CLASS II. GASTEROPODA: ORDER 2. BRANCHIFERA. 513 



the ;inim;il lias a 



prolxiscis-like month, tontacles close together, h)ng, and pointed, and the eyes 



near their outer bases. There are nearly one 

 hundred species, mostly tropical, but some 

 are found in the Mediterranean, in various 

 parts of the Atlantic and Pacific. On our 

 coast six or eight species are found ; among 

 !jl\\ them the S. stibulata, an inch long, of a 

 bluish-white, varying to livid brown. 



Some of the Wentle-Trap shells are of great 

 value. The Royal Stair-case Wentle- 

 Trap, S. 2}r<^(iosa, found in the China and 

 Indian seas, formerly sold for four hundred 

 dollars ; a fine specimen is even now worth 

 twenty to thirty dollars. On account of its 

 value, Lamarck gave this species the specific 

 name of prctiosa, that is, valuable or precious. 



THE TURBINID^. 



In this family, the name of which is de- 

 rived from the Latin turbo, a whipping-top, 

 in allusion to the shape of the species, the 

 shell is more or less conical or pyramidal; the 

 animal has a short muzzle ; the tentacles are 

 long and slender, with the eyes supported on 

 short footstalks near their bases. The in- 

 terior of the shells are generally pearly. 

 These animals are all marine, feed on vege- 

 table substances, and are very widely distrib- 

 uted. 



Genus TURBO : Turbo.— Of this there 

 are sixty living and three hundred and sixty 

 fossil species. The Top-Shell, T. marmo- 

 ratus, has a turbinated solid shell, with con- 

 vex whorls. Found in tropical seas. Other 

 species are the Pheasant-Shell of Aus- 

 tralia, Phasianella Australis ; the Nile Hoop-Shell, Trochus Niloticus ; and the T. impcri- 



alis. The latter is found 

 only at New Zealand, 

 and here it is rare ; the 

 shell is very beautiful, 

 the whorls rising in a 

 depressed cone. 



The Marine Trump- 

 et or Triton's Shell, 

 Triton variegatus, is 

 elegantly variegated 

 with red and bay, the 

 edge of the outer lip 

 spotted with black. It 

 is a native of the Asi- 

 atic West Indian seas. 

 The Great Triton, T. Tritonis, is the conch blown by the Australian and Polynesian Island- 

 ers. The genus Triton is placed with the family Muricidce by some authors. 

 Vol. II.— 65 



THE TROCHUS IMPERIALIS. 



THE MARINE TRUMPET-SHELL 



