TURTONIA. . 85 



torior one laminar ; pallial sinus simple. Animal with the mantle 

 widely open anteriorly, a single very slender siphonal tube at the 

 shorter end, and an ample, angulated foot proceeding from the 

 longer end. 



Turtonia minuta. 



Shell with the beaks near the anterior end, elongated-oval, compressed, um- 

 bones deep purple, becoming pale at margin. 



V^nus minuta, 0. Fabr. Faun. Gi*. 412. 



^I^a purpurea, Mont. Test. Br. Siippl. 21. — ^ Tdrt. Conch. Diet. 102. — Wood, Gen. 

 Conch. 100. — DiLLW. Recent Shells, i. 46. 



ii[ontacuta? purpurea, Hanl. Br. Mar. Conch. 25, fig. 14. 



Erycina purpurea, Recluz, Revue Zool. 1844, 329. 



Lascea minuta, Moller, Ind. Moll. Gra'nl. 20. 



Saxicava purpurea. Brown, 111. Conch. Gr. Br. 103. 



Cijamium ? minulum, Loven, Ind Moll. Scandin. 42. 



Turtonia miuuia, AhVER, Cat. Northumb. Moll. 95. — Forbes and TTaxl. Br. Moll. ii. 

 81, pi. 18, fiiis. 7, 7 A, and pi. O, fig. 1 (animal). — Stimi'son, Shells of New Eng- 

 land, 16. — MoLLER, Moll. Grceul. 19. 



Shell very minute, ovate, rather convex, fragile, semi-transparent, 

 beaks at about the anterior third, elevated, inclined forwards, 

 smooth, and somewhat shining ; straw-colored, blend- 

 ing into dark purple at the beaks and posterior slope ; 

 depressed in front of the beaks so that the anterior 

 portion is less elevated than the posterior, then pass- 

 ing round in a regular elliptical sweep into the ventral T~^uta. 

 margin, which is very gently curved ; posterior dorsal 

 margin very nearly straight, towards the end sweeping somewhat 

 more rapidly than the ventral margin, so that the end is sharper 

 than the front end, and the point below the median line. The an- 

 terior dorsal margin dilates a little so as to form a triangular jut- 

 ting just under the beak, and there sometimes appears a more mi- 

 nute one ]3y the side of it ; and there appears to be a very minute 

 furrow along the posterior edge, not seen without a powerful mag- 

 nifier. Colors of the interior like those of exterior ; pallial line 

 without a notch. Length, about one twelfth of an inch ; height, one 

 fifteenth of an inch ; breadth, one twentieth of an inch. 



Found in crevices of shells and rocks, and among the roots of 

 sea-weeds. 



This little shell, so dif^cult to analyze, is recognized without 

 much difficulty by its color, which is similar to that of Kellia planu- 

 lata, but the shell is longer and more compressed. Like other 

 shells which adhere to floating objects, it is found in widely remote 

 localities. It is found everywhere in North Atlantic waters. 



