180 New York State Museum 



this province. South of the Cape the Antillean fauna 

 begins to come in. The long stretches of sandy beach 

 from Long Island to Cape Hatteras are not conducive to 

 the development of a rich or varied fauna. Along the 

 New Jersey beaches one finds the bivalves Mantra, Area 

 and Ensis and in more sheltered places the snails Fulgur 

 and Lunatia which are the most characteristic forms of 

 the northern subdivision of this province. The Gulf 

 Stream approaches very close to the land near Hatteras 

 bringing warm waters and a consequent sharp change in 

 the appearance and abundance of the molluscan fauna. 

 There is a suggestion of the West Indies here. Shells of 

 Cardium, Area, Cancellaria, Dolium, Cassis (Helmet 

 Shells) are found on the beaches. As one approaches 

 Florida and long stretches of exposed sandy beaches with 

 shifting sands, the variety and richness of the molluscan 

 life is again limited. The Caribbean Province extends 

 from Florida to the northern shores of South America 

 and includes the Bahamas, West Indies and Gulf of 

 Mexico. The Caribbean or Antillean fauna is a warm- 

 water fauna, rich and varied. Some of the conspicuous 

 forms found on the Florida coast are the snail genera 

 Strombus, Oliva, Fasciolaria, Natica, Sigaretus, Litto- 

 rina, Neritina, Melogena, and the bivalve genera Car- 

 dium, Tellina, Lucina, Cyrene and Callista. 



On the west coast four provinces are recognized for 

 the mollusks of shallow and littoral waters — the Arctic, 

 the Aleutian, the Californian and the Panamic Provinces. 

 The Arctic Province includes the Bering sea and as we 

 have already seen many of the forms characteristic of 

 Labrador and Greenland appear here. The Aleutian 

 Province extends down to Vancouver from the southern 

 peninsula of Alaska. While some of the arctic forms 



