378 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [072] 



fathoms or more. In Casco Bay it is extremely abundant in rocky, cav- 

 ernous pools, among the ledges at low- water mark, and mostly attached 

 by a byssus, associated with Modiola modiolus. I also found specimens 

 in 10 to 15 fathoms, perforating recent and sound shells of Cypruta 

 Islandica. In the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, near Auticosti Island, where 

 limestone abounds, I have found it burrowing in the limestone in large 

 numbers. South of Cape Cod it is far less abundant, though not un- 

 common in Long Island Sound. Yar. distorta (Say) is common from 

 Fort Macon to Georgia, and is possibly a distinct species. Fossil in the 

 Post-Pliocene of Maine, New Brunswick, Canada, Auticosti, Labrador, 

 Scandinavia, and Great Britain ; in the Coralline and Bed Crags of Eng- 

 land, etc. Yar. distorta is found in the Miocene of Maryland. 



MYA AHENARIA Linne. Plate XXYI, fig. 179. (pp. 357, 463.) 



Systema Natune, ed. xii, p. 1112, 17(57 ; Gould, Invert., ed. i, pp. 40, 359 ; ed. ii, p. 

 55, tig. 375. Mya mercenaria and M. acuta Say, Journal Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila- 

 delphia, vol. ii ; p. 313, 1822. 



South Carolina to the Arctic Ocean ; northern coasts of Europe, south 

 to England and France ; northeastern coast of Asia, south to China and 

 Japan (Hakodadi). Sitka (Middendorff). South Carolina (Gibbs). Fort 

 Macon, North Carolina (Dr. Yarrow). Comparatively scarce south of 

 Cape Hatteras. Yery abundant from New Jersey northward, both in 

 brackish estuaries and on the open coasts. Particularly large and fine in 

 Long Island Sound (see p. 463). Casco Bay and Bay of Fundy, from 

 half- tide mark to 40 fathoms, those dredged being all young. Fossil in 

 the Post-Pliocene of Scandinavia, Greenland, Labrador, Canada, New 

 England, Yirginia, South Carolina, etc. 5 in the Keel-Crag and all later 

 formations in Great Britain ; and in the Miocene of Yirginia. 



CORBULA CONTRACTA Say. Plate XXYII, fig. 191. (p. 418.) 



Journal Acad. Xat. Sciences, Philadelphia, vol. ii, p. 312, 1822; Gould, Invert., 

 ed. i, p. 43, tig. 37 ; ed. ii, p. 60, tig. 377. 



Cape Cod to Florida. Common, living, in Vineyard Sound and Buz- 

 zard's Bay, in 5 to 19 fathoms ; Long Island Sound, near New Haven, 

 not uncommon in shallow water. Georgia (Couper). Fossil in the 

 Post-Pliocene of Yirginia, North "and South Carolina ; and in the Plio- 

 cene of South Carolina. A closely related species occurs in the Mio- 

 cene of Maryland. 



LYONSIA HYALINA Conrad. Plate XXYII, fig. 194. (p. 358.) 



American Marine Couchology, p. 51, Plate 11, fig. 2, 1831 ; Gould, Invert., ed. ii, p. 

 64, fig. 380. Mi/a liyalina Conrad, Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci., Philadelphia, vol. vi, 

 p. 261, Plate 11, fig. 12, 1831. Osteodesma liyalina Couthouy, Boston Jour. Xat. 

 Hist., vol. ii, p. 166, 1839; Gould, Invert., ed. i, p. 46, fig. 31. 

 Florida to Gulf of Saint Lawrence. Common in Long Island Sound, 

 Buzzard's Bay, Vineyard Sound, Massachusetts Bay, Casco Bay, and 

 Bay of Fundy ; low- water mark to 30 fathoms ; Beaufort, North Carolina 

 (Coues). 



