VENUS. 247 



them : hinge with three teeth in one valve, the middle-one 

 cloven ; in the other, two of the teeth are cloven, with the 

 lateral one erect : length an inch or more ; breadth two 

 inches. 



Pennant's figure is a good representation of V. perfo- 

 rans in its most perfect state. 



Western and Irish coasts, v. v. 



32. Venus aurea. Golden Venus. 



Lister, pi. 404. f. 249 Pennant, pi. 60, upper fig. 

 Linn. Trans, viii. pi. 2. f. 9 Dorset Cat. pi. 13. f. 3. 



Shell rhombic-oval, convex, a little produced at the car- 

 tilage end and rounded at both, the cartilage edge much 

 rounded and not as in the last sloping down rather sharply, 

 finely and regularly striate transversely, with a few anti- 

 quated furrows, and crossed with some faint longitudinal 

 lines ; color yellowish, whitish, or with a rufous tinge, 

 mostly marked with ferruginous or blackish minute zigzag 

 lines, or mottled w'.th grey, especially about the edges ; 

 inside yellowish-white, with 2 plain obtuse margin ; beaks 

 nearer one end, but more central than the last, a little curved, 

 with a broad heart-shaped depression under them : hinge 

 with three teeth in each valve, the middle-one slightly 

 cloven : length an inch ; breadth an inch and a quarter. 

 . Western coasts, and various shores of Ireland, v. v. 



33. Venus nitens. Shining Venus. 



Shell rhombic-oval, a little angular on the cartilage side, 

 tumid in the middle, and sloping to a sharp edge round the 

 circumference, with very fine and regular transverse striae 

 crossed by minute longitudinal lines, of a glossy reddish 

 horn-color, with a few obscure deeper red irregular mark- 

 g s about the sides and margin; inside glossy blueish- 

 white, with a shining horny spot each side under the hinge, 

 the cartilage spot tongue-shaped and denned by a horny 

 line, with the margin rather sharp and plain : beaks promi- 

 nent and obtuse, not quite central, generally decorticated 

 and of a whitish horn-color, very little turned to one side, 

 with an elongated heart-shaped depression 'under them 

 which is striate longitudinally : hinge with three teeth in 



each 



