SNAILS OF THE OCEAN. 



Many of my readers have doubtless 

 spent some of the vacation months at the 

 sea shore and have wandered over the 

 beach at lov^ tide picking up shells and 

 other objects left by the receding ocean. 

 They have also, I am sure, peered into 

 the little pools of water left on the beach 

 and have watched with interest the cap- 

 tives imprisoned therein, hermit crabs, 

 fiddler crabs, sea anemones, sea worms 

 and snail shells. It is with the latter that 

 the present article will deal. 



The stretch of beach which is uncov- 

 ered twice a day by the receding of the 

 water is called ''between tides," and is in- 

 habited by a host of animiate creatures, 

 chief among which are the mollusks. 

 The marine snails outnumber all of those 

 which we discussied in the last article, and 

 their shells are far more beautiful, those 

 found in the tropics having the mo'st 

 gaudy colors imaginable. The animals 

 are formed on the same plan as those of 

 the fresh- water snails, although each fam- 

 ily has some peculiarity not shared by its 

 relatives. All live in the water and breathe 

 air through that m^edium by means of 

 gills, similar to the second class of fresh 

 water snails mentioned in the last number. 

 They are found in all parts of the world, 

 those of the tropics, however, being the 

 most brilliantly colored. While the ma- 

 jority of species live either between tides 

 or near low water, there are not a few 

 which live in the abysses of the ocean, 

 and have been dredged from the bottom 

 of the sea at a depth of two thousand, 

 seven hundred and forty fathoms, or, lo 

 pur it more plainly, over three miles. The 

 average depth at which mollusks are 

 foimd in any number is about one thou- 

 sand fathoms. The variability of ma- 

 rine snails is so great that we shall be 

 a1)le to call attention to but a limited 

 number of typical forms. 



Among the best known of the marine 

 sn-ails are the Tritons, a family of mol- 

 lusks living in tropical seas. Their sliclis 

 arc generally large and highly-colored 

 and variously ornamented with short 

 spines and knobs. One species, the Tri- 

 ton tritonis, is among the largest of mol- 



lusks, measuring eighteen inches in 

 length. One of the smaller Tritons is 

 pictured on the plate. Another shell fa- 

 n;iliar to those who have visited Florida 

 is the Fasciolaria or banded snail, which 

 attains a length of three inches and is 

 very prettily banded and dashed with 

 color. A near relative of this species is 

 the giant banded shell (Fasciolaria gi- 

 gantea), which is the largest of all marine 

 snails, growing to a length of nearly two 

 feet. This species is found plentifully on 

 the southern Atlantic coast of the Uni- 

 ted States, being particularly abundant 

 about the coral reefs of the Florida Keys. 



A genus of mollusks with light horn 

 colored shells, and inhabiting the cold 

 waters of the Arctic seas, is the Bucci- 

 num, or whelk. In- various parts of Great 

 Britain it is known as ''buckie" and "mut- 

 log." The Buccinum delights to burrow 

 in the sand, like the moon shells (Natica), 

 and frequently nothing but the end of the 

 siphon can be seen, the latter protruding 

 from the sand to enable the water to en- 

 ter the animal to furnish the necessary 

 oxygen. The whelk is used economical- 

 ly, both for food and bait. One ingeni- 

 ous method of catching them is to fasten 

 a dead fish of good size in a wire basket 

 and to allow it to rest on the bottom for 

 a short time; when taken up it is cov- 

 ered with large, fat whelks. This fishery 

 in Great Britain is fully as valuable as 

 our oyster fishery, the annual income 

 from this industry reaching to thousands 

 of pounds sterling. The animal is also 

 one of the principal baits used in cod 

 fishing. A related genus, the neptune 

 shells (Neptunea), is also eaten by the 

 poorer people and makes a good codfish 

 bait. The two kinds of whelk (Buccinum 

 and Neptunea), are termed, the first the 

 white whelk and the second the red or 

 almond whelk, probably on account of 

 the colors of the two shells. In the Shet- 

 land Islands the red whelk is used as a 

 lamp, being suspended by strings from a 

 nail, the mouth placed uppermost and 

 filled with oil. 



The basket shells or dog-whelks are 

 among the most numerous in individuals 



176 



