In this genus are now comprehended only such as have a thick oblique
transverse tooth, resembling a lengthened callosity, generally
crenulated or grooved, fitting into a corresponding cavity in the lower
valve. The animals inhabiting these shells have the faculty of affixing
themselves to other bodies by the lower valve.
The Chama received its name from its gaping; it is found in most seas,
particularly in the Southern; sometimes its colours are elegantly
blended.
Shell irregular, adherent, inequivalve, inequilateral; summits more or
less twisted spirally, especially in the lower valve; some from left to
right, others from right to left; hinge dissimilar, large, formed by one
lamellous, arched, sub-crenulated, post-cardinal tooth, articulating
into a furrow of the same form; exterior, post-apicial, slightly
inserted; two large and rather distant muscular impressions.
Chama Lazarus.
C. damæcornis.
C. gryphoides.
C. crenulata.
C. unicornis,
C. arcinella.
C. radians.
C. cristella.
C. florida.
C. limbula.
C. æruginosa.
C. asperella.
C. decussata.
C. albida.
C. ruderalis.
C. croceata.
C. Japonica.
_C. Lazarus._ Lazarus’s Chama. Pl. 12, fig. 2.
Species of which the summits twist from left to right; imbricated,
dilated, waved foliations; striated obsoletely; exterior white, orange,
red, or yellow; interior white.
_C. arcinella._ The hedgehog Chama.
Species of which the summits twist from right to left; the pink-coloured
ones of this species are the most prized.