S O L E N. 
an ascidia; its shield is bivalve, oblong and open at both 
ends; the hinge has a subulate reflected tooth ; it is often 
double, and not inserted in the opposite valve. It had its 
name, solen, from the Greek, in which language that word 
expresses a pipe or tube: this fish, when the shells are 
closed, very aptly resembling a tube. The Latin writers have 
called it unguis, from its resemblance in colour and consis¬ 
tence to the human nail. The common people in many 
parts of France call it coutelicr, and in Italy it is com¬ 
monly called cannolichio. There are twenty-three species 
enumerated by Gmelin, which are as follow:— 
' 1. Solen vagina.—The Specific Character of this is, that 
the shell is linear, straight, roundish, one end emarginated; 
the hinge is marked with a single opposite tooth in each 
valve. There is a variety that inhabits the European and 
Indian seas: it is six or seven inches broad, and only one 
inch long. The shell is yellowish, divided diagonally, into 
two triangles, one of which is striate longitudinally, the other 
transversely, and marked with curved bands. This species, 
and all the others that are found in this genus belonging to 
this country, are figured by Barbut, Lister, Donovan, and 
other naturalists. 
2. Solen siliqua.—The shell of this species is linear, and 
straight; it has one hinge, which is two-toothed. There is 
a variety with rosy lunules. The former is found in most 
European seas, and on our own coasts. The latter is to be 
met with in the Indian seas. It is seven or eight inches broad 
and not more than one and a half inch long. The shell is 
equally broad and compressed, with a double tooth at the 
hinge, receiving another opposite, and on one side there is 
another sharp tooth directed downwards: the colour is of an 
olive-brown, with a limpid ash-coloured mark dividing the 
shells diagonally: one part is striate longitudinally, the other 
transversely. 
3. Solen ensis.—Shell linear, a little bowed, like a scymitar: 
it has one hinge, which is two-toothed.—It inhabits Enropean 
seas. The shell is coloured, and marked like that of the 
siliqua; it is rounded at both ends; the two teeth of 
one valve are inserted into a triangular hollow of the 
other. 
4. Solen pellucidus.—Shell sub-arched, sub-oval, pellucid; 
one hinge two-toothed.—This is found on the shores of An- 
glesea ; the shell is thin and pellucid, about an inch broad, 
with a double sharp tooth in one valve, receiving a single 
one from the opposite, with a process in each shell pointing 
towards the cartilage of the hinge. 
5. Solen legumen.—Shell linear, oval, straight; hinges 
placed in the middle, and two-toothed; one of them bifid. 
It is found in the European and the Atlantic seas; is two 
inches and a half broad. The shell is sub-pellucid, radiate, 
from the hinge to the margin; it is rounded at both ends. 
6. Solen cultellus.—The shell of this species is shaped 
something like a kidney, with a single tooth in one valve 
and two in the other.—It inhabits European and Indian seas, 
and is more than two inches broad. The shell is fragile, 
covered with a rough cuticle, under which it is dirty-white, 
with tawny marks ; both ends are rounded. 
7. Solen radiatus.—Shell oval, straight and smooth, with 
a transverse depressed rib growing on one side. This is 
found in India, and is very thin and brittle. The shell is of 
a violet colour, with four transverse white rays, growing 
larger towards the thinner margin; the depressed rib running 
nearly the length of the shell; the hinge is callous on each 
side; both valves are two-toothed. 
8. Solen strigilatus.—Shell oval, obliquely striate. There 
is a variety which inhabits the Mediterranean, Atlantic, and 
Indian seas. The shell is ro^y, with two white rays, strong 
and ventricose; the hinge is a little prominent at the margin, 
with a thin reflected tooth. 
9. Solen anatinus.—The shell of this is ovate, membrana¬ 
ceous, and hairy, with a falcate rib at the hinge.—It inhabits 
the Indian ocean, on a sandy bottom. The shell is pellucid, 
white, thin, like paper; one end rounded and closed; the 
other gaping, like the beak of a bird: there is a tooth in each 
valve resembling an ear-picker. 
