Mollusks. 4311 



Elliptic Astarte, Astarte elliptica. Rather rare. A few speci- 

 mens have been found by Mr. Martin in the neighbourhood of Lossie- 

 mouth. 



Arctic Astarte, Astarte arctica, {A. compressa, Mac.) A single, 

 and not very fresh-looking valve, brought up by the lines of a Buckie 

 fisherman, probably from deep water, has been obtained, May, 1853, 

 by Mr. Macdonald, and presented by him to the Elgin Museum. 



Compressed many-ribbed Astarte, Astarte compressa, (A. multi- 

 costata, Mac.) Common in many parts of the Firth. Mr. Mac- 

 donald found it plentifully in Burghead Bay, July, 1852 ; also 

 off Lossiemouth in August of the same year, in twenty-five to thirty 

 fathoms, along with Venus ovata, Corbula nucleus, Artemis lincta, 

 Dentalium entalis, Mactra solida, Leda caudata, Virgularia mirabilis, 

 Tubularia indivisa, and other inhabitants of sandy mud. Messrs. 

 Forbes and Hanley state that it has been dredged in from eight to 

 forty fathoms in the Moray Firth, by Robert McAndrew, Esq. 



Triangular Astarte, Astarte triangularis, {Goodalia triangularis 

 and minutissima, Flem. and Mac.) " In the Moray Firth, 

 (McAndrew)," F. 8$ H. 



Prickly Cockle, Cardium echinatum. Very common in all the 

 stages of growth, and so frequently found adhering to the lines, that 

 Mr. Macdonald states that among the shells received by him, during 

 the winter 1852-3, from Alexander ,Cowie, an intelligent fisherman of 

 Buckie, there were examples of this species sufficient to stock the 

 museums of a kingdom. 



Common or eatable Cockle, Cardium edule. This well known 

 shell is found scattered along the sandy parts of the shores of the 

 Moray Firth ; but the neighbourhood of Findhorn is the only spot on 

 the Elginshire coast, where it occurs in such numbers as to be 

 collected for sale during the months of spring. " The Murray Firth 

 (McAndrew)," is given by Messrs. Forbes and Hanley as a habitat for 

 variety " rusticum" (vol. ii. p. 19). 



Knotted Cockle, Cardium nodosum. Frequent. Dredged by Mr. 

 Macdonald, off Lossiemouth, in thirty fathoms, August, 1853. 



Banded Cockle, Cardium fasciatum. This species, as well as 

 C. nodosum, is occasionally to be met with in the stomachs of had- 

 docks, and among shell-sand. The next species of the ' British Mol- 

 lusca,' viz., Cardium pygmseum, (C. exiguum, Flem. and Mac.) has 

 been found both in the Zetland and Aberdeen districts of the German 

 Ocean, and may consequently be looked for in an intermediate area, 

 viz., the Moray Firth. 



