BIVALVES. — ANOxMIA. 67 



ANOMIA. — Anomia or Antique Lamp. 



Animal — an emarginated, ciliated, strap-shaped hodij^ 

 with bristles or fringe affixed to the upper valve; arms 

 two, linear, longer than the body ; connivent projecting, 

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

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

 the valves fiattish, the other gibbous at the base, with a 

 produced beak, generally curved over the hinge ; one of 

 the valves often perforated near the base ; hinge ivith a 

 linear, prominent cicatrix, and a lateral tooth placed 

 within, but in the flat valve, on the very margin ; tivo 

 bony rays for the base of the animal. 



OF this curious genus of Bivalves there are thirty spe- 

 cies. 



The shells are usually inequivalve, one of them often 

 flattish, the other gibbous at the base, terminating in a 

 produced beak, which curves upwards over the hinge. 

 There is frequently a small perforation near the base, 

 through which the animal thrusts a strong ligament, 

 whereby it affixes itself to different marine substances, as 

 fuci, crabs, spines of echini, and especially to the stars of 

 the Madrepora prolifera. 



The Anomiae differ materially in form, some resembling 

 the shape of an oyster, as the A. cepa, A. ephippium, &c., 

 all of which have the lower valve flat and perforated. Others, 

 again, are imperforated and nearly orbicular, as the A. 

 craniolaris, A. placenta, &c., and some are oblong, as the 

 A. bifida, &c. Many of them, when viewed in profile, 

 resemble the form of an antique lamp, as the A. caput- 

 serpentis, &c. and a few are very similar to the hooked or 

 curved beak of a parrot, as the A. psittacea, &c. 



