THE PHEASANT SHELLS - FAMILY PHASIANELLIDAE. Genus PHASIAN ELLA, Lam.
Nobody will be surprised to read that the home of this genus is in the Philippines and Australia. No pheasant's plumage exhibits more variety of colours, more intricacy of pattern than the polished surfaces of these shells. Even the northern species, though very small, exhibit wonderful beauty of decoration. The dark rich colours almost cover the pale ground colour, but leave enough showing for effective contrast.
These mollusks are distinguished by a peculiarity of gait shared with certain top shells. They move one side of the foot at a time in gliding, one side remaining stationary with each "step." To most people "a snail's pace" is a metaphor, meaning a rate rather than a method of progress. The pheasant's gait is a pace, quite within the technical definition of the most exacting turfman. Without seeing it, we may imagine it a peculiar system of tacking from left to right, alternately, for the creature has but one foot, and the contractions must wag the head, if not the whole body, from side to side: The Australian Pheasant Shell (P. Australis, Gmel.) is the largest of its family, 2 to 4 inches long and I to 2 inches in greatest diameter. Great variety of colouring exists within the species. Under the rich, dark bands and within the oval aperture shows the white china-like under-stratum.
European and North American pheasants are seen with great est satisfaction under a microscope. P. pulla, Linn., less than 1 inch long, occurs from England to the Azores and on Mediter 207 The Pheasant Shells ranean and Adriatic beaches. Some have rosy patterns, others brown and yellow, others purplish and drab. P. tenuis, Mich. is a trifle longer, its whorls rounded, the pattern blending red and yellow on a pale ground. Mediterranean and Adriatic shores.
Florida and the West Indies and California have represen tatives of this genus, all very small shells, but graceful and prettily marked. P. affinis, C. B. Ads., i inch in height, is regularly dotted with pink, with broad longitudinal dull streaks clouding the pale ground colour. P. tessellata, smaller but much stouter in shape, is checkered with red lines crossing at right angles, and white figures, elongated or crescent shaped, are regu larly scattered on its whorls. P. umbilicata, d'Orb., dotted and blotched with red on a white ground, is provided with a deep umbilicus. Cuba and Florida.
On the California coast P. compta, Gld., a very small pheas ant shell, with elongated spire, has longitudinal banding of purple or gray crossed by fine spiral lines of rose or drab. This species occurs in several distinct varieties.
Sandy beaches yield plenty of the dead shells, whose beauty can only be enjoyed by using a lens. The living creatures may be collected from the blades of sea grass.
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