242 



eanaliculated at the base, the exterior having rough 

 longitudinal bands, or armed with spines, which are 

 straight, recurved, or beautifully ramified. Aperture 

 rounded or oval, with a horny operculum, 



Lamarck has formed this family into three sections : 

 the first consists of those with a beak, always much 

 longer than the aperture, as in the M. cornutus; the 

 second, of such species as have the canal thick, more 

 or less long, and three varices on the lower whorl, as 

 in the M. palmarosae; and the third comprises the 

 species that have more than three varices on the inferior 

 whorl, as in the M. saxatilis. 



Shells with a slender beak or tail, always longer than 

 the aperture. 



Murex cornutus 



brandaris 



crassispina 



tenuispina 



rarispina 



Murex ternispina 



brevispina 



haustellum 



tenuirostrum 



motacilla 



