A.

Abbreviated, shortened, cut short.

Abdomen, the belly.

Aculeated, furnished with, or ending in, prickles.

Acuminated, ending in a sharp point sharp pointed.

Adnate, adhering or growing together, adjoining.

Alated, winged, applied to the expanded lip of the Strombus genus, &c.

Ambitus, the circumference or outline of the valves.

Annulated, formed or divided into distinct rings.

Annulations, rings.

Antiquated, longitudinally furrowed, but interrupted by transverse furrows, as if the shell had acquired new growth at each furrow.

Aperture, the mouth or opening of the shell.

Apex, the tip or point of the spire.

Apophysis, an excrescence.

Approximating, approaching near to, or near together.

Arcuated, bent in the form of an arch.

Arcuations, bendings, curvings.

Area, the surface contained between lines or boundaries.

Arenose, sandy.

Areola, a small area or circle.

Articulations, junctures, or joinings.

Ascititious, supplemental, additional.

Attenuated, thin, slender.

Aurated, eared, having ears as in the scallops.

Auricled, having appendages like ears.

Auriform, ear-shaped.

B.

Barb, anything that grows in place of a beard.

Base, in univalves, that part of the shell by which it is affixed to rocks, &c., and in multivalves the opposite extremity to the apex. In univalves, the opposite end to the apex.

Beak, the continuation of the body of univalves in which the canal is situated.

Beard, the process by which some bivalves adhere to rocks, &c.

Bellying, distended in the middle.

Bi, prefixed to any word, signifies two.

Biangulated, having two corners or angles.

Bicuspid, having two points.

Bidentate, having two teeth.

Bifid, opening with a cleft.

Bifarious, parting in opposite directions.

Bilabiate, furnished both with an outer and inner lip.

Bilobate, divided into two lobes.

Bimarginate, furnished with a double margin as far as the lip.

Biradiate, having two rays.

Bivalve, consisting of two valves or divisions.

Blotched, spotted in an irregular way.

Blunt, obtuse, opposed to acute.

Borer, a piercer.

Brinded, streaked.

Bulging, gibbous, swollen out.

Bullate, of a blistered appearance.

Byssus, a beard, common in the Mytilus and Pinna.

C.

Calcareous, relating to lime, of a limy nature.

Callosity, a protuberance.

Callus, is composed of two short ribs, united at the base, and converging at the apex towards the hinder part of the shell.

Campanulate, bell-shaped.

Canaliculated, made like a pipe or gutter.

Cancellated, longitudinally and transversely ribbed.

Carinate, having a longitudinal prominence like the keel of a vessel.

Carinated, keeled.

Cartilage, a flexible fibrous substance by which the valves are united, situated near the beak.

Cauda, the elongated base of the venter, lip, and columella.

Cicatrix, the glossy impression in the inside of the valves, to which the muscles of the animal are affixed.

Ciliate, edged with parallel hairs, bristles, or appendages, like the eyelids.

Cinereous, of ash colour, of the colour of wood ashes.

Clavate, club-shaped, thicker towards the top, elongated towards the base.

CochleÆ, shells of one piece, univalves.

Cochleate, twisted like a screw or the shell of a snail.

Columella, the upright pillar in the centre of most of the univalve shells.

Commissure, a joint or seam.

Complicated, doubled together.

Compressed, perpendicularly squeezed together, in opposition to depressed, which is horizontally flattened.

Concamerated, arched over, vaulted.

Concamerations, divided into compartments, as in the Nautili.

Concave, hollowed out like a bowl.

Concentric, running to a centre.

ConchÆ, shells consisting of two or more pieces or valves, bivalves, or multivalves.

Cone, the form of a sugar-loaf.

Confluent, running together.

Conoid, a figure like a cone, sugar-loaf-shaped.

Contorted, twisted, or incumbent on each other, in an oblique direction.

Contracted, shortened, shrunk up.

