262 chitonidj:. 



Chiton fulminatiis, Couthouy, Am. Journ. Sc, O. s. xxxiv. 217 (18.38); Bost. Jonrn. 

 Nat. Hist. ii. 80, pi. 3, fig. 19.— De Kay, N. Y. Moll. 1G5, jjl. 10, lig. 199. — Gould, 

 Iiiv. 1st cd. 148. 



Shell oblong-ovate, rather fiat ; color varying- from bright red to 

 yellowish or dark reddish brown, with numerous, fine, zigzag, whit- 

 ish lines arranged over the whole surface, and a line of six or eight 

 whitish spots alternating with dark red along the pos- 

 ^.!^^ terior edge of each valve ; valves carinated and slightly 



beaked, their surface covered with microscopic granu- 

 lations arranged in quincunx ; to the naked eye smooth 

 and shining ; division into triangular areas very indis- 

 tinct ; lines of growth very faint. Margin narrow, 

 coriaceous, coated with a close, short down, alter- 

 nately red and white. Within white at the edges of 

 the valves, deepening towards the centre to a rose 



C. )nannoreus. i t i i p • i 



color. Length, seven tenths of an inch ; breadth, 

 nine twentieths of an inch. 



Found in the stomachs of fishes caught off Egg Rock, Cohasset, 

 &c. Eastport ( Cooper) ; Halifax Harbor, on stones ( Willis) ; St. 

 Anne's Gaspe (Bell) ; Cape Cod, northwards {Stimpsori) ; Green- 

 land (Mailer) ; Grand Manan (Stinipaon) ; Gaspe (Daivsori) ; Con- 

 necticut (LinsJeij). 



This very beautifully marked species varies considerably in outline, 

 size, marking, and color. Some have the sides nearly parallel, and 

 others are decidedly ovate ; some exceed an inch in length ; some have 

 the lines of growth deeply marked, while others are nearly smooth ; 

 some have a dead, ashen color, but such are apparently very old. In 

 some the zigzag lines and white dots are very distinct, in others not. 



This may very prol)ably prove identical with some si)ecies of the 

 north of Europe ; but as it is utterly impossible to say which one, I 

 will not run the risk of adding further confusion to the already in- 

 extricable synonymy of the Chitons, by offering any conjectures. 

 Dr. Lovon says, " It is a very common species with us [in Sweden]. 

 I think it is the S. Imvig-atus, Fleming." Mr. Sowerby thinks " it 

 would 1)0 impossible to find a distinguishing character " between 

 this and C. cinerens. In this he is certainly mistaken. It comes 

 much nearer to his red variety of C. marg-inatus ; but the granula- 

 tions of the surface of our shell are not half so distinct as in cither 

 C. marginatus or C. cinerens. It is, therefore, best to use Mr. 

 Couthouy's name for tlie present, as it is fhe only one to which the 

 shell can now, or perhaps ever, be referred with certainty.* 



* Now recognized as C marmoreus. — W. G. B. 



