88 LESSON XI. 



BUCCINUM Undulatum. 

 WAVED WHELK. 



Specific character. Shell thick and coarse, 

 with seven or eight ventricose whorls, having 

 undulating* ribs both transversely and longi- 

 tudinally striated ; varies in colour from dirty 

 white to chestnut 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. They suppose it 

 very destructive to a large species of scallop by 

 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 Lapillus. 

 ROCK WHELK. 



Specific character. Shell ovate, thick, with 

 five or six whorls more or less striated longitu- 



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



