136 buccinid^. 



Subfamily NEPTUNIINJE. 



Neptunea, Bolteii. 



Syn. — Chi'ysodomus, Swains., 1840. 



Distr. — 18 sp. Circumpolar, Pacific and Atlantic, Europe, 

 Asia, America. N. antiqua, Linn, (xlix, 6). N. decemcostata, 

 Say (xlix, 7). 



Shell fusiform, ventricose ; spire elevated, whorls rounded, 

 covered with a horny epidermis, apex papillary ; aperture oval ; 

 canal short ; inner lip simple, smooth. Operculum ovate, nucleus 

 apical. 



The shells of this genus are boreal in distribution, and like 

 the other circumpolar genera, are nearly destitute of color, being 

 white or yellowish, under a light brown or yellowish, rather 

 smooth epidermis. The sculpture, when there is any, consists 

 of revolving striae, ridges or ribs, and the lip of the aperture is 

 smooth within or merely modified by the external sculpture when 

 the shell is thin. In the genus Siphonalia, the species of which 

 are mainly Japanese and Australian, the general form is similar, 

 but the shell is nodose, frequently developing longitudinal ribs, 

 and the outer lip is more disposed to be crenulate ; the surface 

 is more usually ornamented with color, disposed in bands, etc. 

 There are some species which can be only arbitrarily placed, 

 having characters partaking of either genus ; and in fact geo- 

 graphical considerations must sometimes be allowed considerable 

 weight in assigning such species to their respective genera. 



Some of the species are apparentl}^ very variable, and it is 

 difficult to decide whether the conservative views of Gwyn Jef- 

 freys and Kobelt, or the more extreme views of Morch, etc., are 

 most in accordance with truth. 



Of Neptunea antiqua (xlix, 6^, Mr, J. Gwyn Jeffreys (Brit. 

 Conch., iv, 326) says : 



" This is good bait for codfish, and a favorite delicacy of the 

 lower working-classes in London. At Billingsgate it is sold 

 under the name of ' almond ' or ' red whelk ;' according to Rutly's 

 Histor}^ of Dublin the Irish call it ' barnagh,' the tail (liver) 

 being said to be more fat and tender than a lobster. The egg- 

 cases or capsules overlap one another in an imbricated fashion, 

 each being firmly attached by its base to the underlying capsule j 

 they are deposited in clusters of from a dozen to a hundred, the 

 capsules in each cluster being equal in size. Those which com- 

 ■ pose one cluster, however, are not half as large as those forming 

 another cluster, although in both cases the fry are in the same 

 state of maturity. When they are dry, the upper or convex side 

 shrivels, and is wrinkled or pitted; the under or flat side (which 

 by contraction becomes concave) is of a silky texture, and divided 



