446 CYPRINIDiE. 



CIRCE, Schumacher. 



Shell more or less subtrigonal, solid, equivalve, closed ; 

 surface concentrically striated or grooved ; beaks not very 

 prominent ; a distinct lunule ; margins smooth. Hinge 

 composed in each valve of three primary teeth, and a 

 lateral lamina ; ligament external, linear, and much sunken. 

 Pallial impression with scarcely any traces of a sinuation ; 

 muscular impressions roundish or oblong. 



Animal suborbicular ; its mantle freely open, and slight- 

 ly denticulated at the margin, closing posteriorly to form 

 two siphonal orifices very slightly separated from each 

 other, and scarcely projecting ; the branchial one the 

 largest ; both fringed with short close-set cirrhi. Foot 

 rather large, geniculated, linguiform. Labial palps long 

 and linear-lanceolate. 



We follow Mr. King in referring the Venus minima of 

 British authors to the genus Circe of Schumacher, though 

 not without doubts of the propriety of the reference. The 

 characters we have given have special reference to our 

 native species, and the features of the animal are now 

 made known for the first time. They connect in a very 

 satisfactory manner this genus with C^prina, and it with 

 Astarte. The habits of the species are those of the lami- 

 nated Veneres. 



C. MINIMA, Montagu. 



Plate XXVI. figs. 4, 5, 6, 8, and (Animal) Plate M. fig. 3. 



Venus minima, MoNT. Test. Brit. p. 121, pi. 3, f. 3. — Linn. Trans, vol. viii. p. 



81. — TuRT. Conch. Diction, p. 23G. — Dili.w. Recent Shells, 



vol. i. p. 1C6. — Index Testaceolog. pi. 7, f. 17. 



Venua Iriant/ularis, MoNT. Test. Brit. p. 577. — Linn. Trans, vol. viii. p. 83. — 



TuRT. Conch. Diction, p. 238. — Index Testaceolog. pi. 7, 



f. 35. 