Convoluted, rolled upon itself, twisted spirally, like a piece of paper rolled between the finger and thumb.

Cordate, heart-shaped.

Cordiform, resembling the form of a heart.

Coriaceous, of a leather-like consistence.

Corneous, of a horn colour, resembling a horn.

Coronal, relating to the crown or top.

Coronated, crowned, or girt towards the apex.

Costated, ribbed, having large ribs.

Corpus, the body of the shell, the last or great wreath in which the aperture is situated.

Cortex, the anterior skin or epidermis.

Crenulated, notched at the margin, scalloped.

Crispated, rough with waving lines.

Cuneiform, shaped like a wedge.

Cylindrical, round like a cylinder or a roller.

Cymbiform, boat-shaped.

D.

Decorticated, worn, divested of epidermis or skin.

Decussated, generally applied to striÆ or lines which are crossed, or which intersect each other perpendicularly or horizontally.

Deflexed, bent aside.

Dentary, of or belonging to the teeth.

Dentile, a small tooth, such as the tooth of a saw.

Denticulated, set with small teeth, as in the Arca.

Depressed, pressed down horizontally, low, shallow, flat.

Dexter valve, is the right valve.

Diaphanous, transparent, clear, pellucid.

Digitated, fingered or clawed, as in the lobes of the outer lip of the Strombi, &c.

Disk, the middle part of the valves, or that which lies between the umbo and the margin.

Divaricated, straddling, spreading out widely.

Divergent, tending to various parts or directions from one point.

Dorsum, the back; it generally means the upper surface of the body of the shell, when laid upon the aperture or opening. In the genera of Patella and Haliotis, the back means the upper convex surface.

Dotted, punctured like a thimble.

Duplicated, divided into plaits or folds.

Duplicature, a fold, anything doubled.

E.

Echinated, bristled like a hog, set with spines.

Effuse, spread out.

Elliptical, having the form of an ellipsis, oval.

Elongated, lengthened, drawn out.

Emarginate, } with the edge or margin notched.
Emarginated, }

Ensiform, sabre-shaped.

Entire, whole, uninterrupted, not divided.

Epidermis, the outer coating or scarfskin of the shell.

Equidistant, being at the same distance.

Equilateral, having all sides alike.

Equivalve, having both valves of equal dimensions.

Exolete, worn or faded.

Exserted, standing out, protruding.

Extraneous, not belonging to a particular thing.

F.

Falcated, bent or hooked like a scythe.

Fasciated, filleted, or covered with bands.

Fascicled, clustered together as in a bundle.

Fasciculated, consisting of little bundles.

Fastigate, flat and even at top.

Faux, what can be seen of the cavity of the first chamber of the shell, by looking in at the aperture.

Ferruginous, of an iron colour, or rust coloured.

Filament, a slender threadlike process.

Filiform, thread-shaped, slender, and of equal thickness.

Fimbriated, fringed.

Fissure, a cleft, a little slit, or narrow chasm.

Flexuous, zigzag, with angles gently winding.

Flexure, a bending.

Fluviatic, of or belonging to a river.

Fluviatile, belonging to fresh water.

Foliaceous, consisting of laminÆ or leaves.

Foliated, bent into laminÆ or leaves.

Fornix, the excavated part under the umbo. It likewise signifies the upper, or convex shell in the Ostrea.

Fragile, brittle, easily broken.

Front, in univalves, when the aperture is turned towards the observer.

Furcated, forked.

Furrow, a small trench or hollow.

Fuscated, darkened, obscured.

Fusiform, spindle-shaped, intermediate between the conical and oval.

G.

Gap, an opening in bivalves when the valves are shut as in the Pholades, MyÆ, &c.

Geminated, marked with a double elevated striÆ connecting the wreaths.

Geniculate, keeled.

Genus, an assemblage of species possessing certain characters in common, by which they are distinguished from all others.

Genera, the plural of genus.

Gibbous, bulged or bulging.

