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414 Genus Pitar Romer 1857 Anterior left lateral fitting into a well-developed socket in the right valve. Middle left cardinal large; posterior right cardinal split. Subgenus Pitar s. str. Pitar juhiiinata Menke Lightning Venus Plate 39d North Carolina to Florida and the West Indies. I to 1/4 inches in length, plump, umbones large and full; lunule very- large and outlined by an impressed line. Anterior end broader than the pos- terior end. Sculpture of crowded, rather heavy lines of growth. Exterior whitish with spots and/or zigzag markings of yellowish brown. Moderately common in shallow water, %-inch young are commonly dredged off Miami. Pitar albida Gmelin of the West Indies is very similar, but all white in color, more quadrate in shape, has a narrower and more elongate lunule, and is usually more compressed. Common. Pitar morrhtiana Linsley Morrhua Venus Plate 32I; figure 8ie Gulf of St. Lawrence to North Carolina. I to I /4 inches in length, oval-elongate, moderately plump, with the lunule large and elongate. With numerous, heavy lines of growth. Color dull grayish to brownish red. P. fuhrmjata is similar, but is found only to the south of Cape Hatteras, is not so elongate (compare figures), and is marked with brown. Fairly commonly dredged off New England. Pitar simpsoni Dall Simpson's Venus South half of Florida and the West Indies. % inch in length, plump, with fine, irregular, concentric threads; the large, ovate lunule is polished smooth. Color white to purplish white, com- monly with zigzag, yellow-brown markings. Escutcheon absent. Nearest in shape to inorrhiiana. Uncommon at low tide to 26 fathoms. Subgenus Pitarenus Rehder and Abbott 1951 Pitar cordata Schwengel Schwengel's Venus Plate 3811 Off the Florida Keys and the Gulf of Mexico. 1V2 inches in length, very similar to morrhuana, but much fatter, with