The Conchologist’s First Book — Edgar A. Poe, 1839 — reading text

sulcatum. C. cifidium. 2. Genus Cardita. Animal. Body suborbicular, terminated superiorly by a sort of hook; mantle but little open ; foot terminated at its extremity by a part much narrower than the base; superior lobes of the >. branchie very short. Shell. Thick, solid, equivalve, more or less inequilateral ; sum- mit dorsal, always much flexed anteriorly ; hinge similar, formed “a by two oblique teeth, one short, cardinal or apicial, the other pest-apicial, long, lamellous and arcuated ; ligament elongated, subexterior and inserted, two very distinct muscular impressions, united by a palleal band, narrow and semicircular. Inhabits the Mediterranean. Cardita Ajar. C. squamosa. . C. crassicosta, | Twenty-one living species. Four fossil. Cardita sulcata. C. turgida. C. phrenetica, CONCHOLOGY. 57 C. calyculata. C. rufescens. C. nodulosa. C. subaspera. C. trepezia. C. intermedia. C. depressa. C. bicolor. C. sinuata. C. concamerata. C. citrina. C. aviculina. Corbularis. C. sublevigata. C, lithophagella. » 3. Genus Cypricardia. Animal. As above. Shell. Obliquely elongated, equivalve, inequilateral ; valves striated, not ribbed; distinguished from the Cardita by having three teeth beneath the apices, and a callous lengthened tooth or ridge. Inhabits the coast of Guinea. Four living species. Three fossil. Cypricardia angulata. Cypricardia coralliophaga. C. Guinaica. C. rostrata. 4. Genus Hiatella. Animal. Unknown. Shell. Thin, elongated, subrhomboidal, equivalve, very ine- quilateral, gaping at its inferior edge, and at its posterior extre- mity ; summit very anterior, and much flexed to the front; hinge formed of a single tooth upon one valve corresponding to an emargination in the opposite valve, or of a small tooth with a cardinal pit upon each valve; ligament exterior and dorsal. Inha- bits the British seas. ‘Two species. Hiatella Arctica. Hiatella biaperta. 5. Genus Isoeardia. Animal. Body very thick: edges of the mantle finely papilia- ceous, separated inferiorly, and united behind by a transverse band, pierced with two orifices surrounded with radiating papille ; foot small, compressed, trenchant. Shell. Free, regular, inflated, equivalve, very inequilateral, with diverging summits, strongly flexed anteriorly and outwardly, 58 CONCHOLOGY. in a commencing spiral, hinge dorsal, long, similar, formed of two flat cardinal teeth and one lamellous behind the ligament ; ligament dorsal, exterior, diverging anteriorly towards the sum- mit; muscular impressions very distant and small. Inhabits the Mediterranean and British seas. Four living species. One fossil. Isocardia Moltikana. Isocardia cor. I. retusum, I. semisulcata. FAMILY XI. Arcacesa. Four Genera. 1. Genus Arca. Animal. Body thick, slightly variable in form ; abdomen pro- vided with a pedunculated foot, compressed, fit for adhesion, and cleft throughout its extent; mantle supplied with a simple row of cirrhi and slightly prolonged posteriorly ; buccal tentacula very small and very thin. Shell. Somewhat diversiform, but most usually elongated and more or less oblique at the posterior extremity, often very inequi- lateral ; summits more or less distant and little flexed to the front ; hinge anomalous, straight, or a little flexed, long and formed by a line of short vertical teeth, decreasing from the extremities to the centre ; ligament exterior, wide, nearly as much before as behind the summit; two muscular impressions united by a band or palleal impression, not very distinct. Inhabits the American and British seas. Thirty-seven living species. Nine fossil. Arca semitorta. Arca inequivalvis. A. tetragona. _ A. tortuosa. A sinuata. A. Noe. A. cardissa. A. umbonata, A. retusa. A. avellana. A. ovata. A. ventricosa. A. scapha. A. sulcata. A. fusca. A. Helbingii. A. Domingensis. A. barbata. A. trapezina. A. Magellanica. CONCHOLOGY. 