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POPULAR CONCHOLOGY. 



Spondyhts. 



These shells are irregular in form, free when young, 

 but attached when old. 



Spondylus. Lin. (Podopsis Lam. Pachytos Def ranee; 

 Dianchora Sow.) — Shell eared, inequi- 

 valve, rough with spines or plaits ; two 

 strong teeth, uniting the valves closely ; 

 bosses unequal, that of the lower valve 

 projecting into a broad triangular area ; 

 this valve is strongly attached to rocks 

 and corals ; ligament internal. Animal 

 having the mantle completely cloven, 

 the edges thick and furnished with 

 several rows of tolerably long cirrhi, 

 between which the eyes are placed, as in 

 Pecten and Pedum ; the mouth is surrounded with a large 

 toothed lip, and has on each side a pair of tentacles in the 

 form of myrtle leaves ; the foot is of a singular form ; on a 

 short style is situated a disk, on the middle of which a 

 cylindrical sinew is raised, ending in a small oval fleshy 

 mass ; the gills are large, leaf-shaped, or half-moon 

 shaped, and not varying much in size. — 40 species * : 

 also fossil. 



The Spondylus lives at great depths in the sea, and 

 attaches itself to corals and rocks : it has often been found 

 fixed to anchors, cannons, and other iron articles that have 

 been for some time at the bottom of the sea. Many of the 

 species are very beautiful, and of very vivid colours, such 

 as bright red, pink and yellow, or orange. A fine collec- 

 tion of these beautiful shells forms at once a union of ele- 

 gance and beauty hardly to be surpassed amongst the 

 bivalves. They are found in the Indian Ocean, the Medi- 

 terranean, and on the American coasts. 



* Sowerby's Thesaurus. 



