P. patula. This species has a rounded body-whorl, and sometimes a low spire, which give it much the appearance of a large limpet. Its back is decorated with rows of nodules in regular order, forming a spiral series. The chief point of distinction is the deeply excavated, broadened, and flattened columella-lip of salmon-color. A portion of the whorl itself is worn down and made smooth by being dragged over sharp coral rocks, revealing underneath the rough, incrusted exterior, a transparent colorless shelly substance. Dark and chestnut-colored [pg387] patches and spots adorn the outer lip. The shell is from two to two and a half inches long. (Plate LXXIII.)

P. hæmastoma. Like its relative, P. lapillus of Northern waters, this species is so variable as almost to defy description. The form that usually occurs from Hatteras to Florida is of a bluish-gray color, and is indistinctly encircled with narrow yellow zones, which are crossed by somewhat vague longitudinal waves of black. The columella and outer lip and interior are orange-yellow. The spire is moderately high, with a sharp apex. The whorls are noduled upon the shoulder. There are revolving grooves throughout, even within the aperture. A Texan variety of this species has a much more elevated spire, with channeled sutures, and small aperture of bright salmon-color.

Upon the Californian coast there are three species of Purpura, which markedly resemble the P. lapillus of the Maine shores. Their extreme variability has given rise to much confusion in their nomenclature; the multitude of names given by numerous authors to the varietal forms of these three species constitute a list of synonyms which is appalling to the systematic student.

P. crispata. With very few modifications, a description of P. lapillus would apply to this species, which occurs commonly at San Francisco and ranges north. Crispata is possibly heavier, with a smaller aperture, and with four or five round teeth upon the inner white surface of the thickened outer lip. It ranges in color from pure white to dark brown and is sometimes banded. The surface may be smooth or rough, and is sometimes ruffled all over with wrinkled frills. Length one and a half inches. Its habits and station are much the same as those of P. lapillus, of which it is possibly a descendant, somewhat modified by changed environment. (Plate LXXIII.)

P. lima. A less common species, with rounded whorls and channeled suture, and about fifteen spiral grooves upon the whorls. The color is light brown; the length from one quarter of an inch to one inch.

P. saxicola. A shell exceedingly abundant along the whole Californian coast, living under quite the same conditions as the purpuras already described. It is smaller than the last two, being always less than an inch in length. It also runs through the gamut of variations as to color-scheme and sculpturing, but always preserves a certain individuality. There is a tendency to a small umbilicus; the outer lip is sharp; the columella is flattened and slightly twisted; and anterior canal is short, and bears to the left. A smaller aperture, with relatively thicker shell, seems to be all that distinguishes it from the smaller varieties of the east-coast species. (Plate LXXIII.)

M. lapilloides. The shell in this species is about an inch in length, and has markings which give it a striking resemblance to granite. A row of small round denticles upon the inner surface of the lip is a characteristic already noticed in some of the west-coast murices. Their station is the same as that of the purpuras—between the tides on rocky, exposed shores. (Plate LXXIII.)

M. engonatum. This species has sharply ridged whorls, and revolving ribs with wavy growth-lines between them. In other respects it is almost identical with the last described. It is often found mingled with the seaweed which covers rocks between tides, and, when moist, simulates the color of its surroundings. (Plate LXXIII.)

C. belcheri. This family cannot well be left without at least a mention of this large and rather handsome species. Chorus is a genus of but few species, confined to the Pacific shores of North and South America. This particular species does not reach as far north as San Francisco, but may be taken at low tide in the vicinity of San Diego. The prominent feature of the shell is the posterior canal, which, being abandoned as the growth of the shell continues, leaves a series of hollow, folded spiny processes upon the shoulder of the body-whorl, which appear like jagged points upon the spire. (Plate LXXIII.)

C. mercatoria. This Antillean species is found in Florida, and is one of the gems among the American shallow-water shells. Its height is about one half of an inch. It is decorated with revolving grooves and with a variously patterned color-scheme of broken yellow or reddish [pg389] lines on a white background, or of white splotches on a brownish background. (Plate LXXIV.)

C. corrugata. This shell finds its metropolis in Puget Sound, but occurs also along the Californian shore. The aperture is wider than is usual in this genus. The surface is deeply wrinkled by longitudinal costæ and is encircled by revolving grooves. Length one half of an inch; color red, or orange to light brown. It is found in shallow protected waters. (Plate LXXIV.)

