392 MARINE INVERTEBRATES 
seem that it has served as a sort of dumping-ground for various 
groups of mollusks of uncertain biological affinities. Although 
the family has recently been reduced by the removal of several 
large families, it still remains a bulky one. 
Genus Buccinum 
The animal is described at some length on page 330. It has 
no striking peculiarities. The siphon in Buccinum is fairly long ; 
the eyes are placed about midway between the base and the end 
of the tentacles. It is in general a conventional prosobranch ani- 
mal. The great majority of the members of this family have a 
boreal range and are found widely distributed within the colder 
waters of the world. 
B. undatum. This is the most prominent representative of the 
Buccinide upon the North Atlantic shores of the United States. It is an 
; exceedingly common shell, ranging from 
Cape Cod to Greenland. It is also found in 
England and Scotland, where it is exten- 
sively used as food under the familiar name 
of “ whelk.” It affects every kind of station 
and seems to be as much at home in very 
considerable depths as about the low-tide 
mark. Upon the Maine coast it may be 
found almost everywhere, just below low 
tide. If none are in sight they may be at- 
tracted by putting a dead fish in a basket 
and anchoring it near shore. The American 
whelk is somewhat smaller than the British 
variety, although it attains a length of full 
three inches. It has revolving ribs and 
longitudinal oblique folds. A yellowish- 
brown, velvety epidermis covers the entire 
shell. The lip is simple, and the shell is 
white or golden yellow within. The colu- 
mella is somewhat twisted; the operculum 
is corneous, with a lateral nucleus. The 
variations in this shell are so great as to 
have caused naturalists no little perplexity. Specimens taken near 
large cities are apt to be defective. (Plate I:) 
Buccinum undatum. 
Genus Chrysodomus 
C. decemcostatus. One of the most striking shells of our northeast 
coast. As its name indicates, it is decorated with (normally) ten coste. 
