140 
EDIBLE BRITISH MOLLUSKS. 
fishermen bring in fine specimens from the Nymph 
Bank/^ Mr. Jeffreys was informed by Mr. Spence 
Bate^ that at Plymouth the trawlers call the Pinna; 
caperlongers/^ which word is supposed to be a corrup- 
tion of cappa lunga ^ — the name they bear in the Medi- 
terranean ; and that the familiarity of Plymouth seamen 
with such Italian words is accounted for by so many of 
our men-of-war having been at Naples. They are also 
known in Italy by the following names i—nacherone, 
madre-perna^ and palostrega. In France they call them 
jambonneaux ; and in Germany^ SieckmuscheL 
The Pinna live in sand and mud^ with the small end 
downwards, in an upright position, and attached by a 
very strong byssus of silky thread. A small species of 
crab lives frequently in the shell of the Pinna ; and the 
following is a quaint description given by Pliny of the 
friendship of the Pinna and its little guest : — The 
pinna is also of the tribe of shellfishes. It is always 
found in muddy places, but never without a companion, 
which they call pinnoteres or pinnophylax^ and which is 
a little shrimp, or in some places a crab, a searcher for 
food. The pinna first gapes open, ajid, being destitute 
of sight, exposes its body within, to various little fishes, 
which come leaping by close to it, and being unmolested, 
grow so bold as to skip into its shell and fill it full. The 
pinnoteres^ waiting for .the opportunity, gives notice to 
the pinna by a gentle pinch ; upon which, shutting its 
,mouth, it kills whatever is within its shell, and divides 
the spoil with its companion/^* 
Mr. Sayt says that a small crab (a species of Pinno- 
theres) which lives in the shell of the common American 
# Pliny, Nat. Hist. bk. ix. c. 42 (or 66, Tr. Bohn.) 
t Journ. Acad. Sc. Phil. i. 68. 
