LIMN^US. 
201 
In the spring, these animals are often infested 
with a small slender species of Gordius^ which affix 
themselves to the edge of the mantle over the back 
of the neck ; they are so common that Draparnaud 
mistook them for the respiratory organs of the 
animal. Montagu has also observed them on L. 
truncatulus. 
The LimncEi principally feed on the slimy matter 
which covers sticks, shells, and stones, beneath the 
water and on the mud, which is constantly found 
in the intestines. {Haldemann^ 
a. Shell suhovate^ last whorl ventricose ; mouth more 
than half the length of the shell. (Radix Mont’- 
fort. Gulnaria Leach.^ 
90. 1. LimnjEUS auricularius. Wide-mouthed Mud 
Shell.— Shell extremely inflated, striolate, with 
a very short acute spire; aperture oblique, 
vastly expanded and roundish-oval. (t. 9. f. 
100 .) 
Helix auricularia. Linn. S. N. i. 1250. ; Penn, B. Z. iv. 86. 
f. 138.; Mont, p. 375. t. 16. f. 2. — Buccinum auricula. 
Milller^ Verm, ii. 126.; Sturm, Fauna, vi. 12.^ — Lymnsea 
auricularia. Flem. E. Ency, vii. 77.; Lamarck, Hist. vi. ii. 
p. 161.- — Lymneus auricularius. Brard, p. 140. t. 5. f. 2, 3.; 
Turton, Man. ed. 1. 117. f. 100. — Limneus auricularius. 
Drap. Hist. p. 49. t. 2. f. 28, 29. 32.; Jeffreys, Linn. Trans. 
xvi. 372. ; Rossm. Icon. i. 98. t. 2. f. 55.; Forbes and Haidey, 
B. M. iv. 169. t. 123. f. 1, 2. — -Bulimus auricularius. Brug, 
E, M. i. 304. — Badix auriculatus. Be Montfort. ii. p. 207. 
the case ; but still the description he gives of how the apex 
falls off is true ; and Muller is correct in saying the apex of 
the shell was once perfect. 
