<=, -Hh -c 


Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, 
AT HARVARD COLLEGE. 

Vol. XVIII. 


REPORTS ON THE RESULTS OF DREDGING, UNDER THE SUPER- 
VISION OF ALEXANDER AGASSIZ, IN THE GULF OF MEXICO 
(1877-78) AND IN THE CARIBBEAN SEA (1879-80), BY THE U. S. 
COAST SURVEY STEAMER "BLAKE," LIEUT.-COMMANDER C. D. 
SIGSBEE, U. S. N., AND COMMANDER J. R. BARTLETT, U. S. N., 
COMMANDING. 


[Published by Permission of Carlile P Patterson and J. E. Hilgard, 
Superintendents of the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey.] 


XXIX. — REPORT ON THE MOLLUSCA. 

By W. IT. DALL. 

PART II— GASTROPODA AND SCAPHOPODA. 


With Thirty-onb Plates. 


CAMBRIDGE: 

PRINTED FOR THE MUSEUM. 

Jcne, 1889. 

Reprinted with the permission of the original publisher 

KRAUS REPRINT CORPORATION 

New York 

1967 


5 -flA -c 


Printed in U.S.A. 


Reports on the Results of Dredging, under the Supervision of Alex- 
ander Agassiz, in the Gulf of Mexico (1877-78) and in the 
Caribbean Sea (1879-80), by the U. S. Coast Survey Steamer 
"Blake" Lieut.-Commander C. D. Sigsbee, U. S. N., and Com- 
mander J. E. Bartlett, U. S. N., Commanding. 

[Published by Permission of Caelile P. Patterson and J. E. Hilgard, Super- 
intendents of the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey.] 

XXIX. 

Report on the Mollusca, by W. H. Dall. — Part II. Gastropoda and 

Scaphopoda. 

The reader of this Report, for various details as to its origin, progress, 
and results, is referred to the introductory remarks prefixed to Part I. 
(Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool, Vol. XII. No. 6, pp. 171-186.) His attention 
is especially called to the remarks upon nomenclature (p. 175), and the 
acknowledgments for indebtedness to other scientific men and their 
publications. 

In the present portion of the Report, the material offered by the 
Blake Collection has been materially supplemented by the southern 
dredgings of the U. S. Fish Commission Steamer " Albatross," and other 
material collected in the region and now in the National Museum. It 
was the original intention of the writer to make this Report a summary 
to date of deep-sea research and fannal exploration of the geographical 
province extending from Brazil to Cape Hatteras. But the material 
has been collected so rapidly, and the study of it leads to such unex- 
pected conclusions, in many cases, that it has been impracticable to do 
this for all the families. A general bathymetrical review may be at- 
tempted later ; the present paper contains data for any one ambitious 
to make the attempt at once, but the writer prefers to defer it until 
the results of the later dredgings of the Fish Commission and of the 
French expeditions are at hand, to be combined into a paper which shall 
represent the latest information on the subject. 

However, in the following Report will be found in several instances a 
complete though brief review of all the species of a group known to 

VOL. xviii. 1 


Z BULLETIN OF THE 

inhabit the region above defined, at any depth. Especial attention has 
been paid to an enumeration of the valid species of our southern coasts, 
so neglected for the last quarter of a century. But in families or gen- 
era comprising a large multitude of species, such as the Pleurotomidae, 
this has been impracticable, and has not been attempted. 

The Systematic List which precedes the text, while it enumerates 
those species which are new, newly named, or treated of at length, 
whether of the Blake Collection or merely illustrative of it, does not 
include the numerous other species which are only incidentally referred 
to or enumerated in generic summaries of the southern fauna. 

The present paper includes a systematic description and account of 
the Gastropods* and Scaphopods comprised in the Blake Collection, 
(excepting pelagic species which float on the surface,) illustrated by 
data drawn from the collections of the U. S. Fish Commission made 
south of Cape Hatteras. In the course of this account the nomencla- 
ture has been discussed and rectified in several cases. In other cases 
the generic names and arrangements commonly in use have been 
adopted as they are found in the text-books, for want of time and mate- 
rial to revise the ordinary classification if necessary. Anatomical de- 
tails have been supplied whenever the material was available and the 
interest of the subject seemed to warrant it. These details will be 
found, as in Part I, under the heads of the respective genera and spe- 
cies. They are too numerous to particularize. Perhaps those of most 
general interest relate to the soft parts of Pleurotomaria, of the Volutidce 
of the Gulf of Mexico, of Pedicularia, of certain forms connected with 
Cerithiopsis, and of the various Limpets. The writer has been handi- 
capped by the impossibility of getting an artist competent to make 
suitable drawings from the magnified camera lucida sketches of anat- 
omy, dentition, etc., and has been obliged to leave unillustrated many 
of the points which he has described at length in the text. It has been 
impossible, with his official engagements, for him personally to elabo- 
rate these drawings. To Dr. J. C. McConnell he has been indebted for 
admirable renderings of the shells, as heretofore. 

In addition to the acknowledgments made in Part T, the writer de- 
sires to .express his indebtedness to the great quarto report on the 
Gastropoda of the Challenger Expedition, by the Rev. Robert Boog- 
Watson ; to the admirable Manual by Dr. Paul Fischer, recently con- 
cluded ; and to the Manual which Mr. George W. Tryon, of Philadelphia, 

* The few Nudibranchs collected have been referred to Dr. R. Bergh, who will 
report upon them separately. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 3 

projected, and had largely carried out at the time of his premature 
decease. 

In the course of this Report the writer has freely criticised the litera- 
ture which he was required to consult, not with any desire of fault- 
finding, but because frank and free criticism is, it seems to him, the 
most desirable way of getting at the truth. During Mr. Tryon's life- 
time the writer felt obliged on several occasions rather sharply to 
criticise ' the execution of some parts of that gentleman's Manual, and 
it gives him pleasure to say, now that Death has intervened, that this 
criticism never interrupted the friendly relations which mutually ex- 
isted and continued to exist. Mr. Tryon, without entering into contro- 
versy, took steps to remedy such of the faults as he felt to be justly 
criticised, and a comparison of the later volumes of the Manual with 
the earlier ones will sufficiently illustrate the result. The work is 
important, and almost indispensable, while from its very nature it is 
especially liable to minor inaccuracies. For this reason the writer has 
not eliminated any of the criticisms or corrections from his manuscript 
prepared during Mr. Tryon's lifetime, and which now is printed. He 
believes that his friend would prefer that all just and fair corrections 
should be made, and that the science to which he was thoroughly de- 
voted should thus be advanced. Well aware that he himself may in 
turn offer a fair target for the critic, the writer invites corrections which 
may suggest themselves to other malacologists. 

A summary of the numerical results of this investigation into the 
Antillean and Gulf fauna will be found at the end of this paper, where 
it is placed in order that it may express the latest and most accurate 
figures. These data are, as every one knows, liable to be slightly 
modified in the course of printing and proof-reading. 

In this Report all dimensions are given in millimeters ; all tempera- 
tures are bottom temperatures, and expressed in degrees Fahrenheit. 
The measurements of a shell are made parallel with the axis, the curve 
of the profile not being taken into account. The term longitudinal in 
description is equivalent to spiral, and indicates a direction parallel 
with the coil of the whorl. The term transverse refers to sculpture 
crossing the whorls in general parallelism with the longitudinal central 
axis of the whole shell. The nucleus is the larval shell, be the same 
large or small. The apex of the spire is considered to be the posterior, 
the end of the canal to be the anterior end of the shell, and all terms 
indicating direction are to be understood in harmony with this defini- 
tion. Right and left, when used, are used as if the animal were crawl- 


4 BULLETIN OF THE 

ing, with his head away from the observer, on a plane at right angles to 
the line of sight. 

The figures after the references to the plates indicate the longest 
diameter of the shell in the position in which it is figured, whether this 
be height or diameter actually, unless it be otherwise stated. As a 
rule " alt." is prefixed to statements of dimension which refer to height 
of the spire, and " lat." or " diam." to the measurements taken at right 
angles to the axis of the spire. 

The nomenclature adopted is based on the rules of the British Associa- 
tion, as illustrated by the Report of the American Association in 1877, 
and the subsequent contributions of De Candolle and the American 
Ornithologist's Union. I have not seen any more recent discussions of 
the subject which go far enough into it to be of much importance. 
Such a report as that of the Bologna Geological Congress is so inade- 
quate as to carry no weight ; the so-called rules being essentially su- 
perficial and insufficient to meet the needs of the conscientious student 
of nomenclature. 

The relation of the deep-sea fauna to the fauna of the Tertiaries 
is more intimate in some respects than that of the Tertiaries to 
the recent fauna of the litorale. A number of genera and subordi- 
nate groups hitherto known only from the Tertiary deposits will be 
found enumerated among the forms collected by the " Blake " and 
" Albatross." 

The Index will contain references to the species mentioned in both 
Part I and Part II, and the plates are continuously numbered in the 
two papers. The preliminary descriptions of Bulletin M. C. Z., Vol. IX, 
No. 2, 1881, which are not reprinted, were provided with an index of 
their own. 

For the student interested in the fauna of the southern coasts of the 
United States, this report will contain more new information than has 
appeared in any single publication for many years. The writer hopes 
that it may stimulate in some measure the interest in that fauna which 
its richness, its possibility of novelties to come, and its relations with 
the fauna of the Antilles, may reasonably lead us to expect. There is no 
department of biology where more remains to be done than among the 
Mollusca, and it is in the power of any good observer, whether scientifi- 
cally trained or not, to add to the sum of our knowledge, and materially 
aid in the reformation of the present unsatisfactory systems. 

Washington, D. C, June, 1888. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 


SYSTEMATIC LIST OF SPECIES. 


[Species marked with an asterisk were not contained in the Blake Collection, or are 
referred to for purposes of illustration, etc.] 


Class GASTROPODA. 
Subclass ANISOPLEURA. 

Order OPISTHOBRANCHIATA. 
Suborder TECTIBRANCHIATA. 

Family ACT^ONIDJE. 
Genus ACTION Montfoet. 

Actaeon exilis Jeffreys.* 
Actaeon pusillus Jeffreys. 
Actaeon punctostriatus Adams.* 
Actaeon Cumingii A. Adams.* 
Actaeon delicatus Dall. 
Actaeon melampoides Dall. 
Actaeon perforatus Dall. 
Actaeon Danaida Dall. 
Actaeon incisus Dall. 

Genus OVULACTJEON Dall. 
Ovulactaeon Meekii Dall. 

Family RINGICULID^. 

Genus RINGICULA Deshates. 

Section RINGICULINA Monterosato. 

Ringicula nitida Verrill. 
Ringicula floiidana Dall.* 
Ringicula floridana var. Guppyi Dall.* 


BULLETIN OF THE 

Family TORNATINID^E. 

Genus TORNATINA A. Adams. 

Subgenus COLEOPHYSIS Fischer. 
Coleophysis perplicatus Dall. 

Subgenus CYLICHNELLA Gabb. 
Cylichnella bidentata Orbigny. 

Genus UTRICULUS Brown. 

Utriculus Mayoi Dall.* 

Utriculus Frielei Dall. 

Utriculus vortex Dall. 

Utriculus (vortex var. ?) domitus Dall. 

Utriculus pervius Dall.* 

Subgenus RETUSA (Brown) Morch. 

Retusa ovata Jeffreys.* 
Retusa obesiuscula Brugnone.* 

Genus VOLVULA A. Adams. 

Volvula acuta Orbigny. 
Volvula oxytata Busb.* 
Volvula Bushii Dall* 
Volvula aspinosa Dall.* 

Family SCAPHANDRID^E. 

Genus SCAPHANDER Montfort. 

Scaphander punctostriatus Migbels, var. clavus Dall. 
Scaphander Watsoni Dall. 

Subgenus SABATIA Bellardi. 
Sabatia bathymophila Dall. 

Genus ATYS Montfort. 
Atys Sandersoni Dall. 

Genus CYLICHNA Loven. 
Cylichna Verrillii Dall.* 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 7 


Family BULLID^E. 

Genus BULLA Linne. 

Bulla? eburnea Dall. 
Bulla occidentalis A. Adams. 
Bulla abyssicola Dall. 
Bulla Krebsii Dall. 
Bulla clausa Dall.* 

Genus HAMINEA Leach. 
Haminea succinea Conrad. 

Family PHILLNID^E. 

Genus PHILINE Ascanias. 

Philine infundibulum Dall. 
Philine planata Dall. 
Philine flexuosa M. Sars. 

Family GASTROPTERIDtE. 

Genus GASTROPTERON Meckel. 
Gastropteron sp. indet. 

Family UMBRACULID^. 

Genus UMBRACULUM Schumacher. 
Umbraculum bermudense Morch ? 

Subgenus HYALOPATINA Dall. 
Hyalopatina Rushii Dall.* 

Super-Order PROSOBRANCHIATA. 

Order PECTINIBRANCHIATA. 

Super-Family TOXOGLOSSA- 

Family TEREBRID^E. 

Genus TEREBRA Lamarck. 
Section EURYTA. 
Terebra aciculata Lamarck.* 


8 BULLETIN OF THE 

Section HASTULA. 
Terebra hastata Gmelin.* 
Terebra cinerea Gmelin.* 

Section SUBULA. 
Terebra floridana Dall.* 

Section ACUS. 
Terebra dislocata Say.* 
Terebra concava Say.* 
Terebra concava var. vinosa Dall.* 
Terebra protexta Conrad.* 
Terebra protexta var. lutescens (Smith ?) Dall.* 
Terebra nassuia Dall. 
Terebra limatula Dall.* 
Terebra limatula var. acrior Dall. 
Terebra benthalis Dall. 
Terebra Rushii Dall.* 


Family CONINE. 

Genus CONUS Linne. 

Conus Mazei Deshayes. 
Conus cedonulli Lamarck. 
Conus proteus Hwass. 
Conus Pealei Green.* 
Conus Agassizii Dall. 
Conus Villepini F. & B. 
Conus daucus Hwass. 
Conus centurio Born. 
Conus flavescens Gray. 
Conus amphiurgus Dall.* 

Family PLEUROTOMID^E. 

Genus PLEUROTOMA Lamarck. 

Subgenus PLEUROTOMA s. s. 

Pleurotoma albida Perry. 
Pleurotoma albida var. tellea Dall.* 
Pleurotoma albida var. vibex Dall. 
Pleurotoma periscelida Dall.* 

Subgenus LEUCOSYRINX Dall. 
Leucosyrinx Verrillii Dall. 
Leucosyrinx Sigsbeei Dall. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 

Leucosyrinx tenoceraa Dall. 
Leucosyrinx subgrundifera Dall. 

Subgenus ANCISTROSYRINX Dall. 

Ancistrosyrinx elegans Dall. 
Ancistrosyrinx radiata Dall. 

Subgenus GENOTA Adams. 
Genota mitrella Dall. 

Section DOLICHOTOMA Bellardi. 
Genota viabrunnea Dall. 

Genus DRILLIA Gray. 
Drillia ostrearum Stearns. 
Drillia Tryonii Dall. 
Drillia albicoma Dall. 
Drillia detecta Dall. 
Drillia alesidota Dall.* 
Drillia alesidota var. macilenta Dall. 
Drillia polytorta Dall. 
Drillia eucosmia Dall. 
Drillia eucosmia var. canna Dall. 
Drillia haliostrephis Dall. 
Drillia acestra Dall. 
Drillia pharcida Dall.* 
Drillia acrybia Dall. 
Drillia tristicha Dall.* 
Drillia ebur Reeve. 
Drillia fucata Reeve.* 
Drillia pagodula Dall. 
Drillia pagodula var. pentagonalis Dall. 
Drillia coccinata Reeve. 
Drillia thea var. carminura Dall. 
Drillia Simpsoni Dall.* 
Drillia lissotropis Dall. 
Drillia Dalli Verrill. 
Drillia Dalli var. acloneta Dall. 
Drillia Dalli var. cestrota Dall. 
Drillia nucleata Dall. 
Drillia Verrillii Dall. 
Drillia havanensis Dall. 
Drillia premorra Dall. 
Drillia oleacina Dall. 
Drillia smirna Dall. 
Drillia lithocolleta Watson. 


