258 SOLECURTID^E. 



ing arc fimbriated above and below, but not at the extre- 

 mity. The foot is of a reddish-pnrple hue, and when con- 

 tracted is thick, ovate, and truncate ; when extended it 

 presents the form of a pedunculated disk. The siphons 

 are separate and divergino-, and of a reddish colour. Their 

 orifices are fringed with short tentacula. 



The largest of the individuals, from which collectively 

 we have drawn up our description, measures three and a 

 half inches in length, and three-quarters of an inch in 

 breadth ; occasionally valves are found of four inches in 

 length, and of proportionate width. (Montagu.) 



As an English species, it must be accounted rare, al- 

 though locally abundant at Biddeford Bay in North Devon 

 (Mont.); it is obtained likewise at Exmouth (Clark); and 

 near Liv^erpool. (M'Andrew.) 



In Wales it is frequently met with, as at Swansea and 

 its vicinity (Jeffreys) ; Tenby and other parts of Caermar- 

 thenshire (S. H.); Aberystwith (S. H.); Anglesea. 

 (M'Andrew.) 



In Ireland " it inhabits the extensive sandy coasts of the 

 counties of Louth and Dublin, and likewise Bantry Bay ; 

 Captain Brown's remark, that it is plentiful on the eastern 

 coast between Cork and Belfast, gives too extensive an 

 idea of its distribution." (Thompson.) 



It is essentially a species of southern origin, Britain 

 being its most northern limit. It occurs on the coasts of 

 Spain and Portugal, throughout the Mediterranean, and is 

 recorded as an inhabitant of the shores of Senegal and of 

 the Red Sea. 