59 A. pisolina. A. lactea. A. callifera. A. cancellaria. A. bisulcata. “sj A. irudina. A. senilis. . A. rhombea. A. auriculata. A. corbicula. A. Cayennensis. A. Indica. A. antiquata. A. granosa. A. Braziliana. A. squamosa. A. pistachia. 2. Genus Cucullea. Animal. As above. Shell. Trapeziform, inequilateral, equivalve, heart-shaped ; beaks far apart, separated by the angular groove of the ligament, which is altogether external; hinge linear, straight, with small transverse teeth, having at its extremity from two to five parallel ribs ; valves minutely striated longitudinally ; margins crenulated. The Cucullea is distinguished from the Arca by the muscular impression, to one side of which is an auriform testaceous appen- dage; the shell also is more trapeziform. Inhabits the Indian ocean. One living species. One fossil. Cucullea auriculifera. 3. Genus Pectunculus. Animal. Body round, more or less compressed; mantle with- out cirrhi or tubes; foot securiform, cleft at its inferior anterior edge; buccal appendages linear. Shell. Orbicular, equivalve, subequilateral; summit nearly vertical, and more or less distant ; hinge formed upon each valve, of a numerous series of small teeth disposed-in a curved line, sometimes interrupted beneath the summit; ligament as in Arca, but usually much narrower. Inhabits the British and Mediterra- nean seas. ‘Twenty-two living species. Nine fossil. Pectunculus pilosus. Pectunculus pennaceus. P. marmoratus. P. castaneus. P. angulatus. . P. striatularis. P. palleus. ) P. pectinatus. P. zonalis. P. rubeus. i ; 60 CONCHOLOGY. P, glycimeris. P. pectiniformis. P. undulatus. — P. nummarius. P. scriptus. P. radiaus. P. stellatus. P. vitreus. P. violacescens. P. inscriptus. P, aggregatus. P, cinerosus. 4, Genus Wucula. Animal. Body subtriquetral; mantle open in its inferior half only, with whole edges, denticulated throughout the extent of the back, without posterior prolongation; foot very large, thin at the root, enlarged into a wide oval disk, the edges of which are fur- nished with tentacular digitations; anterior buccal appendages, pretty long, pointed, stiff, and applied one against: the other like jaws ; the posterior ones also stiff and vertical. Shell. More or less thick, subtriquetral, equivalved, inequilat eral, with summits contiguous and inclined anteriorly; hinge similar, formed by a numerous series of very sharp teeth, pecti- nated and arranged in a line interrupted under the summit ; liga- ment internal, short, inserted in a little oblique pit in each valve ; two muscular impressions. Inhabits the British seas. Forty living species. Four fossil. Nucula lanceolata. Nucula rostrata. N. pella. N. Nicobarica. N. obliqua. N. Margaritacea. N. elongata. N. costellata. N. tellinoides. N. gibbosa. N. crenifera, N. eburnea. N. arctica. N. polita. N. curvirostra. N. nasuta. N. glacialis. N. fabula. N. fluviatilis. N. Elenensis. N. minuta. N. cuneata. N. paras N. striata. N. Mauritiania. N. rugulosa. N. limatula. N. nitida. N., levis. N. tenuis. CONCHOLOGY. 61 N. concentrica. N. convexa. N. decussata. N. Pisum. N. exijua. N. carinifera. N. squamosa. N. torta. N. gigantea. N. plicarla. FAMILY XII. Tricgonacea. ‘Two genera. 1. Genus Trigonia. Animal. Entirely unknown. Shell. Subtrigonal or suborbicular, thick, regular, equivalve, inequilateral; summits but slightly prominent, little flexed, ante- rodorsal ; hinge complex, dorsal, dissimilar ; two thick oblong teeth joined angularly under the summit, strongly furrowed upon the right valve, penetrating into two excavations of the same form, also furrowed, in the left valve ; ligament postapicial ; two distinct muscular impressions, not united by a band. -Inhabits the Aus- tralian seas. One living species. Fifteen fossil species. Trigonia pectinata. 