14 



RANDOM NOTES ON NATURAL HISTORY. 



The Shell-Bearing Moliusca of Rhode 

 Island. 



BY HORACE F. CARPENTER. 



Chapter XIII. 



Family 23. Onustidas. A peculiar 

 family of molluslis called " carriers," from 

 their habit of cementing fragments of shells 

 and stones to their outside surfaces, inhabit- 

 ing the tropics. 



Family 24. Solariidas, also tropical. 



Family 25. Scalaridae Gra}', contains 

 but one genus, Scalaria, with about 150 

 species, mostl_y tropical, although a few in- 

 habit the colder waters, even to Greenland. 



Genus Scalaria, Lam. 

 These shells are called by the English, 

 wentle-traps, and bj^ the Dutch, winding- 

 stairs, from the step-like ring ascending 

 spirally up to the apex. The species all 

 resemble one another very closel}', and are 

 nearly all pure white in color, and lustrous. 

 The Spaniards at St. Bias wear them for 

 ear-rings. They are quite rare, inhabiting 

 deep water. The t3'pe of the species and 

 the most beautiful of them all is the Sca- 

 laria pretiosa, Linn., which used to be sold 

 for $200 per specimen, but can be bought 

 now for $1 and upwards, according to size 

 and perfection. The animal is carnivorous, 

 and when disturbed emits a purple liquid. 

 Three species are found in New England, 

 namely : 



28. Scalaria lineata. Say. 

 Shell conical, pointed, white ; whorls, 

 eight, rounded, traversed by sixteen to 

 eighteen ribs, not crossing the suture ;' a 

 raised line originating from the junction of 

 the lips revolves on the lower whorl, and 

 defines the upper edge of a reddish-brown 

 revolving band ; aperture round, with a 

 strong, white lip ; no umbilicus. Length 

 one-half inch, breadth one-fifth. Found 

 by Mr. C. F. Shiverick, at New Bedford. 

 Buzzard's Bay, southwards (Stimpson). 

 Vineyard Sound and Long Island Sound 

 (Verrill). Rare at New Haven (Perkins). 

 New Jersey to South Carolina and Georgia. 

 Described bv Thomas Sa}', Jour. Ac. Sc, 

 Phila., n., 242, 1822. 



29. Scalaria multistriata, Say. 

 Shell white, solid ; spire acute ; whorls 



eight, very convex ; suture moderate ; ribs 

 from fourteen to twenty, equidistant, 

 moderately elevated and rounded on the 

 edges ; the spaces between the ribs marked 

 with microscopic revolving lines ; aperture 

 ovate, one-fourth the length of the shell, 

 margined b}' a rib ; umbilicus, none. Length 

 one-half inch, breadth j\. Dist., Massachu- 

 setts to Florida. Dartmouth Harbor and 

 Buzzard's Bay (Shiverick). New Haven 

 (Verrill and Dr. E. T. Nelson) . Living and 

 semi-fossil in South Carolina. Described by 

 Say, Jour. Ac. Sc, Phila., v., 208, 1822. 



30. Scalaria Groenlandica, Chemn. 



Syns. : 



Scalaria planicosta, Kiener. 



" subulata, Couth., DeKa^'. 

 " Groenlandica, Sby., Gould, 

 Stimp. 



Turbo clathrus Groenlandicus, Chemnitz, 

 Conch., XI., 1878, 1779. 



The distribution of the two species above 

 described is southern, and few specimens 

 are found here at its extreme northern 

 limit, but this species is northern, extending 

 to the Arctic Ocean, and is rare here at its 

 southern extreme. It also extends east- 

 ward from Greenland, Iceland, etc., to the 

 shores of Europe, southward to Bergen. 

 Nahant Beach, and taken from fishes caught 

 in Massachusetts Bay, and at the Grand 

 Banks, abundantly (Gould). Eastport 

 (Cooper). Off Egg Rock, seventeen 

 fathoms (Haskell). Nova Scotia (Willis). 

 South Shoals, off Nantucket (Agassiz). 

 Fossil, Beaufort (Dawson), and in Great 

 Britain. It has been dredged in Block 

 Island Sound, seventeen to twenty-four 

 fathoms. 



Shell turreted, tapering to a pointed apex, 

 of a dead, bluish-white color; whorls ten, 

 with eight to fifteen ston}-, flattened, oblique 

 white ribs, the interv^ening spaces crossed 

 by coarse revolving lines ; aperture nea^'lj' 

 round ; umbilicus, none. Length one inch, 

 breadth one-third. 



Family 26. lanthinidae. Gray. This 

 famil}' contains two genera, lanthina and 

 Recluzia, and one fossil genus, Scalites, 

 Conrad. 



Genus Ianthina, Lam. 



This genus, spelled by some authors Jan- 

 thina, contains ten species, inhabiting the 

 Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The onl}' 



