nifying bearded; this is usually worn off in shells found 
on the beach. It attains a length of one and a-half inches, 
and in an uncommon shell. Found attached to boulders ~ 
by a beard, about low-water mark, in sheltered positions. 
Throughout New Zealand. Bay of Islands; Hauraki 
Gulf; Mount Maunganui; Chatham Islands; also the Pau- 
motu Islands, in the Lowe Archipelago. 
GLYCYMERIS LATICOSTATA  (glukos, sweet; 
meris, bitter; latus, wide; costa, a rib).—The large Dog 
cockle or Comb shell. A thick, solid bivalve, brown or 
brown and white, with strongly-marked, rounded, radiate 
ribs, somewhat square at the dorsal margin on either side 
of the beaks, and furnished with two sets, each of six 
lateral teeth, symmetrically placed on a broad and flattened 
hinge plate. The interior is porcellanous, and the lower 
half of the margin is crenated. An average shell is two 
and a-half inches in height and two and three-quarters 
long—that is to say, from anterior to posterior border. 
The largest I have found were three and three-eighths 
inches in height. 
Throughout New Zealand. Hauraki Gulf; Takapuna; 
Mount Maunganui. 
GLYCYMERIS MODESTA (glukos, sweet; meris, 
bitter; modest ).—This is the lesser Dog cockle or Comb 
shell. A small, thick, circular bivalve, about an inch in 
diameter, of a yellow, light or dark brown colour, either 
splashed with white or simply plain; generally lighter 
towards the hinge, with very fine striations radiating from 
the hinge to the ventral border, and six or eight teeth regu- 
larly arranged on either side of the beaks. A common 
shell, often washed ashore on ocean beaches. 
Throughout New Zealand. Hauraki Gulf; Mount 
Maunganui. 
MYTILUS CANALICULUS (mytilus, Greek for sea 
mussel; canaliculus, dim. of canalis, a water pipe, a chan- 
nel).—This mussel is the largest of the family, and is held 
in high esteem by the Maoris, and other people of robust 
digestion. It is wide from the middle to the posterior 
margin. The beaks are small and pointed. Sculpture con- 
sists of concentric growth lines, coarse in the middle, but 
much finer towards the hinges and the posterior margin, 
these are crossed by fine radiate striations, inconspicuous, 
but readily seen under a lens. The colour is yellowish 
green, or dark brown at the posterior end, or bright green, 
lighter at the hinges, and brownish in the middle. The 
87 
Plate X 
No. 6 
Plate IX 
No. 21-2la. 
Plate X 
No. 14 
Sea Shells 
of New Zealand 