10 BULLETIN OF THE 

Section CYMATOSYRINX Dall. 

Drillia centimata Dall. 
Drillia eepynota Dall.* 
Drillia Moseri Dall. 

Genus BORSONIA Bellardi. 

Subgenus BORSONIA s. s. 
Borsonia ceroplasta Watson. 

Subgenus CORDIERIA Rouault. 
Cordieria Rouaultii Dall. 

Genus MANGILIA Risso. 

Subgenus AFORIA Dall. 

Aforia circinata Dall.* 
? Aforia hypomela Dall.* 

Subgenus CYTHARA Schumacher. 
Cythara Bartlettii Dall. 
Cythara cymella Dall. 

Subgenus DAPHNELLA Hinds. 

Section DAPHNELLA s. s. 
Daphnella leucophlegma Dall. 
Daphnella corbicula Dall. 
Daphnella reticulosa Dall. 
Daphnella pompholyx Dall. 
Daphnella retifera Dall.* 
Daphnella morra Dall. 
Daphnella elata Dall* 

Section EUBELA Dall. 
Daphnella limacina, Dall. 
Daphnella calyx Dall.* 
Daphnella sofia Dall. 
Daphnella sofia var. hyperlissa Dall.* 

Subgenus GLYPHOSTOMA Gabb. 

Glyphostoma dentifera Gabb. 
Glyphostoma Gabbii Dall. 
Glyphostoma gratula Dall. 
Glyphostoma phalera Dall.* 

Subgenus MANGILIA Risso s. s. 
Mangilia caribaea Orbigny. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 11 

Mangilia Lavalleana Orbigny. 

Mangilia atrostyla Dall. 

Mangilia quadrata Reeve.* 

Mangilia quadrata var. diminuta Adams.* 

Mangilia quadrata var. rugirima Dall.* 

Mangilia quadrata var. monocingulata Dall. 

Mangilia serga Dall. 
? Mangilia halitropis Dall. 
? Mangilia ipara Dall. 
? Mangilia peripla Dall. 
? Mangilia elusiva Dall. 

Mangilia bandella Dall. 

Mangilia antonia Dall. 

Mangilia comatotropis Dall. 

Mangilia scipio Dall. 

Mangilia pelagia Dall. 
? Mangilia exaculpta Watson. 
? Mangilia Pourtalesii Dall. 
? Mangilia subsida Dall. 

Mangilia toreumata Dall. 

Subgenus PLEUROTOMELLA Verrill. 
Pleurotomella Packardi Verrill.* 
Pleurotomella Packardi var. formosa Jeffreys. 
Pleurotomella Packardi var. Benedicti V. & S. 
Pleurotomella leucomata Dall. 

Pleurotomella Agassizii V. & S. var. mexicana Dall.* 
Pleurotomella Edgariana Dall.* 
Pleurotomella Emertonii V. & S. 
Pleurotomella chariessa Watson. 
Pleurotomella chariessa var. spica Dall.* 
Pleurotomella chariessa var. phalera Dall.* 
Pleurotomella chariessa var. tellea Dall.* 
Pleurotomella chariessa var. aresta Dall* 
Pleurotomella filifera Dall. 
Pleurotomella catasarca Dall. 
Pleurotomella hadria Dall.* 

Section? GYMNOBELA Verrill. 

Pleurotomella extensa Dall. 
Pleurotomella Blakeana Dall. 
Pleurotomella Blakeana var. agria Dall. 
Pleurotomella tornata Verrill var. Malmii Dall. 

Subgenus TARANIS Jeffreys. 
Taranis cirrata Brugnone.* 


12 BULLETIN OF THE 

Family CANCELLARIID.E. 
Genus CANCELLARIA Lamarck. 

Subgenus CANCELLARIA s. s. 

Cancellaria reticulata Linne. 
Cancellaria venusta Tuomey & Holmes.* 

Subgenus TRIGONOSTOMA Blainville. 

Trigonostoma tenera Pbilippi.* 
Trigonostoma Smithii DalL* 
Trigonostoma Agassizii Dall.* 
Trigonostoma? microscopica Dall.* 

Genus BENTHOBIA Dall. 
Benthobia Tryoni Dall.* 

Super-Family RHACHIGLOSSA. 

Family OLIVINE. 

Genus OLIVA Brugi£re. 

Oliva reticularis Lamarck. 
Oliva literata Lamarck. 

Genus OLIVELLA Swainson. 

Olivella mutica Say. 

Olivella fuscocincta Dall. 

Olivella jaspidea Gmelin. 

Olivella jaspidea var. rotunda Dall. 

Olivella bullula Reeve. 

Olivella (bullula var. ?) tubulata Dall. 

Family MARGINELLID^E. 

Genus MARGINELLA Lamarck. 

Marginella apicina Menke. 
Marginella Watsoni Dall. 
Marginella amabilis Red field. 
Marginella rostrata Redfield. 
Marginella cassis Dall. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 13 

Marginella haematita Kiener. 
Marginella fusina Dall. 
Marginella yucatecana Dall. 
Marginella opalina Stearns. 
Marginella s em inula Dall. 
Marginella Redfieldii Tryon. 
Marginella fusca Sowerby. 
Marginella succinea Conrad. 
Marginella styria Dall. 
Marginella torticula Dall. 

Subgenus VOLVARINA Hinds. 

Volvarina avena Val. 
Volvarina avena var. guttula Reeve. 
Volvarina albolineata Orbigny. 
Volvarina subtriplicata Orbigny. 
Volvarina pallida Donovan. 

Subgenus VOLUTELLA Swainson. 

Volutella lacrimula Gould. 
Volutella hadria Dall* 
Volutella amianta Dall.* 

Genus PERSICULA Schumacher. 
Persicula catenata Montagu. 

Subgenus GIBBERULA Swainson. 
Gibberula minuta Pfr. 


Family VOLUTIDJE. 

Genus VOLUTA Linne. 

Voluta musica Linne.* 
Voluta virescens Solander.* 

Genus SCAPHELLA Swainson (em.). 
Scaphella junonia Hwass. 

Subgenus AURINIA Adams. 

Aurinia dubia Broderip. 
Aurinia robusta Dall.* 
Aurinia Gouldiana Dall.* 


14 BULLETIN OF THE 

Family MITRIDjE. 

Genus MITRA Lamarck. 

Mitra Swainsoni Broderip. 
Mitra fulgurita Reeve. 
Mitra straminea A. Adams. 
Mitra styria Dull. 
Mitra Deshayesii Reeve ? 
Mitra Rushii Dall. 
Mitra trophonia Dall. 
Mitra Bairdii Dall* 
Mitra torticula Dall. 

Subgenus CONOMITRA Conrad. 

Conomitra Blakeana Dall. 
Conomitra Blakeana var. Imvior Dall. 

Genus MITROMORPHA Adams. 
Mitromorpha biplicata Dall. 

Family FASCIOLARIID.E. 

Subfamily FUSING. 

Genus FUSUS Lamarck. 

Fusus timessus Dall.* 

Fusus eucosmius Dall. 

Fusus Couei Petit.* 

Fusus distans var. closter Philippi.* 

Fusus halistreptus Dall.* 

Fusus benthalis Dall. 

Fusus amiantus Dall. 

Fusus aepynotus Dall. 

Fusus alcimus Dall. 

Fusus alcimus var. Rushii Dall.* 

Fusus ceramidus Dall. 

Fusus amphiurgus Dall. 

Subfamily FASCIOLARIIN^. 

Genus FASCIOLARIA Lamarck. 
Fasciolaria distans Lamarck. 

Subgenus MESORHYTIS Meek. 
Mesorhytis Meekiana Dall. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 15 

Genus MAZZALINA Conrad, 
Mazzalina pyrula Conrad.* 

Genus LIOCHLAMYS Dall. 
Liochlamys bulbosa Heilprin.* 

Genus LATIKUS Montfort. 
Latirus cingulifera Lamarck.* 

Family BUCCINID^E. 

Subfamily CHRYSODOMIN.E. 

Genus CHRYSOD03IUS Swainson. 

Subgenus SIPHO Morch. 

Sipho Rushii Dall.* 
Sipho globulus Dall.* 

Genus LIOMESUS Stimpson. 
Liomesus Stimpsoni Dall.* 

Subfamily BUCCININ.E. 

Genus PISANIA Bivona. 

Subgenus TRITONIDEA Swainson. 
Tritonidea limbata Philippi.* 

Genus PHOS Montfort. 

Phos unicinctus Say.* 
Phos Beaui F. & B. 
Phos Candei Orbigny. 
Phos parvus C. B. Adams* 
Phos parvus var. intricatus Dall.* 

Genus NASSARIA Link. 

Subgenus NASSARINA Dall. 

Nassarina glypta Bush.* 
Nassarina Bushii Dall. 
Nassarina columbellata Dall.* 
Nassarina Grayi Dall. 


16 BULLETIN OF THE 

Family NASSID^E. 

Genus NASSA Lamabck. 

Nassa ambigua Montagu. 

Nassa consensa Ravenel. 

Nassa Hotessieri Orbigny. 

Nassa scissurata Dall. 

Nassa scissurata var. jpernitida Dall. 

Family COLUMBELLIDtE. 
Genus COLUMBELLA Lamarck. 

Columbella rusticoides Heilprin.* 
Columbella mercatoria Lamarck. 

Subgenus EUPLICA Dall. 
Euplica turturina Duclos.* 

Subgenus ANACHIS H. & A. Adams. 
Anachis avara Say.* 
Anachis avara var. semiplicata Stearns.* 
Anachis avara var. translirata Ravenel* 
Anachis avara var. siviilis Ravenel.* 
Anachis catenata Sowerby. 
Anachis haliaeti Jeffreys.* 
Anachis albella C. B. Adams.* 
Anachis albella var. samanensis Dall.* 
Anachis pulchella Kiener* 
Anachis obesa C. B. Adams. 
Anachis obesa var. ostreicola Melvill.* 
Anachis Hotessieriana Orbigny.* 
Anachis amphissella Dall. 

Subgenus NITIDELLA Swainson. 

Nitidella nitidula Sowerby .* 

Nitidella moleculina Duclos var. dicomata Dall.* 

Subgenus ASTYRIS Adams. 

Astyris lunata Say.* 
Astyris Raveneli Dall.* 
Astyris multilineata Dall * 
Astyris rosacea Gould.* 
Astyris fusiformis Orbigny.* 

January 2, 1889. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 17 

Astyris diaphana Verrill. 

Astyris profundi Dall. 

Astyris Verrillii Dall. 

Astyris Verrillii var. strix Watson.* 

Astyris Saintpairiana Caillet. 

Astyris Duclosiana Orbigny. 

Subgenus iESOPUS GOULD. 

JEsopus Stearnsii Tryon.* 
JEsopus Metcalfei Reeve.* 


Family MURICID^E. 

Subfamily MURICIN^. 

Genus MUREX Linne. 

Subgenus MUREX s. S. 
Murex Beaui F. & B. 
Murex Cabritii Bernardi. 
Murex elegans Beck. 
Murex messorius Sowerby. 
Murex nodatus Reeve. 
Murex Cailleti Petit. 

Subgenus CHICOREUS Montfort. 
Chicoreus Hidalgoi Crosse. 

Subgenus PHYLLONOTUS Swainson. 
Phyllonotus fulvescens Sowerby.* 
Phyllonotus pomum Gmelin. 
Phyllonotus interserratus Sowerby. 
Phyllonotus Pazi Crosse. 
Phyllonotus hystricinus Dall. 

Subgenus PTERONOTUS Swainson. 
Pteronotus macropterus Deshayes.* 
Pteronotus phaneus Dall.* 
Pteronotus tristichus Dall. 

Genus EUPLEURA H. & A. Adams. 

Eupleura caudata Say.* 
Eupleura Stimpsonii Dall. 
VOL. xviii. 2 


18 BULLETIN OF THE 

Genus TROPHON Montfort. 

Subgenus BOREOTROPHON Fischer. 

Boreotrophon Dalli Kobelt.* 

Boreotrophon (aculeatua Watson var.?) lacunella Dall. 

Boreotrophon ? actinophorus Dall. 

Subgenus ASPELLA Morch. 

Aspella anceps Lamarck.* 

Aspella has tula Reeve.* 

Aspella scalarioides Blainville.* 

Aspella scalarioides var. obeliscus A. Adams.* 

Aspella scalarioides var. patiperculus C. B. Adams.* 

Genus OCINEBKA Leach. 
Subgenus FAVARTIA Fischer. 

Favartia cellulosa Conrad. 

Favartia levicula Dall.* 

Favartia intermedia C. B. Adams.* 

Genus MURICIDEA (Swainson) Morch. 

Muricidea hexagona Lamarck. 
Muricidea floridana Conrad.* 
Muricidea multangula Philippi.* 
Muricidea Philippiana Dall.* 

Genus UROSALPINX Stimpson. 

TJrosalpinx cinereus Say.* 
TJrosalpinx tampaensis Conrad.* 
TJrosalpinx perrugatus Conrad.* 
TJrosalpinx ? carolinensis Verrill.* 
TJrosalpinx ? macra Verrill.* 

Genus TYPHIS Montfort. 

Section TYPHIS s. s. 
Typhis floridanus Dall.* 

Section TRUBATSA Dall. 
Typhis longicornis Dall. 

Subfamily PURPURI1SM3. 

Genus SISTRUM Montfort. 

Subgenus SISTRUM s. s. 
Siatrum ferrugineum Reeve var. rubidum Dall.* 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 19 

Subfamily CORALLIOPHILIN.E. 

Genus CORALLIOPHILA H. & A. Adams. 

Coralliophila Deburghiee Reeve. 
Coralliophila bracteata Brocchi.* 
Coralliophila galea Chemnitz.* 
Coralliophila lactuca Dall. 

Super-Family T^SNIOGLOSSA. 
Family TRITONIID^E. 

Genus DISTORTRIX Link. 

Distortrix reticulata Link. 

Distortrix reticulata var. clathrata Bolten. 

Distortrix reticulata var. reticulata Link. 

Genus GYRINEUM Link. 

Gyrineum affine Broderip. 

Gyrineum affine var. cubanianum Orbigny. 

Genus TRITONIUM Link. 

Subgenus COLUBRARIA Schumacher. 
Colubraria lanceolata Menke. 
Colubraria Swiftii Tryon. 

Subgenus RANULARIA Schumacher. 
Ranularia tuberosa Lamarck.* 

Subgenus LAMPUSIA Schumacher. 
Lampusia chlorostoma Lamarck. 
Lampusia pileare Lamarck.* 
Lampusia gracile Reeve. 
Lampusia pharcida Dall. 

Family OOCORITID^E. 

Genus OOCORYS Fischer. 
Section OOCORYS s. s. 
Oocorys sulcata Fischer. 

Section? BENTHODOLIUM Dall. 
Oocorys abyssorum (V. & S.) DalL* 


20 BULLETIN OF THE 


Family 


Genus DALIUM Dall. 

Daiium solidum Dull. 

Family CASSIDID^E. 

Genus CASSIS Lamarck. 

Cassis inflata Shaw. 

Genus GALEODEA Link. 
Galeodea Coronadoi Crosse.* 

Genus LAMBIDIUM Link. 
Lambidium oniscus Linne.* 

Genus ONISCIDIA Swainson. 
Oniscidia Dennisoni Reeve.* 

Genus SCONSIA Gray. 
Sconsia striata Lamarck.* 

Family DOLIIMI. 
Genus DOLIUM Lamarck. 

Subgenus EUDOLIUM Dall. 

Eudolium Crosseanum Monterosato. 
Eudolium Verrillii Dall.* 

Family AMPHIPERASIDjE. 

Genus AMPHIPERAS Gronovics. 

Subgenus SIMNIA Rrsso. 

Simnia acicularis Lamarck. 
Simnia piragua Dall.* 

Section NEOSIMNIA Fischer. 
Simnia intermedia Sowerby. 
Simnia uniplicata Sowerby. 
Simnia aureocincta Dall. 

Genus PEDICULARIA Swainson. 
Pedicularia decussata Gould. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 21 

Family CYPRJEID^. 

Genus CYPR^EA Linne. 
Cyprsea cinerea Gmelin. 

