One more typical species may be noted, namely, Murex erinaceus (Fig. 288), which is found on all the coasts of Europe, and especially in the Channel. Other species worthy of notice are found in the Mediterranean and the Adriatic, some of them, according to Cuvier and de Blainville, species which furnished the true Tyrian purple of the ancients; but our space prevents us from dwelling on them.
Fig. 289. Triton variegatum (Lam.). Fig. 290. Triton lotorium (Linn.). Fig. 291. Triton anus (Lam.).
The Tritons are ranged beside the genus Murex in the system. Their shell is irregularly covered with scattered swelling excrescences, not, as in Murex, in longitudinal rows, but scattered all over the surface. About one hundred species of Triton are known. They inhabit many seas, but more especially those in warm countries. Triton variegatum, vulgarly called the Marine Trumpet (Fig. 289), is a very large shell, which even attains a length of sixteen inches; it is enamelled with great elegance in white, red, and tawny-brown. They come from the Indian Ocean, where they are very common. Triton lotorium (Fig. 290) is of a reddish brown externally and white within. The Triton anus (Fig. 291) is of a whitish colour, spotted with red.
Fig. 292. Fusus proboscidiferus (Lam.).
Fig. 293. Fusus pagodus (Lesson).
Fig. 294. Fusus colus.
The genus Fusus, or spindle shells, is distinguished by the elegance of its form rather than by the brilliancy of its colours. They are spindle-shaped, spire many-whorled, canal long, operculum egg-shaped. Among the more remarkable species may be noted Fusus proboscidiferus (Fig. 292), Fusus pagodus (Fig. 293), and Fusus colus (Fig. 294).
The sixth family is Strombidæ, of which we give as types, Rostellaria, Pteroceras, and Strombus. Strombus is a marine shell, belonging to Equatorial seas, of whose habits and manners very little is known. It is probable that they are long-lived, for their shells, when found perfect, have acquired a very considerable thickness and weight. They are even found encrusted in the interior with numerous layers of soft earthy sediment, and covered externally with small corals and other marine productions. Strombus gigas is represented in Figs. 295 and 296.