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STROMBIDAE 17 3
"It is generally admitted that the camouflage of Xe?iophora is for protection
rather than ornamentation, for it would be inconceivable that a female
Xenophora would call over the back fence to her girl friend with, 'Come
and see the perfect dream of a shell I picked up today and tell me if I have
it on straight.' "
There are 3 species in the Atlantic, one a shallow water species, the other two
(longleyi Bartsch, pi. 23d, and caribaea Petit, pi. 2 3e) deep water inhabit-
ants.
Xenophora conchy liophora Born Atlantic Carrier-shell
North Carolina to Key West and the West Indies.
Plate 5b
2 inches in diameter, not including foreign attachments. No umbilicus.
From above, the shell with its attached rubble and shells looks like a small
heap of marine trash. It will attach any kind of shell to itself, but in some
areas has access to only one kind, say Chione cancellata. Animal bright-red.
Seasonally not uncommon. Johnsonia is in error in calling this trochiformis
Bom 1778 (not 1780), which is the Peruvian shell known formerly as
Trochita radians Lam.
Family APORRHAIDAE
Genus Aporrhais da Costa 1778
Aporrhais Occidentalis Beck American Pelican's Foot
Labrador to off North Carolina.
Plate 23c
2 to 2% inches in length, spire high, whorls well-rounded and with
about 15 to 25 curved axial ribs per whorl. Many minute spiral threads
present. Outer hp greatly expanded and its edge heavily thickened. Color
ashen-gray to yellowish white. Operculum small, corneous, brown, claw-like,
but with smooth edges. Commonly dredged off New England from a few
to 200 fathoms.
The form mainensis C. W. Johnson (Nova Scotia to Mt. Desert) differs
in having 14 axial ribs, instead of about 22 to 25 as in the typical form,
but specimens intergrade. The form labradorensis C. W. Johnson is smaller,
more slender, and with up to 29 ribs per whorl.
Fajnily STROMBIDAE
Genus Strombus Linne 1758
Strombus pugilis Linne West Indian Fighting Conch
Southeast Florida and the West Indies.
Plate 5g