Pvn H,i I'UitlS

LORIPES. 233
A. Shell concentrically ribbed and slightly decussated by lon-
gitudinal striae ;
lateral teeth indistinct.
1. Loripes lac'teus *, Linne.
Tellina lactea, Linn. Syst. jSat. p. 1119. Lucina leucoma, F. & H. ii.
p. 57, pi. xxxv. f. 2 (as L. lactea).
part.
Body whitish :
foot cylindrical, and swollen in the upper
Shell usually of a somewhat globular form, but varying in
comparative length and breadth, rather solid and opaque, not
glossy: sculpture, distant lines of growth and fine, irregular
and close-set concentric striae, as well as equally fine and irregular
but less numerous longitudinal striae or scratches, which
radiate from the direction of the beak, and cause the surface to
be partly decussated : colour white, with a tinge of : yellow
epidermis forming a mere film, and slightly iridescent : margins
rounded and sometimes indented or sinuous on the anterior
side, curved in front, and slightly truncate although rounded on
the posterior side : beaks small, rather prominent, much incurved
and close together ; they are placed very nearly in the
middle of the dorsal margin : lunule deep and heart-shaped :
hinge-line flexuous, occupying
about one-fourth of the circum-
ference : cartilage yellowish-brown, shaped like a lance -head,
divided into two semicylindrical portions, each of which fills a
groove on the hinge-plate in either valve, sloping obliquely
downwards from the beak within the line of the posterior
lateral tooth, and terminating abruptly in the interior of the
shell : hinge-plate broad and strong : teeth, in the right valve
one triangular cardinal, and occasionally a small denticle, besides
two indistinct laterals (one on each side), which are more
or less raised and pointed at the end ; in the left valve a
double cardinal, which receives that of the opposite valve in
an intermediate socket, and two laterals as in the other valve ;
the posterior lateral is much the longer : inside somewhat
nacreous, but of a dull hue ; margin smooth and plain : scars
large and remarkably
distinct. L. 0*7. B. 07.
Yar. Desmarestii. Shell flatter and thinner. Lucina Des-
marestii, Payraudeau, Cat. Moll. Corse, p. 44, pi. i. f. 19, 20.
Habitat :
Muddy
gravel
* Milk-white.
and sand on the coasts of