2. Genus Castalia. Animal. Body large, slightly compresssed, or moderately thick, more or less oval; mantle with thick edges, simple or broken, open in all its circumference except towards the back; a kind of small, incomplete tube, furnished with two rows of somewhat elongated cirrhi for the respiratory cavity; flamelliform and tren- chant. Shell. Subtrigonal, equivalve, inequilateral ; umbones eroded, covered with epidermis, and flexed anteriorly; hinge with two lamellar teeth transversly striated, one distant, posterior and short- ened, the other anterior, long, and lateral; ligament exterior. Habitation unknown. One species. Castalia ambigua. 7 62 CONCHOLOGY. FAMILY XIII. NarapgEa. Four genera. 1. Genus Unio. Animal. See Castalia. Shell. Usually very thick, nacred within, covered with epider- mis, corroded at the summits, which are dorsal and subanterior ; dorsal hinge formed by a double precardinal tooth, more or less compressed, irregularly dentated on the left valve, and simple on the right, together with a long lamellous tooth under the ligament ; ligament external, dorsal and postapicial ; two muscular impres- sions, well marked, besides those of the retractile muscles. The species of this genus grow more numerous daily ; they are found in all countries, but particularly in North America. One hundred and sixty-seven defined species. Numerous fossil. Unio Batavus. Unio crassidens. U. crassissimus. U. obliquus. U. elongatus. U. plicatus. U. litoralis. U. purpuratus. U. pictorum. U. radiatus. U. platyrhnchus. U. rectus. U. marginalis. — U. retusus. U. Leaii. U. rotundatus. U. tigris. U. Australis. U. Egyptiacus. U. Nova Hollandica. U. Niloticus. The following species are American. Unio Bengalensis. Lea. U. lamellatus. Lea. U. bilineatus. Herts U. Morchisonianus. _ ,, U. ceruleus. 99 U. olivarus. a U. corrugatus. - U. ponderosus. = U. Corrianus. ¥ U. divaricatus. 3 U. Graianus. Se U. acutissimus, 3 U. alatus. 5 U. fabalis. U. andontoides. * U. Fisherianus. - augustatus. . apiculatus. . arceeformis. - arctior. . asperrimus. . asper. U U U. Blandingianus. U . Barnesianus. . brevidens. . camelus. U. capseformis. . carbonarius. - castanus. . claibornensis. . circulus. . occineus. . compressus. . complanatus. . confertus. . congareus. U, contradens. Cooperianus. U. creperus. U. cuprinus. U. Cumberlandicus, . decisus. U. dolabriformis. . donaciformis. U. Dorfeuillianus. . uromas. U. ebenus. . elegans. . ellipsis. ’, modiolioformis. U U U. multiradiatus. U U . notatus. U. Novi-Eboraci. CONCHOLOGY. Lea. U. folliculatus. U. fulvus. U., gibber. U. glaber. U. glans. U. globosus. U. graniferus. U. Griffithianus. U. Haysianus. U. heterodon. U. Hildrethianus. U. Hopetonensis. U. Hydianus. U. inflatus. U. interruptus. U. iris. U. irroratus. U. Jayensis. U. jegunus. U. Katherine. U. Kirklandianus. U. levissimus. U. lacrymosus. U. lancolatus. U. Lecontianus. U. lens. U. lugubris. U. luteolus.: U. Medellinus. U. Menkianus. U. metanever. U. Mihlfeldianus. U. multiplicatus. U. subovatus. U. subrotundus. U. sulcatus. U. Taitianus. U. obesus. Lea. U. Tampicoensis. Lea. U. obsurus. e U. Tappanianus. _s,, U. occidens. 3 U. teniassimus. U. palliatus. 3 U. trapezoides. ; U. patulus. AS U. trigonus. * U. stapes. = U. Troostensis. U. perdix. - U. turgidus. ES U. perplexus.. “A U. Vanuxemensis. _,, U. pictus. :, U. varicosus. ” U. pileus. is U. Vaughanianus. __,, U. pliciferus. is U. venustus. ys U. pulcher. 5 U. Watercensis. ns U. pumilis. > U. Zeiglerianus. ‘ U. pustulatus. 5 U. zigzag. 99 U. pustulosus. x U. alatus. Say. U. pyramidatus. U. Rangianus. U. Ravenelianus. U. Roanokensis. U. rubigunosus. U. Schoolcraftensis. U. securis. U. Shepardianus. U. simus. U. solidus. U. Sowerbianus. U. spinosus. U, splendidus.