PYRAMIDELLIDAE 



289 



to the host by means of an oral sucker, and pierce the body wall of the host 

 with a buccal stylet. They suck the host's blood by means of a buccal pump. 

 Embryological and other data have shown that this family of mollusks is 

 closely related to the tectibranch mollusks, rather than to the prosobranchs 

 with which they have been formerly placed. (See Journal of the Marine 

 Biological Assoc, vol. 28, pp. 493-532, 1949.) 



Genus Fyramidella Lamarck 1799 

 Pyramidella dolabrata Lamarck 



Bahamas and the West Indies. Florida Keys? 



Giant Atlantic Pyram 



Plate 4q 



% to I inch in length, solid and glossy smooth. Columella large, and 

 with 2 or 3 strong, spiral plicae. Color opaque-white with 3 fine, spiral lines 

 of brown, i of which is just above the suture. Common in the West Indies 



Figure 62. Atlantic Coast Pyramidellidae. (See opposite page.) 



