VENUS. 



m 



Venus mercenaria. 



Fis. 445. 



Fig. 52. 



Shell solid, oliliquely ovate, very inequipartito ; lunule hcai-t-sliaped ; surface 

 antiquated, bluish-white, with numerous, concentric laminated ridges ; inner 

 margin broadly edged with violet. 



Pirtancuhis, Lister, Conch, t. 271, fig. U)7. 



Venus mercenaria, Lin. Syst. Nat. 1131. — Gjielix, Syst. 3271. — Ciikmx. Conch, x. 

 352, t. 171, figs. 1659, 16G0. — Deshayes, Encyc. Me'th. Vers, ill. 1117, pi. 263, figs. 

 1-3. — Lam. An. sans Vert. 2d cd. vi. 346. — Dillwyn, Catal. i. 176. — Wood, 

 Index, pi. 7, fig. 40. — Sowerisv, Thcs. ii. 733, pi. 162, figs. 204-206. — Chexu, 

 111. Conch, pi. 8, fig. 5. -De Kay, Nat, Hist. New York, 217, ])1. 27, fig. 276.— 

 Hanley, Descr. Cat. 115. — Reeve, Conch. Icon, (^^ellas) ]>\. 2, figs. 4a, b. — 

 RoMER, Krit. Untersuch. 36. — Sciium. Nonv. Syst. 135, pi. 10, fig. 3. 



Mfrcenaria vio/acea, Sciiu.v. (1817) Nouv. El. 135, pi. 10. fig. 3. — Ada.ms, Gen. ii. 419, 

 pi. 107, figs. 2, 2a. — Desiiaves, Cat. Brit. Mus. (Biv.) 113. 



Mercenaria mercenaria, Chenu, Man. de Conch, ii. 82, figs. 356-358 (1862). 



Shell large, thick, and solid, oliliquely ovate, or heart-shaped, tu- 

 mid ; exterior a dirty white and chalky ; the beaks are placed far 

 forwards, project- 

 ing nearly to the 

 front of the shell ; 

 they are elevated, 

 and curved so as to 

 make nearly half a 

 turn forwards and 

 inwards ; in front 

 of them is a heart- 

 shaped, rough lu- 

 nule, bounded by 

 an impressed lino ; 

 behind the beaks 

 the edge is very 

 broad and obtuse, 

 the ligament large 

 and protuberant, with a space around it somewhat excavated, 

 smoother than the rest, and bounded by an obtuse ridge ; anterior 

 end very short, round ; posterior end terminating in a blunt, occa- 

 sionally truncated point ; looking at the side of the shell as it stands 

 on this point, it is accurately heart-shaped ; surface with concentric 

 grooves and ridges, the ridges being crowded and rising into thin, 

 sharp plates, most conspicuous at the ends ; the central portion is 



V. mercenaria. 



