- 



SOLENACEA. MOLLUSCA. SOLECURTUS. 31 



Shell oblong, .transverse, very slightly curved, thick and strong, 

 the upper and lower margins nearly parallel ; beaks obtuse and 

 slightly elevated, nearest the posterior end ; this side is narrow- 

 est, rounded at the extremity, and having an obtuse ridge running 

 obliquely backwards from the beaks ; anterior extremity ob- 

 liquely truncated or abruptly rounded ; basal margin somewhat 

 compressed ; surface coarsely wrinkled by the stages of growth, 

 and on its disc are a few short, deep, straight scratches from the 

 beaks towards the base ; the whole covered by a dense and strong 

 yellowish epidermis, which folds over the edge. Hinge with two 

 awl-shaped cardinal teeth in each valve, curved, ascending : 

 behind them is a thick rounded callus, on which the ligament is 

 fixed. Interior white, thickened ; palleal impression with a sinus 

 which passes beyond the beaks. Length 4 inches, height *\\ 

 inch, breadth 1 inch. 



Found in Buzzard's Bay, at New Bedford and in its vicinity, 

 occasionally, which seems to be its northern limit. 



It cannot be mistaken for any other of our shells. 



SOLECU'RTUS (Cultellus) FRA'GILIS. 



Shell transversely oblong-ovate, arcuated, equilateral, with a red- 

 dish stripe from the beaks passing a little backwards, designating 

 the place of an obsolete rib within ; epidermis yellowish. 



State Coll., No. 242. Soc. Cab., No. 2317. 



Solen fragilis, PULTENEY ; Dorset Catal., 28. pi. 4, f. 5. MONTAGU ; Test. Brit., 

 51. Suppl^ 26. PENNANT ; Brit. Zool., iv. 174. WOOD ; Gen. Conch., 126. pi. 

 29, f. 4, 5. Index, pi. 3. f. 11. DILLWYN j Catal., 65. FLEMING j Brit. 

 Anim., 460. 



Solecurtus fragilis, CONRAD ; Amer. Mar. Conch., 19, pi. 4, f. 1. 



Solen centralis, SAY ; Journ. dead. JVai. Sciences, ii. 316. 



Psammobia tasniata, TDRTON ; Brit. Biv., 85, pi. 8, f. 5. 



Shell small and delicate, much broader than high, sub-oval ; 

 beaks not prominent, nearly central ; the upper and lower margins 

 curved, nearly parallel, the posterior end being, however, some- 

 what more sharply rounded than the anterior ;* when viewed at 

 the back, the shell has a peculiar compressed appearance. Sur- 

 face smooth at the central region, and somewhat wrinkled at the 

 ends ; with a remarkable band of reddish purple passing from the 



