Shells of New England. 53 



Length i-3 inch ; breadth I inch : divergence 22°. 



Cabinets of Dr. Gouldj and J. W. Mighels. 



Habitat. Casco Bay ; taken from the stomachs of haddock 

 in the summer of 1840. It must be regarded as very rare. 



Remarks. This species is very nearly alhed to Murex 

 pnrpureus, Mont., (Turton Conch. Diet. 95,) but is distinct in 

 having a less number of volutions by three or four, by the 

 direction of the ribs, which are " obliquely to the right," in 

 M. purpureiis ; Montagu's shell is also described as " rugged," 

 '' very rough," (fee, terms which will not apply to our shell ; 

 it is also said to be '^purple," which color is regarded by the 

 author as characteristic : our shell is variously colored, some 

 specimens being tinged with purple, others are white. 



The following species of Fossil Shells occur at Westbrook, 

 in the vicinity of Portland, in company with Nucula Port- 

 landica^ Hk., in the post-tertiary formation, described by 

 Prof. Hitchcock in Vol. I. No. 3. of this Journal. Prof. H. 

 found one or two specimens of the Bulla. Dr. Wood, of this 

 city, was the first to discover the Nucula. 



NUCULA ANTIQUA. 



PJ. IV. Fig. 4. 



N. testa parva, sub-trapeziformi, per-obliqua, transversa sulcatd : denlibus 

 posticis sexdecim, anticis sex : margine simplici. 



Shell white, small, somewhat trapeziform, very in-equilate- 

 ral, covered with deep transverse sulci ; epidermis dark brown ; 

 teeth, sixteen posterior and six anterior to the beaks ; beaks 

 low, approximate ; anterior margin abrupt, posterior regularly 

 rounded, basal margin slightly curved, simple. 



Length -^^ inch ; height |i inch ; breadth -i inch. 



Cabinets of Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., J. W. Mighels, and C. 

 B. Adams. 



Remarks. This species resembles N. proxima, Say., and 

 N. tenuis, Turton, but differs from both in the number and 



