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Family Tellinidae

SHELL free, compressed, usually equivalve and closed; texture translucent, porcellanous; hinge with two cardinal teeth; ligament external, on short end of shell; pallial sinus deep; foot flat, long, extensible; byssus wanting; mantle fringed, wide open in front; gills small, unequal, outer pair sometimes directed toward the hinge line; siphons long, slender, separate. A large family found just below the surface on sandy or muddy shores of all seas; a few in estuaries and rivers. It contains some of the handsomest of bivalve shells.

Genus TELLINA, Linn.

Shell rounded in front, angled and slightly folded posteriorly; hinge nearly central; valves slightly unequal, siphons twice length of shell; their tips not fringed; gills small, outer ones rudimentary, turned backward. Above three hundred species in all seas; centre of distribution, the Indian Ocean. Tropical species abundant, brilliantly coloured. One hundred and seventy fossil species.

The Sunset Shell (T. radiata, Linn.) also called the "sunrise shell," has its polished white valves painted with three broad divergent rays of pink, extending from beak to margin, in the same way that widening bands of light, glowing with warm colour, stream from the focus of the rising and the setting sun. There is a tinge of yellow about the hinge. In the curio stores on the Florida coasts, and in the West Indies these beautiful shells may be had for a very small price. If they were less abundant we would have to pay higher prices for them. The living mollusks burrow just below the surface, at low water, and anybody can get them by a little digging. The shells require no polishing, and those of our own digging have this advantage over bought specimens: they are not faded by being exposed in sunny shop windows waiting for a buyer.

T. tenera, Say, has flat, fragile, pellucid white or rosy shells, covered with fine concentric lines of growth. The front is rounded; the posterior end slopes abruptly from the beak, forming a blunt-pointed extremity. Chief tooth in each valve grooved. This little mollusk frequents sandy beaches, just below low water mark. Length, 1/2 to 2/3 inch.

Habitat.--Nova Scotia to West Indies.

T. tenta, Say, is a little larger than T. tenera, has a dull white surface, and gapes at the narrow, posterior end.

Habitat.--Massachusetts to South Carolina.

T. alternata, Say, is a much larger clam, with flat, broad valves, scored with growth lines, every other one obsolete on the posterior area, which is set off by a straight angular ridge extending diagonally out from the beak. Colour, yellowish white or rosy. Length, 2 to 3 inches.

Habitat.--North Carolina to West Indies.

T. modesta, Verrill, is pinkish, white, or tinged with yellow, often in bands following the close lines of growth. The surface is polished, and iridescent. The beaks are small and set far back. A sharp angle subtends the flat, posterior area. The teeth of the hinge are strong, two-cleft. Length, 1 inch.

Habitat.--Puget Sound, New England.

T. polita, Say, is a shiny little white shell with minute concentric surface wrinkles. The umbones are nearly midway between the rounded front and the pointed posterior end of each valve. Length, 2/3 inch.

Habitat.--North Carolina southward.

T. iris, Say, is a fragile, iridescent, white shell, with a few rosy rays and circles faintly colouring the valves. The margins are smooth and sharp; above, the surface is wrinkled and cross-ridged. Length 1/2 inch.

Habitat.--North Carolina southward.

The Leaf Tellina (T. foliacea, Linn.) dull brown with scaly pointed posterior surface, is unlike other species. Though from the Moluccas and other remote islands, it is well known to collectors. Length, 4 to 5 inches.

The Crested Tellina (T. cristata, Recluz) has a solid, triangular shell, with a pointed ruffle like a cock's notched comb all along the dorsal line. This is a rare white species, described by Reeve, who did not know where it came from.

T. elegans, Wood, resembles T. radiata, in its polished, pink-rayed shell, but it has greater depth and roundness in its ventral surface, and a peculiar "elegant twist" of the elongated shell.

Habitat.--Gulf of Mexico.

The Rasp Tellina (T. scorbinata, Linn.) is almost circular in outline, and the surface is covered with small, triangular, raised scales. The general colour is yellowish, painted with large regular spots of brown in a rayed arrangement. Diameter, 2 to 3 inches.

Habitat.--Society and Philippine Islands.

The Purple Tellina (T. purpurescens, Brod. and Sby.) is remarkable for the deep, rich rose-purple of the shell, inside and out. White, scaly granulations rise all over the surface; the dorsal margin has a white border. Length, 3 inches.

Habitat.--Central America.

The Prince Tellina (T. princeps, Hanley) is vividly red with white margins. The fine cancellations of the surface are not scaly nor white. Length, 4 inches.