RANDOM NOTES ON NATURAL HISTORY. 



inner lip with a tliiek white calUis slightly 

 modifying the umbilicus, which is nearl}' 

 free ; aperture dark chestnut, showing the 

 exterior markings, of which there are three 

 revolving series of twelve or fifteen dark 

 chestnut or red, oblong or square, oblique 

 spots on the body-whorl, and one on the 

 upper whorls. " Found on the New Eng- 

 land coast north of Cape Cod, on flats left 

 bare by the tide, but it is as yet doubtful 

 whether it passes to the south of this limit " 

 (Gould). We find it in Rhode Island more 

 abundantly than the preceding species, but 

 its limit in our bay is below Bristol. It is 

 found living on the shore of the Island of 

 Rhode Island, and dead shells on the op- 

 posite shore at Bristol Neck. It is quoted 

 from Fire Island, L. I. (S. S. Smith), coast 

 of New Jersey (A. E. Verrill). 



Professor Verrill, in the April number of 

 Silliman's Journal for 1872, p. 282, argues 

 that triseriata and heros are only varieties 

 of the same species. He gives an instance 

 of a large and characteristic specimen of L. 

 heros, from Eastport, Me., which was broken 

 up, and the inner whorls showed the colored 

 spots of triseriata. He says, " This speci- 

 men was a well-marked triseriata until half 

 grown, when it changed into a heros." I 

 have found, in our bay, young specimens of 

 heros of the same size as those supposed to 

 be adult triseriata, without the markings of 

 any apparent similarity. Will some person 

 posted in this matter decide the question? 

 Two other species of Lunatia are given in 

 Verrill's Cat. Mar. Moll., 516, 1882, as oc- 

 curring near Rhode Island, which I have 

 never seen. 



Lunatia nana, (Moller) Sars. Oflf 

 Martha's Vineyard and Block Island, 22 to 

 29 fathoms. 



Lunatia levicula, Verrill. Same localities. 



Genus Neverita, Risso, 1826. (Naticaria, 

 H. & A. Adams ) 



Shell orbicular, depressed ; spire flat- 

 tened ; aperture wide, semi-lunar ; umbilicus 

 nearly filled by a lump of callus. Oper- 

 culurn horny. Animal capable of retraction 

 within the shell. 



22. Neverita duplicata. Sat. 

 Syns. : 



Natica duplicata, Say, Gould, DeKay, 

 Philippi, von Reeve. 



Natica rechiziana, Desh., Reeve. 



Neverita duplicata, Stimp., Ball., Tryun, 

 Perkins, etc. 



Shell conical-ovate, solid ; surface marked 

 with revolving lines and more conspicuous 

 lines of growth ; color light chestnut-brown 

 on the upper half of the shell, and ashy l)e- 

 low ; whorls five, with a dark band levolv- 

 ing on the spire, just above the suture ; 

 spire depressed; aperture ova1e-ol)lique ; 

 outer lip sharp and thin; inner lip covered 

 with callus which almost fills up tlie uui- 

 bilicus ; operculum horny, thin, semi-trans- 

 parent. Length 2 inches, breadth 2^. 

 Very abundant in Rhode Island, on sandy 

 beaches between tides. Inhabits from Mas- 

 sachusetts to Florida. Rare north of Cape 

 Cod. Abundant at Nantucket. Long Island, 

 New Jerse}', and southward. The animal is 

 large, of a dirt^' white color, with a foot 

 capable of enveloping the whole shell, per- 

 forate with minute openings, from which, 

 when disturbed, the animal squirts water. 

 The large ribbon-shaped egg-masses, re- 

 sembling a saucer with the bottom knocked 

 out, composed of ova and agglutinated 

 sand, are found in April and Ma^-, in great 

 numbers, on all our sandv shores, especially 

 near Nayatt. 



Genus Mamma, Klein, 1753. (Polinices, 



MONTF., NaTICELLA, GuiLD.) 



Shell ovate, solid, smooth ; spire short, 

 acute; aperture semicircular; inner lip 

 thickened ; umbilicus funiculate ; opercu- 

 lum simple, horny ; animal retractile. 



23. Mamma immaculata, Totten. 



Shell sub-ovate, solid, milk-white, glossy ; 

 whorls five, spire short and pointed ; outer 

 lip oval, curved at the base ; inner lip 

 covered with ivory-white callus ; umbilicus 

 free, open and round ; operculum corneous. 

 Length }l inch, breadth j\. 



This species was first discovered by 

 Colonel Totten, of the U. S. Navy, in New- 

 port harbor, and described by him in Silli- 

 man's Jovrnal, XXVIII. 351. It is often 

 taken from the stomachs of fish caught in 

 Massachusetts Bay. It is probably not 

 found in our bay this side of Newport. 

 Stimp.son says it is found on the whole coast 

 of New England. 



The only remainin.qr species of the Nati- 

 cidje inlialiitiiig near Rhode Island are: 



