148 



arcadj:. 



A. pexata. 



anterior termination of the series of cardinal tcetli ; at tlie other 

 extremity of the series, the outline of the shell, which is else- 

 where regularly rounded, has an ohtusc angle ; the ligamentary 



area, or space between the beaks, 



FiR. 456. 



IS very narrow, scarcely separat- 

 ing them. Surface wnth thirty- 

 two to thirty-six radiating ribs, 

 rather broader than the channels 

 between them ; these are trav- 

 ersed hy minute lines of growth, 

 and interrupted l)y the more dis- 

 tinct overlapping zones of in- 

 crease. The whole is covered 

 l)y a thick, shaggy, filirous epi- 

 dermis of a dark-brown color, 

 sometimes protruding from the interstices of the ril)s in a fringe- 

 like manner. Interior white, the margin polished, and profoundly 

 scalloped by the alternate terminations of the ribs and grooves. In 

 continuation of the regular series of teeth are a few irregular pits 

 and prominences which fit into each other. Length, two and one 

 fourth inches ; height, two and one tenth inches ; breadth, one and 

 one lialf inches. 



The Area pc.rata lias never l)een found to the north of Cape Cod. 

 I have it from Martha's Vineyard ; it is not rare in Buzzard's Bay, 

 and is common about Rhode Island. Osterville (Haskell). 



It is distinguished from other North American species by the po- 

 sition of its beaks, its epidermis, its narrow area between the beaks, 

 and by its being equivalve. Its height increases posteriorly, so that 

 the interior of a valve has an ovate shape. 



Mr. 8ay remarks, that, when violently o]K'ned, an effusion of red 

 sanies issues ; and hence it has acquired the name of bloody clam. 



Area transversa. 



Shell i-homboidal, with from thirty-two to thirty-fn'e ribs; beaks at the ante- 

 rior third of the series of teeth. 



Area transversa, Say, Jouni. Acad. Nat. Sc. ii. 269 (1822). — Stimp.son, Shells of New 

 En<,dand, 8. — S. Smith, Shells of Long Island, 15, and Ann. N. Y. Lye. vii. — De 

 Kay, Nat. Hist. New York, 177, pi. 12, fig. 212. 



" Shell transversely oblong, rhomboidal, with from thirty-two to 

 thirty-five ribs placed at nearly the length of their own diameters 



