344 THE MITRE-SHELLS. 



The Philippines would seem to harbour the greatest 

 number of these elegant and beautiful shells, although a 

 great many species were obtained by Mr. Cuming in 

 Tropical America. They appear to be chiefly confined to 

 the equatorial regions, scarcely any being natives of cold 

 climates. I have met with several among the Meia-co- 

 shimah Islands, at Loo-Choo, Japan, and at the Keeling, 

 or Cocos Islands.. They are most generally to be found 

 in somewhat shallow water, among the ledges of rocks, 

 between small islands, where the water barely covers the 

 land, and within the shelter of coral reefs, sometimes 

 preferring a clear, sandy bottom, and at other times 

 affecting a hard, muddy, sandy soil. The transversely- 

 ribbed species, such as Mitra circulata, are frequently 

 found in very deep water, and many were dredged by us 

 in twenty and thirty fathoms, at Sooloo, and in the 

 China Sea. 



The animal of Mitra circulata, one of these deep- 

 water species, is very prettily marked. The body is grey, 

 varied with round, well-developed, white spots, and a 

 series of dark-brown blotches, of a pyramidal form, 

 arranged round the lower edge in a Vandyke pattern, 

 and below that, a white rim, with a row of small, linear, 

 horizontal, black spots ; the head is white, marbled with 

 grey-brown ; the eyes black, and the tentacles white, with 

 a large oval, black spot in their middle ; the siphon is 

 brown, edged with black, and with a broad white band 

 at its free extremity. The operculum is very minute, 

 horny, and transparent. In general, however, the Mitres, 

 notwithstanding the elaborate markings of their shells, are 

 riot remarkable for bright colours on their bodies. 