Genus TRIVIA Gray. 

Trivia pediculus Linne.* 

Trivia suffusa Gray. 

Trivia subrostrata Gray. 

Trivia nivea Gray. 

Trivia candidula Gaskoin. 

Trivia globosa Gray. 

Trivia quadripunctata Gray var. rotunda Kiener. 

Genus ERATO Risso. 
Erato Maugeriae Gray.* 

Family TRIFORIDjE. 
Genus TRIFORIS Deshayes. 

Section TRIFORIS 8. s. 
Triforia lilacina Dall.* 

Section MASTONIA Hinds. 

(Subsection A, apex acute.) 
Triforis perversa Linne var. nigrocindum Adams. 
Triforis decorata Adams var. olivacea Dall.* 

(Subsection B, apex mammillary.) 
Triforis turristhomae Orbigny. 

Section INELLA Bayle. 
Triforis longissima Dall. 
Triforis triserialis Dall. 
Triforis triserialis var. aspera Jeffreys.* 
Triforis triserialis var. intermedia Dall. 
Triforis sarissa Dall. 
Triforis colon Dall. 
Triforis Rushii Dall* 

Section SYCHAR Hinds. 
Triforis samanae Dall.* 
Triforis bigemma Watson. 


22 BULLETIN OF THE 

Triforis (bigemma var. 1) hircus Dall. 
Triforis abrupta Dall. 
Triforis torticula Dall. 
Triforis inflata Watson. 
Triforis inflata var. ibex Dall. 
Triforis inflata var. filata Dall. 
Triforis cylindrella Dall. 


Family CERITHIOPSID.&. 

Genus SEILA A. Adams. 
Seila terebralis C. B. Adams.* 

Genus CERITHIOPSIS Forbes & Hanley. 
Section EUMETA Morch. 
Cerithiopsis subulata Montagu. 

Section CERITHIOPSIS s. s. 

Cerithiopsis crystallina Dall. 
Cerithiopsis Sigsbeana Dall. 
Cerithiopsis ma tar a Dall. 
Cerithiopsis Martensii Dall. 
Cerithiopsis acontium Dall. 

Section METAXIA Monterosato. 

Cerithiopsis metaxee Delia Chiaje. 
Cerithiopsis metaxce var. tceniolata Dall.* 
Cerithiopsis abrupta Watson. 

Family CERITHIID^E. 

Genus BITTIUM Leach. 
Bittium alternatum Say. 

Section DIASTOMA Deshayes. 
Bittium varium Pfeiffer.* 

Genus ALABA A. Adams. 

Alaba tervaricosa C. B. Adams.* 
Alaba Adamsii Dall.* 
Alaba cerithidioides Dall.* 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 23 

Family VERMETID^. 
Genus SILIQUARIA Lamarck. 
Siliquaria squamata Blainville. 
Siliquaria modesta Dull. 

Genus VERMICULARIA Lamarck. 
Vermicularia lumbricalis Linne. 
Vermicularia ? nigricans Dall. 

Genus VERMETUS (Adanson) Morch. 
Section PETALOCONCHUS Lea. 
Vermetus erectus Dall. 

Genus BIVONIA Gray. 
Bivonia? exserta Dall. 

Family TURRITELLID^. 

Genus TURRITELLA Lamarck. 

Section TORCULA Gray. 
Turritella exoleta Linne. 
Turritella acropora Dall. 

Section HAUSTATOR Montfort. 
Turritella imbricata Linne.* 

Family MATHILDIID^E. 

Genus MATHILDA Semper. 

Mathilda yucatecana Dall. 

Mathilda (elegantissima var. ?) barbadense Dall. 

Mathilda Rushii Dall.* 

Mathilda scitula Dall.* 

Subgenus GEGANIA Jeffreys. 
Qegania Jeffrey si Dall.* 

Family SEGUENZIIM:. 

Genus SEGUENZIA Jeffreys. 

Seguenzia ionica Watson. 
Seguenzia monocingulata Seguenza. 


24 BULLETIN OF THE 

Family TRICHOTROPIDJE. 

Genus TRICHOTROPIS Sowerby. 

Subgenus MESOSTOMA Deshayes. 
Mesostoma migrans Dall. 

Genus? DOLOPHANES Gabb. 

Dolophanes Gabbi Dall. 
Dolophanes columbella Dall. 

Family FOSSARID^E. 
Genus FOSSARUS Philippi. 

Subgenus GOTTOINA A. Adams. 

Gottoina bella Dall. 
Gottoina compacta Dall. 

Family SOLARIIDjE. 

Genus FLUXINA Dall. 
Fluxina brunnea Dall. 
Fluxina discula Dall. 

Genus SOLARIUM Lamarck. 
Solarium granulatum Lamarck. 
Solarium peracutum Dall. 
Solarium Sigsbeei Dall. 

Genus OMALAXIS Deshayes. 

Omalaxis nobilis Verrill. 

Family? ADEORBID^E. 
Genus SEPARATISTA Gray. 
Section HALOCERAS Dall. 
Separatista cingulata Verrill.* 

Genus ADEORBIS Wood. 
Adeorbis supranitidua Wood. 
Adeorbis supranitidua var. Orbignyi Fischer. 

Subgenus CLATHRELLA Recluz. 
Clathrella naticoidea Dall.* 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 25 

Family RISSOID^. 

Genus RISSOA Freminville. 
Rissoa precipitata Dall. 
Risaoa acuticostata Dall. 

Genus RISSOINA Orbignt. 
Rissoina laevigata C. B. Adams. 
Rissoina albida C. B. Adams. 
Rissoina decussata Montagu.* 
Rissoina Chesnelii Michaud. 

Genus BENTHONELLA Dall. 
Benthonella gaza Dall.* 
Benthonella Fischeri Dall* 
Benthonella nisonis Dall.* 

Family CALYPTR^EID^E. 

Genus MITRULARIA Schumacher. 
Mitrularia equestris Linne. 

Genus CRUCIBULUM Schumacher. 
Crucibulum auricula Gmelin. 

Section DISPOT^EA Say. 
Crucibulum striatum Say. 

Genus CALYPTR^EA Lamarck. 
Calyptraea Candeana Orbigny. 

Genus CREPIDULA Lamarck. 
Section J AN AC US Morch. 
Crepidula protea Orbigny. 

Section SANDALIUM Schumacher. 
Crepidula aculeata Gmelin. 

Family CAPULID^. 
Genus CAPULUS Montfort. 

Section KREBSIA Morch. 
Capulus intortus Lamarck. 

Section HYALORISIA Dall. 
Capulus galea Dall. 


26 BULLETIN OF THE 

Family AMALTHEID^. 

Genus AMALTHEA Schumacher. 
Amalthea benthophila Dall. 

Family XENOPHORID^. 

Genus XENOPHORA G. Fischeb. 
Section XENOPHORA s. 8. 
Xenophora conchyliophora Born. 

Section TUGURIUM P. Fischer. 
Xenophora caribaea Petit. 

Family NATICID^E. 

Genus NATICA Lamarck. 
Section COCHLIS Morch. 
Natica maroccana Dillwyn.* 
Natica livida Pfr. 

Section NATICA s. s. 
Natica canrena Lamarck.* 
Natica castrensis Dall. 
Natica perlineata Dall. 

Subgenus NEVEMTA Risso. 
Section PAYRAUDEAUTIA B. D. & D. 
Neverita nubila Dall. 

Subgenus LUNATIA Gray. 

Lunatia tenuis Recluz. 
Lunatia leptalea Watson. 
Lunatia fringilla Dall. 
Lunatia fringilla var. perla Dall. 

Subgenus POLYNICES Montfort. 
Polynices uberina Orbigny. 

Genus SIGARETUS Lamarck. 
Sigaretus minor Dall. 

Subgenus EUNATICINA Fischer. 
Eunaticina carolinensis Dall.* 

Genus GYRODES Conrad. 
Gyrodes depressa Seguenza.* 


MUSEUM OF COMPAKATIVE ZOOLOGY. 27 


Family LAMELLARIIDvE. 


Genus LAMELL.ARIA Montagu. 
Lamellaria Rangii Bergh.* 


Super-Family PTENOGLOSSA. 

Family SCALID^E. 
Genus SCALA (Humphrey) Auctoeum. 

Scala lineata Say.* 

Scala Sayana Dall.* 

Scala costulata Mighels.* 

Scala multistriata Say.* 

Scala scipio Dall.* 

Scala apiculata Dall.* 

Scala modesta C. B. Adams.* 

Scala permodesta Dall.* 

Scala clathrua Linne.* 

Scala babylonia Dall.* 

Scala retifera Dall.* 

Scala Frielei Dall.* 

Scala Rushii Dall.* 

Scala Rushii var. stylina Dall.* 

Scala sericifila Dall.* 

Scala nitidella Dall.* 

Scala muscapedia Dall.* 

Scala eburnea Potiez & Michaud.* 

Scala Dalliana Verrill & Smith.* 

Scala Dunkeriana Dall.* 

Scala pernobilis Fischer & Bernardi. 

Scala belaurita Dall. 

Scala centiquadra Morch. 

Scala Pourtalesii Verrill & Smith. 

Scala Krebsii Morch. 

Scala contorquata Dall. 

Scala uncinaticosta Orbigny. 

Scala polacia Dall. 

Scala formosissima Jeffreys. 

Scala hellenica Jeffreys. 

Scala hellenica var. pumilio Morch. 

Scala hellenica var. scceva Morch. 

Scala hellenica var. nodosocarinata Dall. 

Scala hellenica var. Leeana Verrill. 


28 BULLETIN OF THE 

Scala hellenica var. Morchiana Dall. 
Scala hellenica var. bicarinata Sowerby. 
Scala aurifila Dall. 
Scala concava Dall. 
Scala discobolaria Dall. 

Genus ACLIS Lov£n. 
Aclis lata Dall. 
Aclis egregia Dall. 
Aclis nucleata Dall. 

Super-Family GYMNOGLOSSA, 

Family EULIMID^E. 

Genus EULIMA Risso. 

Section EULIMA s. s. 
Bulima intermedia Cantraine. 
Eulima jamaicensis C. B. Adams. 

Section MELANELLA Bowdich. 

Eulima arcuata C. B. Adams. 
Eulima elongata Dautzenberg. 

Subgenus LEIOSTRACA H. & A. Adams. 

Leiostraca acuta Sowerby. 
Leiostraca fusus Dall. 

Genus NISO Risso. 
Niso splendidula Sowerby.* 
Niso interrupta Sowerby.* 
Niso interrupta var. albida Dall. 
Niso interrupta var. tricolor Dall. 
Niso interrupta var. ceglees Bush.* 
Niso interrupta var. circinata Dall. 
Niso Willcoxiana Dall.* 

Family PYRAMIDELLIDjE. 

Genus PYRAMIDELLA Lamarck. 
Section LONCH^EUS Morch. 
Pyramidella crenulata Holmes.* 
Pyramidella Candida Morch. 
Pyramidella auricoma Dall.* 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 29 

Section PHARCIDELLA Dall. 
Pyramidella Folinii Dall. 

Section TIBERIA Jeffreys. 
Pyramidella nitidula A. Adams. 

Section PYRAMIDELLA 8. 8. 
Pyramidella dolabrata Linne. 

Genus TURBONILLA Risso. 

Turbonilla belotheca Dall. 

Turbonilla flavocincta C. B. Adams. 

Turbonilla interrupta Totten var. fulvocincta Jeffreys. 

Turbonilla curta Dall. 

Turbonilla pusilla C. B. Adams. 

Subgenus EULIMELLA Forbes. 
Eulimella unifasciata Forbes. 

Section STYLOPSIS A. Adams. 
Eulimella resticula Dall.* 

Subgenus CARELIOPSIS Morch. 
Careliopsis styliformis Morch.* 

Genus SYRNOLA A. Adams. 

Subgenus OSCILLA A. Adams. 
Oscilla nivea Morch.* 

? Genus PERISTICHIA Dall. 

Peristichia toreta Dall.* 
Peristichia agria Dall.* 

Order SCUTLT3RANCHIATA. 

Sub-Order RHIPHIDOGLOSSA. 

Super-Family SCHISMATOBRANCHIA. 

Family SCUTELLINID^E. 

Genus SCUTELLINA Gray. 
Scutellina antillarum Shuttleworth.* 


30 BULLETIN OF THE 

Family ADDISONIID^E. 

Genus ADDISONIA Dall. 
Addisonia lateralis Requien var. paradom Dall.* 

Family COCCULINIM:. 

Genus COCCULINA Dall. 

Section COCCULINA Dall s. b. 
Cocculina Rathbuni Dall. 
Cocculina Beanii Dall. 

Section COCCOPYGIA Dall. 
Cocculina spinigera Jeffreys.* 

Family PHASIANELLID^E. 

Genus PHASIANELLA Lamarck. 

Section EUCOSMIA Carpenter. 
Phasianella brevis Orbigny. 

Family TURBINIDtE. 

Genus LEPTOTHYRA Carpenter. 
Leptothyra induta Watson. 
Leptothyra induta var. tincta Dall. 
Leptothyra induta var. insculpta Dall. 
Leptothyra induta var. albida Dall. 
Leptothyra Philipiana Dall. 
Leptothyra Linnei Dall. 
Leptothyra Linnei var. limata Dall. 

Family TROCHID^. 

Genus GAZA Watson. 

Gaza superba Dall. 
Gaza Fischeri Dall. 

Subgenus CALLOGAZA Dall. 
Callogaza Watsoni Dall. 

Subgenus MICROGAZA Dall. 
Microgaza rotella Dall. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 31 

Genus UMBONIUM Link. 
Umbonium Bairdii Dull. 

Genus TEINOSTOMA Adams. 

Subgenus ETHALIA H. & A. Adams. 

Ethalia reclusa Dall. 
Ethalia suppressa Dall.* 
Ethalia solida Dall. 

Subgenus DILLWYNELLA Dall. 
Dillwynella modesta Dall. 

? Subgenus COCHLIOLEPIS Stimpson. 
Cochliolepis parasitica Stimpson.* 
Cochliolepis striata Dall.* 

Genus CALLIOSTOMA Swainson. 

Section CALLIOSTOMA s. s. 
Calliostoma euglyptum Adams. 
Calliostoma Bairdii Verrill & Smith. 
Calliostoma Bairdii var. Psyche Dall. 
Calliostoma circumcinctum Dall. 
Calliostoma echinatum Dall. 
Calliostoma sapidum Dall. 
Calliostoma tiara Watson. 
Calliostoma corbis Dall. 
Calliostoma roseolum Dall. 
Calliostoma apicinum Dall. 
Calliostoma aurora Dall. 
Calliostoma orion Dall. 

Section EUCASTA Dall. 
Calliostoma indiana Dall. 

Section EUTROCHUS A. Adams. 
Calliostoma jujubinum Gmelin. 
Calliostoma jujubinum var. tampaensis Conrad. 
Calliostoma jujubinum var. Rawsoni Dall.* 
Calliostoma yucatecanum Dall. 
Calliostoma Sayanum Dall.* 
Calliostoma Benedicti Dall.* 
Calliostoma cinctellum Dall. 
Calliostoma asperrimum Dall. 
Calliostoma asperrimum var. dentiferum Dall. 
Calliostoma asperrimum var. serifilatum Dall. 


32 BULLETIN OF THE 

Genus MARGARITA Leach. 
Section MARGARITA s. s. 

Margarita erythrocoma Dall. 

Margarita erythrocoma var. samance Dall.* 

Section TURCICULA Dall. 
Margarita imperialis Dall. 

Section BAtTIYMOPHILA Dall. 
Margarita euspira Dall. 

Subgenus SOLARIELLA A. Adams. 

Solariella amabilis Jeffreys. 
Solariella lamellosa Verrill & Smith. 
Solariella scabriuscula Dall. 
Solariella aegleis Watson. 
Solariella aegleis var. lata Dall. 
Solariella aegleis var. rhina Watson. 
Solariella aegleis var. clavata Watson. 
Solariella infundibulum Watson. 
Solariella Ottoi Philippi. 
Solariella lissocona Dall. 
Solariella lacunella Dall. 
Solariella lacunella var. depressa Dall. 
Solariella iris Dall. 
Solariella lubrica Dall. 
Solariella lubrica var. iridea Dall.* 

Genus EUCHELUS Philippi. 

