116 Marine Shells of the Western Coast of Florida 



The shells are small, smooth, and elegantly polished, generally 

 elongate and produced to a sharp apex; the spire is frequently de- 

 flected from the vertical axis. The aperture is pyriform or oval and 

 the operculum, when present, is corneous with a few spiral turns. 



Genus MELANELLA Bowdich, 1822 

 Melanella oonoidea-"- (Kurtz and Stimpson) PI. 23, fig. 149 



Alt., 10 mm., spire about .8 of altitude. Shell highly polished, 

 white, translucent, miperforate, smoothly conic in outline. Apex 

 acute; 13 flat whorls; body whorls subangulate at periphery; sutures 

 faintly incised; aperture pyiform, widest at base, acute angled above; 

 outer lip sharp; columella concave; operculum corneous, entirely 

 closes aperture. 



As observed in an aquarium, the mollusks are active and fear- 

 less. They move quite rapidly over the bottom sand or over the 

 sides of a glass vessel, and by means of a mucous filament, secreted 

 by a pedal gland, they are able to sustain themselves and creep 

 beneath the surface film or on top of the surface of the water. The 

 animal extends and retracts the long, mobile snout, but the head 

 is rarely protuded beyond the shell's aperture. The pinpoint black 

 eyes are easily seen through the translucent shell. 



31elanella intermedia-"^ (Cantraine) PI. 23, fig. 150 



Alt., 7-12 mm., spire about .7 of altitude. Shell polished, white 

 — often brownish; slender, conic, sometimes slightly curved; imper- 

 forate; apex acute, 12 or 13 flattened whorls, body whorl evenly 

 rounded; sutures not clearly defined; aperture pyriform, widest be- 

 low; outer lip sharp; columella concave, produced into a thickening 

 of lower lip margin. 



Subgenus LIOSTRACA^c^ H. and A. Adams, 1853 

 Melanella bilineata-"5 (Alder) PI. 23, fig. 151 



Alt., 8 mm. Shell polished, white, often brownish at base; slightly 

 flattened m antero-posterior diameter; imperforate; apex acute, 



-"- Gr., mclanos, black; konocides, conical. 

 2oa Lat., intrrmrdiatus, in the middle place. 

 -"* Gr., leios, smooth, ostracon, shell. 

 -^■'' Lat., bis, twice; lineatus lined, striped. 



