42 



EAST COAST MARINE SHELLS 



CUSPIDARIA ORNATISSIMA Orblgny, Range 2- 

 124 fathoms. Length 9.5 mm. 



PI. 65, Fig. 21 



North Carolina to West Indies 



CUSPIDARIA PERROSTRATA Dall. Length 8 mm. 

 Range 58-416 fathoms. 



PI. 61, Figs. 3a, 3b 



South of Martha's Vineyard to West 



Indies 



GENUS LEIOMYA A Adams 1864 



SUBGENUS HALONYMPHA Dall and Smith 



Sharp cardinal tooth in right valve; 

 no other teeth in either valve; rib extend- 

 ing posteriorly in both valves; surface 

 striated or smooth. 



LEIOMYA CLAVICULATA Dall, Length 12 mm. 

 Range 100-339 fathoms. 



PI. 61, Figs. 2, 2a 



Florida Keys; Bermuda; West Indies 



Family Verticordiidae 



GENUS VERTICORDIA Wood 1844 



SECTION EUCIROA Dall 1881 



VERTICORDIA ELEGANTISSIMA Dall. Length 

 13-40 mm. Range 292-756 fathoms. 



PI. 61, Figs, la, lb 



Off Cape Canaverel, Florida, to 



Cuba 



SUBGENUS HALIRIS Dall 1886 



VERTICORDIA FISCHERIANA Dall. Length 



10 mm. Range 84-229 fathoms. 

 PI. 61, Figs. 4a, 4b 

 North Carolina to West Indies 



ORDER TELEODESUACEA 



Animal with reticulate gills, man- 

 tle lobes more or less connected; shell 

 porcellanous, or slightly prismatic, never 

 nacreous; seldom inaequivalve. 



Habits: Active or nestling; rare- 

 ly sedentary burrowers; often imbedded but 

 mostly occupying excavations of other or- 

 ganisms. Many of them live buried in the 

 surface of the sea bottom, including the 



Astartidae, and are more or less migratory. 



Family Pleurophoridae 



GENUS CYPRINA Lamarck 1818 



Shell large, heavy; no lunule but 

 a slight pit in its place; epidermis brown, 

 thick, wrinkled; edge simple. 



CYPRINA ISLANDICA Linn6. A large thick 

 shell with umbones pointed forward and in- 

 ward so that they almost meet; ligament 

 strong and prominent; epidermis shining 

 and sometimes almost black; three cardinal 

 teeth in each valve; marginal tooth blunt 

 and rather indistinct; interior white. 

 Length 3.5 Inches. 



An abundant shell in northern wa- 

 ters, especially near the mouths of rivers. 

 Young examples are frequently taken in the 

 stomachs of fish caught in Massachusetts 

 waters. 



It is one of our largest northern 

 shells and might only be confused with 

 Venus mercenaria. The black epidermis and 

 lack of purple border easily separate it 

 from that shell. 



PI. 13, Fig. 9 



Arctic Ocean to Cape Hatteras, 



North Carolina 



Family Corbiculidae 



GENUS POLYMESODA Rafinesque 1820; 

 Cyrena of authors, not Lamarck 



Shell oval, often with rough epi- 

 dermis; three hinge teeth in each valve; 

 two lateral teeth in each valve. 



Foot of animal strong, tongue- 

 shaped. 



They are inhabitants of brackish 

 or fresh water near the sea. 



POLYMESODA CAROLINENSIS Bosc. Shell swol- 

 len, covered with rough shining epidermis; 

 shell deeply eroded toward umbones; hinge 

 teeth small. Length 1.75 inches. 



The erosion upon these shells is 

 due to their living in brackish or almost 

 fresh water where acids are prevalent. It 

 is abundant on marshes, subject to tides. 



PI. 16, Fig. 2 



South Carolina to Florida and Texas 



