M. dactylus. The six-plaited Mitre.
Species oval, spire very short, and generally latticed.
M. tæniata. The riband Mitre.
Species flaring, turreted, ribbed; spire more than half the length of the shell; aperture very narrow, long, sub-canaliculated, with one plait.
3. Voluta. The Volute or Wreath. 44 species.
This genus, as established by Linnæus, included shells of different families, promiscuously blended together, rendering it difficult to determine satisfactorily respecting shells under examination. As arranged and classified by Lamarck, it is still a numerous and beautiful genus, containing some of the most rare and costly shells, particularly V. Junonia or Peacock Volute, of which very few are known. They vary considerably in size; some are very minute, and others large; they are found chiefly in the seas of the torrid zone or southern hemisphere.
Shell oval, more or less ventricose; the first whorls of the spire mamillose; aperture in general much more long than wide, strongly and obliquely notched anteriorly; the right edge a little reflected, entire; the columellar edge excavated, and adorned with great plaits, more or less oblique, and a little variable in number with age.
Voluta nautica.
V. diadema.
V. armata.