450 MARINE INVERTEBRATES 
Genus Cytherea 
C. (Catlista) gigantea. One of the most beautiful Floridian shells. 
It is nearly or quite six inches long and about three and a fourth inches 
in height. The shell is porcelanous, is covered with a pinkish, livid 
epidermis, and is decorated with numerous longitudinal color-rays of 
lilac. The rays are usually broken and interrupted. Within it is china- 
white, and has a deep pallial sinus. It is very abundant on the west 
coast of Florida, at Sanibel Island, Egmont Key, Lake Worth, and on 
beaches. (Plate LXXXII.) 
C. maculata. This species is more oval in outline than the last. It 
is of a fawn-color, blotched or waved with violet-brown, and is porcela- 
nous and shining. The epidermis is also shining and corneous. Within 
it is china-white in color. The pallial sinus is very deep and wide. 
Length two and a half to three inches; height one and a half to two 
inches. This also is a shell to be looked for upon the beach after storms, 
but it will probably not be seen on the east coast of Florida, although it 
occurs on the Keys and also at Hatteras. Both of the species have been 
used as food, but not very extensively. The flesh is not lacking in ten- 
derness, but it has a peppery taste. (Plate LXXXII.) 
Genus Dosinia 
There are two species of this very graceful genus of Veneride south of 
Hatteras, D. discus and D. elegans. These dosinias have united 
siphons. The foot is very large and strong, and the mantle margin is 
both papillaceous and plicated. The shells of these two species are 
about three or three and a half inches in length and of the same height, 
and are very flat. The ventral margin is almost a perfect circle, and the 
beaks are small and pointed. The lunule is small and cordate ; the valves 
arevery gracefully sculptured in fine, regular, impressed, concentric strie, 
which are finer and less elevated in D. discus than in D. elegans; the shell 
is porcelanous and white, and is covered by a straw-colored, very fine, 
transparent epidermis. Within, the strong cardinal teeth are placed 
upon a long fossette. There is a deep pallial sinus. D. discus is charac- 
teristic of the east coast of Florida, while D. elegans is only found upon 
the west side of the State. Both may be looked for upon the beach, 
though living specimens must be captured with the dredge. (Plate 
LXXXII.) 
‘Genus Tivela 
The coast of California is also favored by the Veneride, a num- 
ber of large species belonging to several genera being present. 
fT. crassatelloides. Perhaps the largest and finest of the California 
species. It is so common in its between-tides station that it used to be 
collected by plowing a furrow through the sand, the big shells being 
thrown out upon either side like potatoes. The shells attain a 
length of five and a half inches, and are porcelanous, thick, and 
heavy. The margins of the valves are also thick and rounded. The 
exterior is perfectly smooth, yellowish-white in color, and decorated 