335 
10. Solen macha.—Shell oval, oblong, truncate before ; 
one hinge is two-toothed.—It is found in the Pacific Ocean. 
It is about six or seven inches long; in colour it is brown 
varied with blue; it produces pearl. 
11. Solen bullatus—Shell roundish, inflated, sub-striate; 
the fore-part is gaping, in consequence of its crenatures.— 
This is found in the American and Indian seas; brittle, white 
spotted or clouded with purple, longitudinally striate, sub- 
pellucid; hinge with a single tooth, marginal ones remote, 
compressed, and inserted in a hollow of the other valve. 
12. Solen mintitus.—Shell oval, angles of the valves ser¬ 
rate.-—It is found in the northern parts of Europe, among 
zoophytes; is the size of a cucumber-seed ; longitudinally 
striate, truncate at the top, with acute serrate ridges, diverging 
from the hinge towards the top. 
13. Solen virens.—The shell of this is ovate-oblong, with 
tumid bosses.—It inhabits Java; is very brittle, diaphanous, 
white, outwardly greenish, valves unequal, resembling in its 
shape the Mya pictorum; the tip and base hardly closed, 
with two approximate teeth in one hinge, and none in the 
opposite. 
14. Solen diphos.—Shell oval, straight, smooth, with promi¬ 
nent membranes.—It inhabits the Indian Ocean, and resem¬ 
bles the Solen radiatus. It is two inches and a half long, and 
five broad; covered with a greenish cuticle, under which it 
is violet, with numerous rays; two of these are more distinct. 
The hinge has two teeth in one valve, and one in 
another. 
15. Solen minimus.—Shell linear-oval, straight; the hinges 
are lateral and two-toothed ; one of them is bifid.—It inhabits 
Tranquebar; resembles the Solen legumen, but is much less; 
the cuticle is yellowish, under -which it is clear white; the 
inner rib runs down the whole shell. 
16. Solen maximus.—Shell linear, oval, straight, with 
arched striae; hinges lateral, two-toothed.—It inhabits the 
shores of Nicobar ; it is a very rare species. The shell is thin 
and pellucid, white, covered with a yellowish cuticle; it is 
four inches broad, one and a half long, gaping at both ends; 
the teeth of the hinge not receiving one another. 
17. Solen coarctatus.—The shell of this is transversely 
wrinkled, contracted in the middle, rounded at both ends; 
hinge in the middle, with sometimes one and sometimes 
two teeth in either valve.—This is found on the shores 
of Nicobar, is about three-fourths of an inch long, and 
two and a half broad. The shell is of a dirty white, 
and gaping at both ends. 
18. Solen roseus.—Shell rosy, equivalve; the tooth of the 
hinge is sub-bifid, and inserted in a hollow of the opposite 
valve.—It inhabits the Red Sea, resembles theTelina radiata, 
but is open at both ends. 
19. Solen sanguinolentus.—Shell oval, quite smooth; 
the hinge is callous, and two-toothed.—It inhabits Jamaica; 
the beaks are rosy without and within. 
20. Solen striatus.—Shell equivalve, transversely striate; 
hinge with a single tooth.—It is also found near the shores of 
Nicobar, and is middle-sized. The shell is thin, rosy, with 
white rays. 
21. Solen occidens.—The shell of this species is trans¬ 
versely striate, smooth at the protuberant parts, radiate with 
white and reddish; both the hinges are two-toothed, with a 
hollow in the middle.—Its residence is not known. The 
shell is marked with white and reddish spots scattered about; 
is more than four inches broad, and two long; both ends are 
gaping; the hinge is lateral. 
22. Solen crispus.—The shell, in this species, is partly 
smooth, partly rough with undulate crimped lines; the hinge 
has a long narrow tooth.—It is found in the river Tees, and 
resembles the Solen anatinus, though it is thought by some 
naturalists not to be a distinct species. 
23. Solen spengleri.—Protuberances or beaks of the shell 
two-parted; primary tooth of the hinge rounded, accessory 
ones long and narrow; one of them is curved. The shell is 
hardly an inch long, but two and a half broad; it is rounded 
at both ends. 
Rondeletius observes, that there are, among the solen s of 
the 
