246 CONIDyE. 



The Turridce, which have similar subulate teeth, but 

 with the veil short and truncate, possibly belong also to 

 this sub-order just established by Dr. Gray, to whom we 

 are indebted for this valuable information. 



Fam. CONID^. 



Teeth subulate, in two series, on a tubular prolonga- 

 tion of the retractile proboscis, and with a bundle of 

 sharp, subulate teeth at the extremity. Head with a pro- 

 duced tubular veil ; tentacles subulate ; eyes on bulgings 

 or slight truncatures on the outer side of the tentacles. 

 Mantle enclosed, with an elongate siphon at the fore part. 

 Foot simple, undivided, oblong, with a conspicuous aqui- 

 ferous pore on the middle of the under surface. 



Operculum, when present, ovate or unguiform, with the 

 nucleus apical. 



Shell inversely conical ; aperture long and narrow ; 

 outer lip usually acute, free or notched at the hind part 

 near the suture ; inner lip simple. 



The great family of Cones, characterised by the pe- 

 culiar structure of the mouth, no less than by the simi- 

 larity in the form of the shell, are principally inhabi- 

 tants of the equatorial seas. Haunting the holes and 

 fissures of rocks, and the labyrinths of coi'al-reefs, they 

 lead a predatory life, boring into the shells of other mol- 

 lusks, and sucking the juices from their bodies. In the 

 Asiatic region the species seem greatly to predominate, 

 there being more than one hundred and twenty peculiar 

 to this portion of the globe, while there are but two or 

 three known in Europe, about twenty in Africa, thirty in 

 Australia, and about fifty in America. 



