Sea Shells 
of New Zealand 
to say, spindle-shaped, or bulging in the middle and taper- 
ing towards either end. The spire 1s sharply pointed, and 
the body whorl is large and globular, heavily built and 
sculptured with nodulous ribs, two on each of the spire 
whorls; the lower of the two being partially covered by 
the succeeding whorl. There are many strong spiral ribs 
on the body whorl, and the colour is yellowish brown with 
white patches on the nodes, the intervals being mottled 
with darker brown or a rich brown with puce spots. There 
is a large, rounded varix on the exterior of the outer lip, 
and another on the body whorl on the opposite side of the 
shell. This varix is elevated and sharp. The interior is 
white or pale purple; the outer lip is marked with long, 
dark brown-coloured bars or teeth, arranged in groups of 
twos and threes, especially at the upper part; the inner 
lip forms a thin coating upon the columella, and is of a pale 
dun colour, extending upwards as a thick glaze upon the 
body whorl. There is a short open canal below; the upper 
end of the mouth is distinctly channelled, and here there is, 
on the inner lip, a large plait or ridge, while at the lower 
end of the columella are several white teeth. It may 
attain a length of nine inches, though seven or eight inches 
is the usual size. It is found during the summer at low 
tide in boulder-strewn localities where there is a muddy 
bottom, and occasionally may be seen in fair numbers. 
Those amongst the boulders are usually decollate, a con- 
chological term which means truncated, beheaded, or minus 
the apex; also, they are much encrusted and stained, so 
that the sculpture and colour cannot be properly discerned. 
Live shells, which come up from deep water, as they will 
in hot, sunny weather, are better specimens, and good ones 
may then be procured for the cabinet. 
The eggs, which are laid in the winter, are reddish pink, 
translucent, elongated, and club-shaped. They are de- 
posited in close contact with each other and in a single 
layer upon the under surface of boulders. 
The Septa rubicunda has a wide distribution, being 
found at the Scilly Islands, in the British Channel, and the 
Mediterranean, where it was used by the ancient Romans 
as a trumpet shell. In Spain at the present day this Conch 
shell is still blown by fishermen when hawking their fish 
in the streets of coastal villages. In New Zealand it is 
found at Whangarei, Mount Maunganui, and as far south 
as Napier, on the east coast, and Kawhia, on the west. 
Another Triton shell, the Septa Tritonis, is also partial 
to warm latitudes. It is more slender in shape than the 
foregoing, but attains a much greater length, New Zealand 
specimens being as much as fourteen inches long. It was 
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