THE SHELL-FISH OF THE COAST. £5 



covered lay the sea. We find them clinging to rocks, 

 to old wharf-piers and other immersed timber, to 

 sea-weeds and the grass-culms of marshes, as well 

 as enjoying the more placid retreats afforded hy the 

 sluggish waters of the tide-water marshes, pools, 

 and ditches. The positions selected hy them, usu- 

 ally just within the reach of high-water, would 

 seem to indicate a positive aversion on the part of 

 the animal to the full waters of the sea, and they 

 appear rarely to venture into the embrace of the 

 surf. One species of our coast (Littorina rudis) has 

 been known to live a week out of water, while an- 

 other, from the "West Indies, survived similar depri- 

 vation for a full year; a species from the North 

 European coast, again, has been found to bear with- 

 out apparent discomfort a submersion of eighteen 

 hours in fresh water. 



The largest species of the 'New Jersey coast is 

 the big brown periwinkle (LiHorina irroraia), which 

 not infrequently measures upwards of an inch in 

 length. It is readily distinguished by its robust, 

 deeply-colored shell, which shows numerous prom- 

 inent revolving lines on its surface. A much smaller 

 form is the somewhat flattened and obtuse Littorina 

 palliaia (PI. 1, Fig. 23), whose yellowish color, more 

 or less speckled with brown, serves to distinguish it. 

 It does not appear that the periwinkle is anywhere 

 extensively used for food on the American coast, 

 although prodigious quantities are periodically 

 brought to and sent from the British markets. It 

 is estimated that about the year 1865 the English 

 periwinkle-supply amounted to not less than 2000 