Euchelus guttarosea Dall. 

Genus BASILISSA Watson. 

Section BASILISSA s. s. 

Basilissa alta Watson. 
Basilissa alta var, delicahda Dall. 

? Section ANCISTROBASIS Dall. 
Basilissa costulata Watson. 

Family DELPHINULIDiE. 

Genus LIOTIA Gray. 

Section ARENE H. & A. Adams. 

Liotia Briareus Dall. 
Liotia Briareus var. perforata Dall. 
January 6, 1889. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 33 

Liotia Briareus var. aspina Dall. 

Liotia Bairdii Dall. 

Liotia Bairdii var. trullata Dall. 

Liotia tricarinata Steams. 

Liotia miniata Dall. 

Liotia variabilis Dall. 

Subgenus LIPPISTES Montfort. 
Lippistes acrilla Dall.* 
Lippistes amabilis Dall. 


Family CYCLOSTREMATLLXE. 

Genus VITRINELLA C. B. Adams. 

Vitrinella Holmesii Dall* 
Vitrinella multicarinata Dall * 

Genus CYCLOSTREMA Marryat. 
Cyclostrema turbinum Dall. 
Cyclostrema pompholyx Dall. 
Cyclostrema cistronium Dall* 
Cyclostrema granulum Dall* 

Section GRANIGYRA Dall. 
Cyclostrema limatum Dall. 


Super-Family DICRANOBRANCHIA. 

Family HALIOTID^. 

Genus HALIOTIS Linne. 
Haliotis Pourtalesii Dall. 

Family SCISSURELLID^. 

Genus SCISSURELLA Orbigny. 

Section SCHIZOTROCHUS Monterosato. 
Scissurella crispata Fleming.* 

Section SCISSURELLA s. s. 
Scissurella alta Watson. 
vol. xviii. 3 


34 BULLETIN OF THE 

Family PLEUROTOMARIID^. 

Genus PLEUROTOMARIA J. Sowerby. 

Section PEROTROCHUS Fischeb. 
Pleurotomaria Quoyana Fischer & Bernardi. 

Section ENTEMNOTROCHUS Fischeb. 
Pleurotomaria Adansouiana Crosse & Fischer. 

Family FISSURELLID^. 

Genus PUNCTURELLA Lowe. 

Subgenus PUNCTURELLA s. s. 
Puncturella circularis Dall. 
Puncturella trifolium Dall. 
Puncturella Watsoni Dall. 

Subgenus FISSUEISEPTA Sequenza. 
Fissurisepta triangulata Dall.* 

Subgenus CRANOPSIS A. Adams. 

Cranopsis asturiana Fischer. 
Cranopsia? erecta Dall.* 

Genus EMARGINULA Lamabck. 

Subgenus RIMULA Defrance. 

Rimula frenulata Dall.* 

Subgenus EMARGINULA s. 8. 

Emarginula cancellata Philippi. 
Emarginula compressa Cantraine. 

Subgenus SUBEMARGINULA Blainville. 
Subemarginula octoradiata Gmelin. 

Genus FISSURELLA Brugiere. 
Section CRKMIDES H. & A. Adams. 
Fissurella alternata Say. 

Subgenus GLYPHIS Carpenter. 
Glyphis fluviana Dall. 

Genus FISSURELLIDEA Orbignt. 
Fissurellid. . ','u atula Reeve. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 35 

Suborder DOCOGLOSSA. 

Super-Family PROTEOBRANCHIA. 

Family ACMtEID^E. 

Genus PECTINODONTA Dall. 
Pectinodouta arcuata Dall. 

Super-Family ABRANCHIA. 
Family ? 

Genus PROPILIDIUM Forbes & Hanley. 
Propilidium ancyloide Forbes & Hanley.* 

Genus LEPETELLA Verrill. 
Lepetella tubicola Verrill.* 

Subclass ISOPLEURA. 
Super-Order POLYCONCH^E. 

Order POLYPLACOPHORA. 

Suborder CHITONACEA. 
Super-Family EOCHITONIA. 

Family LEPTOCHITONID^E. 

Genus LEPTOCHITON Gray. 
Leptochiton pergranatus Dall. 

Genus HANLEYIA Gray. 
Hanleyia tropicalia Dall. 

Family ISCHNOCHITONID^E. 

Genus ISCHNOCHITON (Gray) Carpenter. 

Section STENOPLAX Carpenter. 
Ischnochiton limaciformia Sowerby. 


36 BULLETIN OF THE 

Super-Family OPSICHITONIA. 
Family MOPALIID^. 

Genus NOTOPLAX H. Adams. 
Notoplax floridanus Dall. 

Class SCAPHOPODA. 

Order SOLENOCONCHA. 

Family DENTALIID^. 
Genus DENTALIUM Linne. 

Dentalium agile M. Sars. 
Dentalium perlongum Dall. 
Dentalium filum Sowerby.* 
Dentalium callipeplum Dall. 
Dentalium matara Dall.* 
Dentalium leptum Bush.* 
Dentalium antillarum Orbigny. 
Dentalium calamus Dall.* 
Dentalium taphrium Dall.* 
Dentalium candidum Jeffreys.* 
Dentalium sericatum Dall. 
Dentalium carduus Dall. 
Dentalium disparile Orbigny. 
Dentalium ceratum Dall. 
Dentalium Gouldii Dall. 
Dentalium ceras Watson. 
Dentalium capillosum Jeffreys. 
Dentalium laqueatum Yerrill. 
Dentalium compressum Watson. 
Dentalium ophiodon Dall. 
Dentalium callithrix Dall. 
Dentalium ensiculus Jeffreys. 

Genus CADULUS Philippi. 
Cadulus quadridentatus Dall. 
Cadulus gequalis Dall. 
Cadulus spectabilis Verrill. 
Cadulus Watsoni Dall. 
Cadulus poculum Dall. 
Cadulus Jeffreysi Monterosato. 


MUSEUM OF COMPAKATIVE ZOOLOGY. 37 


Cadulus carolinensis Bush. 
Cadulus Bushii Dall. 
Cadulus Agassizii Dall. 
Cadulus lunula Dall. 
Cadulus obesus Watson. 
Cadulus amiantus Dall. 
Cadulus cucurbita Dall. 
Cadulus acus Dall.* 
Cadulus minusculus Dall.* 


This list contains about four hundred and seventy species and varieties col- 
lected by the " Blake," to which may be added those enumerated in Part I, 
making a total of about seven hundred species, with which, in both papers, 
between two and three hundred related forms are compared or differentiated, 
making a total of nearly one thousand species, more or less fully discussed in 
this Report. Of those in Part I, eighty-one species, seven varieties, and twelve 
groups of higher value were regarded as new. In the present paper three 
hundred and eighty-five species and varieties, and thirty higher divisions, are 
treated as new, making a total for this Report of four hundred and seventy- 
three species and varieties, and forty -two genera, subgenera, or sections dis- 
criminated for the first time among the Brachiopods, Pelecypods, Gastropods, 
and Scaphopods collected by the Blake, or illustrating the fauna investigated 
in the work of the Blake. In addition to these, there are about twenty species 
of Nudibranchs in the hands of Dr. R. Bergh, of Copenhagen, to be reported 
upon ; the Pteropods and other floating pelagic forms have not been studied, 
while the report by Professor Verrill on the Cephalopods has been some time 
published, and includes some ten or twelve species. 

The magnitude of this contribution to our knowledge of the Mollusks of the 
region, due to the exertions of Professor Agassiz, Pourtales, Sigsbee, Bartlett, 
and their co-workers, is very evident. But the writer may fairly add that the 
value of the work consists not merely in having added nearly five hundred new 
forms to the known fauna, and materially enlarging our list of genera ; but, 
to an equal or greater extent, in the knowledge gained of the organization and 
structure of some of the most interesting Mollusks known. There is in this 
Report material enough to reward the attention of naturalists, both of the 
systematic and the purely morphologic schools, to whose appreciative and 
impartial criticism it is respectfully offered by the writer. 


Class GASTROPODA. 
Subclass ANISOPLEUEA. 

Order OPISTHOBRANCHIATA. 
Suborder TECTIBRANCHIATA. 

Family ACT^EONID^. 
Genus ACTiEON Montfort. 

Subgenus ACTiEON 3. s. 

Shells rather thin, with a single plait on the columella, which passes 
continuously into the anterior margin of the peristome. Type A. tornatilis 
Linne. 

Actaeon exilis Jeffreys. 

Actceon exilis Jeffreys, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., 4th ser., VI. p. 85, 1870. Watson, 

Chall. Rep. Gastr., p. 024, 1886. 
Auriculina insculpta Verr., Proe. U. S. Nat. Mus., III. p. 381, 1880. 
Actceon nitidus Verrill, Trans. Conn. Acad., V. p. 540, pi. lviii. fig. 21, July, 1882. 
1 Actceon exilis Seguenza, Form. Terz. Calabria, p. 251. 

Habitat. Off east coast of Florida, 150-200 fms., Dr. Rush ; Campechc 
Bank, Gulf of Mexico, in 200 fms., Dr. Rush ; off Martha's Vineyard in 312- 
487 fms., U. S. Fish Commission ; North Atlantic, Jeffreys, 227-1456 fms. 

The Calabrian fossils in the Jeffreys collection seem to be more inflated 
anteriorly than the recent shells. 

Actseon pusillus (Forbes) Jeffreys. 

Tornatella pusilla Forbes, iEgean Rep., p. 191, 1843. 

Actaeon pusillus Jeffreys, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., 4th ser., VI. p. 84, 1870. Watson, 
Chall. Gastr., p. 627, 1880. 

Habitat. Off Havana, Sigsbee, in 450 fms. Off Sand Key at Station 9, in 
111 fms., bottom temperature 55°. 5 F. 

The description of Forbes is too vague, and being without a figure the spe- 
cies may be regarded as rehabilitated by Jeffreys. The latter considers it 


40 BULLETIN OF THE 

identical with the A. depressus of Libassi, which is unknown to me, and with 
the A. noce J. Sowerby, from the Red Crag of Britain, an opinion which I 
cannot confirm after careful comparison of specimens. The A. noce is a very 
ponderous and much larger species, with a much more prominent and hori- 
zontal fold on the columella, as well as a thickened and striated outer lip. 

Actaeon punctostriatus Adams. 

Tornatella punctostriata C. B. Adams, Bost. Journ. Nat. Hist., III. p. 323, pi. iii. 

fig. 9, 1840. Gould, Inv. Mass., p. 245, fig. 188, 1841. 
Actceon punctostriatus Stimpson, Shells of New England, p. 51, 1851. 
Actceon cubensis Gabb, Top. Geol. San. Domingo, p. 245, 1873. MSrch, Malak. 

Blatt., XXII. p. 170, 1875. 
Tornatella punctata Orbigny, Moll. Cuba, I. p. 230, pi. xvii. figs. 10-12, 1842. (Not 

of Lea or Pie'tte. ) 

Habitat. Buzzard's Bay, Mass., to Florida, Cuba, and Santo Domingo, in 
2-63 fms. Pliocene of Florida. Orbigny's name is preoccupied by Lea for a 
fossil species (1833), but there is practically no doubt that his shell and 
Adams's are identical. They vary from pure white to trifasciate with rose or 
livid brown, usually faint and nebulous. The height of the spire, elevation of 
the nucleus, and extent of shell covered by the punctate lines, vary in the 
different specimens. Usually the spire is rather elevated, the nucleus some- 
what depressed, and the punctate grooves cover about half of the last whorl. 
There may be one or several subsutural lines, the middle of the whorl is gen- 
erally smooth and free from lines, and the anterior part crowded. The 
northern ones are variegated like those from the Antilles, but the latter are 
more frequently bright colored. The very young, like those figured by 
Adams and Orbigny, are usually white or translucent. The colors, when 
banded, are nearly always rather nebulous, and the number of bands never 
exceeds three, the anterior one most often absent. The shell is always thin, 
and often nearly translucent. Actceon turritus Watson (Chall. Gastr., p. 628, 
pi. xlvii. fig. 1) should be compared with this species, though the figures 
are not very similar ; the locality, Culebra Island, W. I., is suspicious. 

Actseon Cumingii A. Adams. 

Actaon Cumingii A. Adams, P. Z. S. 1854, p. 58. Morch, Malak. Blatt., XXII. p. 

169, 1875. 
Tornatella Cumingii Reeve, Conch. Icon. Tornatella, fig. 12, 1865. 
Tornatella textilis Guppy, Geol. Mag., 1874, p. 407, pi. xvi. fig. 4. 

Habitat. Rio Janeiro, Capt. Martin ; Porto Rico, Krebs ; five miles off 
Cape Florida in eight fathoms, Dr. Rush. 

This differs from A. delicatus by its stumpier form, coarser and ruder sub- 
vancellate striation, more prominent fold on the columella, and particularly by 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 41 

its nucleus which, though small, is swollen and set on the peak of a very acute 
spire like a swollen terminal bud on a twig. In delicatus the nucleus, instead 
of appearing larger, is considerably smaller than the whorl in front of it, in 
which it is also partially immersed. 

Actaeon delicatus n. s. 

Plate XVII. Fig. 5. 
Actceonfasciatus? Dall, Bulletin M. C. Z., IX. p. 94, 1881, not of Lamarck. 

Shell ovate, white, or suffused with rose pink, not in bands but generally, or 
in longitudinal flammules, with usually a white margin in front of the suture ; 
there are six or seven whorls, the last more than half the length of the shell, 
regularly rounded and grooved by, on the last whorl, 20-30 strong, rather 
deep, coarsely punctate grooves between rounded interspaces ; lines of growth 
quite perceptible, suture somewhat appressed, not channelled ; aperture more 
than half as long as the shell; outer lip thin, inner lip hardly callous, colu- 
mella straight, without any chink behind it, and bearing a single moderate fold. 
Nucleus small, mostly immersed in the succeeding whorl, apex not acute, 
surface usually not polished but a little less coarsely sculptured than that of 
A. Cumincjii Adams. Lon. of the largest specimen, 10.0; max. lat. 5.6; 
Ion. of aperture, 6.0 mm. 

Habitat. Station 19, 310 fms. ; by Sigsbee, Station 50 (Lat. 26° 31' and Lon. 
85° 53' W.), in 119 fms.; Station 290, off Barbados, in 73 fms., coral, bottom 
temperature 70°.75 F. ; and Station 100, off Morro Light, Havana, in 250- 
400 fms. 

The difference between the nucleus of this species and that of A. Cumingii 
is noted under the latter species. It is just possible that it is to the present 
species that is to be referred the single specimen obtained by Gabb, and which 
he referred to A. tornatilis. The latter is not known from this region. 

Acteeon melampoides Dall. 

Plate XVII. Fig. 2. 

Actceon melampoides Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 95, 1881. 

? Actceon hebes Verrill, Trans. Conn. Acad., VI. p. 428, pi. xliv. fig. 15, 1885. 

Habitat. Station 19, 310 fms., off Bahia Honda, Cuba, bottom temperature 
52°. 5 F. Station 2224 of the U. S. Fish Commission, in 2574 fms., off the east 
coast of the United States (Verrill). 

I have not seen the typical specimen of A. hebes, but the figure and description 
agree so closely with A. melampoides that I have little doubt of their identity. 

Only one specimen was obtained by the Blake. 

Among Antillean shells I have seen nothing which I could identify with the 
A. splendidulus of Morch from St. Thomas, or the biplicate Cuban A. ovulum 
Pfr. The last is only 1.6 mm. long, and may be an immature Marginella. 


42 BULLETIN OF THE 

Actaeon perforatus Dall. 

Plate XVIII. Fig. 3. 

Actceon perforatus Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 96, 1881. 

Habitat. Station 2, 805 fms. 

Only one specimen of this species has been received. It differs from A. 
exiguus Dkr. of the same region in its very much shorter spire and globular 
proportions, in its obsolete columellar fold, and the strength and uniformity 
of its punctate sulci. 

Actaeon Danaida Dall. 

Plate XVII. Fig. 13. 

Actceon Danaida Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 96, 1881. 

