% WEST COAST SHELLS 



feature. ■ This noble species reaches from British 

 Columbia to Mexico. 



Macofua indentata^ Cpr., the Indented Macoma, 

 is a southern shell resembling a small specimen of 

 the last species, but the edge of the shell near the 

 posterior end is indented and beaked. 



A very pretty shell found far to the south is 

 named Metis alta^ Conr., the Yellow Metis, formerly 

 known as hutricola alta. The shell is round oval, 

 wrinkled at the siphon end, and marked with line but 

 distinct concentric lines. The ligament area is 

 depressed. Externally the color is whitish or brown- 

 ish, while the inside is glossy white, suffused with 

 a bright yellow flush in fresh specimens. Its length 

 is about two inches. 



While the last shell was very pretty, we now 

 have one that far exceeds it in beauty, namely, Se- 

 mele decisa^ Conr., the Clipped Semele. The first 

 name is that of the mythical mother of Bacchus, 

 while the second refers to the short posterior end, 

 which looks as if it had been cut oif with a pair of 

 scissors. The shell is nearly round, rather heavy, 

 the ligament internal and lodged in an oblique pit, 

 and the pallial sinus is high and oval. The outside 

 of the shell is coarsely wrinkled, and is brownish in 

 color. The interior, where the beauty resides, is 

 finely polished, looking like bright porcelain, and is 

 more or less tinged with purple, particularly around 

 the edges. Grown specimens are two inches or more 

 in diameter. This shell is found in southern waters, 

 as might be expected. 



Semele rupium^ ^by., the Semele-of-the-Rocks, is 



