Oysters and Scallops 



85 



one the right ear is distinctly larger. The 

 is ruddy brown in colour, marked with 

 and measures 1^ inch across. It is 

 entirely a northern form, North- 

 umberland marking its most southern 

 range on our coasts ; it has a prefer- 

 ence for rough ground and deep 

 water, what is termed its bathy- 

 lying between 20 



shell 

 white. 



Seven-rayed Scallop 

 (one-fourth nat. 

 size) 



IS 



metrical range 

 and 90 fathoms. 



The Tiger Scallop (P. tigrinus) has a smaller and 

 proportionately thicker shell, covered with fine even 

 corrugations but with only a few distinct ribs. The 

 ears are very unequal, that to the left of the beak 

 being three or four times larger than its fellow. It 

 ranges from yellow (occasionally white) to purple, 

 with the streaks and spots of other hues that have 

 suggested its names. The animal varies from creamy 

 white to red, and its 10 brown ocelli 

 have pupils of gold. It is fairly plentiful 

 wherever the bottom is sandy or gravelly, 

 and is fond of hiding in the interstices 

 of masses of coral or clinker, whence it 

 flits at pleasure. Almost any stony mass 

 from the bottom will be found to harbour a number 

 of living examples of this species, providing its 

 surface is at all broken up into minute caverns, 

 where the little Porcelain-crab and many another 

 marine animal will also be found. Testa's Scallop 

 (P. incomparahilis) is very similar, but with a broader, 

 flatter, and thinner shell, less prominent beaks, and 

 more equal ears. Its colouring is brighter, and as 

 a rule the inside of the shell is without the crenu- 



