MURICID^. 115 



and its dentition particularly, is desirable. The plications of 

 the columella only appear upon old specimens, and the tubercles 

 of the shoulder of the body-whorl are not always developed. 



CoNCHOLEPAS, Lam. 



Syn. — Conchopatella, Chemn. 



Distr. — C. Peruviana^ Lam. (xlv, 45). West Coast of South 

 America. 



Shell ovate, last whorl very large, expanded ; spire very short, 

 obliquely inclined towards the left side ; aperture very wide, 

 slightly channeled anteriorly ; inner lip flattened ; outer lip with 

 two small teeth in front. 



The single species has the basal groove of Monoceros and 

 Pseudoliva, but its margins are defined by two sulci^giving rise 

 to two horns, instead of one, on the edge of the outer lip. The 

 immense development of the last whorl gives the shell a some- 

 what limpet-like rather than a spiral appearance. In consequence 

 of this great enlargement of the aperture the operculum, which 

 is purpuroid in its growth, is entirely unfitted to close the aper- 

 ture, aud, in fact, becomes a useless appendage. The shell is 

 used by the Magellanic tribes as a drinking-cup, and by the 

 Chilians the foot is eaten, being well-beaten to render it tender. 

 Large piles of shells around the cabins of the fishermen testify 

 their appreciation of this mollusk as an article of food. The 

 large foot, like that of the limpets, adheres by suction to rocks, 

 and so tightly that the shell is detached from them with extreme 

 difficulty, unless suddenly removed before the animal becomes 

 aware of danger. 



Mr. A. Adams formed a subgenus Coralliobia for Conch, fim- 

 hriatus described by him in 1852 ; subsequently this subgenus 

 and its type were ranged under Leptoconchus in H.and A. Adams' 

 "Genera." This latter disposition I consider correct. 



CuMA, Humph. 



Syn. — Cymia, Morch. 



Distr. — 9 sp. Panama, Indian Ocean, China, West Coast of 

 Africa. C. Kiosquiformis, Duclos (xliv, 32). 



Shell pyriform; spire elevated, acute, whorls angular or 

 spinose ; aperture oval-oblong ; columella convex, sometimes 

 with a strong angular tubercle in the middle ; outer lip acute, 

 grooved internally. 



This small group is related by some of its species to Rapana ; 

 by others, to Rhizochilus. 



The genus Cuma of Humphrey is founded upon a number of 

 species, of which about one-half have been identified and referred 

 to other genera, and no species remains which can be certainly 

 made to represent the group. Morch, inasmuch as Milne- 



