MELONGENIDAE 



235 



Melongena corona perspinosa Pilsbry and Vanatta appears to be a 

 good subspecies. (Tampa south to Lossmans Key, Florida). Up to 4% 

 inches in length, heavier and wider than corona, with a wider aperture, and 

 with shoulder spines standing out at right angles, and with 2 or 3 rows of 

 smaller spines below the larger ones. A descendant possibly of the Pliocene 

 subspecies subcoronata Heilprin. Soft parts and radula described and figured 

 in Frank Lyman's excellent Shell Notes, vol. 2, no. 2-3, 1948 (published 

 privately by Lyman, Lantana, Florida). 



Figure 52. Two forms of the Crown Conch, Melongena corona Gmelin, from 

 Florida, a, sandy area; b and c, from oyster bed. Reduced %. 



Melongena melongena Linne West Indian Crown Conch 



Plate 2 3h 



Florida Keys (?) and the West Indies. 



3 to 6 inches in length, similar to corona, but heavier, with rounded 

 shoulders; smaller, more solid spines, and with a distinct channel at the suture. 

 Common in the Greater Antilles. 



Genus Busy con Roding 1798 

 {Fulgiir Montfort) 



Knobbed Whelk 



Plate 2 3i 



Busy con carica Gmelin 



South shore of Cape Cod to central east Florida. 



Adults 5 to 9 inches in length; characterized by having low tubercles 

 on the shoulder of the whorl and in being right-handed. Aperture light 

 orange-yellow, but sometimes brick-red. The young show axial streaks of 

 brownish purple. Common in shallow water. 



