296 SHELL-FISH. 
muscles, of which there are two sorts: the Choro (Mytilus 
Choras, Molina), and Cholgua (Mytilus Magellanicus, La- 
marck ), Picos (Balanus psittacus nob. Lepas psittacus Mo- 
lina, 1, p. 223), a large barnacle,* and the oyster (O. Edulis), 
which is exceedingly well-flavoured. Besides which there are 
several kinds of shell-fish of less value, but equally abundant, 
such as Navajuelas (S'olen sp.) ; Caracoles (T’urbo) ; Cornes 
(Pholas Chiloensis, Molina) ; Campana (Calyptrea) ; Lapas 
(Crepidula) ; 'Tacas (Chama Thaca, Molina) ; Locos (Con- 
cholepas Peruviana, Murex Loco of Molina); Quilmagues ; 
Piures (Pywra sp. Molina); and others. 
The apparently inexhaustible abundance of shell-fish with 
which nature has provided the inhabitants of these islands, the 
facility with which they are obtained, and their consequent 
cheapness, is the principal cause of that want of industry 
which is so remarkable in the Chilotes. 
Of the above-mentioned shell-fish, those deserving more par- 
ticular notice are the large muscle, the oyster, and the pico. 
Molina has described the choro of Concepcion, which is not 
at all different from that of Childe. It is often found seven 
or eight inches long. The fish is as large as a goose’s egg, and 
of a very rich flavour: there are two kinds, one of a dark brown, 
and the other of a yellow colour ; but the last is most esteemed. 
There is also another sort, much larger than the choro, yet 
equally delicate and good, the fish of which is as large as a 
swan’s egg: it is called cholgua; but as the shells seem to be of 
the same species, I think the distinction can only be owing to 
size. In Febres’s Dictionary of the Chileno language, the word 
constitutes a new genus. Marinula, nob. in Zool. Journal, vol. v. p. 343. 
It was found on the wooden piles which support the mole in the bay of 
San Carlos, below the wash of the high water. The mole stands out into 
the sea, and there is no fresh water near it, save a very little rill, which 
discharges its tiny stream more than fifty yards off. This shell was named 
Marinula Pepita, Zool. Journal, 1.c. No. 43. The following is its generic 
character :—‘ Testa ovato-producta, sub-solida; apertura ovata, integra; 
columella bidentata et basin versus uniplicata; dentibus magnis sub- 
remotis conniventibus, superiori maximo; operculum nullum.’ 
* Zool. Journal, vel. v. p. 333. 
