78 THE - CONCHOLOGISTS, - EXCHANGE: 
Genus Anatina, Lam , 1809. 
The Lantern shells, as these are called, in- 
habit the sand near low water. ‘There are fifty 
fossil species and thirty-seven living, one of 
which inhabits our coast. 
157.—Anatina papyracea, Say. 
Shell thin, white and pearly, inequipartite, 
the posterior end narrowed and truncated, gap- 
ing; right valve more convex than the left ; 
beaks placed at the posterior third, not very 
prominent; surface wrinkled with faint lines of 
growth and covered with a very thin yellowish 
white epidermis; an elevated ridge runs from 
the beaks to the lower posterior margin; inte- 
rior pearly; tooth very oblique, long and nar- 
row, supported by a short, sharp, elevated rib, 
Length 43, height 1%, breadth 4% inch. Say 
described this species in the Journ. Acad. Nat. 
Sci., Phila., ii. 314, 1822. Col. Joseph G. Tot- 
ten dredged specimens of Anatina in Newport 
Harbor, which he described in Silliman’s 
Journal, xxviil, 347. He proposed the name 
of fragilis in case his specimens were not iden- 
tical with Say’s fapyvatia, as it was first called. 
It has since been found on all parts of the coast 
from New Jersey to Labrador, by dredging in 
a few fathoms of water in both sand and mud, 
and is also taken from the stomachs of fishes. 
FAMILY MACTRIDE, 
A large family containing about two hundred 
species. The shells are somewhat triangular, 
with an internal cartilage; they are thin and 
often highly colored. Their habitat is in sand, 
and they have atongue-shaped foot, which they 
use both for burrowing and for leaping. 
Genus Mactra, Linn., 1767. 
This genus is divided into several sub-genera 
S 8 
by authors, with more or less reason, and con- 
tains 150 species, Some species are used for 
food, and in some places are collected to feed 
pigs. Only two species inhabits Rhode Island. 
158.—Mactra (Hemimactra) solidissima, Chem. 
Syns: 
Mactra solidissima, Chem,, Dill., Wood., 
Con., De Kay, Stimp. Mactra gigantea, Lam., 
| 
*! 
Desh., Migh., Chenu. Mactra similis, Say. 
Mactra ponderosa, Phillips. Spirula solidissima, 
Dall. Hemimactra solidissima, Con,, Tryon, 
Perkins. 
Shell large, strong and solid, transversely 
oval, sub-equipartite, the anterior a little the 
shortest; surface covered with a dirty brownish 
or straw colored epidermis; beaks large* and 
prominent; hinge strong, the V-shaped tooth 
delicate and adhering by a very small base, so 
that it is usually detached in opening the valves ; 
lateral teeth long, thin and striated; this pecu- 
liarity is noticed in specimens of all sizes, from 
the youngest to the mature shells. Length 4 
to 7, height 3%, breadth 2 inches. . Inhabits 
from Florida to Labrador. Extremely abund- 
ant on the outer shores of Long Island. It is 
not found in our bay, but is washed up on the 
sandy beaches at Newport and Narragansett 
Pier, The Indians formerly used the valves to 
hoe their corn with. It is sometimes called 
the giant, hen, teach and dipper clam. After 
a severe southerly storm, live specimens are 
washed up on the ocean shore at Newport, but 
to obtain them at other times, we must wait for 
| a very low tide, and then wade out as far as 
possible, and by feeling in the sand with the 
toes, we can loosen them and then dive for them. 
Another species, the ovals of Gould, is found 
abundantly on the shores north of Cape Cod, 
but not to the south of it; they resemble so/- 
dissima very much, but are distinguished from 
it by the lateral teeth, which are smooth and 
destitute of strize ; there are several other minor 
| differences, the most prominent of which is the 
V tooth; this is stout in ovalis and delicate in 
solidissima. 
. 
159.—Mactra (Mulinia) lateralis, Say. 
Syns: 
Mactra lateralis, Say, Con., De Kay, &c. 
Mactra rostrata, Philippi. Mactra corbuloides, 
Desh. Mulinia lateralis, Con., Perkins, Dall, &c. 
Shell small, tumid, triangular, smooth, very 
convex, nearly equipartite, the posterior end 
prolonged into a snout in adult specimens, more 
rounded in young ones; beaks elevated, pointed, 
not touching, inclined forward, hinge strong, 
V tooth stout, and on each side of it, in the left 
