396 MARINE INVERTEBRATES 



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 JP. 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, arid frequents 

 sandy flats, where, at low tide, it may be gathered in considerable num- 

 bers, 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 ante- 

 rior canal, a low spire, deeply channeled sutures, flattened shoulders, and 

 no spinous or nodose processes. It is ornamented with revolving incon- 

 spicuous ribs or stria?, 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.) 



GENUS Melongena 



M. corona. A Floridian species, named from the single or double row 

 of spinous processes upon the shoulder of the body- whorl and the crenu- 

 lated appearance of the spire caused by the continuations of the triangu- 

 lar 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 

 striae. Length four inches. Found in shallow water. This active pre- 

 daceous 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.) 



