UNIVALVES. 



PLATE V. 



Genus. BIPLEX. 

 Character. Shell spiral, tuberculous, divided into two parts by two folds or 

 sutures, rather flattened from the front of the mouth to the back ; the cheek of the 

 mouth formed by one of the folds ; the mouth round ; the beak small. 



Species. 

 No. 1. Biplex corrugata. Shell of a reddish ochre colour, very much wrinkled 



and tuberculous ; mouth deeply indented. Native place unknown. 

 No. 2. Biplex variegata. Shell broad and flat, of a brownish white, elegantly 



varied with bands of a red colour ; the mouth very round and engrailed. A 



native of the West India Islands. 

 No. 3. Biplex elegans. Shell white, mixed with shades of brown, richly spotted 



intermediately with curious black spots, placed in rows ; mouth channelled 



in sluices, and orbicular in its general form. Native place unknown. From 



the Author's Museum. 

 No. 4. Biplex rana. Shell brown and white, entirely tuberculous ; mouth purple, 



the folds ornamented with small horns. *It has received the common 



appellation of Rana, or the Frog, and was formerly regarded as a Murex, 



to which it has a faint resemblance. 

 No. 5. Biplex rubicola. Shell red, shaded with pink ; mouth notched at the 



top, tuberculated wholly from top to bottom ; the folds richly variegated 



with red. 

 No. 6. Biplex spinosa. Shell of a pale brown, richly ornamented with long 



spines, projecting upwards and downwards in various ways, with a few 



tubercles interspersed. A native of the African coasts and seas. From the 



Museum of Dr. Combe. 



REMARKS. 



The beautiful and singular genus Biplex is here removed and separated from the other 

 genera, with which it had been formerly confounded. When viewed from the upper end of 

 the shell, it seems divided into two parts, by two longitudinal folds, forming a series of joints 

 down each side, and from hence it takes its name of Biplex. Many of the species of this 

 family of shells are very rare, and difficult to procure, particularly the Biplex perca, de- 

 scribed in the preceding Plate. All those which have hitherto been discovered are of a 

 roundish form, with a short beak, and certainly possess a degree of beauty quite sufficient 

 to recommend them to the connoisseur. 



