; head distinct from body; ten- tacles wanting; eyes mostly wanting; radula well developed; sexes distinct; reproductive organs paired; eggs laid in ropes or clusters; kidneys paired. Mollusks nocturnal, sluggish in movements, curl up when disturbed; subsist chiefly on vegetable diet. Habitat, rocky shores. Distribution, world-wide, in temper- ate and tropical seas. Eaten by poor classes in some localities. The chitons are unique among mollusks. The shell is com- posed of eight separate but overlapping plates. By this shell peculiarity all chitons may be instantly recognized by the most casual observer. The name, "coat-of-mail shells," is a very good one. All other mollusks have one or two valved shells, with the rare exception of shell-less forms. The eight plates form a dorsal shield which, inverted, looks like a boat. The girdle is the leathery skin in which the plates are securely embedded. It extends beyond the wings of the shell plates, forming the thin-edged horny border of the shield. Underneath it extends to the body, which lies in the concave of the arching plates. The flat ventral surface of the body is the foot. The mantle is a muscular fold between the foot and the inner edge of the girdle. It is best seen when the foot muscles contract. The expanded foot throws the mantle into folds in the narrow oval groove. The gills are fringe-like, external, attached in the groove between the mantle and the foot. The head is scarcely more than a tapering extension of the body. It bears no 237 The Chitons. Coat-of-Mail Shells organs but the mouth. The mantle edge covers it completely, like a hood. The chitons are an ancient family, geologically speaking. Thirty-eight genera, including about two hundred and fifty living species, are distributed over a large part of the world. Nine- tenths of these species live along shore in less than twenty-five fathoms of water, feeding upon the marine vegetation of this zone. Of these forms the greatest number are found under stones, between high and low tide levels, where the bottom is oozy and muddy. Chitons are rarely found on sandy coasts. A few species venture out to loo fathoms depth; still fewer forms are dredged in mid-ocean. The collector of shells needs a few instructions before he goes for chitons. These curious creatures are nocturnal in habits. They congregate by night where seaweeds are decaying, and return on slow foot to rest in certain familiar rock crevices by day. When the stone to which a chiton is attached is lifted, the mollusk seems to be grown fast to it, so strong is the suction of the broad foot. A quick thrust of a blunt knife under the shield is necessary to dislodge it. The disturbed mollusk will curl up into a ball, like a pill bug, if handled now. No use to try to straighten it by force. The stubborn muscles will break before they will relent. But drop the specimen into a bucket of salt water, and it will soon assume its natural position. The business-like collector goes prepared, carrying small, smooth wooden slats and a ball of soft cotton twine. He deftly slips the specimens, one by one, to a place on the wet slat, to which they gratefully attach themselves, and are promptly bound with coils of the twine. Thus they are dried in proper position for museum or cabinet specimens. The girdle is a muscular belt, which helps to hold the plates in place, and forms the margin of the shield. The leathery covering is variously coloured and marked. It may be striped or marbled, with smooth, horny surface, or covered with down, or scales, or tufted hairs, or stout limy spicules and knobs, like the sea- urchins. Sometimes the margin has a deep posterior slit or notch. Sometimes the width is so great that the plates are entirely covered over by the girdle. In other forms the girdle is narrow. The Californian coast is the best place to study chitons alive. The greatest variety to be found in any one region is 238 IM.*"^- LIMPETS, CHITON AND SHIELD SHELL 1,2,3 White Cap Limpet, /I cm