GASTROPODA 561 



H. ventricosa Lam. (Fig. 884). Length 12 cm.; color brownish, 

 with square spots of purple forming broad spiral bands on the whorls; 

 between the ribs are scallops of light and dark 

 brown: Indian Ocean; often used as an ornament. 



DIVISION 5. TOXOGLOSSA. 



Radula long and narrow, with 2 rows of long 

 teeth, which are the marginals, the centrals and lat- 

 erals being absent; proboscis with a poison gland; 

 siphon distinct ; aperture either notched below or pro- 

 longed to form a siphonal canal ; shell spiral : 4 fami- 

 lies, all marine, and mostly carnivorous, the animals 



feeding largely on mollusks which they kill by means Fig. 884 



Harpa ventricosa 



01 their long teeth and the poison. (Rogers). 



Key to the families of Toxoglossa: 



o t Shell a reversed cone 2. CONIDAE 



2 Shell not a reversed cone. 

 6 X Shell with a tall spire. 



Cj Aperture ending below with a notch 1. TEREBBIDAE 



c 2 Aperture channelled below notched above 3. PLEUBOTOMIDAE 



6 2 Shell more or less ovate 4. CANCELLABIIDAE 



FAMILY 1. TEREBRIDAE. 



Shell elongate, with a very tall acute spire and with flattened 

 whorls; aperture small, with a deep notch below; operculum horny; 

 tentacles short, wide apart, with eyes at their tips or wanting: 1 genus. 



TEREBRA Lamarck. With the characters of the family : 200 species, 

 mostly tropical. 



T. dislocata Say. Shell 44 mm. long, 8 mm. wide; color brownish 

 or yellowish, with a pale revolving band and numerous minute revolving 

 lines; whorls 13, with 15 to 18 ribs on each and numerous minute revolv- 

 ing grooves: Maryland to Texas and in the West Indies; in shallow 

 water. 



FAMILY 2. CONIDAE. 



Shell thick, conical, with a low, flattened spire and a very large 

 lower whorl which tapers towards the lower end; surface often smooth 

 and brightly colored; aperture long and narrow; operculum present or 

 absent ; proboscis long ; siphon short and thick : numerous species, mostly 

 tropical, many very beautiful. 



CONUS L. With the characters of the family: 300 species. 



C. calif ornicus Hinds. Spire without protuberances; color of shell 

 white, of periostracum chestnut; latter sometimes hirsute; length 25 

 mm.: California, towards the south. 