Habitat. Station 43, 339 fms., off Tortugas, bottom temperature 45°.0 F. 
Only one specimen and a fragment were obtained. 

Actaeon incisus Dall. 

Plate XVII. Figs. 1, 1 b. 

Actceon incisus Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 95, 1881. 

Habitat. Yucatan Strait, off Cape San Antonio, 640 fms. 

In this, as in the preceding deep-water species, the fold or ridge on the colu- 
mella is faint, though not entirely absent, and is best seen from the side ; in 
fact, it is almost invisible in all, except A. melampoides, from in front as the fig- 
ures on Plate XVII. are viewed. The columella in these figures, however, is 
drawn as straighter and broader than it really appears ; but in these particu- 
lars it is very difficult to get a draughtsman who knows nothing of shells to 
catch the characteristic curves in every instance. 

Genus OVULACT^ON Dall. 

Shell cyprseiform, involute; with an apical perforation, as in Bulla; colu- 
mella simple, without plaits ; margin of the aperture continuous, simple, thick- 
ened, the callus on the body elevated, parallel with the outer lip ; aperture 
narrow, almost linear, slightly effuse at the extremities, as long as the shell. 
Type 0. Meekii Dall. 

This interesting form resembles an involute Globiconcha * with perforate apex 
and thickened aperture, or a rounded Actmonella without plaits. In the im- 
plicate series of the Acheonidm it holds a place analogous to that of Cyprceartceon 
White among the plicate forms. 

* The G. ovula Orbigny, which I have not seen, but which has been referred to 
as an immature Cyprcea, may perhaps belong here. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 43 

Ovulactseon Meekii n. s. 

Plate XXXIII. Figs. 3, 4. 

Shell with the outline of a small Cyprcea like C. edentula, widest in its pos- 
terior third, white, polished with fine, distinct, impressed incremental lines, 
and the faintest trace of spiral linear markings ; a depressed line or sulcus 
indicates a previous resting stage half a whorl behind the present thickened 
aperture in the older specimen ; in the younger, the varical sulcus is three 
quarters of a whorl behind the aperture. The apex in the older shell is per- 
forate, the whorl rounding over to the perforation, and the spire invisible ; in 
the younger specimen the perforation is proportionally wider, and about half 
a turn can be seen. The lines of growth become stronger and more regularly 
grooved as they pass over the summit into the pit. The aperture is very 
narrow, curved with the profile of the shell, and extending beyond the sum- 
mit. Unlike Cyprcea, the thickening of the outer lip is altogether internal, 
simple, and smooth ; the callus opposite is narrow, with a sharply defined 
abrupt outer margin, and the inner margin raised sharply up parallel with the 
outer lip, with which it is continuous at the extremities ; the flat part of the 
callus is widest anteriorly, polished but not smooth, but the raised edge is 
without teeth or transverse striation of any sort. The extremities of the aper- 
ture are elevated to follow the profile of the body of the shell. Lon. of largest 
specimen, 5.5 ; max. lat. 3.0 mm. 

Habitat. Off Havana, Sigsbee, in 450 fms. West of North Bernini, Baha- 
mas, in 200 fms., sand, Dr. Rush (U. S. Nat. Mus., No. 61228). 

This extremely interesting shell is well shown by the figure. There can be 
little question as to its probable relations. The characters of the aperture are 
essentially different from anything among the Cyprceidce, and it has not the 
polished lacquer which species of that family owe to the expanded mantle- 
margin. Only one specimen was obtained at either locality. 

Family RINGICULID^E. 

Genus RINGICULA Deshates. 

SectioD KINGICULINA Monterosato. 

Ringicula nitida Vekrill. 

Ringicula nitida Verrill, Am. Journ. Sci., 3d series, Vol. V. p. 16, Jan., 1873. 

(Extra copies sent out Dec. 13, 1872.) Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 97, 1881. 
Ringicula leptocheila Brugnone, Misc. Malac, p. 18, fig. 11, 1873. Agassiz, Three 

Cruises of the Blake, II. p. 70, fig. 291, 1888. 
''.Ringicula peracuta Watson, Journ. T.inn. Soc, XVII. p. 292, 1883. Chall. Gastr., 

p. 636, pi. xlvii. fig. 11, 188B 

Habitat. Fossil, Pliocene of Italy, Brugnone, and recent in the Mediterra- 
nean. Bed of the Gulf Stream, Pourtales, in 447 fms. Yucatan Strait, 640 fms. 


44 BULLETIN OF THE 

Station 43, off Tortugas, in 339 fins., bottom temperature 45°.0 F. Station 211, 
off Martinique, in 357 fms., sand. Station 264, off Grenada, in 416 fms., gray- 
ooze, bottom temperature 42°. 5 F. Atlantic sea-bed, Jeffreys. Off Bermuda, 
Culebra Island, West Indies, and Pernambuco, in 350 to 1075 fms., mud and 
ooze, bottom temperature 38°. 2 F., Challenger Expedition. 

I have satisfied myself by a comparison of authentic specimens that the 
species of Verrill and Brugnone are the same, the former name having pri- 
ority. The locality, description, and figure of R. peracuta agree well with 
some varieties of R. nitida, with which it does not seem to have been com- 
pared. The elevation and the extent of the spiral grooving differ in different 
individuals, as observed with species of Actceon. 

Although fossil in the Italian Pliocene, this species has not yet been recorded 
from the so-called Pliocene of America. 

The other species of this interesting group from this region are the recent 
Ringicula semistriata Orb., R. tridentata Guppy from the Miocene of Jamaica, 
and two forms from the Florida Pliocene. R. tridentata resembles R. semistri- 
ata, but wants the striations. The larger Florida species (R. floridana n. s.) is 
about 1.5 mm. wide and 2.5 mm. long, with five whorls. Its aperture is like 
that of R. semistriata, but the whole shell is covered with strong spiral grooving 
with rounded interspaces. There are 12-14 grooves on the last whorl. The 
Miocene tridentata is smooth and widest ; the Pliocene floridana is narrower, 
and wholly striate ; the recent semistriata is intermediate in width and half 
striate. The other form from the Caloosahatchie Pliocene is like R. floridana, 
except that it has a larger nucleus, four whorls, and is about 1.6 mm. long and 
1.0 mm. wide. It may be a dwarf race of the other, and for the present will 
be referred to as R. floridana var. Guppyi. 


Family TORNATINID^. 
Genus TORNATINA A. Adams. 

This group is credited by Fischer with three subgenera beside the typical one, 
for the first of which he adopts Utriculus Brown (non Schumacher) for species 
with an elevated spire, an unchannelled suture, and no plication on the col- 
umella ; for the second, Coleophysis Fischer, with a truncate and concave apex, 
the shell attenuated behind with the columella plicate ; lastly, Sao H. & A. 
Adams, with the shell pyriform, greatly dilated in front, and the columella 
simple. 

It is not clear to my mind that it would not be better to follow Adams in 
his original arrangement of the genus, and separate Utriculus, Brown, alto- 
gether from Tornatina, thus associating with the latter all the Tornatinidcs 
with a plicate columella, and with the former all those with a simple columella. 
Thus, for the region under consideration we should have the species arranged 
as follows : — 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 45 

Genus TORNATINA A. Adams. 
Spire elevated. Columella uniplicate. 
T. bullata Kiener (= canaliculata Orb. non Say). 
T. recta Orb. (+ T. coix-lacryma Guppy, Geol. Mag. 1867, p. 500). 
T. canaliculata Say (non Orbigny). 
T. Candei Orb. (? = canaliculata Say, var.). 
T. spatha Watson. 

Subgenus COLEOPHYSIS Fischer. 
Spire depressed. Columella uniplicate. 
C. perplicatus Pall. 

Subgenus CYLICHNELLA Gabb. 
Spire depressed. Columella biplicate. 
C. bidentata Orb. (+ biplicata Lea). 
G. oryza Totten. 
C. ovum-lacerti Guppy (Trinidad Eocene). 

Genus UTRICULUS. 

Spire elevated or involute ; shell subcylindrical ; columella simple, uni- 
plicate. 

U. Gouldii Couthouy. 

U. pertenuis Migbels. 

U. Mayoi Bull. 

U. Frielei DalL 

U. vortex Dall. 

U. (vortex var. ?) domitus Dall. 

U. pervius Dall. 

Subgenus KETUSA (Brown) Morch. 
Shell pyriform, transversely sulcate, spire depressed, concave. 
B. sulcata Orbigny. 
R. cmlata Bush. 
i2. omphalis Morch. 
B. t ovata Jeffreys. 

Subgenus COLEOPHYSIS Fischer. 

Coleophysis perplicatus Dall. 

Shell ivory white with a very thin translucent epidermis, marked only with 
delicate lines of growth and a few faint incised spirals near the columella ; 
anterior half of the shell wide and rounded, posterior half narrowing toward 
the apex with the sides somewhat compressed or flattened ; outer lip thin, 
straight except in front where it expands a little before rounding to the rather 
thick twisted pillar; behind deeply notched and behind the notch arching 


46 BULLETIN OF THE 

over and turning forward to meet a carina which revolves about the apex ; 
apex truncate, carinated by a line which forms the outer boundary of the path 
of the notch, within vorticiform, about one and a half whorls visible around 
the central perforation and descending into it; body with hardly any wash 
of callus; pillar strong, with a large horizontal fold and a minute chink behind 
it; aperture as long as the shell, straight and narrow behind, wide and some- 
what oblique in front ; max. Ion. of shell, 5.0 ; max. lat. 3.0 ; lat. of apex, 
1.75 mm. 

Habitat. Station 20, off Bahia Honda, Cuba, in 220 fms., bottom tempera- 
ture 62°.0. Barbados, 100 fms. 

It is difficult, or rather impossible, to determine the generic place of these 
small Tectibranchs without a knowledge of the soft parts. They are referable 
to Coleophysis, Cylichna, or Diaphana, or even Sao, at the option of the de- 
scribe^ guided only by the characters of the shell. The presence of the plait 
would indicate the first-mentioned section for the present species. It is per- 
haps nearest in general form to the Cylichna ovata of Jeffreys, or Diaphana 
gemma of Verrill, which has no plait and is much more attenuated behind. 

Subgenus CYLICHNELLA Gabb. 

Cylichnella bidentata Orbignt. 

Bulla bidentata Orbigny, Moll. Cuba, I. p. 125, pi. iv. figs. 13-16, 1841. 

Bulla biplicata Lea, Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., I. p. 204, 1844 ; Journ. Nat. Hist, 

V. p. 286, pi. xxvi. fig. 2, 1847. 
Utriculus biplicatus Tryon, Am. Mar. Conch., p. 104, pi. xiii. fig. 213, 1873. 
Cylichnella bidentata Gabb, Proc. Phila. Acad. Nat. Sci., p. 273, pi. x. fig. 2, 1872. 

Geol. San. Domingo, p. 246, 1873. Morel), Malak. Blatt , XXII. p. 171, 1875. 
Cylichna biplicata Busb, Hatteras Moll., Trans. Conn. Acad., VI. p. 467, pi. xlv. 
fig. 14, 1885. 

Habitat. From Hatteras to Santo Domingo in 7-168 fms., and from Florida 
to Texas near low- water mark. Barbados, 100 fms. 

Miss Bush may have been right in referring this to Cylichna, which it much 
resembles, but I cannot help thinking it should be placed in this family. 
Cylichna oryza Totten belongs in the same subgenus, but is more inflated and 
larger. This is not the Cylichna biplicata Adams described in 1850 from the 
Chinese Seas. 

Genus UTRICULUS (Brown) Adams. 

Utriculus Mayoi Dall. 

Shell solid, white, with a yellowish polished epidermis and well marked 
lines of growth, spiral striae very faint and few, or none ; whorls 3&-4, spire 
distinct, little elevated, nucleus small, rounded, not prominent ; aperture 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 47 

long, rather wide and straight, the posterior commissure rounded, the anterior 
wide, the margin spirally curved showing the axis (though this is not per- 
vious) ; umbilical chink none, pillar broad, white, oblique without any trace 
of a plication ; outer lip thin, arched forward in the middle; suture very deep - , 
inner lip with a wash of callus. Lon. of shell, 8.3; of aperture, 7.0 ; max. 
lat. 4.6 mm. 

Habitat. Fish stomach, at Portland, Maine, from which it was collected 
by Mr. Mayo and sent to Dr. Jeffreys. This shell recalls Bulla turrita Mbller 
(Adams, Thesaurus Conch., pi. cxxi. fig. 28, but is much larger, with propor- 
tionately shorter spire, straighter sides, and more width anteriorly). 

Utriculus ? Frielei Dall. 

Plate XVII. fig. 4. 

Utriculus ? Frielei Dall, Bulletin M. C. Z., IX. p. 101, 1881. 

Habitat. Off Cape San Antonio, Yucatan Strait, 640 fms. 

Utriculus leucus Watson seems to approach this species as nearly as any 
known form, but has sundry distinctive characters. There is no doubt, how- 
ever, that there are differences of form and development of the tip of the spire, 
in these enrolled forms, in adult individuals, as well as during the stages of 
one individual. It will not do, therefore, to draw the specific lines too taut on 
this sort of character. 

Utriculus ? vortex Dall. 

Plate XVII. fig. 3. 

Utriculus ? vortex Dall, Bulletin M. C. Z., IX. p. 100, 1881. 

Cylichna Dalli Verrill, Trans. Conn. Acad., V. p. 542, 1882 ; VI. p. 274, pi. xxix. 
fig. 15, 1884. 

Habitat. Station 43, 339 fms. ; Station 44, 539 fms. 

This species differs remarkably from the form about to be described. With 
the material I have to study, I am obliged to separate them. But in the few 
specimens I have seen there is a good deal of variability indicated. 

lylichna Dalli, I am sorry to say, agrees perfectly with U. ? vortex and I feel 
there are no grounds upon which I could attempt a rescue of its specific valid- 
ity. I have compared authentic specimens. 

Utriculus (vortex var. ?) domitus n. 8. 

Plate XVII. Fig. 8. 

Shell solid, yellowish white, short, broad and squarely truncate in front 
with a rather blunt mammiform spire exhibiting about three turns; surface 
transversely marked with faint lines of growth, and near the suture with fine 
well-marked wrinkles as if too large for the spire around which the posterior 


48 BULLETIN OF THE 

fourth of the whorl is closely wound and very strongly appressed, giving the 
posterior edge of the last whorl especially a bevelled appearance ; spiral sculp- 
ture, extremely fine grooves, not puncticulate, strong on the posterior aspect, 
obsolete on the body (which appears polished), and, except in the young, on 
the anterior extreme ; the sutural wrinkles are prettily shagreened by the in- 
tersection of these fine close grooves ; spire very obliquely wound, the margin 
of the volutions rounded (notwithstanding its being closely appressed), and 
the rounded edge often eroded showing the inner porcellanous under the outer 
more cretaceous layer, the extreme apex eroded in all the specimens obtained ; 
aperture very wide in front, extremely narrow behind ; the margin retreating 
from the columella to half-way between axis and exterior, almost straight in 
front, then rising and continuing backward nearly parallel to the axis, and fall- 
ing away again obliquely to the suture, forming an extremely narrow and deep 
notch ; body with a thin deposit of white, callus, columella hardly thickened, 
spiral, passing without noticeable interruption into the anterior margin ; outer 
lip sharp, thin. Lon. of shell, 9.0 ; of aperture, 7.5 ; max. lat. of shell, 5.25 ; 
of aperture, 3.37 mm. 

Station 236, off Bequia, in 1591 fms., ooze, bottom temperature, 39°.0 ; Sta- 
tion 162, off Guadelupe, in 734 fms., ooze, bottom temperature 40°.0 F. 

