PELECYPODS 443 



causing, at the margin, a pucker or break in its even continuity. The 

 lunule is large and ribbed ; the teeth are small ; the color is pure white, 

 with a light straw -tinted epidermis. (Plate LXXX.) 



L. tlentata. In this species the shells are thin - r r?rf~ >v> ^- 



and white, with well-marked concentric lines crossed ,d$|^fc?01^!V 

 by deep oblique narrow furrows bent at nearly <(w|j '" / ; \ 



right angles to the lines of growth and forming teeth 

 around the margin. Found along the entire coast. 



L. californica. The best-known California 

 species of this genus. It is pure white, with fine 

 concentric lines, and varies in size from one half 

 of an inch to one and a half inches in diameter. ^^ arntata 



The lateral teeth are the stronger, and the lunule is 

 upon the right valve only. With these exceptions this species preserves 

 the usual characters of this gen us. 



L. nuttattii, belonging to the southern shores of California, is decus- 

 sated like fine wickerwork. The shell is flattened and ridged along the 

 hinge-margin. The color is white. Diameter about one inch in large 

 specimens. (Plate LXXX.) 



GENUS Loripes 



L. edentula. A species which is seldom captured alive. Its home is 

 in the open sea, but vast quantities of its valves are occasionally thrown 

 upon the beaches south of Hatteras, as far as the Gulf of Mexico. On 

 account of the weak hinge ligament, the valves become easily separated, 

 and it is not always easy to find two that will exactly match. Loripes 

 preserves the same circular outlines as Lucina, but is more ventricose, 

 and the hinge and teeth are very feeble. This species is a little over two 

 inches in length and slightly under two inches in height. It is pure 

 white without, and is finely striated with growth-lines ; bright orange 

 within, especially about the pallial line and muscle-scars. (Plate 

 LXXX.) 



FAMILY 



GENUS Tellina 



If we should create an aristocracy of beauty among the bivalves, 

 as has been done by conchologists among the gasteropods, this 

 family would deserve high rank. Most of the American species 

 of Tellina are too small to impress one very greatly with their 

 beauty, but in the West Indies and in the tropical Pacific waters 

 are some wonderfully handsome shells belonging to this or 

 to the allied genus Maconia. However, we have in Florida the 

 very striking T. mdiata, a truly beautiful shell, which, were it 

 less common, would be highly prized in collections. Rarity, no 

 doubt, adds a wonderful luster to shells as well as to gems. The 



