136 BUCCINID A. 
SuspramMity NE PTUNIINA. 
Neptune, Bolten. 
Syn.—Chrysodomus, Swains., 1840. 
Distr.—18 sp. Circumpolar, Pacific and Atlantic, Europe, 
Asia, America. NN. antiqua, Linn. (xlix, 6). WN. decemcostata, 
Say (xlix, 7). 
Shell fusiform, ventricose; spire elevated, whorls rounded, 
covered with a horny epidermis, apex papillary ; aperture oval ; 
canal short; inner lip simple, smooth. Operculum ovate, nucleus 
apical. 
The shells of this genus are boreal in distribution, and like 
the other cireumpolar genera, are nearly destitute of color, being 
white or yellowish, under a light brown or yellowish, rather 
smooth epidermis. The sculpture, when there is any, consists 
of revolving striz, ridges or ribs, and the lip of the aperture is 
smooth within or merely modified by the external sculpture when 
the shell is thin. In the genus Siphonalia, the species of which 
are mainly Japanese and Australian, the general form is similar, 
but the shell is nodose, frequently developing longitudinal ribs, 
and the outer lip is more disposed to be crenulate ; the surface 
is more usually ornamented with color, disposed in bands, ete. 
There are some species which can be only arbitrarily placed, 
having characters partaking of either genus; and in fact geo- 
graphical considerations must sometimes be allowed considerable 
weight in assigning such species to their respective genera. 
Some of the species are apparently very variable, and it is 
difficult to decide whether the conservative views of Gwyn Jef- 
treys and Kobelt, or the more extreme views of Morch, etc., are 
most in accordance with truth. 
Of Neptunea antiqua (xlix,6), Mr. J. Gwyn Jeffreys (Brit. 
Conch., iv, 326) says: 
“This is good bait for codfish, and a favorite delicacy of the 
lower working-classes in London. At Billingsgate it is sold 
under the name of ‘almond’ or ‘red whelk;’ according to Rutly’s 
History of Dublin the Ivish call it ‘ barnagh,’ the tail (liver) 
being said to be more fat and tender than a lobster. The egg- 
cases or capsules overlap one another in an imbricated fashion, 
each being firmly attached by its base to the underlying capsule ; 
they are deposited in clusters of from a dozen to a hundred, the 
capsules in each cluster being equal in size. Those which com- 
pose one cluster, however, are not half as large as those forming 
another cluster, although in both cases the fry are in the same 
state of maturity. When they are dry, the upper or convex side 
shrivels, and is wrinkled or pitted; the under or flat side (which 
by contraction becomes concave) is of a silky texture, and divided 
