C A R D I T A. 



Plate V. 



Species 22. (Fig. a and b, Mus. Cuming.) 



Cardita tiudentata. Card, testd sitborbiculari, sub- 

 aquilaterali, crassd, albidd, roseo tinetd, epidermide 

 teni/i luteold indutd ; costis longitudinalibus duabus vel 

 tribus et viginti, liris rudibus subnodulosisconcentricis, 

 interstitiis non penetrantibus, dense ornatis; intus 

 alba, interdum rosaceo tinetd. 



The three-toothed Cardita. Shell rather orbicular, 

 nearly equilateral, thick, whitish, stained with rose- 

 colour and covered with a thin yellowish epidermis ; 

 longitudinal ribs two or three and twenty in number, 

 thickly ornamented with rude, rather nodulous, con- 

 centric cross ridges which do not penetrate into the 

 interstices ; interior of the shell white, sometimes 

 tinged with rose-colour. 



Sat, American Conch., No. IV. pi. 40. f. 1 to 5. 



Venericardia tridentata, Say, Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci., 



vol. v. p. 216. 

 Venericardia australis, Quoy, Voy. de 1' Astrolabe, 

 pi. 78. f. 11 to 14. 



Hab. Coast of South Carolina ; Say. New Zealand ; 

 Quoy. Turanga ; Dieffenbach. 



The rules of nomenclature oblige me to follow the 

 specific name proposed for this shell by Mr. Say, though 

 it may be applied with equal propriety to any species of 

 Cardita. 



Species 23. (Mus. Cuming.) 



Cardita ajar. Card, testd depresso-cordatd, einereo- 

 fused, ruhido-fuseo et a/bo variegatd ; costis com- 

 pressis, angulatis, leviter tuberculatis, interstitiis la- 

 tiusculis ; intus albidd, exlremitate posticd fuscescente 

 tinetd. 



The ajar Cardita. Shell depressly heart-shaped, 

 ashy-brown, variegated with reddish brown and 

 white ; ribs compressed, angulated, slightly tuber- 

 culated, interstices rather wide ; interior whitish, 

 stained at the posterior extremity. 



Bruguiere, Enc. Meth. vers, vol. i. part 2. p. 406. 



Lamarck, Anim. sans vert. (Deshayes' edit.), vol. vii. 

 p. 426. 

 Le came ajar, Adanson. 



Hab. Senegal, Coast of Africa. 



This ancient and well-known species may be distin- 



guished by the narrow compressed angular formation of 

 the ribs having the interstices between them particularly 

 clear and open. 



Species 24. (Mus. Cuming.) 



Cardita Cuvieri. Card, testd crassd, solidd, subcor- 

 datu', albido-rosed, rubido-fusco varid, epidermide 

 corned fused indutd; costis latis, vald'e elevatis, 

 complanatis, geniculato-nodosis, lateraliter excavatis ; 

 intus albd. 



Cuvier's Cardita. Shell thick, solid, somewhat heart- 

 shaped, whitish rose-colour, variegated with red- 

 dish-brown, and covered with a brown horny epi- 

 dermis ; ribs broad, very elevated, composed as it 

 were of jointed knobs, excavated at the sides ; in- 

 terior white. 



Broderip, Pro. Zool. Soc, 1S32. 



Hub. Bay of Fonseca, Central America (dredged from 

 sandy mud in eleven fathoms water) ; Cuming. 

 Acapulco ; Hinds. 



It is related by Mr. Broderip, that " after the capture 

 of this fine shell, far exceeding in size and beauty any 

 species of Cardita hitherto discovered, the dredge was 

 kept at work for some hours, but no other specimen 

 could be procured. The ribs are broad, flattened on 

 their superior surface, but very elevated and strongly 

 geniculated, the geniculations being for the most part 

 three-tenths of an inch from each other. The shell is a 

 very striking object, and exhibits almost the appearance 

 of carved work." 



Three specimens of the Cardita Cuvieri, in different 

 stages of growth, have been lately brought from Aca- 

 pulco by Mr. Hinds of H.M.S. Sulphur, just ten years 

 after the above account was written. 



Species 25. (Fig. a &. b, Mus. Cuming.) 



Cardita varia. Card, testd solidd. subtrigond, antice 

 depresso-cordatd ; costis depressis, obsolete nodosis ; 

 violaceo-spadiced, maculis alius varid, epidermide lu- 



teo-fuscescente indutd; intus albd. 

 The speckled Cardita. Shell solid, somewhat trian- 

 gular, depressly heart-shaped ; ribs depressed, obso- 

 letely knobbed ; violet-chestnut colour, speckled 

 with white and covered with a yellowish-brown 

 epidermis ; interior white. 



July 1843. 