This shell has a distant resemblance to an Acteeon, which it is not, as is evi- 
dent on inspection. It may prove a Cylichna when the soft parts are known, 
reference until then being necessarily provisional. It is peculiarly bevelled 
off behind and abrupt in front, and is stouter than most shells of this group. 
It is posssble that in the young at some stage the nucleus may be entirely en- 
rolled. It is quite distinct from anything recent or fossil which I find figured. 
It is most nearly allied to U. ? vortex Dall, which is a smaller, proportionally 
more slender, cylindrical shell, with somewhat different sculpture and a blunter 
spire. In the figure of U. ? domitus the wrinkles on the spire are not suffi- 
ciently emphasized as compared with the lines of growth, nor is the difference 
in sculpture between the body and the posterior aspect as sharply defined as it 
appears under a good lens. This species differs from Utriculus spatha Watson 
in form and in the absence of folds on the columella. It differs from U. olivi- 
formis Watson in the proportion of the spire to the whole length, in the un- 
equal distribution and different character of the sculpture. But I doubt if 
these species do not vary greatly, and the discovery of intermediate links be- 
tween them and U. vortex would not surprise me in the least. 

Utriculus pervius Dall. 

Shell short, stout, truncate apically, white, polished, sculptured only with 
faint incremental lines ; form subcylindrical, larger anteriorly, a little com- 
pressed just behind the middle; aperture long, narrow behind and rounded 
at the posterior commissure, where it has a shallow rounded notch, the outer 
boundary of whose path is marked on the summit by a raised line ; anterior 
part of aperture wider, not very oblique, rounded in front ; outer lip straight, 
January 6, 1889. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 49 

thin, arched forward in the middle ; pillar thin, simple, with no trace of a 
plait; body without perceptible callus; behind the pillar a small, very deep 
umbilical perforation ; apex nearly fiat, bounded by the above-mentioned raised 
line, within which the fasciole of the notch is rounded over but does not reach 
the level of the line referred to ; nucleus somewhat depressed, but not deeply ; 
about three and a half whorls are visible on the apex. Max. Ion. of shell, 
4.0 ; max. lat. of do., 2.5 ; lat. of apex, 1.5 mm. 

Habitat. West Indies, U. S. Fish Commission, probably from near Barba- 
dos, in about 80 fms., sand. 

This species is remarkable for its deep though minute umbilicus and it- 
dish-like apex. Its general form is not unlike U. perplicatus, but the sides 
are straighter and the other characters quite different. The locality is unfor- 
tunately doubtful, though it was somewhere in the Antilles. 

Subgenus RETUSA (Brown) Morch. 
Retusa ? OVata Jeffreys. 

Cylickna ovata Jeffreys, Rep. Brit. Assoc, 1870, Pore. Exp., p. 156. Ann. Mag. 

Nat. Hist., 5th ser., X. p. 34, 1882. Watson, Chall. Rep., p. 664, pi. xlix. fig. 

9, 1885. 
Utriculus conulus G. 0. Sars, Moll. Reg. Arct. Norv., p. 287, pi. 17, fig. 17, 1878. 
Cylichna umbilicata var. conulus Jeffr., Brit. Condi., IV. p. 414 ; V. p. 223. 
Not Bulla conulus Deshayes, Cylichna conulus of Weinkauff, or Bulla conulus of 

Searles Wood. 

Habitat. North Atlantic, Porcupine and Triton Expeditions; Bay of Bis- 
cay, Travailleur Expedition; Azores, Josephine, Porcupine, and Challenger 
Expeditions ; West Indies, off Culebra Island, Challenger Expedition ; off Per- 
nambuco, Challenger Expedition; Straits of Florida, 150-465 fms., Dr. Rush; 
east coast of North America, 124-400 fms., U. S. Fish Commission. Range 
100-1000 fms. over a muddy bottom in all parts of the North Atlantic, with 
temperatures from 40°.0 to 62°.0 F. 

Retusa ? obesiuscula Brcgnone. 

Cylichna obesiuscula Brugnone, Bull. Soc. Mai. Ital., III. p. 39, pi. i. fig. 7, 1877. 
Diaphana conulus Verrill, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., HI. p. 382, 1880 ; Trans. Conn 
Acad., V. p. 543, pi. lviii. fig. 25, 1882; VI. p. 273, 1884. 

Habitat. Pliocene of Messina, Seguenza ; of Palermo, Brugnone. U. S 
Fish Commission Stations 870, 949, 2595, 2602, and 2614, in 63-168 fms 
living in about 100 fms., temperature 61° F., over a sandy bottom. 

This species is quite distinct from Bulla conica or conulus of Deshayes, Wood, 
Sars, etc., from C. Hcernesi and C. ovata, with all of which it has been con- 
founded by various authors, especially Jeffreys. Professor Verrill in referring 
to it noted the discrepancies. 

VOL. xviii. 4 


50 BULLETIN OF THE 

In the absence of the soft parts, which have not been preserved, it is impos- 
sible to fix the place of this and the preceding species. If they belong to the 
Tornatinidce, they would be included with Retusa as I have used it. If to the 
Scaphandridce, they would find a place in Monterosato's section Cylichnina. 
Further knowledge is required before a satisfactory answer can be given to this 
and many other doubtful questions. 

The specimens have been compared with Brugnone's types in the Jeffreys 
collection, and with authentic specimens of the other forms mentioned. The 
genuine C. conulus seems to have a very wide range, and was dredged by Cap- 
tain St. John r R. N., in Korea. The specimens in the Jeffreys collection from 
the Italian Pliocene collected by Seguenza, and named conulus or ovata, were 
of this species. The other conulus appeared from the Tertiaries of France, Bel- 
gium, and Great Britain. 

Genus VOLVULA A. Adams. 
Volvula acuta Orbignt. 

Volvula recta Morch, non Orbigny, Malak. Blatt., XXII. p. 179. 
Bulla acuta Orbigny, Moll. Cuba. I. p. 126, pi. iv. figs. 17-20, 1841. 
iVolvula minuta Bush, Trans. Conn. Acad., VI. p. 469, pi. xlv. fig. 11, 1885. 

Habitat. Barbados, 100 fms. Off Hatteras, 15-124 fms., U. S. Fish Com- 
mission. 

This species, when young, seems to me indistinguishable from V. minuta 
Bush, so far as the shells are concerned. I hare not seen the soft parts. 
Northern specimens are a little yellower and more earthy than those from 
the Antilles, as in the case of many other species having a wide geographical 
range. Miss Bush's figure is more ovate than that of Orbigny, and I find 
specimens agreeing with both figures in form, with others which appear more 
or less intermediate. This species differs from V. acuminata Brug. in being 
one quarter shorter with the same width, in having a well-marked umbilical 
chink, and an apical process averaging shorter in specimens of the same size. 

Volvula oxytata Bush. 

Volvula oxytata Bush, Trans. Conn. Acad., VI. p. 468, pi. xlv. fig. 12, 1885. 

1 Volvula persimilis Morch, Malak. Blatt., XXII. p. 179, 1875. 

1 Bulla fucicola (Chiereghini) fide Nardo, Sinon., Veneto, 1847; Brusina, Contr. p. 

Fauna Dalm., p. 83, 1866. 
Volvula acuminata (Brug.) Auct. ex parte. 

Habitat. Mediterranean, Jeffr. Coll. East coast of the United States, be- 
tween Hatteras and Cuba, 5-63 fms., U. S. Fish Commission. Antilles, Krebs. 

In examining the Jeffreys collection I find this species represented from the 
Mediterranean from various collectors, and from Adventure Bank, Porcupine 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 51 

Expedition. The British and all the northern specimens, and one Mediterra- 
nean lot, are of another species, shorter and stouter, which I take to be the gen- 
uine acuminata of Brugiere. It in its turn differs somewhat from the Crag fossil 
which has been called by the same name, but perhaps not specifically. I have 
not had access to the work of Nardo or Chiereghini ; but if the name given by 
the latter, as is probable, was applied to the Adriatic form, it is probably this 
species, as I have not seen any genuine acuminata from the Adriatic. In that 
case it would take precedence of the names given by Miss Bush and Morch. 
I have not seen any specimen of Morch's shell authentically identified, but 
his comparative remarks render it highly probable that he had the V. oxytata 
in view. 

The genus Rhizorus of Montfort has been referred to this group, but it seems 
to be too uncertain to be adopted, and in some particulars would rather recall 
the Cylichna marmorata of Adams. 

Volvula Bushii n. s. 

This species is stouter, and its posterior process more acutely pointed than 
in V. acuta ; its posterior end is more inflated and blunt than in V. acuta or 
acuminata, and the little sharp spine rises more abruptly from this dome. 
The anterior part of the shell is somewhat narrower than the posterior part, 
with very straight sides and columella, toward which it is evenly rounded in 
front. There is a long chink behind the pillar, a faint wash of callus on the 
body, and fine microscopic spiral striae over the polished surface. The color 
is greenish white of a cretaceous quality. The columella is slightly reflected, 
but not twisted. Lon. 4.6 ; lat. 2.3 mm. 

Habitat. Station 2602, 36 miles S. % W. from Cape Hatteras, N. C, in 
124 fins., sand, bottom temperature 61°.0 F., U. S. Fish Commission. 

Six specimens were obtained. 

Volvula aspinosa n. s. 

Shell white or yellowish, opaque, the young translucent, rather stout, ovate, 
the aperture as long as the shell, very narrow behind, wider in front, the outer 
lip sharp-edged, thickened inside, evenly rounded to both extremities, its mid- 
dle part nearly straight ; the left or opposite side of the shell much more arched 
than the right side ; surface with well-marked incremental lines, numerous 
spiral microscopic striae a little stronger toward the extremities ; columella 
thick, short, straight, with a very minute chink behind it covered mostly by 
callus ; apex dome-like, with a small rising in the centre, which in the most 
perfect and especially young specimens is pointed ; callus on the body narrow, 
but well marked. Lon. 4.0 ; lit. 2.0 mm. 

Habitat. Off the North Carolina coast, in 18 to 168 fms., sand, bottom 
temperature 61°-75° F., U. S. Fish Commission. Straits of Florida, 150- 
200 fms., Dr. Rush. 


52 BULLETIN OF THE 

This very interesting species nearly bridges the gap between typical Volvula 
and Cylichna. Many of the worn or unfinished specimens show hardly a trace 
of an apical process ; with the best developed ones it is only a raised point 
barely as high as the elevation of the outer lip beyond the apex, and never a 
spine as in the other species. There is something about its form and facies, 
however, which indicates its relationship even when the point is absent. 
Apart from the spine it is perhaps nearer V. Bushii than any of the others, 
but is more cylindrical, smaller, and has a narrower aperture. The shell 
seems unusually heavy for its small size when a perfectly mature specimen is 
examined. 

Family SCAPHANDRID^. 

Genus SCAPHANDER Montfort. 

Scaphander punctostriatus Mighels. 

Bulla punctostriatus Mighels, Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., I. p. 49, 1841 
Scaphander librarius Loven, Index Moll. Scand., p. 10, 1846. 
Scaphander punctostriatus Verrill, Trans. Conn. Acad., VI. p. 273. 

Habitat. Station 48, Gulf of Mexico, Lat. 28° 47'.5 N. and Lon. 88° 41'.5 W., 
in 533 fms.; bottom temperature 41°. 7 F., and Station 281, near Barbados, in 
288 fms., ooze, bottom temperature 46°.5 F. 

A single specimen was collected at each of the above stations. 

These specimens exhibit a bluntness at the apex and a more Bulla-like form 
than the typical ones, and may form a variety clavus, distinguished from the 
type by the above features and by the simple apex, where the axis is prolonged 
into the outer lip directly without being twisted so as to form a sort of cup, as 
in the type of the species. 

Scaphander Watsoni Dall. 

Plate XVII. Fig. 10. 
Scaphander? Watsoni Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 99, 1881. 

Habitat. Off Sombrero Island, in 54-72 fms. : Barbados, 100 fms. ; Station 
20, in 220 fms., off Bahia Honda, bottom temperature 62°.0 F. ; Station 36, in 
84 fms., bottom temperature 60°.0 F. ; Station 45, in 101 fms., bottom temper- 
ature 61°. 7 F. ; and Station 290, in 73 fms., Barbados, bottom coral and shell, 
temperature 70°.7 F. Also off Hatteras, in 63-124 fms., sand, and 324 fms., 
sand, in the Gulf of Mexico, bottom temperature 46° 5, by the IT. S. Fish 
Commission. 

Adults of this species were taken at Station 2376 by the U. S. Fish Com- 
mission in 324 fms. The shells alone were received. They are the American 
analogue of the European Scaphander lignarius, which they resemble more 
closely than any other species, ^"t from which they can be distinguished by 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 53 

their uniformly more slender and cylindrical form and greater posterior attenu- 
ation. These differences hold good for the young as well as the adults. The 
outer lip generally rises higher, and the space on the posterior end of the spire 
is less wide and excavated in S. Watsoni than in the other species, but these 
characters vary somewhat in both species. I doubt if S. Watsoni ever reaches 
the size of the Mediterranean form ; the largest I have seen measured 38.0 mm. 
long by 19.0 mm. in greatest diameter. S. lignarius of the same length gen- 
erally measures about 24.5 mm. in diameter. 

The magnificent S. nobilis Verrill, first dredged in 1209 fms., off Delaware 
Bay, was also found in the Gulf of Mexico by the U. S. Fish Commission in 
1639 fms., at Station 2127. 

Subgenus SABATIA Bellardi. 

Sabatia Bellardi, Bull, della Soc. Malacol. Italiana, II. fas. iii. p. 209, 1876. 
Sabalia Bellardi, 1. c. sopra tavola C. figs. 5-8. 

Type Sabatia Isseh Bellardi, 1. c, p. 210. 
Bulla plicata Bellardi, in Sismonda, Syn. Meth. Inv. Pedemont. Fos., 1842 (non 

B. plicata Deshayes). 
Bulla uniplicata Bell., in Sismonda, ed. ii. 1847. (Nom. inapp.) 


Sabatia bathymophila Dau. 

Plate XVII. Figs 9, 9 b. 

Atys ? bathymophila Dall , Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 98, 1881. 

Habitat. Station 33, 1,568 fms.; Station 2, 805 fms.; Yucatan Strait, in 
640 fms. ; Station 162, in 734 fms. 

The exterior of this species has the general form of Scaphander nobilis, but 
the minute, sculpture and the characteristics in detail are alike distinct. 

Additional and mature specimens of this species appear in the collections of 
1878-79, from Station 162, off Guadelupe, in 734 fms., fine gray mud ; bot- 
tom temperature 40°.0. These specimens show that the truncation of the axis 
is a character of the immature shell, and that the adult shows nothing of it, 
but has the body from one end to the other supplied with a broad solid flat- 
tened callus, which is especially protuberant (into the aperture) at the begin- 
ning of the posterior third. The outer margin of the callus has a sigmoid 
curve parallel with the inner outline of the columella and body; the inner 
margin is, however, somewhat irregularly transversely wrinkled, the mass of 
callus is much thicker in the middle third, and its surface is ornamented with 
flattened pustulae irregularly disposed. This gives to the shell an abnormal 
appearance, which I took, in the single large (but, as we now know, immature) 
specimen referred to in the description, as an indication of disease in the indi- 
vidual. More material shows these characters to be normal and constant in 
their general features in the adult shells. The form of the aperture is well 


54 BULLETIN OF THE 

shown in the figures ; its anterior portion is very oblique, — a feature only- 
visible in a side view. 

The type species, Sabatia Isseli Bellardi, bears no special resemblance to this 
shell ; it is of quite different shape, sculpture, and proportions, with a callus 
more simple and proportionately less developed. A species with a differently 
shaped aperture and more general regularity of form both in shell and callus, 
yet closely allied to the present species, is Bulla grandis Seguenza (Form. 
Terz. di Reggio, p. 250, pi. xvi. fig. 4, 1880), from the Astiano division of the 
Calabrian Pliocene, collected at Reggio and Gallina. It is even larger than our 
species, measuring 33 X 26 mm., while the largest specimen of baihymophUa 
is only 31 X 24 mm. In the latter a minute dimple indicates the position 
of the wholly immersed apex in the adult, while in the young the rough callus, 
though thin, is distinctly apparent in a specimen only 4.0 mm. long, and which 
has the nucleus and about three turns visible on the apex. The nucleus is 
reversed and half immersed, smooth and translucent. It is not wholly cov- 
ered by callus until the shell is more than 7.0 mm. in length. When half 
covered it resembles the genus Cryptaxis of Jeffreys. The sculpture in the 
very young is the same as in the adult. Scaphander niveus and gracilis of 
Watson probably belong to this group. 

