download pdf

VENERIDAE 407
Genus Chione Miihlfeld 1811
Shells trigonal or ovate; thick; 3 cardinal teeth in each valve; no anterior
laterals; pallial sinus small and triangular; inner margins crenulated; lunule
bounded by an indented line; escutcheon smooth and bounded by a small
ridge.
Subgenus Chione s. str.
Chiojie cancellata Linne Cross-barred Venus
North Carolina to Florida, Texas and the West Indies.
I to I %
Plate 39h
inches in length, varying from ovate to subtriangular in shape,
thick; with strong, raised, curved, leaf-like, concentric ribs and numerous
coarse radial ribs. Escutcheon long, smooth and V-shaped, commonly with
6 to 7 brown, zebra-stripes. Lunule heart-shaped, with minute vertical
threads. Color externally is white to gray; internally glossy-white with a
suffusion of purplish blue. A very common, shallow-water species in Florida.
Beachworn specimens have a cancellate sculpturing. The subspecies mazycki
Dall, off the Carolinas, Georgia and northeast Florida has a beautiful rosy
interior.
Chione intapurpurea Conrad Lady-in-waiting Venus
North Carolina, the Gulf States to the West Indies.
Plate 39g
1 to I ^ inches both ways, thick, glossy-white to cream; interior white,
commonly with a violet, radial band or splotch at the posterior third. Ex-
terior with crowded, smooth, low, rounded, concentric ribs. The lower
edge of these ribs bears many small bars which are Imed up one below the
other to give the shell the impression that it has axial ribs. The concentric
ribs become sharp and higher at the shell's extreme ends. Lunule with
raised lamellations; escutcheon with very fine, transverse lines. Uncommon.
Incorrectly spelled interpurpurea.
Chione califomiensis Broderip Common Californian Venus
San Pedro to northern South America.
Plate 31)
2 to 2 % inches high, a little longer, subtrigonal, moderately compressed,
with sharp, raised, concentric ribs whose edges turn upwards, and with low,
rather wide, rounded, radial riblets. Lunule heart-shaped and striated; es-
cutcheon V-shaped in cross-section, long and smooth. The dorsal posterior
end of the right valve is not as smooth and overlaps the left valve. Exterior