STROMBUS CLAW SHELL. 91 



OBSERVATIONS ON THE SHELL AND ITS 

 INHABITANT. 



A remarkable peculiarity in the shells of this 

 genus is their propensity to expand their outer 

 lip into a wing-like projection ; from this circum- 

 stance they are sometimes called the Alatae,* or 

 winged shells. In some species this expansion 

 is lobed, in others it is divided into curious digi- 

 tationsf or claws, giving the shells a resemblance 

 to spiders or scorpions, whence they have re- 

 ceived their specific names. Some are remark- 

 able for a lengthened spire, and very much re- 

 semble in form the Needle Buccinum. The 

 distinguishing marks of this genus are the sinus 

 in the outer lip near the base, and the position of 

 the beak. 



The Strombi, like the Cyprsese, vary so con- 

 siderably in their different stages of growth, that 

 the juvenile specimens scarcely bear the appear- 

 ance of Strombi : at an early period the outer 

 lip is not expanded, and there are no traces of 

 claws ; subsequently the wing spreads out> and 

 the claws appear as short open spouts; and 

 when the shell arrives at its full size, these be- 

 come solid hornlike projections, often very long 

 and curiously curved. 



There are not more than two or three species 

 of the Strombus found on our coasts. 



* Alatae winged, from the Latin ala, a wing, 

 t Dizitations, projections in the form of fingers, from th Latin 

 Uigit us, a finger. 



