EAST COAST MARINE SHELLS 



127 



eight, form very variable, strong tubercles 

 on middle of whorls forming a strong shoul- 

 der on middle of body whorl but not present 

 in all examples; distinct growth lines and 

 faint revolving threads together form a 

 reticulated surface. Outer lip grooved in- 

 side or smooth, sometimes a small tooth 

 present; four plaits on columella. Color 

 varying from pale brown to almost black, 

 usually white banded just above base. 

 Length 2 inches. 



It lives mostly on coral reefs. 



PI. 45, Fig. 17 



PI. 47, Fig. 12 



Florida; Texas; West Indies 



LEDCOZONIA OCELLATA Gmelin. Shell solid, 

 rows of nodules on middle of whorls, a sec- 

 ond and inferior row above shoulder; small 

 revolving ridges on surface with fine 

 raised threads in the interspaces; canal 

 short, three plaits on columella. Color 

 dark brown or bluish with white knobs. In- 

 terior bluish white with a dark blotched 

 border. Length 1 inch. 



PI. 44, Fig. 8 



Cedar Keys to Florida Keys and West 



Indies 



Family Xancidae 



Shell thick, heavy; spire short; 

 several plaits upon columella; operculum 

 claw-shaped. 



The "Chank Shell" of the Hindus is 

 carved by the Cingalese and left-handed ex- 

 amples are held sacred. 



GENUS XANCUS Roeding 1798; Turbinella 

 Lamarck 1799 (VISHNU SHELLS) 



XANCUS ANGULATUS Solander (T. scolymus 

 Gmelin). Shell ponderous, yellowish white 

 under a thin epidermis; interior and 

 columella pinkish. The young shell is much 

 more nodulous. Length 8-10 inches. 



PI. 49, Fig. 3 



Florida Keys; Texas; West Indies 



GENUS VASUM Roeding 1796 (VASE SHELLS) 



VASUM MURICATUM Born. Rough Vase. A pon- 

 derous shell, easily recognized by its 

 numerous knobs and heavy raised horizontal 

 lines, also by the p. aits extending inside 

 columella; epidermis brown and very per- 

 sistent; interior white. Length 2-3 inches. 



Found living, by the writer, upon a 

 small Key inside Sugar Loaf and at Saddle 

 Bunch, Florida Keys. 



PI. 49, Fig. 5 



Florida Keys and West Indies 



■ Family Volutidae 



An aristocratic family, well dis- 

 tributed in tropical seas and long a favo- 

 rite with shell collectors. The majority 

 of the species live in fairly deep water, 

 among rocks, and are difficult to obtain 

 even with a dredge. 



Those from warm seas are often bril- 

 liantly colored and attractively ornamented 

 with prominent spines. 



Often the nuclear whorls, which 

 emerged from the ovum, are quite different 

 in sculpture from those which follow. Dall 

 in his extremely valuable summary of the 

 Floridian species, including Junonia, states 

 that the true Volutes, typified by V. musi- 

 ca and including V. vlrescens, look as if 

 their regularly coiled nucleus was shelly 

 from the outset while in Uaculopeplum 

 Junonia the earliest shell substance may be 

 soft and this protoconch is lost, perhaps 

 while still in the ovicapsule. A bulbous 

 or maraillar nucleus is shown on page 13. 



In this family the 

 columella is plaited, the 

 lowest plaits generally be- 

 ing most oblique. 



A West Indian spe- 

 cies (v. musica) suggests 

 in its color pattern bars 

 and notes of written music 

 upon the back of the shell. 

 The nucleus of V. musica is 

 shown in Fig, 49, the shell 

 Voluta radula Fig. 24, 



Fig. 49 

 Nucleus of Voluta 

 musica 



PI. 54, Fig, 

 page 19. 



GENUS VOLUTA Linn6 1758 (VOLUTES) 



VOLUTA VIRESCENS Solander. Greenish Volute. 

 Compared with V. musica the shell is light- 

 er, the columella lip stralghter, the plaits 

 smaller and more numerous. There are six 

 brown spots on the outer lip, interior yel- 

 lowish-cream color. Over the entire sur- 

 face there are sharp grooves and threads in 

 the interspaces near the canal. The ground 

 color is dark brown with three to four pal- 

 er bands; eleven ribs on last and twelve on 

 preceding whorl. The chief difference. 



