Wedge-shells^ Venus-shells^ and Cockles 137 



Cross-cut Carpet-shell 

 (one-fourth nat. size) 



radiating wavy ribs which arc crossed and broken by 

 concentric lines. There is not the faintest gloss or 

 polish on the shell. Its colour is a 

 yellowish drab, stained irregularly 

 with purple. The animal is cream 

 coloured or grey, its mantle-edges 

 scalloped or edged with white ; the 

 siphons separate throughout their 

 leno^th and fring^ed with brown at 

 the orifices. This species appears to be confined to 

 the south and west coasts, where it burrows in the 

 gravel and sand about low- water mark. The Banded, 

 the Pullet, and the Cross-cut are used in different 

 parts of the Continent as human food, and the two 

 last named are eaten in Sussex and probably some 

 other parts of this country. 



In external appearance the Rock Venus ( Veneriiins 

 irus) offers little resemblance to the Carpet-shells, 

 yet a glance at the interior shows very near relation- 

 ship. The valves do not fit closely at the hinder end, 

 showing that the siphons are rarely withdrawn. 

 There are fifteen or more 

 concentric ridges, thin and 

 hit{h, with toothed ed<j;es, and 

 beneath these, running from 

 the beaks, a crowded series 

 of fine lines. The animal 

 is white, tinged with pink, 

 for half their length, and the 

 protruded beyond the fringe, 

 small, compressed, and adapted for spinning a byssus. 

 The favourite habitat of this species is in the holes 

 of limestone rocks bored by Saxicava, also in the 



Rock Venus 



the siphons united 

 valve of the lower 

 The foot is rather 



