. Edinburgh journal of natural history and of the physical sciences . I Anatifa lavis^ the Smooth Bernacle ShoU.—In this species the shell is comprossec\ and comparativfly smooth, the striae on its surface not being prominent as in another species, named on that account A. striata. This shell is composed of five pieces, two lateral, and one dorsal; the lower lateral pieces much larger tlian the upper, and the dorsal very narrow and keeled. The pieces are connected by membrane, unless in fi-ont towards the top, where the tentacula project. The body of the animal is of an ublong compressed form,
. Edinburgh journal of natural history and of the physical sciences . I Anatifa lavis^ the Smooth Bernacle ShoU.—In this species the shell is comprossec\ and comparativfly smooth, the striae on its surface not being prominent as in another species, named on that account A. striata. This shell is composed of five pieces, two lateral, and one dorsal; the lower lateral pieces much larger tlian the upper, and the dorsal very narrow and keeled. The pieces are connected by membrane, unless in fi-ont towards the top, where the tentacula project. The body of the animal is of an ublong compressed form, curved and envelojied in a soft skin or mantle. Appended to the branchije or respiratory organs arc ten pairs of long, slender, tapering, curved, and ciliated tentacula, five pairs on each side. At their base are two shorter pairs, and several small flattened and curved organs, equally ciliated, but connected with the mouth. The shell is about an inch and a quarter in length, and is supported upon a peduncle varying in length from a few inches to a foot or even two feet, and in iliameter from a quarter of an inch to half an inch. This peduncle is of a reddish colour, and has an external, transversely corrugated, elastic, cuticular envelope, whieh at its base is attached to a piece of wood, floating or fixed in the sea, and at its upper part to the shell. Internally it consists of a cylinder of longitudinal, whitish, muscular fibres, separated by a large quantity of aqueous fluid, and at the base adhering to the cuticle, which covers the wood, while at the top of the peduncle they are continuous with the body of the animal. The contraction of these muscular fibres of course shortens the peduncle, and throws its envelope into strong transverse wrinkles. These animals adhere often in great numbers to timber of any kind floating in the ocean, to logs, portions of wrecks, casks, and the bottoms of vnssels, and are frequently thrown ashore on the western coast of Britain. Gulls of
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade, bookpublisheredinburgh, bookyear1835
