CHAPTER X: THE VOLUTES AND MELON 



SHELLS 



Family Volutid/E 



Shell usually thick, often shining, showy, usually large, 

 fusiform, cylindrical, oval or globular; columella projecting an- 

 teriorly, with several revolving folds; aperture notched, canal not 

 produced; apex blunt, papillary; operculum generally wanting; 

 body highly coloured; foot broad in front; head dilated into flat 

 lobes on which are borne the two sessile eyes at the bases of the 

 tentacles; siphon large, lobed at base; radula with strongly 

 cusped teeth. 



A carnivorous family living at considerable depth in tropical 

 and sub-tropical waters, chiefly in the southern hemisphere. 



Genus VOLUTA, Linn. 



Shell ovate or fusiform, thick, solid, spire usually short, 

 shoulders of whorls usually angled, sometimes bearing nodes or 

 spines, aperture rather narrow; columella with a thick callous 

 deposit, and winding plaits; lip thickened back of the sharp edge; 

 sometimes almost reflected. A remarkable genus whose distribu- 

 tion centres in Australian waters. 



The volutes might be called the "spiral shells" were this 

 trait not constant among the gasteropods of sea and land. They 

 are named for the folds upon the columella, a character they do 

 not monopolise by any means. The spire is always prominent 

 and always has a rounded, mammillate apex. The operculum is 

 absent except in V. musica. In spite of its lack of distinctive 

 characters in the shell, this family is not hard to distinguish from 

 the few other "first families" of the mollusks. They are hand- 

 some, aristocratic-looking shells, of graceful form, good size and 

 elaborate ornamentation. Amateurs are often enthusiastic col- 

 lectors of volutes, and many rare and valuable species are to be 



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