SERPULA WORM SHELL. 129 



the animal. The Serpulse abound in almost all 

 situations that are at times covered by the sea ; they 

 are found attached to various marine substances, 

 from the firmest rock and the sea-weed that grows 

 upon it, to sea-animals the most rapid in their 

 motions. In situations, where they are not sub- 

 ject to interruptions, they form patches of great 

 thickness and extent. Some of the rocks in the 

 island of Gorre are covered with a crust of them 

 several inches thick, and more than twenty feet 

 square. 



SERPULA Tubularia. 



TUBULAR CREEPER. 



Specific Character. Shell taper, opaque, 

 slightly wrinkled transversely ; the smaller end 

 is usually convoluted irregularly, flexuous or 

 variously twisted, fixed; the larger end fre- 

 quently detached for half its length ; diameter at 

 the larger end two-tenths of an inch ; length four 

 or five inches. 



This is by no means a common shell ; it is 

 found at Tor Cross, Devonshire ; the head of the 

 animal inhabiting it is long, white, banded with 

 pink and green, and has two beautifully feathered 

 tentacula, originating from a single stalk. 



