OTHER -BEVALVE MOLLUSKS 79 
In Figure 
66 we have 
a good rep- 
resentation 
of Tagelus 
cali fornian- 
us, Conr., the Short Razor-clam, (Solecurtus ¢.). 
These creatures live in sandy mud, in a perpen- 
dicular burrow, and have a gray shell partly cov- 
ered with a dull epidermis. The wild ducks are 
said to relish them heartily. Length, two or three 
inches; southern. The variety subteres, Conr., 1s 
small, compact, with violet rays and a very dark 
epidermis. It occurs with the common form. 
Sanguinolaria nuttallu, Conr., Nuttall’s San- 
guinolaria, is a southern species, having a thin, 
oval shell, partly covered with a dark brown epi- 
dermis. The colors of the shell are white and 
lilae, the latter being sometimes beautifully rayed. 
One valve is much more bulging than the other, 
and the ligament, just behind the beaks, is very 
prominent. The shell is two or three inches long. 
The name ‘‘Tellen’’ comes from a Greek word, 
meaning a certain kind of mussel; but when we 
use it we think of a flat, thin, bivalve shell, with 
very smal] 
hinge-teeth, 
and a_ deep 
pallial sinus. 
Many of the 
tropical Tel- 
Fig. 67 lens are very 
Fig. 66 
