PELECYPODS 



449 



sively gathered in the estuaries from Cape May to Cape Cod. Men 

 armed with rakes drift about in small boats and fish the sluggish crea- 

 tures up out of the mud. They will live for many days out of water if 

 kept in a cool place. Smaller or immature clams are better for the table, 

 since they are not so tough as their elders. A few features of the shell 

 of this species are noticeable the rather prominent umbones directed for- 

 ward, the heart-shaped lunule,the external ligament, the concentric sculp- 

 turing of growth-lines, the pure-white interior (with occasionally violet 

 zones about the 

 muscle-scars and 

 margin), the three 

 stout cardinal teeth, 

 the sharp -angled 

 pallial sinus, and the 

 ventral margin fine- 

 ly crenulated within. 

 The greatest length 

 is about three inches 

 and the height two 

 and a half inches, 

 but these dimensions 

 exceed those of the 

 clams usually served 

 upon the half-shell. 

 V. mercenaria ranges 

 into Florida, increas- 

 ing in size and bulk 

 as it meets the 

 warmer waters of 

 the Gulf Stream. The 

 Floridian form has received the varietal name of mortoni. This massive 

 clam sometimes weighs five pounds, and is fully six inches in diameter. 

 Aside from its great size and thickness, the characters of the 

 shell are wholly those of the smaller Northern form. It is abundant in 

 shallow, muddy, bi-ackish bays, and is gathered by men who " tread 

 out " the clams, feeling for them in the mud and sand with bare feet. 

 The flesh is tough and disagreeably strong, yet the natives appear to 

 relish it, especially when it is made into a chowder. 



V. cancellata. The most abundant species of Venus in Florida, 

 particularly near Tampa and on the west side. It preserves all the 

 characteristics of the genus, and is decorated with a series of high, 

 narrow, concentric ridges, between which are much smaller and more 

 numerous radiating riblets. The color is dirty white to light yellow- 

 brown without, and white and violet within. There are three cardi- 

 nal teeth s,nd no laterals. The lunule is heart-shaped; the pos- 

 terior margin is broadened into a wide, concave area into which the 

 concentric ridges do not pass. Length one to one and a fourth inches ; 

 height the nime. Sometimes the beaches in Florida will in places be 

 banked up ^ ith the valves of this very abundant Venus. As they live in 

 shallow wator upon sandy stations, they are easily dislodged by the 

 heavy storm \ which sometimes sweep that usually placid coast. (Plate 

 LXXXTI.) 



29 



Venus mercenaria, typical form. 



