Pvn H,i I'UitlS

TELLINA. 371
Even this consistent genus has a dozen synonyms,
two of them prior, and the rest subsequent to Linnets
time.
A. Shell oval, nearly equilateral, concentrically laminated ;
lateral teeth conspicuous.
1. Tellina balatj'stina *, Linne.
T. balaustina, Linn. Syst. Nat. p. 1119 F. & H. i.
; p. 290, pi. xxi. f. 2.
Body gelatinous, greyish-white : tubes clear white and trans-
parent ;
orifices apparently not fringed
or ciliated.
Shell triangularly oval, or inclined to globular, ventricose,
thin, semitransparent, rather glossy : sculpture, regular, deli-
cate, and but slightly raised concentric laminae, which are easily
rubbed off or broken, more crowded at the sides, besides minute,
close-set, parallel striae in the interstices ; the whole surface is
also covered with microscopical and excessively fine but irre-
gular longitudinal striae : colour whitish with a faint tinge of
yellow, variegated by narrow streaks of a pinkish hue, which
radiate from the direction of the beaks and are more conspicuous
towards the margins ; these rays differ in number and
width, and frequently are broken and variously disposed, sometimes
two or three being close tegether, and now and then con-
fluent : epidermis thin, filmy and iridescent, imparting
surface a silky lustre : margins
to the
semicircular on the anterior
side, regularly but more bluntly curved in front, slightly an-
gular on the posterior side, which is flexuous and separated
from the rest of the shell by an obscure and broad ridge; dorsal
margin short, straight in the young and nearly
so in the adult :
umbones some-
beaks small, incurved, and almost contiguous ;
what raised : lunule lanceolate, deeply incised, with shelving
sides : ligament short, not very prominent, homcolour : hinge-
line more rounded than angular :
hinge-plate slight,
of mode-
rate breadth : teeth, in each valve two symmetrical, short,
erect, and diverging cardinals, the posterior of which in. the
right valve and anterior in the left valve are bifid or double ;
laterals, one on each side in both valves, remote and laminar,
more developed in the right than in the left valve: inside
glossy, tinged with orange, microscopically wrinkled and lon-
* Colour resembling that of a pomegranate flower.