Glabrous, smooth, having a smooth surface.

Globose, globular.

Granulated, beaded, in small grains or beads.

Groove, a hollow channel.

H.

Hemispherical, in the shape of a half globe.

Hirsute, rough, beset with strong hairs.

Heteroclitical, synonymous with heterostrophe.

Heterostrophe, reversed, applied to shells whose spires turn in a contrary direction to the usual way.

Hispid, hairy.

I & J.

Jagged, denticulated, uneven, toothed like a saw.

Imbricate, placed like the tiles of a house.

Imperforated, not pierced with a hole, wanting an umbilicus.

Inequilateral, when the anterior and posterior sides make different angles with the hinge.

Inequivalve, where one valve is more convex than the other, or dissimilar in other respects, as in the common oyster.

Inarticulate, indistinct, not properly formed.

Incumbent, one lying over the other.

Incurved, } bent inward, crooked.
Incurvated, }

Indented, unequally marked, hollowed.

Inflated, tumid, swollen, as if blown out.

Inflected, bent inward.

Indexed, bent towards each other.

Intercostal, placed between the ribs.

Internode, the space between one knot or joint and another.

Interrupted, divided, separated.

Interstice, space between one part and another, a crevice.

Intortion, the turning or twisting in any particular direction.

Involucre, a covering.

Involution, that part which involves or inwraps another.

Involute, where the exterior lip is turned inward at the margin, as in the CyprÆa.

Isabella-colour, a brownish yellow with a shade of brownish red.

Juncture, the joining of the whorl in univalve shells.

K.

Keel, the longitudinal prominence in the Argonauta.

Knob, a protuberance, any part bluntly arising above the rest.

L.

Labra, the lips.

Laciniate, jagged or cut into irregular segments.

Lacunose, having the surface covered with pits.

Lamellar, consisting of films on plates.

Lamellated, divided into distinct plaits or foliations.

LaminÆ, thin plates, laid one coat above another.

Lanceolate, oblong, and gradually tapering like the head of a lance.

Lateral, extending to one side from the centre.

Latticed, having longitudinal lines or furrows, decussate by transverse ones.

Lenticulate, doubly convex, of the form of a lens.

Ligament, a solid body, softer than a cartilage, but harder than a membrane, which connects the valves in bivalves.

Limb, the margin of bivalve shells.

Linear, composed of lines.

Lineate, marked with lines.

Lip, the outer edge of the aperture of univalves.

Littoral, of or belonging to the shore.

Lobated, rounded at the edges.

Longitudinal, the length of the shell from the apex to the base.

Lubricity, slipperiness, smoothness of surface.

Lunated, formed like a half moon.

Lunulated, crescent-shaped.

Lunule, a crescent-like mark or spot, situated near the anterior and posterior slopes in bivalve shells.

Luniform, in the shape of a crescent.

M.

Margin, the whole circumference or outline of the shell in bivalves.

Marginated, having a prominent margin or border.

Membrane, a web of several sorts of fibres.

Membranaceous, consisting of membranes.

Mottled, clouded or spotted with various colours.

Mucronate, ending in a sharp rigid point.

Multilocular, many-chambered, consisting of several divisions.

Muricated, clothed with sharp spines.

N.

Nacred, pearly, pearlaceous.

Nemoral, of or belonging to a wood.

Nited, glossy.

Nodose, knotty.

Nucleus, a kernel.

O.

Ob, prefixed to words, is used for inversely or inverted; as obconic, inversely conic; obcordate, inversely heart-shaped.

Oblong-ovate, egg-shaped or oval.

Obsolete, indistinct, not well defined.

Ocellated, applied to eyelike spots.

Ochreous, of the colour of yellow ochre.

Offuscated, darkened, clouded, dimmed.

Olivaceous, being of a greenish olive colour.

Operculum, a lid which closes the aperture of some turbinated univalves; and also some of the tops of multivalves.

