204 NATURAL HISTORY OF OUR SHORES 



on Laminaria digitata. They are not quite like the adult 

 in form, but more like one valve of a mussel shell. They 

 are of a lovely, iridescent blue colour. Allied to the 

 limpets are the so-called " Split Limpet " (Emarginula 

 fissum), found among stones at low water on rocky 

 shores, and Capulus hungaricus (the " Night Cap "). 

 This remarkable form (shown in Photo) is, however, 

 rarely found in the littoral. It lives on coralline ground 

 a few fathoms deep. 



Calyptrcea chinensis (the " Chinaman's Hat "), a curious, 

 flat, limpetlike, little form, with a ridge inside, as if seeking 

 to approach a whorled shell, is very common attached to 

 pebbles and smooth stones at low water in gravelly and 

 coralline grounds. 



Haliotis tuberculata (the " Ormer"). This is about the 

 largest of our gastropods. Full-grown examples are about 

 four inches in length by two and a half in breadth. The 

 beautifully iridescent shells are well-known and popular 

 objects, being frequently used as trays for knick-knacks, 

 and also used for inlaid " papier-mache " work. 



The ormer seems to reach its northernmost limit in the 

 Channel Islands, and here, and on the opposite coast of 

 France, it is very abundant, and is largely fished for 

 market. 



In the markets of Jersey and Guernsey, at the time of 

 the spring tides, it may frequently be seen in tons at a time. 

 It is largely esteemed for table, and the taste is not a recently 

 acquired one, for an old writer, whose name I forget, says 

 of it : " The epicure would think his palat in paradis if he 

 could always regale it with such delicat Ambrosia." 



I can quite endorse his sentiment, although I am not 

 qualified to verify his comparison. 



The ormer lives under large stones and boulders, at the 

 lowest tide zone, chiefly where there is Laminaria. 



Allied to the ormer, but easily mistaken for a limpet 



