462 THE OCEAN WORLD. 
The genus Fusvs (or spindle-shells) is distinguished by the 
elegance of its form rather than by the brilliancy of its colours. The 
species are spindle-shaped, spire many-whorled, canal long, operculum 
egg-shaped. Among the more remarkable species may be noted 
fusus proboscidiferus (Fig. 300), Fusus pagodus (Fig. 301), and 
Fusus colus (Fig. 302). 
The sixth family is Strombide, of which we give as typical genera, 
Rostellaria, Pteroceras, and Strombus. Strombus is a marine genus, 
belonging to equatorial seas, of whose habits and manners very little 
is known. It is probable that the species are long lived, for their 
shells, when found perfect, have acquired a very considerable thick- 
Fig. 303.—Strombus gigas (Linnzeus), with the animal. 
ness and weight. They are even found encrusted in the interior with 
numerous layers of soft earthy sediment, and covered externally with 
small corals and other marine productions. Strombus gigas is repre- 
sented in Figs. 303 and 304. 
Some species of Strombus attain great size, and are placed as orna- 
ments in halls and dining-rooms. In some of them the opening is 
brilliantly shaded, and those are chiefly sought after to decorate 
grottoes in gardens, or for collections of shells, where, from their size, 
they necessarily occupy a prominent place. 
These shells are rather ventricose, terminating at their base by a 
short canal, notched or truncated; the right edge gets dilated with 
age ; simple on one wing, lobed or cuneated in the upper part, and 
presenting in its lower part a groove or cavity separated from the 
canal or from the notch at the base. But these shells are not merely 
