HINNITES. 



Plate I. 



Genus HINNITES, Defiance. 



Testa inaquivalvis, adharens, crassa, subponderosa, valvis 

 vix auriculatis, radiatim. liratis. Area cardinalis in 

 valvis ambabus lata, edentida, fovea snbprofundd ob- 

 lougd in medio. Impressio niuscularis perampla., sub- 

 lateralis. 

 Shell inequivalve, adhering, thick, rather ponderous, valves 

 slightly auriculated, radiately ridged. Hinge area in 

 both valves broad, toothless, with a rather deep ob- 

 long pit in the middle. Muscular impression very 

 large, sublaterid. 

 This genus was founded by M. Defrance with two fossil 

 species, and had been received by conchologists, when Mr. 

 Gray discovered that a large bivalve shell in the British 

 Museum, referred by him with a note of doubt to Lima, 

 belonged to it. It was in August, 1826, that Mr. Gray 

 announced this discovery in the 'Annals of Philosophy.' 

 The shell which be had described in the same periodical 

 as Lima? gigantea, he now referred to the fossil genus of 

 Defi-ance, altering the generic name, for reasons which we 

 think untenable, to Hiiinita, and afterwards to Himms. 

 Another shell of similar generic character turned up in the 

 old collection of Dr. Goodall, and this Mr. Sowerby de- 

 scribed as Hinnites coraUinus in the thu'd volume of the 

 ' Zoological Journal.' M. Deshayes and Mr. Sowerby, by 

 reason of the peculiarity of its mode of attachment, re- 

 ferred the O.itrea (Pecten) simiosiis, which is probably iden- 

 tical with the Linneau Osfrea (Pecten) pusio, to Defrance's 

 genus, but the relationship has not been confirmed by 

 subsequent researches. Messrs. Porbes and Hanley have 

 shown, in their ' History of British Mollusca,' that this 

 Pecten lives free when young, and merely attaches itself in 

 the adult state. The shell then takes an irregular form of 

 growth, still preserving its generic characters. The Pecten 

 pusio is represented in the accompanying plate in the state 

 in which it has been called Ostrea and Hinnites sinuosus, 

 but inasmuch as it does not possess the broad, solid, car- 

 dinal area and heavy Spond^liis-Mke character of Hinnites, 

 it should not be included in the genus. 



Hinnites has more of the general character of Spondylus 

 than of Pecten, but the hinge is distinct, being without 

 teeth, and produced into an area equally in both valves. 

 One of the species inhabits the Old World, and the other 

 the New. 



Species 1. (Fig 2. Mus. Brit.) 



Hinnites corallinus. Hinn. testa subfiahellifonni, flex- 

 uosa, valde irregulari, area cardinali subangustd; rude 

 scabroso-Uratd, subfimbriatd; intense corallio-rubrd. 



The coral Hinnites. Shell somewhat fan-shaped, 

 flexuous, very irregular, cardinal area rather narrow ; 

 rudely scale-ridged, subfriUed ; deep coral-red. 



Sowerby, Zool. Journ. vol. iii. p. 71. 



Hab. East Africa ; Sowerby. 



The outer suiface of this specimen is very much broken 

 and worm-eaten, but very characteristic, both in respect 

 of sculpture and colour. The interior is remarkable for 

 its conspicuous muscular impression, the surface being 

 sculptured with a strong veinous net-work. 



Species 2. (Pig. 3. Mus. Brit.) 



Hinnites giganteus. Hinn. testa ovatd, convexd, radia- 

 tim scabroso-liratd, Uria prope umbones lavibus, nitide 

 binis ; aurantio-riifescente, vel albidd, intus alba, prope 

 cardinem vivide purpureo-violaced. 



The gigantic Hinnites. Shell ovate, convex, radiately 

 scabrous-ridged, smooth and neatly disposed in pairs 

 near the umboes ; orange-red, or whitish, interior 

 white, stained with rich pm-ple-violet near the hinge. 



Gray, Annals of Philosophy, 2nd Series, vol. xii. p. 103. 



Hab. California and Straits of Juan Fernandez. 



The ridges of this species, which is of more convex 

 oblong growth than the preceding, are here and there at 

 nearly equal distances larger. One of the principal cha- 

 racteristics of the species is the deep purple-violet colour- 

 ing of the hinare. 



October, 1853. 



