Invertebrate Gallery of the Indian Museum. 123 



are often brightly coloured, and are closed by a horny 

 operculum. 



5th Family, Cypriaedse [Cases 153A— 154CJ. 



The Cowries are remarkable for their richly coloured 

 and beautifully polished convoluted shells, which outwardly 

 appear to consist, in the adult, of a single whorl with the 

 outer lip remarkably rolled in, the other whorls of the 

 spiral being almost entirely concealed. In young indivi- 

 duals, however, the spire is distinct and prominent, and 

 the outer lip has a simple sharp edge. The animal is nota- 

 ble for its large foot and for the lobe-like extensions of its 

 mantle, which fold over the shell from each side, nearly 

 meeting in the middle line above. The Cowries are 

 characteristic of tropical seas, especially those of the 

 eastern hemisphere. An operculum is absent. Observe 

 the longitudinal vertical section of a Cowrie shell in 

 Case 154C. 



6th Family, Pedicularidse [Case 150B]. 



This is a very small family, consisting of a few species 

 of a si ngle genus of small gastropods parasitic on Corals. 

 In the younger stages the shell of Pedicularia is regular, 

 but in the adult the degradation resulting from the parasitic 

 habit leads to marked deformity. 



7th Family, Conldae [Cases 155A— 1566]. 



The ''Cones "are remarkable for their magnificently 

 coloured shells, and are characteristic inhabitants of the 

 shallow seas of the tropics, especially of the eastern 

 hemisphere. They are excessively predaceous, and are 

 said to be capable of inflicting a dangerously venomous 

 bite. The shell of the Cone, like that of the Cowrie, often 

 appears to consist, to outward view, of a single whorl, 

 owing to the fact that the last whorl envelopes and 

 conceals the others. The operculum, when present, is 

 small. 



8th Family, Terebridse [Cases 156B-C]. 

 The beautiful " Augur shells " are also characteristic 

 of the seas of the eastern tropics. The shells are long, 



