GASTEROPODS 399 



V.junonia. This volute has never been taken alive in shallow water 

 near the shore, but is occasionally found cast upon the beach after vio- 

 .ent storms. Sanibel Island is the best locality. V. junonia has an 

 obtuse apex, a long aperture, and a shell from three to three and a half 

 inches in length. The color is cream-white, painted with rows of large 

 deep-red spots. In his " American Marine Shells," published nearly 

 thirty years ago, Mr. Try on says: " This is the most rare and valuable 

 American marine shell ; specimens in good condition sell for from fifty to 

 one hundred dollars." A good specimen is probably not worth so much 

 to-day as when Mr. Tryon wrote, but it is at least worth a careful survey 

 of a Floridian beach after a storm. 



FAMILY MAEGINELUDJE 

 GENUS Marginella 



This is a family of exquisite little shells. In point of beauty 

 they would rival the volutes were they not so much handicapped 

 by their small size. The largest Marginella is not more than an 

 inch and a half in length, while the great majority of its two hun- 

 dred tropical species do not exceed one half an inch. The animal 

 is very similar to that of Voluta ; indeed, the marginellas were 

 until recently included in the Volutidce. The shell is also sug- 

 gestive of Voluta. It is porcelanous, highly polished, and shin- 

 ing like all shells which are covered by a portion of the mantle 

 when the animal is extended. Forty-seven species of Marginella 

 are recorded from the Atlantic coast of the United States. The 

 marginellas frequent sandy or muddy sheltered spots, and may be 

 collected between tide-marks. In California there are several 

 species, which are so minute that it seems hardly worth while to 

 attempt a description of them. They are white and very incon- 

 spicuous little shells. One is tempted, however, to speak of some 

 of the fine marginellas of the Bahamas. The animals are quite 

 as beautifully marked as the shells themselves, while the shell of 

 one species is used in jewelry on account of its pearly luster suf- 

 fused with the most delicate pink. 



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.) 



