MUREX. ROCK-SHELL. 
S 9 , 
Murex despectus. Donovan, pi. 31. 
Shell strong, thick, semitransparent, yellowish-white, 
finely striate transversely, and very faintly so in a longitu¬ 
dinal direction : spires seven or eight, much rounded and 
swelling: aperture oval, dilated ; the outer lip thin, often 
slightly notched by the outward striaj; pillar rugged, and 
a little twisted at the base ; canal reflected, open ; inside 
yellowish-white : length sometimes six inches, and three, 
broad. 
Variety. With the volutions reversed. 
Lister , pi. 950. f. 44. b, and c. 
Lister marks this variety as English, observing that it 
was found on the sea shore at Harwich, by Dr. Dale. 
The young shell, with the small end very abrupt and 
rounded. 
Murex decollatus. Pennant , pi. 82. f. 3. 
A singular variety is in our cabinet, in which the volu¬ 
tions are divided down to the very pillar by the line of se¬ 
paration, as in the Turbo Clathrus : and at the junction be¬ 
tween the fintand second volutions, commencing from the 
outer angle of the aperture, are three or four thin raised 
longitudinal partitions, crossing the line of separation, and 
forming distinct cells. 
In another variety the shell is strongly reticulated, of a 
more taper shape, and furnished with six or seven much 
raised and rounded longitudinal ribs, giving it a somewhat 
angular appearance: probably the M. fornicatus of Gme- 
lio. v. r. 
# 6. Murex corneus. Horny Rock-shell. 
Lister, pi. 913. f. 5— Pennant, pi. 79. f. 2 — Da Costa K 
pi. 6 . f. 5— Dorset Cat. pi. 17- f. 5 — Donovan , pi. 38. 
Shell strong, elegantly taper, semitransparent, white, 
mostly covered with a brown skin : spires eight or nine, 
flat and hardly raised, separated by a fine line ; finely and 
regularly striate in a spiral direction, with a few obscure 
longitudinal wrinkles on the body volution, and ending in 
a fine point : aperture oblong-oval, terminating in a long 
reflected canal, which together occupy about half the shell ; 
outer lip thin; inner lip spread on the pillar : length nearly 
three inches; breadth one and a quarter. 
1 3 The 
