The Band Shells - shell, lines, aperture, whorls and dark

THE BAND SHELLS Genus FASCIOLARIA, Lam.

Shell spindle-shaped, with sharp spire, and long, oval aperture ending in an open, straight or twisted canal; body whorl swollen; surface spirally banded; columella smooth, with a few anterior, oblique plaits; lip crenulated within; operculum claw-shaped, filling the aperture. Animal as in Fusus, slow of movement, crawling on mud flats or burying all but the tip of the spire in the sand. Conspicuously large and handsome shells, distributed in shallows of all warm seas. Species, fourteen living, thirty fossil.

The Orange Band Shell (F. aurantiaca, Lam.) is buff orange mottled with white in an irregular pattern. The whorls are keeled and set with blunt nodules. Fine dark lines in pairs wind spirally from the apex. This showy species, called "the Persian 58 The Spindle Shells and Band Shells Vest" in Lamarck's day, is known in cabinets, but its habitat is uncertain.. Tryon doubtfully names Brazil and Cape of Good Hope. Length, 3 to 5 inches.

The Tulip Band Shell (F. tulipa, Linn.) is found in shallow water, on pebbly coasts where water is calm and algae grow. A collector found several feeding upon a dead king crab. They made valiant attempts to escape, striking viciously about with their operculums.

This is one of the handsomest of our native shells, the equal of any garden tulip, in form, if not in coloration. The graceful rounded whorls taper away from the swollen centre to a sharp spire and a straight canal. The surface is smooth, closely wound with the pairs of dark hair lines that characterise the family. Wavy lines of gray cross the whorls, over these are distinct ir regularly broken longitudinal bands of bright chestnut or darker brown. In fact, colour and design vary greatly. A uniform dark mahogany form is found. The thin lip is finely scalloped. The columella is narrow, with three oblique folds. The aperture has a flesh-coloured lining. Length, 4 to 8 inches.

Habitat.— North Carolina to West Indies.

Var. distans, Lam., has its revolving dark lines wide apart on the whorls. It is a much smaller, smoother shell, and more delicately painted, but similarly shaped and marked. It fre quents the same localities. It feeds upon Vermetus, thrusting its long proboscis into the limy tubes of the "worm shell" and sucking out the soft parts.

The Giant Band Shell (F. gigantea, Kiener) is one of the largest known univalves. Its shell is a ponderous affair, impres sive in size and weight. The surface is yellowish under a horny brown epidermis. The aperture is a uniform orange-red, showing no lines. The dark revolving lines are close outside. The keel of each whorl bears large, remote, low tubercles. This is the only adversary that comes off victorious in an encounter with Melon gena corona. Superior size and strength overcome the fighter, which is smothered. Length, 1 to 2 feet.

Habitat.— North Carolina to West Indies and Brazil.

The Prince Band Shell (F. princeps, Sby.) is a giant of the tropical west coast of America. It is very graceful in form, its keeled whorls strongly ridged and deeply grooved. The exterior is a rich brown, with a persistent epidermis. The orange-red 59 The Spindle Shells and Band Shells aperture is scored with groups of raised parallel red lines, making it look like blank music paper. Length, 6 to 9 inches.

Habitat.— Panama to Mazatlan.

The Salmon-coloured Band Shell (F. salmo, Wood) has a low spire, trimmed-with nodules, a wide aperture notched above, with crimped lip, a straight canal, and columella bearing two strong plaits. Exterior salmon-yellow, with thin brownish epid ermis. The body is bright red. Length, 4 to 5 inches.

Panama to Mexico.