The Melon Shells
THE MELON SHELLS Genus MELO, Linn.
Shell large, thin, ventricose, ovate; spire short, depressed, with knobbed apex; whorls few, smooth, angled, coronated or 84 The Volutes and Melon Shells not, posteriorly; aperture wide, oblong; columella with several oblique folds; outer lip simple, acute, cut off in front. Tropical carnivorous genus of three distinct species. The young are ar ranged in strings, without egg-shells, in the oviduct of the parent, where they hatch and attain some degree of growth before being extruded.
The Indian Melon Shell (M. Indica, Gmel.) is lemon or orange yellow, smooth, with some blotches of brown in three obscure zones outside. The distinction of this species is the drawing in of the posterior edge of the last whorl until it nearly obliterates all signs of the very small spire. Length, 6 to 9 inches.
Indian Ocean.
The Diadem Melon Shell (M. diadema, Lam.) has a diadem of stout, erect spines, set far apart around its depressed spire. The ground colour is yellow, marked with zigzag lines and irreg ular patches of chestnut. Three revolving bars of dark chest nut cross the longitudinal zigzags. The lining is plain orange. This shell is so deeply concave as to hold nearly a gallon of water. Length, 6 to 13 inches.
Indian Ocean, Australia.
Genus CYMBIUM, Klein Shell oval-oblong, ventricose, thin; spire short, depressed, deeply channelled, the outer whorl forming a flat edge encircling the globose nucleus; aperture oblong, wide; lip thin, flaring, simple; columella with several oblique plaits. Animal large;
foot partially covering shell which is embedded in it; mantle reflected over shell; operculum, none. Four species. A peculi arity of the genus is that the shelly matter is deposited not only by the mantle but also by the great foot.
Habitat.—West Africa.
The Snout Cymbium (C. proboscidale, Lam.) is a large, thin, yellowish shell, with the characters of the genus. When alive the shell has a glaze deposited upon it by the enveloping mantle.
The young are hatched within the parent's oviduct, and remain there until the shells are an inch long. A brood consists of four or five. When they are cast forth to take care of them 85 The Volutes and Melon Shells selves they are fairly able to do so. High shore winds are apt to bring in quantities of this mollusk's fry, called "yet." The natives of Senegal use them for food. Length, 8 to 12 inches.
Coast of Africa.
A smaller species, C. olla, Linn., 3 to 5 inches long, inhabits the Mediterranean coasts of Spain and Northwest Africa. It is of a pale tawny colour.
C. Neptune, Gmel., 6 to io inches long, is yedowish or brownish red. C. cisum, Lam., is pale brown, elegantly marbled with chestnut. It is 3 to 5 inches long. Both are found on the west coast of Africa.
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