CHAPTER LXXIII: THE EAR SNAILS 



Family Auriculid/E 



Genus AURICULA, Linn. 



Shell spiral, cone-shaped, usually solid, stout to slender; 

 internal partitions usually absorbed; aperture ear-shaped, strongly 

 defended by teeth; lung present; head bears snout and two dilated 

 buccal lobes; teeth very small, numerous; upper jaw semi-lunar, 

 horny; eyes sessile on bases of tentacles; mantle thickened at mar- 

 gin, closed; respiratory orifice posterior, on right side; sexes united. 



Nearly all of this family have the habit of absorbing the 

 internal coils of the shell, and using the material to thicken the 

 remaining parts. The soft parts necessarily lose their spiral 

 form when their support is gone. 



The lung is actually a spongy mass of air sacs, not merely a 

 hollow pouch. These amphibious mollusks require nearness to 

 sea. The large and brilliantly coloured species are tropical, 

 centring in the Pacific Islands. 



A. Judae, Lam., a thick-shelled, horn-coloured, ear snail, with 

 white lips, creeps through the slimy mud among the roots of man- 

 grove trees. Its tentacles are stubby, and its eyes have been lost 

 through disuse. Length, 2 inches. Philippines, Australia, Borneo. 



The Midas's Ear (A. auris-Midce,Lmn.) is heavy, elongated, 

 with polished, golden brown epidermis covering the pale, cancel- 

 lated surface. The white or creamy lining is thickened all around 

 the aperture, and usually raised in two folds near the base of the 

 columella. The reflected callus often overlies the small umbilicus. 

 A fold almost amounting to a varix indicates the last place where 

 growth was resumed. Length, 3 to 4 inches. New Guinea. 



Genus CASSIDULA, F6r. 



Shell solid, square-shouldered like Cassis, last whorl large; 

 outer lip thickened and strongly toothed; columella bears sharp- 

 toothed folds; aperture narrow. 



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