C. gausapata. This species lives in great numbers about the roots of eel-grass. It is very small and smooth, with a rather high spire. The color of the spire is deep brown; the body-whorl is lighter in color. Occasionally the body-whorl is obtusely carinated just below the suture. This little shell is very common upon many beaches after heavy winds, but it should be sought for at very low tides and gathered alive. (Plate LXXIV.) [pg390]

N. trivittata, N. obsoleta. These are the two nassas of the New England and New Jersey coasts. The first has a more northerly range, extending to the Gulf of St. Lawrence; the other is not usually found north of Cape Cod, but below that point as far as Hatteras it is probably the commonest shell of the coast. It fairly swarms in sheltered muddy reaches about low tide. Little pools left by the tide on the Jersey flats are sometimes so crowded with N. obsoleta that for lack of room the animals crawl over one another. N. trivittata is more commonly taken at small depths in the harbors, where it seems to live well upon all kinds of sea-bottom. Probably they exist in great numbers along the southern shore of Long Island, for the beaches are often lined with their dead and worn shells. Over half the specimens thus found will have a little round perforation upon some whorl, showing that they were victims of some cannibalistic brother. The shells of the Nassidæ have a short, ovate aperture, with a short anterior canal. The inner lip is smooth, and is usually coated over with a more or less heavy [pg391] deposit of enamel. N. trivittata is about one half to seven tenths of an inch long, and is yellowish-white. A series of revolving grooves cutting across a series of longitudinal lines gives the shell a decussated or granulated appearance. The whorls are somewhat shouldered at the sutures, and are white inside. N. obsoleta cannot be called a handsome shell by the most enthusiastic collector. Its spire is usually eroded or completely dissolved away. The color is blackish to olive, with the aperture purplish-black. The columellar lip is arched, with a twist or fold in its lower portion. It is decussated by crossing lines and grooves, though not so conspicuously as N. trivittata; sutures simple; length one half of an inch to one inch. Old specimens not only become eroded, but are usually covered with vegetable mould, and are not over-inspiring to the collector. They often live in brackish water, and frequent all the inlets and marine flats between Cape Cod and Hatteras. Below Hatteras both this and the last-named species occur, though not so plentifully.

N. fossata, N. perpinguis. On the California coast there are the huge (for this genus) N. fossata and the smaller but no less interesting N. perpinguis, also N. tegula and N. mendica. N. fossata grows to a length of one and a half to two inches. When adult the lip is somewhat thickened, and the entire aperture is bright orange. The color of the shell is ashen-gray, and it is marked with spiral and transverse riblets which produce a granulated surface, especially upon the upper whorls. The shell is ribbed inside the mouth. A deep groove circles the anterior canal at the base of the body-whorl. N. perpinguis is an especially graceful shell, smaller than the last-named and more finely decussated and darker (brown) in color. It also has a deeply channeled groove encircling the base of the body-whorl. It is often banded in chestnut. Both these species occur in the southern part of California only; N. tegula and N. mendica are of more northern range. The former resembles the Floridian N. vibex. N. mendica is a slender shell three quarters of an inch long, with prominent longitudinal ridges, and light brown in color, with a white aperture. (Plate LXXIV.)

B. undatum. This is the most prominent representative of the Buccinidæ upon the North Atlantic shores of the United States. It is an exceedingly common shell, ranging from Cape Cod to Greenland. It is also found in England and Scotland, where it is extensively used as food under the familiar name of "whelk." It affects every kind of station and seems to be as much at home in very considerable depths as about the low-tide mark. Upon the Maine coast it may be found almost everywhere, just below low tide. If none are in sight they may be attracted by putting a dead fish in a basket and anchoring it near shore. The American whelk is somewhat smaller than the British variety, although it attains a length of full three inches. It has revolving ribs and longitudinal oblique folds. A yellowish-brown, velvety epidermis covers the entire shell. The lip is simple, and the shell is white or golden yellow within. The columella is somewhat twisted; the operculum is corneous, with a lateral nucleus. The variations in this shell are so great as to have caused naturalists no little perplexity. Specimens taken near large cities are apt to be defective. (Plate I.)