Genus ATYS Montfort. 
Atys ? Sandersoni Dall. 

Plate XVII. Fig. 7. 
Atys? Sandersoni Dall, Bulletin M. C. Z., IX. p. 99, 1881. 

Habitat. Station 2, 805 fms. Off Havana (?), Sigsbee, a fragment in 450 
fms. Station 20, off Bahia Honda, Cuba, in 220 fms., and at Station 127, near 
Santa Cruz, in 38 fms., sand, bottom temperature 76°. 7 F. 

Since describing this species I have found it in collections named Atys 
caribaza Orbigny, but the real A. caribcea which I have from Barbados in 100 
fms. is a more pyriform, less cylindrical, and shorter species. I have seen no 
authentic specimen of Orbigny's shell, but the Barbados form agrees very well 
with his figure, and is doubtless the same as he described. It would if adult 
probably closely resemble A. naucum. 

Genus CYLICHNA LoviN. 

Cylichna VerriUii n. s. 

Shell similar to C. alba Brown in size and form with the exceptions follow- 
ing. It is bluish white and never has the brown outer coat of C. alba, though 
the extremely thin epidermis sometimes shows a light brown line marginating 
the apex. It is covered all over with fine spiral striae. The columella is 
thickened and twisted more than occurs in C. alba, and in C. VerriUii has the 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 55 

effect of an incipient plait. Lastly the aperture extends farther behind the 
spire than in C. alba, and, instead of the margin being curved over to a slight 
callus sealing the apex, there is a well marked perforation, most marked in 
the adult shells. Largest specimen 7.5 long by 3.0 mm. wide. 

Habitat. Off the coast of North Carolina, at Stations 2592, 2595, 2596, 
2602, and 2612 of the U S. Fish Commission, in from 5U to 124 fins., sand, 
bottom temperature 58-75° F. 

This species is larger and more cylindrical than C. umbilicata of Europe. 
It is nearer C. cylindracea var lineata, but is shorter in proportion to its 
width, and its body is also shorter in proportion to the whole length and more 
obliquely attenuated to the columella. It has a striking similarity to C. alba, 
when decorticated, until closely examined. 

The other species common to the region are C. Auberi Orbigny, C. occulta 
Mighels, and perhaps C. cylindracea Pennant, specimens of which were re- 
ceived from Cuming as from the Antilles (?). C. Krebsii Morch would seem 
to be suspiciously near C. alba, but I have seen no specimens, and the locality 
(Anguilla, etc.) seems very far south for that species. The suspicion arises 
that the specimens may have been derived from ballast thrown overboard by 
New England trading craft or New York fruit-carriers. 

Family BULLID^E. 

Genus BULLA Linne. 

Bulla ? eburnea Dall. 

Plate XVII. Fig. 6. 

Bulla ? eburnea Dall, Bulletin M. C. Z., IX. p. 98, 1881. 
1 Diaphana gemma Verrill, variety. 

Habitat. Station 43, 339 fms. 

I have seen only one specimen of each of the above species, and they certainly 
appear very different in some respects; but the range of variation in these forms 
is little understood, and I do not feel confident that it may not be larger than 
generally supposed. In that case it is possible that the two forms may repre- 
sent the extremes of one species. This should not be confounded with the 
Bulla eburnea of A. Adams, which is a member of the genus Volvula. Not pos- 
sessing the soft parts, I have preferred to refer this species to the genus Bulla, 
though it may belong in the preceding family. 

Bulla occidentalis A. Adams. 

Bulla occidentalis A. Adams, Thes. Conch., Part ix. Bulla, p. 577, No. 49, pi. cxxiii. 

figs. 72, 73, 1850. 
Bulla alba Turton, Zool. Journ., II. p. 364, pi. xiii. fig. 6. 

Habitat. Antilles, in moderate depths, Adams and many others. Station 
10, in 37 fms., Blake expedition. 


56 BULLETIN OF THE 

This extremely common shell, under the influence of the sun and weather, 
bleaches white or nearly so. Two specimens of this kind were described by 
Turton, many years ago, under the above mentioned name, as British. They 
were of course exotic, and West Indian. But they have been referred to B. 
striata of the Mediterranean and West Indian faunas. Turton's types in the 
Jeffreys collection enable me to correct this error. 

Bulla abyssicola Dall. 

Plate XVII. Fig. 11. 

Bulla abyssicola Dall, Bulletin M. C. Z., IX. p. 97, 1881. 

Bulla pinguicula Jeffreys MS., Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Oct. 1880, p. 318, No. 140 (name 
only). Watson, Chall. Rep., p. 638, 1886. 

Habitat. Yucatan Strait, 640 fms. Station 43, 339 fms. (young). Station 
136, off Frederikstadt, Santa Cruz, in 508 fms., ooze, bottom temperature 
42°.5 F. 

The nearest relative of this species appears to be the Bulla utriculus of Europe, 
which is longer, less cylindrical, and has a deep pit at the apex. 

I have been enabled from an inspection of his type to determine that the 
manuscript name of Dr. Jeffreys applies to this species. It was obtained by 
the Travailleur in the Bay of Biscay, and also by the Challenger in 450 
fms., mud, off Fayal, Azores, at (Challenger) Station No. 75. As no descrip- 
tion has ever been attached to Dr. Jeffreys's name, it necessarily falls into 
synonymy. 

It is possible that this species also is more nearly related to the preceding 
family, but the soft parts are as yet unknown. 

Bulla Krebsii n. s. 

Shell nearly the form of B. occidentalis A. Adams,* but more cylindrical and 
of an ivory porcellanous white. The posterior angle of the aperture is more 
sharp and the aperture near it narrower, while on the columella there is a faint 
revolving ridge which suggests a plait, though too obscure to be so named. 
The surface is brilliantly polished, with perceptible incremental lines. Callus 
on the body, thin with a very minute chink behind that on the pillar. Apex 
deeply sunken, pervious, scalate, showing nearly four volutions, the margin of 
the vortex rcmnded, with faint indications of a carinal line. Max. Ion. 8.0; 
max. lat. 5.0 mm. 

Habitat. Station 163, near Guadelupe, in 769 fms., sand, bottom temper- 
ature 39°.75 F 

I cannot make this fit in with any previously known species. It may prove 
not to be a typical Bulla. 

* Thes. Conch., Bulla, pi. cxxiii. fig. 73. 


MUSEUM OF COMPAKATIVE ZOOLOGY 57 

Bulla clausa n. s. 

Shell small, subtranslucent, solid, of the form of B. solida (Gmelin, non 
Brugiere), pale yellowish brown verging toward salmon color in the darkest 
parts; surface polished, with well marked incremental lines and extremely fine 
microscopic wavy spiral striae over the whole surface. Aperture as long as the 
shell; wide anteriorly with a strongly arched callous white columella having a 
groove behind it and a thin callus on the body. Apex imperforate, meeting 
the descending outer lip with hardly a dimple. Max. Ion. 11.5; max. lat. 
7.75 mm. 

Habitat. Florida, collector unknown, U. S. Nat. Museum, No. 55188. 

This is the only shell, except the abyssal species like eburnea and abyssicola, 
having the solidity and characteristic form of typical Bulla which I have found 
without an apical perforation or distinct pattern of coloration, yet it seems too 
heavy and porcellanous to be referred to Haminea. It was probably collected 
by Stimpson. 

Genus HAMINEA Leach. 

Haminea succinea Conrad. 

Bulla succinea Conrad, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., III. p. 26, pi. i. fig. 5, 1845 ; 
Dall, Hemphill's Shells, p. 324, 1883. 

This species resembles Haminea Guildingi Sowerby, but is smaller, much 
more slender, and whiter. It is common in shallow water on the coast of 
Florida. A single specimen was dredged by the Blake at Station 247, off 
Grenada, in 170 fms., ooze, bottom temperature 53°. 5 F. 

This form is quite distinct from Haminea solitaria Say. The other species 
belonging to the region are H. antillarum Orb. (4- H. cerina Mke. 1853, and 
H. guadelupensis Sby. in Reeve, Conch. Iconica) ; H. Guildingi Swains. (? = 
elegans. Gray in Suppl. Wood, Index Testae); and H. Pelitii Orb. (+ H. glabra 
A. Ad. in Thes. Conch.). 


Family PHILINID^E. 

Genus PHILINE Ascanius. 

Philine infundibulum n. s. 

In the multiplicity of species of Philine this one is best described by a com- 
parative diagnosis. The soft parts externally are whitish, and resemble P. quad- 
rata and P. finmarchica as figured by G. O. Sars.* It is nearest P. quadrata 
so far as shell characters go, and belongs to the group of species which have 

* Moll. Reg. Arct. Nov., pi. 18, figs. 9 d, 10 d. 


58 BULLETIN OF THE 

the spire entirely immersed and the posterior junction of the outer lip descend- 
ing upon it in a sort of spiral. The shell is thin, pellucid, and finely closely 
spirally striate. It differs from that of P. quadrata chiefly by its larger size 
and the much smaller proportion wrapped in the body whorl. The soft parts, 
though larger, are remarkably like those of P. quadrata, but in that species the 
ventricular plates are wanting. In the present species they are present and of 
large size, the large (right) plate being lozenge-shaped, whitish and slightly 
concave on the side of insertion, covered with a convex polished nearly smooth 
brown coating on the interior, which is generally worn away by friction toward 
the center. The small plates are nearly the shape of half the large one, partly 
hollow and without granules. They resemble on the whole the plates of 
P. angulata Jeffreys as figured by Sars (loc. cit., t. xii. fig. 10 d), but are larger, 
longer, and more pointed at the extremities. The adult shell comprises about 
two whorls, maximum length 12.0, max. breadth 9.0 mm. The large plate 
measures about 4.0 X 8.0 mm. The axis of the shell is wound in a wide per- 
vious spiral, and the body whorl viewed from below extends about half-way 
across the base from side to side and two thirds the distance from the apex to 
the front edge. 

Habitat. Station 20, in 220 fms., off Bahia Honda, Cuba; Station 146, in 
245 fms., sand, near St. Kitts; Station 167, off Guadelupe, in 175 fms., sand; 
Station 188, off Dominica in 372 fms., sand; Station 192, off Dominica, in 138 
fms.; Stations 274, 279, 291, and 299, near Barbados, in 118 to 209 fms. 
Bottom temperatures ranging from 43° to 64° F. 

This seems to be a rather common species from the frequency with which 
it was taken. It differs entirely from P. sagra Orbigny, and is wider and 
squarer than P. Candeana Orb. in which moreover the spire is represented as 
visible for two turns at the apex. 

Philine planata n. s. 

Shell resembling that of P. aperta Linne, but flatter, smaller, more quad- 
rangular, with a shorter and smaller body whorl, more polished surface, and 
with an impressed spiral line near the apex which extends to the margin where 
it marks a slight sinus, behind which the posterior margin is prolonged into a 
rounded prominent point. The shell is brilliantly polished and smooth except 
for lines of growth, but near the apex are a few microscopic faint spirals invis- 
ible without a lens. Ths spire is wholly immersed and makes in all about one 
and a half turns. The ventricular plates are formed like those of P. infandibu- 
lum, and not like those of P. aperta. The outer surface of the right plate has 
two longitudinal blackish lines. The two small plates are somewhat more 
arched than in P. infundibulum. The inner or triturating surface is similar 
in both. The length of the largest shell observed is 11.5 and its breadth 
9.0 mm. 

The soft parts are in general much the same as in P. aperta, but the cephalic 
lobe extends farther back and the foot is rounder, flatter, and less rolled up at 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 59 

the sides. As seen from below the body whorl of the shell equals only about 
one sixth of the total width. 

Habitat. Station 192, off Dominica, in 138 fms. ; Stations 274, 291, and 299, 
off Barbados, in 140 to 209 fms., bottom temperature 50° to 56°. 5 F. 

This species is readily distinguished from any other of the group by the pos- 
terior point, which, though smaller, recalls that of Clielidonura Adams. The 
soft parts, however, have no resemblance to the very peculiar, and perhaps partly 
hypothetical, figure of Quoy and Gaimard. P. amabilis Verrill is much nearer 
P. aperta, from which, as far as the shell is concerned, it chiefly differs by being 
a little narrower than the average aperta. The species are, however, quite 
variable in this respect. 

Philine flexuosa M. Sars. 

Philine sp. ind. Ball, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 99, 1881. 

Philine flexuosa (M. Sars) G. 0. Sars, Moll. Reg. Arct. Norv., p. 302, 1878. 

Habitat. Yucatan Strait, 640 fms. 

The fragment above referred to was identified by comparison with an au- 
thentic specimen received by Jeffreys from Sars, and contained in the Jeffreys 
collection. 

Family GASTROPTERID^. 
Genus GASTROPTERON Meckel. 

Gastropteron sp. ind. 

A species of Gastropteron, which to a casual inspection did not differ from 
the Mediterranean G. Meckelii Kosse, was obtained at Station 167, near Guade- 
lupe, in 175 fms., sand, the bottom temperature being 55° F. Unfortunately, 
before the specimens could be studied, the alcohol in which they were pre- 
served evaporated by reason of a defective stopper, and it only remains to 
chronicle the occurrence of the genus at the locality mentioned. 


Family UMBRACULID^E. 
Genus UMBRACULU31 Schumacher. 

L'ombrelle, Lam., Extrait d'un Cours, 1812. Gray, List of Gen. P. Z. S. 1847, p. 163. 

Umbruculum, Schumacher, Essai, p. 177, 1817. 

Gastroplax, Blainville, Diet. Sci. Nat., XVIII. p. 176. Bull. Soc. Philom., p. 178, 

1819. 
Umbrella, Lam., An. s. Vert., VI. p. 339, 1819; ed. ii., VII. p. 569. Blainville, Bull. 

Soc. Phil , p. 178, 1819. Fe'russac, Tab. Syst., p. xxix. Gray, Lond. Med. 


60 BULLETIN OF THE 

Rep., p. 232, 1821. Cuvier, Regne An., ed. ii., 1830. Swains., Mai., pp. 252, 

301, 1840. Carpenter, Lect, ed. ii., p. 86. Chenu, Man. de Conchyliogie, I. p 

398. Gray, Guide, p. 204. 
Ombrella, Blainville, Diet. Sci. Nat., XXXII. p. 267, 1824. Mai., p. 174, 1825. 
Umbella, Orb., Moll. Cub., I. p. 115, 1841. Pal. Franc. Ter. Cret, II., 1842. (Not 

of Griffith and Pidgeon.) 
Acardo, Menke, Syn. olim, 1828. 
Operculatum, H. & A. Adams, Gen. Rec. Moll., II. p. 41, 1854. (Linne', Mus. Tess., 

1753, not binomial.) 
Patella, sp. of the older authors. 
Not Acardo, Lam., 1801 (= whale's vertebra) ; nor of Commercon, Brugiere, 

Cuvier, Muhlfeldt, or Swainson; (= genera of bivalves.) 

Type, U. umbrella Gmelin, East Indies. 

The name Operculatum, applied by the brothers Adams to this genus, was 
not used by Linne in a binomial sense, and is barred by the rules of nomen- 
clature now almost universally adopted. 

The trivial French name applied by Lamarck was first Latinized by Schu- 
macher in the form Umbraculum, with a proper diagnosis. The French trivial 
name, which had been many years employed among collectors, never had any 
scientific standing until Latinized by Schumacher. Subsequently, Lamarck, 
in 1819, Latinized the word in the form Umbrella, and Blainville in the same 
year used the form Ombrella, but neither of these has any just claim to super- 
sede the name proposed by Schumacher, which is the first Latin binomial 
appellation, accompanied by the requisite diagnosis, which appeared in scientific 
literature. 

Jmbraculum bermudense (Mokch?). 

Plate XIV. Figs. 9, 10. 

Shell rounded in front, subtruncate behind ; thin, translucent yellowish, 
with a tint of orange near its apex ; surface polished but irregularly malleated 
as if from irregularities of station ; apex disproportionately pointed compared 
with the rest of the shell, erect, dwindling rapidly to a blunted point with a 
slight posterior tendency ; on the back of this is apparently an obscure scar as 
of a dehiscent embryonal tip or nucleus ; apex about the beginning of the 
posterior third ; interior polished, anterior horns of the pedal muscles reaching 
about the anterior third'united by a delicate arched line marking the attach- 
ment of the mantle ; Ion. 10.00 ; lat. 8.00 ; alt. 4.00 mm. 

