229 



ASTARTK PaCKARDI, WllLtc. 



Plate 30, figs. 6, (ia and lUi. 



Astarte Packardi, White. — 1880. United States Geological Snrvey, Contri- 



bntions to Paleontology, Nos. 2-8, p. 149, pi. 37, 

 figs. 6a and b. 



" Shell subcirculai- in mjirginal outline, moderately and almost regu- 

 larly convex : its length and full height almost equal, or the latter a 

 trifle less than the former ; mai'gin forming a continuous subelliptic curve 

 all the way around from the posterior end of the hinge to the lower 

 end of the lunule ; hinge margin short and gently convex ; beaks 

 placed subcentrally, rather small but prominent, and turned forward ; 

 hmule moderately large, rather deeply impressed and clearly defined, 

 its abruptly inflected borders giving a concave appearance to that por- 

 tion of the shell as seen by lateral view. Surface marked by somewhat 

 numerous and regular concentric undulations, and between these, by 

 minute stride of growth. Hinge unknown. 



Transverse length, twenty millimetres ; height from base to beaks 

 nearly one millimetre less." White. 



East side of Alliford Bay : four large and beautifully preserved spe- 

 cimens with the test, and a few fragments : South side of Alliford Bay, 

 abundant in the condition of small but perfect casts : East end of Maud 

 Island, five small examples with the test preserved. 



The specimens from the above mentioned localities, which the writer 

 has no doubt are correctly identified with A. Packardi, give the follow- 

 ing additional information about its specific characters. At Maud Island 

 the shell attains to the size of thirty millimetres in length by as many 

 in height. The hinge dentition consists of two transverse cardinal teeth 

 in each valve, and there are no laterals. In the right valve both teeth 

 are most pi-ominent in the middle, but the anterior cardinal tooth is 

 triangular in outline and comparatively large. The inner margin of the 

 valves below and at the side is simple in some specimens and distinctly 

 crenulated in others, as in the recent A. sulcata of da Costa. 



Br. White says " This shell is probably not a true Aslarte as that genus 

 is recognized among living forms, but it probably belongs to a section to 

 to which Gabb gave the name Eriphyla.^^ The type of Sowerby's genus, 

 however, is his A. lurlda of the Inferior Oolite, whose characters are 

 very near to those of A. Packardi. 



The three or four imperfect and badly preserved casts from the fel- 

 sites of the Iltasyouco River, B.C., which were provisionally identified 



* Op. cit., p. 149. 



