Ci VALVES ANOMIA. 41 



ANOMIA.— AxoMiA OR Antique Lamp. 



Animal— an emarginatcdy ciliated, strap-shaped body: with 

 bristles or fringe affixed to the upper valve: arms twOy 

 linear f longer than the body; connivent projecting, al- 

 ternate on the valve, and ciliate on each side, the fringe 

 affixed to each valve: Shell bivalve, inefjuivalve, one of 

 the valves flattish, the other gibbons at the base, tvith a 

 produced beak, generally curved over the hinge ; one of 

 the valves often perforated near the base: hinge with a 

 linear, prominent cicatrix, and a lateral tooth placed 

 within, but in the fat valve, on the very margin: two 

 bony rays for the base of the animal. 



Of this curious genus of Bivalves, there are fifty-one spe- 

 cies described; however, several out of that number have 

 hitherto only been found in a fossil or petrified state. 



Those which are recent, or found alive in the sea, are 

 frequently rare and valuable. The shells are usually in- 

 equivalve, one of them often flattish, the other gibbous at 

 the base, terminating in a produced beak, which curves 

 upwards over the hinge, and frequently has a small per- 

 foration in it, near the base ; through which the animal 

 thrusts a strong ligament, by which it affixes itself to dif- 

 ferent marine substances, as fuci, crabs, spines of Echini, 

 and especially to the stars of the Madrepora Prolifera. 



The form of the Anomia differs materially, some re- 

 sembling the shape of an Oyster, as the Anomia Cepa, 

 Ephippium, &c. &c. all of which have a large hole in 

 their flat valve. Others, again, are nearly orbicular, as 

 the Anomia Craniolaris, Placenta, ike. &c, and some are 

 oblong, like the Anomia Pectinata, &c. &c. and many 

 of them, when looked at in profile, nearly resemble the 



