308 INVERTEBRATA OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



Bu'CCINUM OBSOLETUM. 



Shell ovate, dark reddish-brown^ covered with a net-work of lines, 

 and oftentimes folded ; aperture ovate, dark-violet, right lip simple 

 and sharp, with elevated lines within. 



Figure 210. 



State Coll., No. 8. Soc. Cab., No. 552. 



Nassa obsoleta. Say ; Journ. Jlcad. JVa<. Sc, ii. 232. 

 Buccinutn Nov-Eboracensis, Wood ; Index, SuppL, pi. 4, f. 26. 

 Buccinum oliviforme, Kiener ; Iconog. (Buccin), pi. 25, f. 99. 

 Buccinum obsoletum, Adams ; Bost. Journ. JVat. Hist., ii. 267. 



Shell ovular, inelegant, dark reddish-brown or olive-colored, 

 somewhat shining ; whorls six, convex, composing a moderately 

 elevated spire, rather blunt at the apex, which, however, is gen- 

 erally much eroded ; suture distinctly marked ; surface marked 

 with numerous unequal, revolving lines, which are crossed by mi- 

 nute lines of growth, and larger or smaller, more or less numer- 

 ous oblique folds ; these always exist on the smaller whorls, but 

 are often entirely wanting on the lower whorl, the whole giving 

 the shell a granular appearance ; aperture oval, outer lip simple 

 and sharp, not thickened within, but marked with elevated lines 

 not reaching the margin, in adult specimens ; pillar deeply arched, 

 overspread with enamel, having a protuberance or fold at its front, 

 turning into the interior ; canal a mere notch ; throat purplish- 

 black, fading within, and, in almost every instance, with a bluish- 

 white band at its posterior third ; something similar is found on 

 the opposite lip ; operculum horny, not serrated. Length 1 inch, 

 breadth I inch, divergence 50°. 



The animal is variously mottled with slate-color ; the foot is 

 as long as the shell, its anterior angles prolonged and turned back- 

 wards ; head not extending beyond the shell ; eyes black, on the 

 exterior side of the tentacula, and above the base ; above the eyes 

 the tentacula are suddenly diminished, and bristle-shaped ; trunk 

 cylindrical, channelled beneath, half as long as the shell, and very 

 conspicuous. 



Its movements are very active, and it collects in numbers about 

 dead crabs and other marine animals, on which it feeds. 



