Mollusks. 4305 



Abrupt Gaper, Mya truncata. " Dead valves in thirty-four fathoms 

 ten miles from shore off Elgin (R. McA.)," F. fy H. There are two 

 good localities for collecting specimens of this shell (almost in- 

 variably consisting however of single valves) ; one of them is the 

 extensive range of sand which stretches along the shore from Lossie- 

 mouth to the Blackhill, near the influx of the Spey, and the other 

 the bay between Burghead and Findhorn. In both places valves 

 are to be met with at a considerable distance inland beyond high- 

 water mark, being cast ashore at some earlier period, or by some 

 more than usually violent storm. Very young specimens were 

 found in considerable numbers, with multitudes of young Mactra 

 stultorum, on the shore east of Lossiemouth in 1853. " Peterhead, 

 Frazerburg, and Gamrie," Macgillivray. Also observed in a collection 

 of shells, &c, made chiefly on the Banffshire coast by Mr. Thomas 

 Edwards, lately sent by him to be named, and in this list afterwards 

 noticed as " Edwards' collection." 



Sandy Gaper, Mya arenaria. Abundant in Findhorn Bay. It is 

 there regularly dug up from the sand, not only by the fishermen of 

 the adjoining village, but also by those of Burghead, who readily go 

 the distance of eight miles for so favourite a bait for their lines. In 

 that district of coast this shell-fish is popularly known by the name 

 of "badgers," the origin or cause of application of which it were diffi- 

 cult to discover. It is not improbable that Panopaea Norvegica may 

 yet be added to the list of the Moray Firth species, since it has been 

 found in " Zetland," and also " in deep water off the Northumberland 

 and Durham coasts," F. 8$ H. 



Common Corbula, Corbula nucleus, (C. stricta, Flem., C. inequi- 

 valvis, Mac.) Burghead, Mr. Murray. " Not uncommon in the 

 Firth, wherever the bottom is muddy," Mr. Macdonald. Rarely 

 found in the stomachs of fish. " The curious and interesting shell," 

 Neaera cuspidata, having a range including Zetland and the Firth of 

 Forth, is an object for discovery in that arm of the German Ocean so 

 frequently referred to in this list. 



Pearly Lyonsia, Lyonsia Norvegica, {Mya Norvegica, Flem.) 

 Messrs. Forbes and Hanley state that it has been dredged " in thirty- 

 four fathoms on the Elginshire coast." Mr. Macdonald dredged a 

 fine specimen, now in the Elgin Museum, in thirty-five fathoms off 

 Lossiemouth, 9th of June, 1853, and has also obtained it from Buckie. 

 A mutilated specimen, found in 1850, in the stomach of a fish killed in 

 the Moray Firth, retained sufficient marks, particularly in its curiously 