Orbicular, spherical, circular, round.

Order, the second division of the animal kingdom. Orders are made up of a plurality of genera.

Orifice, an opening or perforation.

Ovate, shaped like the longitudinal section of an egg.

Ovoid, oval.

P.

Palmated, webbed, as in the feet of some water-birds.

PapillÆ, small dots or pimples.

Papillary, } having the surface covered with dots or pimples.
Papillous, }

Papillose, pimpled, dotted.

Papyraceous, thin as paper.

Parasitical, living on some other body.

Patulous, with a gap or opening.

Pearlaceous, of or like mother-of-pearl.

Partitions, calcareous processes, dividing the shells of the genus Nautilus, Serpula, &c.

Pectinated, resembling the teeth of a comb.

Pedicle, the support of the Lepas Anatifera, and its corresponding species, by which they are attached to wood, &c.

Peduncle, a foot-stalk or tube on which anything is seated.

Pediform, foot-shaped.

Pelagic, belonging to the deep sea.

Pellicle, the skin or film.

Pellucid, transparent, clear, bright.

Pentagonal, having five angles.

Perforated, pierced with holes.

Pervious, admitting passage.

Phosphorescent, emitting light in the dark.

Pillar, in univalves is the internal continuation of the columella or inner lips, and extends from the base to the apex.

Pinnated, winged.

Plaited, folded.

Plaits, folds.

Plicated, folded or plaited, as in the pillar of the volute tribe.

Plumose, having a feathery appearance.

Polythalmous, divided into several chambers.

Porcate, marked with raised longitudinal lines.

Porrected, projecting.

Prismatic, generally applied to the colours of shells, being like those of the prism; iridescent.

Produced, lengthened out.

Protrude, to thrust forward.

Protuberances, plaits higher or more elevated than the parts adjoining.

Punctuated, with small hollows like the punctures of a thimble.

Pyriform, pear-shaped.

Q.

Quadrangular, having four right angles.

Quadruplicated, having four plaits.

R.

Radiated, furnished with rays.

Radicated, is when the shell is fixed by the base to another body.

Rectangular, having right angles.

Recurvated, turned backward.

Recurved, bowed back.

Reflected, thrown backward, or bent back.

Reflex, } the same as recurvated.
Reflexed, }

Refracted, abruptly bent, as if broken.

Reniform, kidney-shaped.

Repand, with a serpentine margin.

Replicated, folded or plaited, so as to form a groove or channel.

Reticulated, formed like a piece of network.

Retroflected, bent backward.

Retrousse, cocked up, turned up.

Retroverted, turned back.

Retuse, ending in an obtuse sinus.

Rotundated, blunted, or turned at the edge.

Reversed spire, is when the volutions turn the reverse way of a common corkscrew, or to the sun’s apparent motion.

Revolute, rolled backward.

Ribbed, having longitudinal or transverse ridges.

Ridge, the upper part of a slope.

Rima, the interstice between the valves when the hymen is removed.

Rostrum, the beak; the extension of the shell, in which the canal is situated.

Rotund, round, circular, spherical.

Rudimentary, the commencement or first elements of anything; generally applied to the indistinct teeth of shells.

Rufous, of a reddish colour.

Rugose, rugged, full of wrinkles.

S.

Sanguinaceous, of a blood colour, or resembling blood.

Scabrous, rough, rugged, harsh, or like a file.

Scalloped, indented at the edges.

Scrobiculate, pitted, having the surface covered with hollows.

Scorbiculous, a depression or cavity.

Scutellated, } shield-shaped.
Scutelliform, }

Seam, the line formed by the union of the valves.

Semi, is used in composition in the sense of half.

Semi-cordate, half heart-shaped.

Semi-cylindrical, half cylindrical, cut through lengthways.

Semi-orbicular, the shape of a half globe.

Semi-lunar, the shape of a half moon.

Semi-pellucid, somewhat pellucid or shining.