C. decemcostatus. One of the most striking shells of our northeast coast. As its name indicates, it is decorated with (normally) ten costæ. [pg393] These are prominent revolving ribs or keels upon the body-whorl, the upper one being the largest, the others diminishing in size toward the base of the shell. Upon the upper whorls but two of these circling keels appear. The lip is plain, but somewhat modified by the termination of the ribs. The columella is arched above; the canal produced (sometimes to the left). The color without is dull ashen-white to horn; within, pure white. The operculum is small, with a terminal nucleus. The animal is the same as Buccinum. This species is not quite so common as B. undatum, but it is often found associated with it. At Eastport and Bar Harbor it is abundant just below low-water mark.

S. Stimpsoni. One of the most graceful of the larger shells of our eastern coast. It is almost identical with the S. islandicus of northern European waters, and for a long time was considered to be the same species. S. Stimpsoni is not found south of Cape Cod, except possibly in deep offshore stations. North of that point it ranges to Newfoundland, but it has enjoyed the reputation of being a rare shell and has been greatly prized by local collectors in consequence. It is, in fact, not rare to any one who is provided with a dredge and rope enough to enable him to use [pg394] it effectively in from twenty to one hundred feet of water. The spire is high and regular, with seven to eight slightly rounded whorls. The suture is simple, and there are faint revolving grooves. The epidermis is thick, horn-colored, and sometimes velvety; the lip simple; and the anterior canal produced. The shell is pure white within. The operculum is corneous, with a subterminal nucleus. The animal is the same as Buccinum, but with small irregular specks of black. This shell is found from three to five inches long.

S. kellettii. Siphonalia is one of the Pacific genera of the Buccinidæ, which finds its greatest development in Japanese waters. One of these Japanese species, S. kellettii, is also found in California. It has the typical animal of the Buccinidæ, and a fusiform shell white to brownish in color, and three to five inches in length. It is conspicuously marked upon the whorls by a revolving series of large rounded knobs and indistinct revolving grooves. The operculum is corneous, the nucleus subterminal. It is found in shallow water to low-tide mark. (Plate LXXIV.)

T. tincta. A Floridian species which ranges from Hatteras to the West Indies, and finds its station near low-tide mark, upon coralline rock or rough, stony bottom. It is about one inch in length, is of a brownish horn-color, and has an oval aperture with a crenulated outer lip and a deep anterior canal. An entering ridge of white enamel at the top of the columellar lip forms, with one of the teeth of the outer lip, a posterior canal. It is sculptured, with revolving ridges and crossing longitudinal folds. The color is bluish-white within the shell, touched with yellow about the anterior canal and along the edge of the outer lip. (Plate LXXIV.)

F. canaliculata often occurs associated with the last. It does not attain quite the same size, but specimens of both species are, on the [pg396] average, about equal in cubic capacity. It is pear-shaped, like F. carica, and has a long anterior canal; but its distinguishing features are the flattened shoulder of the whorls and the deeply channeled sutures. The epidermis is brown, thick, and heavy. The color of the shell is whitish-gray, yellowish within. It is found in the same places as F. carica, and is very abundant at Atlantic City and along the entire New Jersey coast.

F. perversa. A Floridian species, immediately recognizable by the fact that it is sinistral; otherwise a description of the shell would almost fit that of F. carica, except in the matter of the color of the aperture, which in F. perversa is brownish-white. The brownish streaks upon the whorls, in young specimens, are a very noticeable feature of this shell. The shoulders of the whorls are rather flatter than in F. carica, but, unlike F. canaliculata, the sutures are simple. The row of nodes or rounded spines which encircles the body-whorl appears in the spire as nodes just above the sutures. The animal is jet-black, and frequents sandy flats, where, at low tide, it may be gathered in considerable numbers, as it plows its way along, almost wholly concealed beneath the sand. Large specimens measure quite a foot in length. In old shells the color-markings are not so brilliant, the shells being a dull, lusterless white. (Plate LXXV.)

F. pyrum. Another Floridian species, much smaller than the last (three to four inches), with a regular, pear-shaped outline, a long anterior canal, a low spire, deeply channeled sutures, flattened shoulders, and no spinous or nodose processes. It is ornamented with revolving inconspicuous ribs or striæ, alternately larger, and has a somewhat hirsute epidermis. The color is white, with transverse broad yellowish or rusty lines; the color within the aperture resembles that of the exterior color-lines. It is found on sandy stations, in shallow water. (Plate LXXV.)

