MURICIDA. 115 
and its dentition particularly, is desirable. The plications of 
the columella only appear upon old specimens, and the tubercles 
of the shoulder of the body-whorl are not always developed. 
ConcHOLEPAS, Lam. 
Syn.—Conchopatella, Chemn. 
Distr.—C. Peruviana, Lam. (xlv, 45). West Coast of South 
America. 
Shell ovate, last whorl very large, expanded ; spire very short, 
obliquely inclined towards the left side; aperture very wide, 
slightly channeled anteriorly ; inner lip flattened ; outer lip with 
two small teeth in front. 
The single species has the basal groove of Monoceros and 
Pseudoliva, but its margins are defined by two sulci, giving rise 
to two horns, instead of one, on the edge of the outer lip. The 
immense development of the last whorl gives the shell a some- 
what limpet-like rather than a spiral appearance. In consequence 
of this great enlargement of the aperture the operculum, which 
is purpuroid in its growth, is entirely unfitted to close the aper- 
ture, and, in fact, becomes a useless appendage. The shell is 
used by the Magellanic tribes as a drinking-cup, and by the 
Chilians the foot is eaten, being well-beaten to render it tender. 
Large piles of shells around the cabins of the fishermen testify 
their appreciation of this mollusk as an article of food. The 
large foot, like that of the limpets, adheres by suction to rocks, 
and so tightly that the shell is detached from them with extreme 
difficulty, unless suddenly removed before the animal becomes 
aware of danger. 
Mr. A. Adams formed a subgenus Coralliobia for Conch. fim- 
briatus described by him in 1852; subsequently this subgenus 
and its type were ranged under Leptoconchus in H.and A. Adams’ 
“Genera.” This latter disposition I consider correct. 
Cuma, Humph. 
Syn.—Cymia, Morch. 
Distr.—9 sp. Panama, Indian Ocean, China, West Coast of 
Africa. C. Kiosquiformis, Duclos (xliv, 32). 
Shell pyriform; spire elevated, acute, whorls angular or 
spinose; aperture oval-oblong; columella convex, sometimes 
with a strong angular tubercle in the middle; outer lip acute, 
grooved internally. 
This small group is related by some of its species to Rapana ; 
by others, to Rhizochilus. 
The genus Cuma of Humphrey is founded upon a number of 
species, of which about one-half have been identified and referred 
to other genera, and no species remains which can be certainly 
made to represent the group. Mdérch, inasmuch as Milne- 
