30 BIVALVES CHAMA. 



SPONDYLUS. 



Gaedaropus Plicatus. 



Regius. Citreus. 



CHAMA. — Clamps, Clams, or Gapers. 



Animal — a Tethys: Shell bivalve^ rather coarse; hinge 

 with a callous gibbosity, obliquely inserted in an ob- 

 lique hollotv; anterior slope closed. 



This genus is by no means numerous, as it only contains 

 twenty-five species, and they, for the most part, are rougli 

 and uncouth looking shells. The Chama Cor is, how- 

 ever, an exception; it being usually smooth, and from its 

 beauty and peculiarity of structure, is signalized from 

 eveny shell in the numerous catalogue of Bivalves. This 

 shell, which varies in size from two to five inches in dia- 

 meter, is invariably a true fac-simile of a perfect heart; its 

 top being surmounted by the beaks, which wind round 

 towards the hinge, in the most graceful curvature possi- 

 ble. 



The genus Chama, affords a subject for amazement, 

 rather than admiration, for some of its species grow to an 

 uncommon size; the Chama Hippopus, for instance, (or 

 Bear's-paw Clam), is a specimen of the general propensity 

 to unusual aggrandizement: the shell is usually of a yel- 

 lowish cast, with pink spots and murications, and is found 



