Sea Shells 
of New Zealand 
Plate XI 
No.2 
Plate XI 
No. 4 
dorsal to the ventral margin than in the transverse diameter, 
accentuated by the stripes, a design which always gives an 
apparently lengthened effect to any object so decorated. 
This shell is typically heraldic in shape, and is suggestive 
of the scallops worn by pilgrims or palmers returning from 
the Holy Land in Medizval times. They are to be found 
under rocks and boulders, just below low-water mark, and 
attached by a beard. . 
Cape Maria van Diemen; Bay of Islands; Hauraki 
Gulf; Mount Maunganui; Nelson; Chatham Islands. 
PECTEN MEDIUS (pecten, a comb; medius, middling, 
common).—The large Scallop, sometimes ‘Six inches 
across. The right valve is highly convex, holding the ani- 
mal’s body; the left valve is quite flat. The shell is very 
symmetrical, and the sculpture consists of flatly-rounded 
ribs radiating from the beaks, with narrow spaces between 
adjacent ribs. The ears, or lugs, are equal and straight 
across the dorsal margin. The colour varies; it may be 
white or purple, brown, yellow, mottled, or concentrically 
marked with bands of darker colour on a paler background. 
An excellent shellfish for the table, this mollusc ranks 
second only to the oyster in the Old Country, though in 
New Zealand it is scarcely known as a food. The Maoris 
never seem to indulge in them, and the valves are seldom 
seen in the old kitchen middens. The reason why this deli- 
cacy is neglected can only be that dredging in deep water 
is generally needed to procure them. A point of interest 
in the scallops is that these creatures are endowed with 
splendid vision. Their eyes, or ocelli, are seen as little 
black dots on the outer border of the mantle, and the 
rapidity with which the valves can be snapped together 
when the animal is approached shows the keen eyesight it 
possesses. This is quite different to most other bivalves, 
which have no organ of sight whatever. These Scallops do 
not spin a beard, and are free swimmers, their progress 
through the water being accomplished by the alternate 
opening and shutting of the valves. 
North and South Islands. Mount Maunganui; Chat- 
ham Islands. 
PECTEN ZELANDLE (pecten, a comb; New Zealand). 
—The most brilliantly coloured of all the scallops, this 
beautiful little species, commonly known as the Fan shell, 
is from half an inch to an inch and a-half in height—that 
is, from the dorsal to the ventral border,—and in colour 
may be red, brown, orange, canary yellow, purple, some- 
times variegated puce and purple, etc. The lugs are re- 
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