140 ANIMALS OF THE SEASHORE 



Similar habits to those of the above except that it 

 is more often found in the open ocean than in the 

 harbors, etc. The shell is common on the beach 

 from Massachusetts to Texas. 



Area ponderosa Say (Large Ark) 



PLATE XIV. Fig. 2 



This shell is larger and thicker than the above 

 two species. The two beaks are directed forward 

 and do not touch each other, there being a large 

 space between them. There is a prominent con- 

 striction on the ventral margin of the two valves. 

 This shell is not known alive north of Cape Hatteras 

 (except for a questionable record from Vineyard 

 Sound, Massachusetts). Nevertheless it is fre- 

 quently found on beaches as far north as Massa- 

 chusetts. A. ponderosa is abundant in Pleistocene 

 deposits from Florida as far north as Nantucket, 

 Mass., and it seems plausible that the beach shells 

 have been washed from some nearby fossil deposit. 

 Many of these shells are worn and dark in color, sug- 

 gesting considerable antiquity. They are often 

 fairly numerous on New Jersey beaches after storms. 



Ostrea virginica Gmelin (Oyster) 



The oyster is too well known to figure or to 

 describe in detail. It is undoubtedly the most im- 

 portant bivalve of the entire Atlantic Coast' and 

 one of the most important of all animals of the sea. 

 The oyster industry is one of the largest of New 

 Jersey's industries, and in a single year more than 

 $3,000,000 worth of these bivalves have been ship- 



