GASTEROPODS 397 
FAMILY FASCIOLARODE 
This family comptises a number of genera of mollusks which 
have a fusiform shell, with a long-drawn-out spire and a long 
anterior canal. The animal is in no manner remarkable; no 
essential differences are to be noted from the usual conventional 
type of gasteropod mollusk, represented in the two families last 
described. 
Genus Fasciolaria 
This genus is of tropical range, and contains many species of 
shells which are more or less conspicuous for their large size or 
their beauty of form. Three species occur in Floridian waters, and 
all of them may be taken about low-tide mark on the sandy flats 
which are so characteristic of Florida bays and harbors. All of 
them are sluggish animals which crawl very slowly along the 
bottom or bury themselves almost wholly in the sand, leaving only 
the tip of the spire projecting slightly above. 
F. gigantea. Thisis said to be the largest gasteropod shell known. It 
often attains a length of sixteen inches, and specimens are reported to 
have been found measuring no less than two feet. This huge mollusk 
has a symmetrically fusiform shell, with whorls obtusely ridged and 
armed with large rounded nodes. The aperture is reddish-brown within. 
The anterior canal is long and open, and there are three “plaits,” or 
folds, about the columella. The outer lip is more or less sinuate, the color 
is fleshy-white, and the shell is covered with a thick yellowish or chestnut 
epidermis. The animal is of a brilliant scarlet color. (Plate LXXVI.) 
F. tulipa. An exceedingly common species of Floridian waters, which 
may justly be classed among the “ show shells” of the American Atlantic 
fauna. It has a typically symmetrical, fusiform shape, with gracefully 
rounded whorls, and is spirally but not deeply grooved. The sutures are 
crenulated; the anterior canal is long; there are three entering folds 
upon the columella ; and the outer lipis simple. Thescheme of coloration 
is variable, but there are two chief patterns, which are usually followed, 
though they often are considerably modified. One isa light-bluash body, 
variegated with chestnut or olive blotches, which are more extensive 
upon the spire than upon the body-whorl; the other is a pinkish body, 
encircled with revolving black lines. The specimens of F’. tulipa, which 
are found so abundantly in the shallow bays and estuaries of the Florida 
coast, are, for some reason, never brightly colored, as are those taken in 
the open sea. The length is about four to six inches. (Plate LXXVI.) 
F. distans. A form almost identical with that last described. It is 
much smaller, varying from two to three inches in length, lacks the cren- 
ulations of the sutures, and is perfectly smooth, save for a few spiral 
ridges about the base. The color is bluish-white, with clouded longitu- 
