Pvn H,i I'UitlS

venus. 335
and bordered by a reddish line : tubes short, only separate at
their extremities, sulphur-yellow with pale-red flaky markings
towards the orifices, covered with minute sand-like red points ;
with white
orifices margined with a fine red hue and fringed
cirri, of which the incurrent (or branchial) tube has about
20, and the other 15 ; the excurrent (or anal) tube is the
smaller, slightly curves upwards,
flexible hyaline valve :
and is furnished with a
gills nearly oval, pale brown, the upper
being much the smaller and strongly striated on both surfaces
: palps small, pointed, and triangular, externally smooth,
but striated across the inner surface : foot thick, moderately
strong, lanceolate, and pure white ; when
at rest it is axe-
shaped, and appears amalgamated with the rest of the body.
Shell triangularly rounded, with a somewhat oblique out-
line, more or less compressed, very solid and opaque, slightly
but not : decidedly glossy sculpture, concentric laminar ridges,
which are numerous, sharp, close-set, and alternately large
and small in the earlier stages of growth, but afterwards
become fewer, broader, and equal ; the whole surface is crossed
by minute, extremely crowded and fine hair-like longitudinal
striae, as in V. exoleta and V. lincta : colour extraordinarily
diversified, red, pink, yellow, or brown, of every shade, varie-
gated by rays, streaks, blotches, or zigzag markings disposed in
the most lovely fashion, sometimes white: epidermis very slight,
on each
only apparent at the edges : margins obtusely angled
side, semicircular in front, with a curved dorsal slope and an
excavation belowthe beaks for the lunule : beaks small, consider-
ably recurved and diverging, as in the above-named species :
lunule lanceolate, reddish-brown, defined by a slight but dis-
tinct groove, finely and closely striated lengthwise
and somewhat prominent: corselet long and deep, excavated
; lips sharp
like a furrow with shelving sides : ligament narrow, golden-
yellow or horncolour, for the most part
concealed within the
as in all the
corselet : hinge-line obtusely angular : hinge-plate
preceding species : teeth, in the right valve three divergent
cardinals, the posterior of which is much slighter and longer
than the "rest, double or grooved lengthwise, and parallel
with the hinge-line ; the left valve has also three similar cardinals,
with the addition of a
tooth just inside the ligament
slighter but longer laminar
al groove on the dorsal slope :
laterals indistinct or merged in the hinge-plate
hue in the middle, with a deep tinge of purple towards the
beaks, and often having a white callosity below the cardinal
: inside of a dull