1 84 MADRAS FISHERIES BULLETIN VOL. XIV, 



Many of our most familiar and beautiful Madras shells are 

 included in the Veneridac, small clams characterized by the hand- 

 some colouring and great strength of the valves. They vary 

 greatly in shape, ranging from greatly flattened discoidal forms 

 {Circe scripta) to swollen forms like Circe oibba and oblong ones 

 such as Tapes and Snnetta. The beaks are usually prominent and 

 situated above the mid-length of a strong hinge-plate bearing 

 (usually) three prominent, strong cardinal teeth, flanked by long 

 laterals. 



The genus Venus is purely marine; its shells are ovate with 

 deep crescent-shaped ventral margin and a strongly beaked umbo. 

 Widely distributed on sandy shores on both our coasts it never forms 

 beds. Venus reticulata and V. plicata are two common fojms. The 

 sea-worn fragments of the Money Venus, Venus merccnaria, when 

 perforated and strung on leather thongs were the wampum of North 

 American Indians, used as a rude form of coinage in their business 

 transactions. A wonderfully lovely Cytherea {Crista erycina) is to 

 be found in the shallows westward of Kundagal point at Pamban. 

 It is a thick ovate shell nearly 3 inches long, boldly ribbed con- 

 centrically, splashed and marbled in rich red brown. So hand- 

 some is it, that the shell dealers in Rameswaram temple offer 

 good prices for it ; they know its colouring will tempt the 

 pilgrims who come from far away inland homes, to whom every- 

 thing from the sea in this holy place is invested with virtue and 

 interest. 



Much more abundant in South India are the BACKWATER 

 Clams belonging to the genus Meretrix, distinguished by the fine 

 striation of the elongated posterior lateral tooth in each valve. 

 At least three species are of value as food in this Presidency, 

 namely Meretrix meretrix, M. casta and M. ovum. The first is com- 

 paratively rare, but is found on both our coasts, the second is 

 localized to the East Coast, while the third, which appears to be a 

 sub-species of the second or vice versa, is found only on the West 

 Coast. 



The two latter are known in Tamil as uiatti {<^^-'^) ; in Mala- 

 yalam as erunthu at Calicut and kahka at Cochin ; everywhere along 

 the coast from South Kanara in the west round to Ganjam in the 

 east, either one or other of these little clams is found abundantly 

 in muddy sand in estuaries and connected backwaters wherever 

 the water remains saline throughout the greater part of the year. 



