SOLEN.
17
very short, enclosed in a sheath, speckled with brown, and
encircled near the orifices by two rows of irregular cirri : gills
narrow, nearly of equal size, and adhering throughout : palps
pale bro^vn, thin and delicate, smooth outside and striated
within : foot of a dull reddish hue, obliquely sloping at the
extremity, which is studded with very minute papillse, and
covered with meandering red-brown lines in the interstices
liver brown and granular.
Shell resembling in shape a French bean with the ends
cut off, of nearly equal diameter, opaque, glossy and partially
iridescent : sculpture, slight and irregular striae in the line of
growth, set at two different angles ; those in front are parallel
with the curve of the shell, while the striae on the dorsal area
or diagonal compartment run in an opposite direction : colour
yellowish-white, with numerous reddish-brown longitudinal
streaks crossing the dorsal area : epideirais membranous, yellowish-green, thicker in front than at the back : mcirgins
equally curved before and behind, truncated at each side, but
more rounded at the anterior end, which is slightly constricted ;
dorsal area nearly equal in size to the rest of the shell : heaks
inconspicuous, placed close to the anterior side : ligament very
long and narrow, yellowish-brown : Jiinge-line straight: hingeplate long, strengthened by a rib in each valve to support the
ligament, and thickened at the anterior end: teeth, in the
right valve an erect and wedge-like cardinal, enclosed in the
left by two much stronger and nipper-like cardinals ; laterals one in either valve, long, rib-like, erect at its extremity,
and somewhat bent, that of the left valve overlapping the
other : inside nacreous ; edges thin : pallial scar distinct,
with a shallow sinus at the posterior end : muscular scars
of unequal size ; the anterior linear, posterior oval. L. 0"5.
B. 3-75.
Habitat : Sandy bays from 3 to 20 f. Fossil in all
our upper tertiaries, as well as in Norway and Italy.
Its European distribution in a living state extends from
the Faroe Isles (Landt) to Sicily (Maravigna) and the
Black Sea (Eichwald) ; Algeria (Deshayes and Weinkauff) ; Canada and the United States (Bell, Gould, and
others) .
The range of depth is from 2 to 20 f, in the
north, and from 4 to 40 f. in the south of Europe.
17
very short, enclosed in a sheath, speckled with brown, and
encircled near the orifices by two rows of irregular cirri : gills
narrow, nearly of equal size, and adhering throughout : palps
pale bro^vn, thin and delicate, smooth outside and striated
within : foot of a dull reddish hue, obliquely sloping at the
extremity, which is studded with very minute papillse, and
covered with meandering red-brown lines in the interstices
liver brown and granular.
Shell resembling in shape a French bean with the ends
cut off, of nearly equal diameter, opaque, glossy and partially
iridescent : sculpture, slight and irregular striae in the line of
growth, set at two different angles ; those in front are parallel
with the curve of the shell, while the striae on the dorsal area
or diagonal compartment run in an opposite direction : colour
yellowish-white, with numerous reddish-brown longitudinal
streaks crossing the dorsal area : epideirais membranous, yellowish-green, thicker in front than at the back : mcirgins
equally curved before and behind, truncated at each side, but
more rounded at the anterior end, which is slightly constricted ;
dorsal area nearly equal in size to the rest of the shell : heaks
inconspicuous, placed close to the anterior side : ligament very
long and narrow, yellowish-brown : Jiinge-line straight: hingeplate long, strengthened by a rib in each valve to support the
ligament, and thickened at the anterior end: teeth, in the
right valve an erect and wedge-like cardinal, enclosed in the
left by two much stronger and nipper-like cardinals ; laterals one in either valve, long, rib-like, erect at its extremity,
and somewhat bent, that of the left valve overlapping the
other : inside nacreous ; edges thin : pallial scar distinct,
with a shallow sinus at the posterior end : muscular scars
of unequal size ; the anterior linear, posterior oval. L. 0"5.
B. 3-75.
Habitat : Sandy bays from 3 to 20 f. Fossil in all
our upper tertiaries, as well as in Norway and Italy.
Its European distribution in a living state extends from
the Faroe Isles (Landt) to Sicily (Maravigna) and the
Black Sea (Eichwald) ; Algeria (Deshayes and Weinkauff) ; Canada and the United States (Bell, Gould, and
others) .
The range of depth is from 2 to 20 f, in the
north, and from 4 to 40 f. in the south of Europe.