Septiform, in the shape of a partition.

Serrated, like the teeth of a saw.

Serrulated, very minutely serrated.

Sessile, sitting or seated.

Seta, a bristle.

Setaceous, bristly, covered with bristles.

Setiferous, bearing bristles.

Setose, covered with bristles.

Sinister valve, is the left valve.

Sinus, a groove or cavity.

Siphunculus, a cylindrical canal perforating the partitions in polythalmous shells; for instance, as in the Nautilus Spirula.

Solitary, generally applied to a single tooth in bivalves.

Spatulate, rounded and broad at the top, and becoming narrow like a spatula or battledore.

Species, the division of a family or genus, containing such as agree with it in general characters, or such as are derived from one common parentage.

Spiny, thorny, covered with thornlike processes.

Spinous, having spines like a hedgehog.

Spire, all the whorls of univalve shells, excepting the one in which the aperture is situated, which is termed the body.

Spiral, twisted like a corkscrew.

Squamose, scaly.

Stellated, starred, consisting of star-like figures.

Striated, scored, or covered with fine threadlike lines.

Sub, in composition, means almost, or approaching to; as sub-globose, somewhat globular.

Subarcuated, somewhat arched.

Sub-conic, somewhat conical.

Sub-diaphanous, somewhat transparent or clear.

Sub-rotund, nearly globular.

Subulate, awl-shaped.

Sulcated, furrowed.

Sulci, furrows or ridges.

Summit, the tip or apex.

Sature, a hollow line of division in univalve shells, the spiral line of which separates the wreaths.

T.

Tentacula, the feelers of snails which inhabit shells.

Tesselated, checkered like a chessboard.

Testacea, the third order of worms, including those which are covered with a testaceous shell.

Testaceous, consisting of carbonate of lime and animal matter.

Tetragonal, four cornered.

Torose, swelling into knobs or protuberances.

Tortuosity, wreath, flexure.

Tortuous, twisted, wreathed, winding.

Transverse, placed across or crossways. When the breadth of a shell is greater than its length, it is called transverse.

Trapeziform, shaped like a trapezium.

Trigonal, having three angles.

Truncated, stunted, cut short or abruptly off at the end.

Tubercle, a little knot or pimple.

Tuberculated, knotted, pimpled.

Tuberosities, prominent knots or excrescences.

Tubular, in the shape of a hollow tube.

Tubulate, tubulous or hollow.

Tunicated, coated.

Turbinated, shaped like a top or pear.

Turgid, swollen.

U & V.

Valve, the whole of univalve shells, of shells in one piece; and the half of bivalves, or shells in two divisions, &c.

Varices, longitudinal ribs in univalve shells.

Variety, is when one species differs some little degree from that of another.

Vaulted, like the roof of one’s mouth.

Venter, the belly, situated in the body of the shell; being the most prominent part when the aperture is turned to the observer.

Ventral, belonging to the belly.

Ventricose, inflated, swelled in the middle.

Vermiform, worm-shaped.

Vertex, in the Patella the top or most prominent part, situated in general nearly in the middle. In the genus Bulla it is used for the apex.

Verrucose, warted.

Verticulated, whorled.

Umbilicated, having a depression in the centre like a navel.

Umbo, in bivalve shells, the round part which turns over the hinge.

Umbonate, bossed, having a raised knob in the centre

Undulated, waved, having a waved surface.

Ungulate, shaped like a horse’s hoof.

Unilocular, with a single chamber or compartment.

Univalve, shells consisting of one valve or piece.

Volutions, the wreaths or turnings of the shells of univalves.

Urceolate, swelling in the middle like a pitcher.

Vulva, a spatulated mark in several bivalve shells; formed when the valves are united on the posterior and anterior slopes.

W.

Whorl, one of the wreaths or turnings of the spire of univalves.

Z.

Zigzag, having contrary turnings and windings.

Zoned, surrounded with one or more girdles.