Page:Beautiful·Shells·of·New·Zealand-Moss-1908.pdf/51

 under a flat rock, resting on other rocks, on the ocean side of Mount Maunganui, at the entrance to Tauranga Harbour. Although there were thousands of other rocks round it, I never found the Hipponyx except under the one rock I have mentioned, and as far as I know it has never been found alive in any other part of New Zealand.

DENTALIUM NANUM (Plate IX.).—Fig. 31 is like a miniature white tusk of an elephant. It is about 1½ inches long. It is really a limpet, which, having chosen mud and sand as its habitat, has adapted itself to its surroundings and become long and thin, instead of broad and flat, like the rock-loving limpet. It is found on the West Coast of Auckland Province, especially between Manukau and Raglan.

ACMÆA OCTORADIATA (Plate IX.).—Fig. 32 is one of the dozen Acmæa found in New Zealand. It is a very flat shell, and lives amongst rocks in the surf.

ACMÆA PILEOPSIS (Plate IX.).—Fig. 33 is a nearly round, smooth limpet, the outside being blackish, spotted with white, and the interior bluish, with a black margin. It is about an inch across.

Amongst the other ten Acmæaa found in New Zealand the most noticeable is the Acmæa fragilis, a very delicate, thin, green shell, with narrow brown bands. There is a green ring in the interior of the shell. It is found under stones, and is about ½ inch across.

PATELLA RADIANS (Plate IX., Fig. 34), and PATELLA STELLIFERA (Fig. 35) are two representatives of the many species of beautiful limpets we have. The limpet family has not had the attention of our scientists which it merits. The shells vary so much that it is extremely difficult to classify them. In the attempt to do so, Patella radians has been subdivided into five sub-species, but even this division is not a success. We have few more beautiful or interesting shells than limpets. We have them of every shape, and from three inches in width down to microscopic