BIVALVES TELLINA. 23 



TELLINA.— Tellen. 



DESCRIPTION OF PLATE VI. 



Div. I — Fig. 1. T, virgata. 

 Drv. I. —Fig. 4. T. Ferroensis DiT. II. —Fig. 9. T. inaequivalvLs. 



Div. II Fig. 2. T. foliacea. Drv. Ill — Fig. 6. T. flexuosa. 



Fig. 3. T. rostrata. Fig. 7. T. crassa. 



Fig. 5. T. tenuis. Fig. 8. T. cornea. 



Shellbivahe, generally sloping on one side: in the fore part of one 

 valve there is a convex, and in the other a concave fold ; hinge 

 with usually three teeth, the lateral smooth in one valve. 



OF this genus there are eighty-one species. Of all 

 the different genera of Bivalves, there are none, 

 except the Venus, which can vie with the Tellina in 

 beauty, variety, or number. 



The usual form of the Tellinse is broad at one end, 

 andgradually tapering towards the other; in some cases 

 the pointed termination of the shell forms a beak, as 

 in the T. rostrata, T. rufescens, &c. Others, on the 

 contrary, are more orbicular, as the T. scobinata, &c. 

 and some, as the T. gari, &c. are nearly allied to 

 several species of the genus Solen, for which they 

 are sometimes mistaken; however, from the more 

 acute termination of the beak in the Tellinne, the dif- 

 ference may be easily distinguished. The hinge of 

 the Tellina will also assist in removing any doubt that 

 may have originated from an inaccurate examination 

 of the shell; for it is usually furnished with three 

 teeth, the middle one often cleft, and the lateral teeth 



