392 MARINE INVERTEBRATES 



seem that it has served as a sort of dumping-ground for various 

 groups of mollusks of uncertain biological affinities. Although 

 the family has recently been reduced by the removal of several 

 large families, it still remains a bulky one. 



GENUS Buccinum 



The animal is described at some length on page 330. It has 

 no striking peculiarities. The siphon in Buccinum is fairly long ; 

 the eyes are placed about midway between the base and the end 

 of the tentacles. It is in general a conventional prosobrauch ani- 

 mal. The great majority of the members of this family have a 

 boreal range and are found widely distributed within the colder 

 waters of the world. 



B. undatum. This is the most prominent representative of the 

 Bucdnidee 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 exten- 

 sively 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 at- 

 tracted 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 colu- 

 mella is somewhat twisted ; the operculum 

 is corneous, with a lateral nucleus. The 



Buccinum undatum. . . . " 



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.) 



GENUS Chrysodomus 



C. decemcostatus. One of the most striking shells of our northeast 

 coast. As its name indicates, it is decorated with (normally) ten costse. 



