450 



C. (Callista) gigantea. One of the most beautiful Floridian shells. 

 It is nearly or quite six inches long and about three and a fourth inches 

 in height. The shell is porcelanous, is covered with a pinkish, livid 

 epidermis, and is decorated with numerous longitudinal color-rays of 

 lilac. The rays are usually broken and interrupted. Within it is china- 

 white, and has a deep pallial sinus. It is very abundant on the west 

 coast of Florida, at Sanibel Island, Egmont Key, Lake Worth, and on 

 beaches. (Plate LXXXII.) 



C. tnaculata. This species is more oval in outline than the last. It 

 is of a fawn-color, blotched or waved with violet-brown, and is porcela- 

 nous and shining. The epidermis is also shining and corneous. Within 

 it is china-white in color. The pallial sinus is very deep and wide. 

 Length two and a half to three inches ; height one and a half to two 

 inches. This also is a shell to be looked for upon the beach after storms, 

 but it will probably not be seen on the east coast of Florida, although it 

 occurs on the Keys and also at Hatteras. Both of the species have been 

 used as food, but not very extensively. The flesh is not lacking in ten- 

 derness, but it has a peppery taste. (Plate LXXXII.) 



GENUS Dosinia 



There are two species of this very graceful genus of Venerida south of 

 Hatteras, -Z>. discus and -D. elegans. These dosinias have united 

 siphons. The foot is very large and strong, and the mantle margin is 

 both papillaceous and plicated. The shells of these two species are 

 about three or three and a half inches in length and of the same height, 

 and are very flat. The ventral margin is almost a perfect circle, and the 

 beaks are small and pointed. The lunule is small and cordate ; the valves 

 are very gracefully sculptured in fine, regular, impressed, concentric striae, 

 which are finer and less elevated in D. discus than in D. elegans; the shell 

 is porcelanous and white, and is covered by a straw-colored, very fine, 

 transparent epidermis. Within, the strong cardinal teeth are placed 

 upon a long fossette. There is a deep pallial sinus. D. discus is charac- 

 teristic of the east coast of Florida, while D. elegans is only found upon 

 the west side of the State. Both may be looked for upon the beach, 

 though living specimens must be captured with the dredge. (Plate 

 LXXXIL) 



GENUS Tivela 



The coast of California is also favored by the Veneridce, a num- 

 ber of large species belonging to several genera being present. 



T. crassatellMdes. Perhaps the largest and finest of the California 

 species. It is so common in its between-tides station that it used to be 

 collected by plowing a furrow through the sand, the big shells being 

 thrown out upon either side like potatoes. The shells attain a 

 length of five and a half inches, and are porcelanous, thick, and 

 heavy. The margins of the valves are also thick and rounded. The 

 exterior is perfectly smooth, yellowish-white in color, and decorated 



