Volume I Part 4 (1/2)
[Ill.u.s.tration]
STROMBUS.
GENERIC CHARACTER.
_Testa ventricosa; basis ca.n.a.li brevi, truncato vel emarginato; labium exterius simpliciter alatum, ala ad basin inferne emarginata; supra dilatata._
_Animal marinum, carnivorum, trachelipodum; corpore spirali; pede compresso ad cervicis basin inferiorem._ Leach in Zool. Misc. vol. i.
p. 51.
Typus Genericus _S. pugilis._ Linn.
Sh.e.l.l ventricose; base with a short ca.n.a.l, which is either emarginate or truncate; external lip dilated into a simple wing, notched at the base, and prominent above.
Animal marine, carnivorous; body spiral, with a compressed foot at the inferior base of the neck.
Generic Type _S. pugilis._ Linn.
STROMBUS minimus.
_Little Strombus--central figures._
_S. testa nodose plicata; spira subtilissime striata; labio interiore reflecto, incra.s.sato, supra obtuse-ac.u.minato; exteriore intra laevi, supra alte-lobato, anfractui secundo spirali adjuncto._
Sh.e.l.l with nodulous plaits; the spire finely striated; inner lip thickened and reflected, and obtusely pointed above. Outer lip smooth within, deeply lobed above, attached to the second spiral volution.
_Lister_ 859. 15. _Chemnitz. tab._ 156. _fig._ 1491, 1492. _Rumph.
tab._ 36, P. _Gualtieri, tab._ 32, G.
Strombus marginatus. _Dillwyn's Cat._ p. 665. no. 18.
A pretty and diminutive species, scarcely ever more than one inch three lines long. The spire long in proportion, and occupying half an inch: when in perfection the colour is a deep chesnut, minutely broken into finely serrated darker lines, with one, two, or three interrupted bands of white on the body whorl, the spire, and margin of the outer lip paler; there are two or three nodules above; and the spiral volutions have the carinated row of tubercles usual in the _Strombi_, and are besides finely striated transversely. The base of the sh.e.l.l is more deeply and distinctly striated; both the lips are much thickened, tumid, white, and highly polished; terminating above in obtuse points on the second spiral whorl, leaving a narrow ascending channel between; the inside of the aperture is a fine yellow.
Inhabits the Indian seas, but is not common.
By some unaccountable oversight, Mr. Dillwyn has very well described this sh.e.l.l, but under the name and supposition of its being the _S. marginatus_ of Linnaeus; though a few pages after he brings all the true synonyms referring to his sh.e.l.l, under a description purporting to be that of _S.
minimus_, but which in reality is more applicable to our next species. Why this writer should doubt the correctness of Gmelin, Chemnitz, &c.
respecting the true _S. marginatus_ of Linnaeus, does not appear, particularly as he has subst.i.tuted for it a well known species. I have little doubt myself they all mean one and the same sh.e.l.l, which is nothing more than a scarce variety of _S. accinctus_, now before me, with which Linnaeus's original description pretty well agrees.
STROMBUS variabilis.