History of British animals - University of Guam Marine Laboratory

348 MOLLUSCA. MURICIDjE. Fusus.cent shells were thrown upon the sands at Warren's Point, after a severethunder storm.EXTINCT SPECIES.1 . P. nexilis.— Obovate, elavate, with decussating elevated striae ; spiralstriae uniform, most prominent ;spire slightly produced— (Murex nexilis,Brander, f. 55.) Sower. Min. Conch, t. cccxxxi—London Clay.2. P. Greenwoodii— Pyriform, with a short produced spire, reticulated withscattered elevated striae ;beak pointed ;shell thin— Sower. Min. Conch.t. ccccxcviii.— Crag.Two species are noticed as figured by Brander, whose work I have no opportunityof consulting, viz. f. 52, 53, and 54, which last isby Parkinson(Org. Hem. 67-) considered as agreeing with Pgrula laevigata of Lamark, whileMr Man tell (Geol. Suss. 268.) denominates it P. bidbiformis,—?. 52, 53, theMurex pyrus of Brander. These two species occur in the London Clay.Gen. LXXIX. FUSUS.—Shell pisiform, ventricose in themiddle, spire produced;right margin of the canal patulous.* Whorls destitute of longitudinal ribs.329. F. antiquus.— Whorls eight, ventricose, with obsoletewaved spiral striae, crossed by longitudinal wrinkled lines ofgrowth.Bucc. album, laeve, List. An. Ang. 155. t. iii. f. i. Conch, t. Dccccxiii. f.4.— Murex antiquus, Linn. Syst.i. 1222.— M. despectus, Penn. Brit.Zool. iv. 124. t. lxxviii—M. antiquus, Midi. Zool. Dan. t. exeviii.Don. Br. Sh. t. xxxi.—M. desp. Mont. Test. Brit. 256 In deep bays,common.Length from 4 to 6 inches, greatest breadth between 2 and 3 ; white, theinside with a yellowish tinge; cuticle absent ; whorls thick, rounded, rathercoarse on the surface ; aperture ovate, the outer lip thin at the edge, innerlip smooth, canal short, nearly straight. The animal is white, with a corneouspyriform lid. It is used as a bait for cod, and sometimes as food. Theshell, suspended horizontally, is employed in the Zetland cottage as a lamp,the cavity containing the oil, and the canal the wick. Dr Turton mentions(Conch. Diet. 69.) two varieties in the shell ; the first with the whorls nearlyseparated, and the second leaving the whorls furnished with longitudinalribs : in a specimen which I possess, the whorls are prominently angular inthe middle, and the specimen bears a close resemblance to the figure of Buccinumcarinatum of the Conchological Dictionary.330. F. corneus.— Shell lengthened, spirallystriated ;the canalproduced and slightly recurved.Buccinum angustius,List. An. Ang. 157. t. iii. f. 4. Conch, t. Dccccxiii.f. 5. — Murex corneus, Linn. Syst.i. 1234. Penn. Brit. Zool. iv. 124.t. lxxvi. f. 99. Don, Brit. Shells, t. xxxviii. Mont. Test. Brit. 258.— In sandy bays, common.Length 3 inches, breadth about 1 ; shell white, usually covered with athick brown epidermis ;whorls nine, compressed with a deep separating line ;