UNIVALVES. 



PLATE XVI. 



Genus. TEREBRA. 



Character. Shell spiral, elongated in the spire; the body short, and resembling 

 the Buccinura; beak short, and cut open at the bottom; columella twisted, the 

 whole shell banded, and frequently consisting of fifteen or twenty folds in the height 

 of the spire. 



Species. 

 No. 1. Terebra carnea. Shell of a warm flesh colour; the spire richly banded 



with a raised girdle ; mouth white, the folds veined with white marks. From 



a shell in Mr. Bullock's Museum. 

 No. 2. Terebra maculata. Shell of a pale chocolate colour, spotted with black; 



the spire ornamented with a tuberculous band, running the whole way up ; 



mouth white. This shell is from the same Collection, and is a native of the 



Brazils and the West Indies. 

 No. 3. Terebra fusca. Shell of a strong yellow brown, and closely spotted with 



square brown marks all over the spire; mouth of a dark brown. This shell 



is sometimes found of a yery large size, ten inches in length. A native of 



the West Indies. 



Genus. ACULEA. 



Character. Shell spiral, elongated in the spire ; the body short ; the mouth he- 

 lical, and rounded ; no beak, the bottom of the cheek being round, and joined to 

 the columella; the spire sometimes consisting of twenty or thirty folds. 



Species. 



No. 1. Aculea lineata. Shell white, having a blue line running entirely up the 

 spire, also a brown band between, forming an elegant and delicate charac- 

 ter of beauty. From the Island of Ceylon, and very rare. Original in the 

 Author's Museum. 



No. 2. Aculea magnifica. Shell very tall and long, the folds of the spire decus- 

 sated, and doubly spiral : the form of the whole elegant, yet simple. A 

 native of the islands of the South Seas, and, from its great beauty and 

 rarity, a general favourite with all curious Collectors. 



No. 3. Aculea pallida. Shell of a pale purple, decussated ; the mouth brown, 

 with a white rim running round. 



REMARKS. 



The curious forms of the genera Terebra and Aculea have always attracted the notice of the 

 writers upon Conchology, but who have hitherto blended them in the most confused way 

 with the Turbo, Buccinum, &c. We have therefore undertaken to separate them by such 

 distinct natural characters as, we trust, will for ever divide them from all those of an oppo- 

 site form. The form of the mouth being the grand characteristic, may serve as an unerring 

 guide, in the consideration of these singular and pleasing families of shells, it being always 

 opened at the bottom in the genus Terebra, and closed in the specimens of the Aculea. 

 The variety of the forms of the spire, however, in this numerous and extensive family of 

 spiral shells, is so great, that it almost puzzles the fancy to conceive the astonishing con- 

 trasts therein exhibited. 



