160 



WEST COAST SHELLS 



eating the contents with as much relish as any other 

 judges of good living. They bore into various 

 clams, too, and it is even hinted that they sometimes 

 attack their own kind. But they are scavengers also, 

 and consume the flesh of dead crabs and like 

 animals, which are so liable to be found near the 

 shore. In turn the)^ are themselves eaten, tor I 

 have some beautiful specimens of this species which 

 were taken from the stomach of a large hsh — show- 

 ing that the enemy of other animals is liable to be 

 swallowed whole when the avenging and hungry 

 fish comes around. 



Nassa tegula^ Reeve, the Covered-lip 

 Nassa, Figure 145, is a southern species, 

 having a strong shell, a small aperture, 

 and a reflexed canal. The inner lip is 

 covered with a large callus of smooth, 



white enamel. 

 The color is 

 dark gray, and the length is 

 three-fourths of an inch. 



Figure 146 gives us an 

 excellent, though greatly 

 magnified picture of Nassa 

 i?2sculpta, Cpr., the Sculp- 

 tured Nassa. This is a rare 

 shell, being found in the 

 south, and collected chiefly 

 by dredging. It is thick and 

 solid, the outer lip is 

 strongly reflected, and there 

 Fig. 146. X \ (*) is no transverse sculpturing 



Fig. 145 



