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PYRAMIDELLIDAE 289
to the host by means of an oral sucker, and pierce the body wall of the host
with a buccal stylet. They suck the host's blood by means of a buccal pump.
Embryological and other data have shown that this family of mollusks is
closely related to the tectibranch mollusks, rather than to the prosobranchs
with which they have been formerly placed. (See Journal of the Marine
Biological Assoc, vol. 28, pp. 493-532, 1949.)
Pyramidella dolabrata Lamarck
Genus Fyramidella Lamarck 1799
Bahamas and the West Indies. Florida Keys?
Giant Atlantic Pyram
Plate 4q
% to I inch in length, solid and glossy smooth. Columella large, and
with 2 or 3 strong, spiral plicae. Color opaque-white with 3 fine, spiral lines
of brown, i of which is just above the suture. Common in the West Indies
Figure 62. Atlantic Coast Pyramidellidae. (See opposite page.)