92 MY A. 



about February, and are sold at two shillings a dozen, 

 but are not much esteemed. The largest measure 

 about five inches in breadth, and two inches and a half 

 from hinge to margin. They are eaten in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Southampton, where the fishermen call 

 them old maids. 



CONVEX GAPER. 

 PL 18. /. 1. 



3. Mya convexa. M. testa ovata, convexa, fragili, antice oblique suban- 



gulata ; cardinis dente semiovali. 

 Shell oval, convex, brittle; anterior end obliquely angulated ; tooth in 



the hinge semioval. 

 Donovan Brit. Shells, t. 82. (Mya declivis.) 



A very light brittle shell, remarkably convex, and 

 strongly angulated at the anterior end : the outside is 

 concentrically striated, and covered with an ochreous 

 coat, rather rough near the anterior edge ; when de- 

 prived of this coat, the shell is perfectly white. Inside 

 yellowish white; tooth small, oval, and projecting 

 horizontally. 



This species is certainly distinct from the following, 

 which is a much stronger and flatter shell. Its remark- 

 able convexity has induced the author to give it the 

 trivial name of convex gaper. Donovan has evidently 

 figured this shell, under the name of M. declivis. It 

 is found on the coast of Devonshire. 



