undulating * ribs both transversely and longi- 

 tudinally striated ; varies in colour from dirty 

 white to chesnut brown ; size from two to five 

 inches long, and more than half as broad. 



There are scarcely any of our shores which do 

 not produce this shell. It is commonly taken 

 in dredging by fishermen, who either use the 

 animal for bait, or destroy it, under the suppo- 

 sition that it is very destructive to a large species 

 of scallop, insinuating its tail, as they term the 

 trunk, into the shell, and killing the inhabitant 

 for food. The old shells are frequently covered 

 with a brown epidermis, or rough extraneous 

 matter. 



The animal has two conical tentacula bearing 

 eyes at their base, a short foot, to which is 

 attached a horny operculum, and a long trunk 

 that issues through the notch at the base of the 

 shell. 



BUCCINUM Lapittus. 



ROCK WHELK. 



Specific Character. Shell ovate, thick, with 

 five or six whorls more or less striated longitu- 

 dinally, and transversely crossed with finer 

 irregular striae ; apex, small, pointed; aperture 

 oval ; outer lip waved or denticulated ; it is 

 usually of an uniform dirty white, or yellowish 



* Undulating : wavy, from the Latin undul a, a small wave. 



