©. 



157 



CALYPTR^A. 



PATELLA EQUESTRIS. LimUBHS. 



Mawe's Linn, pi 32, /. 3, 



Linnaeus and other authors considered these shells of 

 the genus Patella, from which they however essenti- 

 ally differ. The form is conical ; exterior transversely 

 waved andfoliaceous; summit vertical and imperfora- 

 ted; base orbicular and not much expanded: the in- 

 terior cavity exhibiting a transverse funnel or tongue- 

 shaped testaceous appendage, from which they have 

 been called Cup-and-Saucer Limpets in this country. 

 The last species, mentioned by Lamarck, C. tectum- 

 sinense, has recently been met with by the writer, and 

 is so singularly constructed, and so perfectly distinct 

 from the other species of Calyptraeae, that it may be well 

 to point out the peculiar character of it. The shell 

 is formed of separate, transverse, irregular, round lami- 

 nae, of an uniform size, attached to each other by the 

 apicial point or summit on the exterior of each, pre- 

 senting the appearance of a number of small flat Patel- 

 lae, piled one on the other, apparently increasing to an 

 indefinite number, during the life of the animal. Those 



