46 BIVALVES-— CHAM A. 



SPONDYLUS. 



Gaedaropus (Thorny Oyster.) Plicatus (Cat's Paw.) 

 Regius. Citreus. 



CHAMA. — Clamp, Clam, or Gaper. 



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

 with a callous gihhosityy obliquely inserted in an 

 oblique hollow ; anterior slope closed. 



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

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

 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 

 every 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 

 possible. 



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 foimd 



