SOLEN. 19 



Yar. arcuata. Shell usually smaller, more or less curved, 

 but equally deep relatively to the breadth. 



Habitat : Common on all our sandy shores which 

 are uncovered at spring tides ; seldom beyond that limit, 

 although in the Dredging Report of the British Associ- 

 ation in 1850 it is stated to have been taken in the 

 Orkneys at a depth of 12 f. The variety is found on 

 many parts of our coasts, especially those of Ireland 

 and Scotland — I have a specimen from Burra Firth 

 in Unst, of unusual dimensions, viz. nearly 1^ inch 

 long or deep by 7 inches in breadth ; Norway (Sars). 

 This variety was noticed by Turton in his ^Concho- 

 logical Dictionary;' it is referred by Forbes and Han- 

 ley to B. ensis. The late Dr. Lukis found it living 

 with that species in Belgrave Bay, Guernsey, and sent 

 me specimens of both for comparison. The typical 

 form occurs in many of the newer or postpliocene 

 deposits, as well as in the Norwich and Bed Crag ; 

 Uddevalla (Malm) ; Sicily (Philippi). Its foreign range 

 comprises Behring's Straits, the North-east coast of 

 America, Faroe Isles, and all the intermediate shores to 

 the ^gean, including the African side of the Mediter- 

 ranean. 



In Lister's days it was called in Yorkshire "Hose- 

 fish,"'^ and caught (if the tide was out at night) by 

 candle-light. He adds that they make a delicious sauce, 

 and have the flavour of shrimps. "In Ireland it is 

 much eaten in Lent'^ (Da Costa). Fleming says that 

 when a little stale they are a tempting bait for cod and 

 haddock. The teeth are liable to vary. In a specimen 

 from Oxwich Bay near Swansea the laterals are placed 

 closer than usual to the hinge ; and that of the left valve 

 is branched, as in S. pellucidiis, and divided into three. 



S, novacula of Montagu and S. ligiila of Turton 



