CONCHIFERA. 



313 



linguiform: foot small, ligulate, furnished with a byssal 

 groove ; labial palpi subtriangular, small, pectinated ; mouth 

 surrounded by tentacular fila- 

 ments: anal tube cylindrical, ex- 

 ternally visible; branchial leaflets 

 equal on each side.* — 13 spe- 

 cies f: also fossil. 



The Lima is almost always 

 white, or very light coloured ; 

 some of the species are rare ; 

 three are found on our own coasts, 

 the others in America, the Isle of 

 France, &c. ; they have a brown 

 horny epidermis. Sowerby says 

 that " the animal makes use of the 

 valves of its shell for swimming, 

 working them like fins or paddles, and by this means 

 proceeding at a rapid rate through the waters." Forbes 

 gives a beautiful figure of the animal of L. Mans in his 

 work on British Mollusca ; the tentacular filaments, of a 

 dark orange colour, project from the edges of the shell, 

 like a loose fringe all round, and the animal within is red, 

 whilst the valves are white, or nearly so. 



Limea. Bronn. (Limoarca Miinster.) — Shell longitu- 

 dinal, eared, closed ; the outer area of the hinge is trian- 

 gular, with a small triangular pit in the middle for the 

 ligament; the hinge straight, having within, on each side, 

 several perpendicular teeth: a straight muscular impres- 

 sion. — 1 species: also fossil. 



The living species is L. ISarsii from the Norwegian 

 seas. 



Lima. 



Forbes's British Moll. 



f Sowerby 's Thesaurus. 



