00 MUREX. ROCK-SHELL. 



The young are very obtuse at the point, as if broken off; 

 and are known from the young of M. antiquus, by the elon- 

 gated beak, and the more regular transverse striae. 



On most sandy shores, v. v. 



7- Murex gracilis. Slender Rock-shett. 



Montagu, pi. 15. f. 5. 



Murex sinuosus. Montagu, pi. 9. f. 8 Dorset Cat. 

 pi. 14. f. 18. 



Murex emarginatus. Donovan, pi. 169. f. 2. 



Shell slender, tapering to a fine point, with ten well de- 

 fined spires, ribbed longitudinally, and finely but regularly 

 striate transversely : on the body volution are fifteen ribs, 

 tumid in the middle and placed a little obliquely, not con- 

 tinuing through the whole length of the shell, but inter- 

 rupted at the junctures by a flat space which commences 

 at the upper angle of the outer-lip and running spirally up 

 the whole shell j this flat space is broader or narrower, but 

 always sufficiently distinct, and marked with fine thread- 

 like lines following its direction round the volutions : aper- 

 ture oblong-oval, narrow, and with its canal occupying 

 about half the length of the shell 5 at the upper angle of 

 'the outer-lip is a cut or sinuosity, which separates it from 

 its attachment to the body volution ; outer-lip a little 

 spreading, thickened by a rib at the back, with a thin edge, 

 slightly crenate or denticulate within ; pillar-lip smooth, 

 white, but not polished : color yellowish-white, sometimes 

 a little glossy, with a tinge of pink, and a pale red band 

 commencing half-way up the outer-lip and spirally winding 

 round the base of each volution, forming two upon the 

 larger one, but growing indistinct, and at last disappearing 

 near the tip : length more than an inch , breadth about a 

 quarter of an inch. 



This description drawn from many specimens now before 

 tis, and which were collected in Dublin bay and the south 

 of Devon, seem to combine together the characters both of 

 M. gracilis and M. sinuatus, as described by Montagu. All 

 that we possess, and all that we have seen, have both the 

 sinuosity and the flat striated space between the volutions, 

 although in some the latter is very narrow : the ribs on the 

 frcdy volution are from six or eight to fifteen or more, and 



the 



