CHAPTER XXXIV: THE EULIMAS 



Family Eulimid^ 



Shell small, porcellanous, white, polished, with slender 

 spire; aperture oval; foot elongated; proboscis long, retractile; 

 jaws and radula wanting. A little-known family of small mol- 

 lusks parasitic on bivalves, sea-urchins and sea-cucumbers. 



Genus EULIMA, Risso 



Characters of the family. Spire often curved to one side. 

 Foot secretes a mucous filament which helps the mollusk to float. 



The patient host must feed itself and its parasites, which, 

 having no chewing organs, suck liquid food from the bodies they 

 live upon. One species which lives on the outside of a sea- 

 cucumber is seen to have no foot developed ; it is fixed to one spot 

 as if planted. But this one has developed a proboscis three times 

 as long as the body; the tip of this flexible organ explores the 

 surface for as great a distance as possible, taps the skin, and 

 sucks the cucumber's blood. Another species is parasitic on the 

 stomach wall. It moves about on a large foot and has a very 

 short proboscis. From arctic to tropic seas these little pests 

 are found; some species are found attached to bivalve shells, 

 others to the opercula of univalves. 



The Shining Eulima (E. micans, Cpr.) is bluish white, a glis- 

 tening, slender, straight spire about two-fifths of an inch long, with 

 a small oval mouth. Vancouver Island to San Diego, Cal. 



E. intermedia, Cantraine,one of the few east coast species, is 

 J to ^ an inch long; its slender, semi-transparent spire is tinged 

 with brown. The body whorl is elongated. 



Habitat. — Europe and United States, on Atlantic coasts. 



E. Candida, Marrat, is a good illustration of the family 

 peculiarities of form which our native species do not emphasise. 

 The oblique line of varices down from the spire show where the 

 mouth was at successive stages of growth. The spire is bent 

 slightly. Colour, white. Length, i to 2 inches. 



Habitat. — Island of Formosa. 



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