MYA. 



59 



Fig. 376. 



3Ii/a Iruncata. 



arcnaria, but the oblique rib merely forms a thickened lobe at the 

 edge, and does not project into a tooth-like process ; on the op- 

 I)osite valve is an exca- 

 vation in the beak for the 

 reception of the tooth, 

 and insertion of the lig- 

 ament. Leno'th, two and 

 three quarters inches ; 

 height, one and seven 

 tenths inches ; breadth, 

 one and one fifth inches. 



The animal is oval, 

 with very long siphons 

 united to their fringed 

 tips, and covered with a 



wrinkled, brown epidermis ; mantle closed, except for the passage 

 of a small slender foot with a byssal groove. 



Single valves of this shell are thrown upon our beaches by vio- 

 lent gales ; but I have never heard of any living specimen being 

 taken directly on our coast. At George's and Grand Banks, how- 

 ever, it is abundant, and is a favorite food of the codfish, from 

 whose stomachs it is taken plentifully by our fishermen. On the 

 English coast it is spoken of as more plentiful than M. arenaria, 

 found at the mouths of rivers. It is not mentioned as an article 

 of food. Eastport, at low w^ater, and southward to Cape Cod 

 ( Stimpson) ; Bedford Basin, Halifax ( Willis) ; Greenland (Mai- 

 ler) ; Port Foulke (Haijes coll.) ; var. Uddevalensis, abundant. 

 Gulf of St. Lawrence (Bell). Fossil at Montreal, Beauport, Port- 

 land, and elsewhere. 



It is very easily recognized by the peculiar manner in which the 

 posterior end seems to be chopped off; sometimes directly across, 

 and sometimes obliquely ; sometimes leaving the posterior portion 

 of about the same length as the anterior ; and at other times not 

 half as long. Its membranous tube, when not broken off by the 

 removal of the animal, as it usually is, is quite a curiosity. There 

 is one shell which at first sight resembles it, the Patiopcea arclica; 

 but it is gaping at both ends, and has no tooth. 



