430 VENERID^. 



pure white, but rarely, if ever, glossy, except towards the 

 margin, which is more or less flexuous, and is destitute of all 

 crenation. The hinge margin is moderately but not pecu- 

 liarly broad. 



The length of a fair-sized individual when measured was 

 an inch and seven-eighths, its breadth was an inch and 

 three-quarters. 



This common, though rather handsome shell, inhabits 

 sandy ground in various depths, from low-water mark to 

 seventy or eighty fathoms all round our coasts. Among 

 its numerous localities, we may mention Guernsey (S. H.); 

 Littlehampton, Sussex (Strickland) ; Exmouth (Clark) ; 

 Penzance, in twenty fathoms, and Scilly Isles (M 'An- 

 drew) ; Bristol Channel (Jeffreys) ; Caernarvon Bay, in 

 twelve fathoms (M 'Andrew) ; Mochruss (Eyton) ; Isle of 

 Man, in twelve to twenty-five fathoms (E.F.) ; Scarborough 

 (Bean) ; Northumberland (Alder) ; Clyde (Smith) ; He- 

 brides (E. F.) ; in fifty, seventy, and eighty fathoms 

 around Zetland, also, in from four to seven fathoms on the 

 same coasts (M' Andrew and E. F.) ; Orkneys (Thomas); 

 East coast of Scotland ; plentiful in seven fathoms. Frith of 

 Forth (E. F.) ; " all round the Irish coast in suitable 

 localities" (W. Thompson). There is a marked difference 

 in the aspect of most specimens of this species found on the 

 western coasts as compared with the majority of those 

 from the eastern. 



Artemis exoleta ranges throughout the European seas, 

 and is fossil in pleistocene formations. 



