the Shells of Maine. 327 



M. (mytilus,) cliscrepnns, Mont. Pelagic. A very few ma- 

 ture specimens have been taken with the dredge in Portland 

 harbor. Small ones are frequently found in fishes' stomachs 

 taken in Casco Bay. 



M. gJandula, Tott. This small species occurs plentifully 

 on all \\\e fishing grounds from Massachusetts Bay to the Gulf 

 of St. Lawrence. It is a true pelagic species. I know not 

 that it has ever been detected with the dredge. 



Genus Pecten. Turt. 



P. mageUanicus, Gmelen. Pelagic. Capt. Walden has often 

 dredged this species at Eastport and ^lachias. He informs 

 me that it is made much account of by the inhabitants on the 

 eastern shore as an article of food. He once honored my 

 table with a liberal mess of them, which, according to his ad- 

 vice we fried in butter, from which 1 can testify that they are 

 truly dehcious, far exceeding (in my view) the oyster, in rich- 

 ness and delicacy of flavor. The muscular portion only is 

 edible, the mantle and abdominal mass being very tough and 

 indigestible. They sometimes occur in Casco Bay, but for 

 many years they have been rarely found. 



P. tenuicostatus, Nob., I am now fully convinced is nothing 

 more than the very young of P. mageUanicus. Capt. W. found 

 them of all ages at Nashe's Island, with which 1 have been 

 enabled to form a series, from the size of a dime to that of 

 six or seven inches in width — from which it is plainly to be 

 seen that they gradually and almost imperceptibly merge in 

 each other. 



P. islandicus, Muller. Pelagic. Rare in Casco Bay. The 

 Gulf fishermen have furnished me with a few fine large speci- 

 mens, which they say they took from the stomachs of sand- 

 dabs. They accord perfectly with European specimens. 



Genus Ostrea. Lin. 



O. horealis, Lam. A few dwarfish specimens of this spe- 

 cies have been found at the Green Islands, in Casco Bay. 

 Never having been able to hear of it further northward, I am 



