CEPIIALOPODA. 



37 



Family 4. - SPIRULACEA. 



The shells of this family are spiral, the whorls not touch- 

 ing : they are many chambered. 



Spirula. Lam. — Shell cylindrical, thin, and almost 

 transparent; partially spiral, the whorls 

 not touching each other ; partitioned into 

 chambers by concave septa, and perfo- 

 rated by a siphuncle, which is on the 

 inner side ; it contains the ink-bag. Ani- 

 mal, body oblong, with ten arms, two of 

 which are longer than the others, with 

 six rows of minute suckers ; the mantle 

 nearly conceals the shell. — 3 species, re- 

 cent. 



The Spirula Peronii is a beautiful little 

 shell, thin, fragile, and of a pearly white ; 

 its very elegant spiral form renders it one 

 of the most exquisite amongst the many 

 lovely shells we possess. In New Zea- 

 land and New Holland it is very abun- 

 dant. Dr. Hooker says he saw thousands 

 of the shells scattered about on the shore at Paroah Bay, 

 New Zealand.* It has been picked up on the Irish coast, 

 supposed to have floated from the West Indies ; but the 

 animal was not alive. 



Spirulirostra. D'Orh. — Shell calcareous, internal, 

 and ending in a thick, conical, very pointed beak; the 

 upper part concave, and before the concavity rises a blunt, 



Spirula Icevis. 



* Rccvc. 

 D 3 



