32G 
LITTLE FOLKS 
BUTTERFLIES OF THE SEA. 
Of course they are no 
more real butterflies than the 
sea anemones are real flow- 
ers ; but they have received 
the name from their beautiful 
colors, and their lively, jerky 
way of getting about. This 
I picture is the shell in which 
(one of these beauties spent 
his life, and you probably will 
call it a scallop shell. There 
are nearly two hundred varie- 
ties of the family, and they 
are found in every sea in the 
world, and called by the family 
name of Pccten. 
The creature who lived in this shell has one small foot, a body 
which looks like a sort of a folded-up veil, just showing between 
the edges of the shells — for he has two, you must know — a double 
row of eyes looking out from the same opening, and a white fringe 
of tentacles or feelers. He moves about in the water by opening 
and shutting his beautiful shells, throwing out the water violently, 
and of course pushing himself along. He has also a strong muscle 
by which to hold his door shut in the face of enemies. The trian- 
gular shaped part of the shell is called the ear, and here are placed 
the hinges which allow the shell to open. Among the folds of the 
mantle — as his body is called — the Pecten had a mouth, with lips, 
and he lived by eating the tiny animals always floating about in the 
sea water. 
There are many varieties of the family — as I told you — and all 
are celebrated for their beauty of form and coloring. 
Another curious little sea creature, shaped much like the Pec- 
ten family, is the Lima. It is a great beauty, being of a lovely 
crimson color, with mantle of orange, while the shell is pure white. 
