MARINE MOLLUSCA OF THE UNITED STATES, 13*7 



Shell elongated, cylindrical, gaping at each end ; epidermis dark, horny, 

 extending beyond the margins ; iimbones posterior ; hinge edentulous ; 

 ligament concealed ; pallial line obscure. Solemya. 



Genus SAXICAVA, Fleuriau de Bellevue. 

 Bull. Soc. Philom., No. 63. 1803. 



1. S. ARCTiCA, Linn. Figs. 310, 311, 312, 313. 



(.Mya.) Syst. Nat., edit. xii. 1113. 1767. 

 Mytilus rugosus, Pennant, Brit. Zool., iv. 110. t. 63, f. 72. 1777. 

 Mytilus fholacUs, Miill. Zool. Dan. t. 87, f. 1, 2, 3. 

 Saxicava distorta, Say, Journ. A. N. S., ii. 318. 1823. 



•Shell irregularly oblong oval, the right valve projecting over the 

 left except at the shorter end, generally gaping; beaks prominent, 

 from which diverge two ridges or elevated lines, one running near 

 the posterior dorsal margin, the other to the lower angle ; these 

 lines are more or less distinct, or obsolete. Surface coarsely 

 wrinkled ; epidermis thin, dingy yellow. 



Length 1 inch, height 15 mill. 



Whole Coast. (Occurs thi'oughoui the world.) 



This protean species cannot be described with any accuracy," 

 being modifled by the substances into which it bores. It is of 

 universal distribution, and has, under its different aspects, receiA^ed 

 no less than five generic and fifteen specific names. 



In the last edition of Gould's " Invertebrata of Massachusetts" 

 the S. arctica and S. rvgosa are separated as distinct species, but 

 the differences pointed out are not permanent, and are therefore 

 unreliable. 



Genus P ANOPSIA, Menard. 

 Ann. du Mus., ix. 131. 1807. 



This genus, of about a dozen species, inhabits from low water 

 to 90 fathoms, and from northern seas to Mediterranean Sea and 

 Australia. 



1. P. NoRVEGiCA, Spengler. Figs. 314, 315. 



i3Iya.) Skrivt., Nat. Selsk., iii. 46, t. 2, f. 18. 

 Glyeimerus arctica, Lamarck. Anim. s. Vert., edit. 2, vi. 70. 



Shell oblong, trapezoidal, thick, covered with a dark, rough epi- 

 dermis ; beaks anterior, the anterior and posterior margins oblique 

 and subparallel ; surface raised into two rounded, broad elevations 

 which proceed from the beaks to the basal angles, dividing the sur- 

 face into three nearly equal portions. 



Length 62.5, height 40, diam. 30 mill. 



New England, northwards. (Eur.) 



