784 



MONOGRAPH OF THE GENUS 



CYPRINA. 



Fam. Veneridse. 



CJir. Gen. Molluscum acepliale; testa sequivalvi, solida, sub- 

 orbiculari, ina3quilaterali, epidermide induta; cardine dentibus 

 tribus divergentibus centralibus et uno antico sublaterali in utra- 

 que valva ; ligamento externo maguo ; impressionibus musculari- 

 bus reniformibus ; pallio impressione integro. 



Like Circe, Astarte, and some species of Venus proper^ Cyprina 

 has the impression of the mantle entire. It has the hinge of 

 Cythercea, a large protuberant ligament, and a thick coating of 

 epidermis. 



1. Cyprina Islandica (pi. clxviii. f. 1, 2, 3), Linn. Syst. 

 Nat. ed. 12. p. 1131 (Yenus). Cyprina Islandica, Lamarck. 

 Cyprina vulgaris, Sowerhy, Brown, Reeve, etc. 



Cyp. testa crassa, ventricosa, ovato-suborbiculari, concentrice 

 minute striata, epidermide fusco induta; intiis alba, margine in- 

 tegro. 



Thick, ventricose, particularly at the hinder part, of an orbi- 

 cular form, slightly inclining to oval, wider behind than in front. 

 The outside is covered with an epidermis, which, when young, is 

 of a hght yeUowish-brown, and becomes darker and darker with 

 age, till it becomes almost black. The inside is white and the 

 border quite smooth. Although found in gravelly sand or mud 

 in all parts of the British coasts, Cyprina Islandica is characteris- 

 tically a Northern moUusc. 



