MOLLUSKS 



141 



The well-known "sand-collars" are the egg capsules of this 

 snail. When first pressed out from the side of the animal the collar 



Fig. lOo; Northern 8aiid-collar Snail crawling over a sandy bottom between two of its egg 

 cocoons. From life. Cape Aou, Massachusetts. 



is composed of a glutinous material in which the eggs are imbedded 

 in great numbers arranged in regular rows. Sand immediately 

 adheres to the collar, and it soon hardens. These collars are com- 

 mon throughout the summer. The young snails often have two or 

 three rows of dull purple spots running spirally down the shell; 

 but these disappear in the adults. 



The Giant Whelks, fFulgHrearica,andSijcotypuscanalicuJatvs, 

 Fi<j. 101 J. Our whelks are the largest coiled shells to be found 

 north of Cape Hatteras. They extend from the Gulf of Mexico to 

 Cape Cod, and are especially abundant off the New Jersey coast 

 and in Long Island Sound upon gravelly or sandy bottoms at, or 

 IdcIow, low-tide level, where they plough along with the foot partially 

 buried beneath the surface of the ground. The shells of our 

 whelks grow to be fully six inches long, and are pear-shaped, with a 

 long, tapering snout, or anterior canal. The Knobbed Whelk, (Ful- 

 giir caricaj, may at once be recognized by the circlet of knob-like 

 protuberances around the shoulder of the body- whorl of the shell. 



