199 



MODIOLA PAPUANA. — Specific character. Shell oblong, epi- 

 dermis reddish-brown, shell violaceous. 



Musculus papuanus, D'Argenv. Conch. (^Lam.) 



Modiola jjapuaim, Lam. An. sans Vert., &c. 



Desc. Shell oblong, subovate, very narrow behind and widely 

 rounded before ; umbonial slope obtusely rounded and prominent ; 

 surface rather deeply wrinkled ; epidermis reddish-brown, beneath 

 which the surface of the shell is more or less violaceous ) within 

 dull whitish, somewhat iridescent. 



I received several fine specimens of this shell from Dr. D. H. 

 Storer as inhabiting Cape Elizabeth and Front's Neck, Maine. It 

 is the common " Horse muscle " of the English collectors and ap- 

 pears to be abundant in the European Ocean and Mediterranean 

 Sea. Leach says, " beneath the epidermis the shell is invariably 

 whitish," whilst Lamarck says, '' Epiderme noiratre ; test lilas." 

 The shell appears to become more elongated with age. 



Adanson's figure (pi. 15, fig. 1,) generally quoted for this species, 

 is probably altogether distinct ; it is but little more widely rounded 

 anteriorly than posteriorly, and the dorsal angle is much more 

 prominent. Leach quotes Mytilhis modiolus, Linn., as a synonym 

 of M. papuana ; but Lamarck and some other conchologists quote 

 it with doubt as the same as Modiola tvlipa. Lam. 



Laskey, in the Transact, of the Wem. Soc, says they attain to 

 the length of nine inches ; the largest in my collection is five 

 inches and three-fourths long. PI. 45. 



Melania virginica. Var. a. Shell destitute of the rufous 

 bands. PI. 47, f. 2. 



Buccinum virginicum, Gmel. p. 3205, Dillw. Descr. Catal. 

 p. 652. 



Lister, JSi/nop. pi. IIS, fig. 7. 



Paludina virginica, nob. Nicholson's Encycl. (3c? Am. Ed.") 

 art. Conch, pi. 2, fig. 4. 



Melania fasciata, MenJce, Synop. Mollusc, p. 82. [Var. a.] 

 Lister, Synop, pi. 110, fig. 4. 



Melania multilineata, nob. Jov,rn. Acad. Nat. Sci., vol. 

 b,p. 380. 



Melania curta, Menke, Synop. Mollusc, p. 81. 



It is closely related to M. virginica, nob., but may be distin- 

 guished by its striae. PI. 47, fig. 3. 