M. corona. A Floridian species, named from the single or double row of spinous processes upon the shoulder of the body-whorl and the crenulated appearance of the spire caused by the continuations of the triangular spines. The three apical whorls are not spinous. There is also a row of hollow triangular spines obliquely encircling the base of the shell. The epidermis is heavy, rough, and brown; the aperture oval and large; the outer lip notched at points where the spines commence; the anterior canal wide and short; and the columella white and twisted, and banded within with purplish-chestnut and white. The color without is drab in older specimens, in young specimens chestnut banded with revolving striæ. Length four inches. Found in shallow water. This active predaceous animal must be the terror of the mollusks in Florida. With his sharply toothed radula he is able to pierce even the ponderous clam-shell, Venus mercenaria, variety mortoni, and devour the soft fleshy parts within. No mollusk, save, perhaps, the vigorous Strombus pugilis, can escape the attack of this highwayman. (Plate LXXV.)

F. gigantea. This is said to be the largest gasteropod shell known. It often attains a length of sixteen inches, and specimens are reported to have been found measuring no less than two feet. This huge mollusk has a symmetrically fusiform shell, with whorls obtusely ridged and armed with large rounded nodes. The aperture is reddish-brown within. The anterior canal is long and open, and there are three "plaits," or folds, about the columella. The outer lip is more or less sinuate, the color is fleshy-white, and the shell is covered with a thick yellowish or chestnut epidermis. The animal is of a brilliant scarlet color. (Plate LXXVI.)

F. tulipa. An exceedingly common species of Floridian waters, which may justly be classed among the "show shells" of the American Atlantic fauna. It has a typically symmetrical, fusiform shape, with gracefully rounded whorls, and is spirally but not deeply grooved. The sutures are crenulated; the anterior canal is long; there are three entering folds upon the columella; and the outer lip is simple. The scheme of coloration is variable, but there are two chief patterns, which are usually followed, though they often are considerably modified. One is a light-bluish body, variegated with chestnut or olive blotches, which are more extensive upon the spire than upon the body-whorl; the other is a pinkish body, encircled with revolving black lines. The specimens of F. tulipa, which are found so abundantly in the shallow bays and estuaries of the Florida coast, are, for some reason, never brightly colored, as are those taken in the open sea. The length is about four to six inches. (Plate LXXVI.)

F. distans. A form almost identical with that last described. It is much smaller, varying from two to three inches in length, lacks the crenulations of the sutures, and is perfectly smooth, save for a few spiral ridges about the base. The color is bluish-white, with clouded longitudinal [pg398] streaks of olive. Encircling the shell are from four to seven black lines. (Plate LXXVI.)

These three species of Fasciolaria often occur associated upon sand-banks which are exposed at unusually low tides. It requires some force to dislodge the large F. gigantea from its bed of sand. When the apex is discovered projecting an inch or less from the bottom, the collector must scrape away the sand down to the body-whorl, and then secure a good hold upon the spire and pull hard. The stupid animal will not at once withdraw into his shell, but will hang protruded from the aperture like a great piece of vividly red meat. To extract any of these larger fasciolarias from its shell, it is necessary to boil it for ten or fifteen minutes. Large specimens of F. gigantea should remain in the pot half an hour. The heavy corneous epidermis of F. gigantea will dry and crumble away unless it is rubbed with vaseline about once a year.

M. apicina. The most abundant Floridian species of this genus. It is not more than one third of an inch long, with a depressed spire, a large body-whorl, a long aperture nearly equaling the entire length of the shell, a thickened outer lip, and four very prominent plaits on the columella. The surface is smooth. The white, enlarged outer lip is glazed or highly polished, and bluish or brown in color, with red spots. (Plate LXXVII.) [pg400]

O. literata. The only American example out of some sixty known species. It is found in great abundance in sandy tide-pools along the west Florida shores. It ranges from Hatteras to the West Indies, and may be looked for in stations similar to those of the naticas. It is exceedingly active, crawling rapidly over the sand or burying itself very quickly out of sight, and is carnivorous. The shell is highly polished, about two inches long, and pale yellowish-white in color, covered with longitudinal, angulated, or zigzag lines of chestnut. The spire is short, the sutures channeled, and the columella calloused with white enamel, and obliquely striated. (Plate LXXVII.)