A single dead specimen was obtained by Lieut. -Com. C. D. Sigsbee at 
Station 62, off Havana, in 80 fms., while in search of Pentacrinus. While, in 
the absence of the soft parts, its position must remain a little uncertain, yet the 
correspondence of the shell with the young of Umbraculum mediterraneum is so 
close that I cannot doubt that this specimen is the young of a species of Um- 
braculum or Tylodina. Since in this state the specific relations seem indetermi- 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 61 

nable, it is probable that the species is that referred to by Dr. George Forbes 
of Bermuda, in a letter to John Eaton Dodsworth, published in the Philosophi- 
cal Transactions in 1758, and figured there.* 

As to the question whether this shell (named from the above figures by 
Morch Operculatum bermudense, Mai. Blatt., XXII. p. 179, 1875) is distinct 
from the Mediterranean species, this still remains to be investigated. 


Subgenus HYALOPATINA Dall. 
Shell dextral, flattened, sculptured, ovate. Nucleus sinistral, immersed. 

Hyalopatina Rushii n. s. 

Shell oval, translucent bluish white, almost perfectly fiat, extremely thin. 
Nucleus of less than one whorl, half immersed, the remainder rising above 
the surface, smooth, not polished. Upper surface nearly fiat, except near the 
nucleus which is situated nearly in the median line and close to the posterior 
margin ; concentrically faintly undulated ; with faint concentric growth lines, 
and with very numerous radiating lines of extremely minute slightly elevated 
points, recalling the granules of Poromya on a much finer and more minute 
scale. They are so small as to hardly appear elevated, but more like radiating 
lines of opaque dots on the generally translucent surface. Margin regularly 
ovate, entire, extremely thin. Under surface of shell mostly polished, a little 
domed under the part in front of the nucleus ; there are faint markings (in- 
terrupted on the right side about the middle) which appear as if they might 
represent the area of muscular insertion, but the polish of the shell is such 
that this is not definitely ascertained. The sides of the shell are a little ele- 
vated, as if it had grown on a slightly concave surface, but the ends are de- 
pressed about to the same extent. Max. long. 9.3; max. lat. 7.5; posterior 
margin to nucleus, 1.8 mm. 

Habitat. Off Great Isaac Light, Bahamas, in 30 fms., Dr. W. H. Kush. 
U. S. Nat. Mus. Coll. 61222. 

This remarkable shell has been some time in the National Museum and has 
been submitted to several conchologists, and studied with much care. In the 
absence of any further information, I have come to the conclusion that it may 
be related to Umbraculum, from which, conch ologically, it is separated by its 
oval form, posterior nucleus, and granulated surface. The discovery of a 
living specimen, however, may show the true relations of the creature to 
be elsewhere. It has a little the general appearance of an extremely thin, 
flat Crepidula unguiformis without a deck, and with the nucleus within the 
margin. 

* Plate XXXV. ngs, 1, 2. 


62 BULLETIN OF THE 

Super-Order PROSOBRANCHIATA. 

Order PECTINIBRANCHIATA. 

I have, in sum, followed Dr. Fischer in the arrangement of this group, mod- 
ifying slightly the values and some details. I heartily concur in his expression 
of opinion, that a final arrangement of the groups included in this order awaits 
much fuller knowledge of the animals than we now possess. 

The groups, hardly suborders, based on the dentition, are not of equal value. 
Toxoglossa and Rhachighssa are certainly more closely linked than either or 
both with Tceuiogbssa. The latter leads the way toward Rhiphidoglossa. The 
place of Gymnoglossa is doubtful. 

Super-Family TOXOGLOSSA. 

The facts now known warrant us in believing that the teeth in this group 
represent the uncini of other groups, while the middle part of the radula is 
only known, so far, to occur in Spirotropis. On the other hand, the losses in 
Rhachiglossa have been at the edges instead of the middle, and the uncini and 
sometimes the true laterals or admedian teeth are the ones which are absent. 
Probably a fuller knowledge of the dentition will completely bridge the gap 
now existing between the two groups, and afford us examples of every degree 
of modification. 

In separating this group into families I have adopted the groups rated as 
subfamilies by Dr. Fischer, merely assigning them a somewhat higher value. 

Family TEREBRID^E. 
Genus TEREBRA (Adanson) Lamarck. 

Of this genus the type is T. subulata Linne", and no species known to belong 
to the typical section are so far reported from the region we are discussing. 
The subdivisions of the genus which are represented are Euryta H. & A. Adams, 
Subula Schumacher, Hastula (Adams) Troschel, and Acus (Humphrey) Tro- 
schel. As until the dentition of all our species is examined the place they 
should occupy will be uncertain, the reference here to the subgenus in some 
cases is only provisional. 

Euryta aciculata Lamarck is well known, and has been received from 
Venezuela and the Bahamas by the National Museum, as well as from the 
Antilles. 

Hastula hastata Gmelin (+ casta Hinds and obesa Poulsen) has been re- 
ceived from Florida, Aspinwall, and the Bahamas, beside the Antilles. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 63 

Hastula cinerea Born (+ salleana Deshayes and jamaicensis C. B. Adams), 
is in the Museum from Corpus Christi, Texas, from Vera Cruz, Carthagena, 
and the West Indies. 

Subula floridana Dall, has been dredged by the U. S. Fish Commmission 
near Key West in 45 fms., and in the Straits of Florida in 56 tins., sand. It 
differs from S. triseriata Gray (Indo-Pacific), which is its nearest relative, in 
the absence of the peripheral nodules forming the post-sutural series, and of the 
decussation, beside being less acutely elongated. It reaches a length of 70.0 
mm. with a width of 10.25 mm. in twenty-six whorls of a pale straw color. 

The species of Acus may be discriminated as follows : — 

A. Whorls concave. 

Both sides of the suture nodulous ; no costae ; spirally grooved ; white. 
Lon. 19.0, lat. 4.0 mm., whorls 13. Acus concavus Say. 

Post-sutural nodules obsolete ; the grooves replaced by channels separating 
raised threads ; flexuous obscure costae crossing the less concave whorl ; wine- 
colored or variegated. Lon. 18.0, lat. 3.5 mm., whorls 12. A. concavus var. 
vinosus Dall. 

B. Whorls flat or convex. 

a. Shell large, columella keeled. 

Shell coarse, white to dark ash-colored ; strong, straight or slightly flexed, 
smooth, numerous costae, with their interspaces coarsely threaded or grooved. 
Lon. 57.0, lat. 11.0 mm., whorls 20. Acus dislocatus Say. 

b. Shell small, acute, elongate, columella not heeled. 

Whorls convex, periphery destitute of nodules, whorls crossed by sharp- 
edged very flexuous waves ; interspaces with crowded spirals and sharp grooves, 
which last do not cut the crests of the waves. Ashy to dark purple ; band 
distinct. Lon. 21.2, lat. 4.7 mm., whorls 15. Acus protextus Conrad. 

Waves etraighter, flatter, fine and numerous, their edges cut by the spiral 
grooves, sometimes slightly nodulous at the intersections ; band distinct ; color 
pale brown to dark ashy. Lon. 15.5, lat. 4.0 mm., whorls 13. Acus -protextus 
var. lutescens Dall. 

Larger; pale yellow with a white pre-sutural area ; the young sculptured 
like the preceding, the adults with the sutural band nearly obsolete ; costse 
fine, flexuous, rounded, numerous (26-28), with six to ten prominent primary 
spirals overriding the costae and with the interspaces finely striate by a secon- 
dary series of spirals. Lon. 55.0, lat. 10.0 mm., whorls IS. Acus nassulus 
Dall. 

Smaller; strongly cancellated and nodulous at the intersections; costae about 
18-20, straight; one faint anterior and three strong spirals between the sutural 
band and the suture in front; the interstices deep ; band obscure; base more 
finely reticulated, the spirals stronger than the costse ; color white to pale buff. 
Lon. 18.0, lat. 3.5 mm., whorls 14. Acus limatidus Dall. 

Larger; early whorls with one row of pointed nodules, later whorls with a 


64 BULLETIN OF THE 

double row of crowded narrower ones in front of the suture separated by a 
depression; surface wholly finely spirally striate with (30-32) crowded narrow 
straight costae passing clear over the whorls on to the base ; pale brown. Lon. 
21.0, lat. 4.5 mm., whorls 12. Acus benthalis Dall. 

Whorls flat ; band smooth, convex ; sides with four flat spirals decreasing 
forward from the band to the suture, and others still finer on the base; trans- 
verse sculpture obsolete except on the earliest whorls except faint incremental 
lines ; shell porcelain-white, polished. Lon. 15.0, lat. 3.3 mm., whorls 13. 
Acus Rushii Ball. 

This tabulation is the result of a study of a large collection of material l'rom 
all points of the region. The number of forms is larger than was anticipated, 
knowing the variability of the species of this group. 

Before proceeding to enumerate and describe the species obtained by the 
Blake, a few words on the other species may be of interest. The typical 
Acus concavus has been received only from the coast of the two Carolinas. The 
variety vinosa hays been obtained in from two to thirty fathoms along the coast 
from Hatteras to Florida. It is abundant in Sarasota Bay and Charlotte Har- 
bor, West Florida, frequenting the fucoids with finely divided fronds, the 
color of which it mimics. The operculum is somewhat lozenge-shaped, with 
an apical nucleus. The tentacles are mere eye-pedicels, and when not especially 
active the animal looks as if the eyes were sessile on the front of the head. 
The siphon is more than half as long as the foot, which is squarely truncate 
in front and extends far in advance of the eyes. The front margin appeared 
to be double and the tail was bluntly rounded. The soft parts were entirely 
white in the white variety. The proboscis is extremely large and internally 
corrugated. There is no radula, and there are no mandibles, according to 
Stimpson's notes. 

The common Terebra of our coast is the well-known Acus dislocatus of Say. 
It extends from Maryland to Florida, Texas, Venezuela, the Bahamas, and the 
Antilles. It has a number of synonyms, of which the most common are T. 
rudis Gray and T. Petitii Kiener. It is found fossil in the Miocene and Plio- 
cene of the Southeastern United States. Stimpson states in his unpublished 
notes that there are no jaws nor radula, but in the constriction of the pro- 
boscis (which is hourglass-shaped when half withdrawn) he found a series of 
grooved prickles. I suspect these were the poison fangs of the animal, which, 
as in some other Toxoglossa, are not set upon a radular band. If this suspicion 
be confirmed, this species will probably have to be removed from Acus (charac- 
terized by absence of teeth) and referred to Hastula. 

The proboscis of this species when extended is of portentous magnitude. 
It is extruded base first like the rostrum of Cyprcea. It is very muscular and 
internally corrugated, funnel-shaped, and biggest at the distal end, which encloses 
the victim, who is squeezed, smothered, and sucked to death simultaneously. 
The stomach is considerably smaller than the cavity of the proboscis, and is 
connected with it by a narrow oesophagus. From the posterior end of the 
January 18, 1889. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 65 

stomach the intestine bends downward and forward, then takes a sudden turn 
backward. The eyes are seated on two small projections of the front margin 
of the head, not even by courtesy to be called tentacles. The foot is protruded 
as on a sort of peduncle, the connection with the body being constricted. The 
soft parts are white with traces of purple and yellow. The penis is recurved, 
sickle-shaped, rounded, with a small conical projection at the side of the tip. 
It is very large for the size of the animal. The other characters are much as 
in A. concavus. The animal is very sluggish and in captivity will remain 
partly protruded for forty-eight hours, apparently without stirring, though 
perfectly healthy. On the shells are found in May small circular ovicapsules 
adhering by the whole base and with a flat circular top like a lid a little 
set in. They are about one mm. in diameter, and are probably the ovicapsules 
of this species. 

Acus protextus Conrad extends from Hatteras to Texas in 2-50 fms. I 
have not received it from the Antilles. The more distinctly reticulated 
variety I suppose from the figures to be T. lutescens E. A. Smith. It has 
been obtained in 2-20 fms., from Cape Fear, North Carolina, to the Gulf of 
Mexico. 

Acus Rushii Dall was dredged in 8 fms. by Dr. W. H. Rush, TJ. S. N., five 
miles off Cape Florida, at the southwestern extreme of the peninsula. With 
its strongly marked flat spiral sculpture and brilliant whiteness, it is one of the 
most marked of our small species. 

Three species only were collected by the Blake, but all of these appear to 
be undescribed. 


Terebra (Acus ?) benthalis Dall. 

Plate XXIX. Fig. 6. 

Shell pale brown, fading to white near the apex, slender, acute, twelve- 
whorled ; nucleus swollen, glassy, white, smooth, of a whorl and a half; suc- 
ceeding whorls with a peripheral row of pointed tubercles, behind which the 
whorl is smoothed off to the suture, while in front a rib proceeds from each 
tubercle to the next suture. These are gradually modified from whorl to 
whorl, by the increase in the number of ribs and their being crowded, and 
their prolongation backward to the suture where they end in a second fainter 
tubercle ; on the last whorl the tubercles have become little more than faint 
swellings on parallel crowded riblets, which seem to have been ligatured be- 
tween the two rows. The whole surface is finely spirally striate, the base is 
rounded ; the canal short and much twisted, the mouth narrow, elongated, and 
without callus. Max. Ion. of shell, 21.0; of last whorl, 8.2 ; max. lat. of shell, 
4.5 mm. 

Habitat. Off Morro Light, Havana, in 100 to 400 fms. 

This shell has a deep-water aspect, and though the soft parts were not ob- 
tained I have no doubt it lived at the depth from which it was dredged. 

VOL. XVIII. 5 


66 BULLETIN OF THE 

Terebra (Acus ?) nassula Dall. 

Plate XXXVI. Fig. 8. 

Shell slender, acute ; yellowish white, or pale buff with the color passing 
into yellowish white in the region of the sutural band ; whorls eighteen, nucleus 
inflated, glassy, smooth, few whorled ; remainder of the shell not polished 
finely, uniformly sculptured ; in the early whorls the band is defined by a 
constriction in front of the suture, which does not interrupt the sculpture ; as 
the shell grows this becomes less pronounced and in the later whorls the band 
is often very feebly defined. The spiral sculpture consists of primary threads 
and secondary striae ; there are two or three primaries on the band and four to 
eight on the rest of the whorl, the base being more feebly though similarly 
sculptured; the spirals override the very numerous close, fine, flexuous trans- 
verse ribs, there being in these characters the usual tendency to variability in 
strength, etc. ; the aperture is narrow and elongated with a faint wash of callus 
on the pillar ; canal short, twisted ; the siphonal fasciole very pronounced, its 
hinder edge marked with a sharp keel which does not enter the aperture nor 
appear on the columella. Lon. of shell, 55.0; of last whorl, 16.0; of aperture, 
10.0 ; max. lat. of shell, 10.0 mm. 

Habitat. Station 32, in 95 fms., Lat. 23° 32' and Lon. 88° 5' W., north of 
Yucatan in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico ; Station 36, in 84 fms., west- 
ward of the last, bottom temperature 60° ; Station 206, off Martinique, 
in 170 fms., sand, bottom temperature 49° ; Yucatan Strait, 640 fms. (ad- 
ventitious?). 

The only described species which seems at all to resemble this is T. flava 
Gray, which is an immature shell (referred to the Indo-Pacific T. cancellata 
Quoy by Tryon) and might be the young of this or a good many other species. 
T. protexta var. lutescens presents similar characters on a minor scale. 

Terebra (Acus) limatula Dall. 

Habitat. Barbados, 100 fms.; Gulf of Mexico at Station 36, in 84 fms.; 
Bahamas, west of North Bernini, in 200 fms. (Dr. Rush); U. S. Fish Commis- 
sion Station 2402, in the Gulf of Mexico, between the delta of the Mississippi 
and Cedar Keys, Fla., in 111 fms., mud; and Station 2610, 24 miles S. E. 
from Cape Lookout on the Carolina coast, in 22 fms., sand, bottom temperature 
79°.0 F. 

The sculpture of Antillean specimens tends to be stronger, the alveoli be- 
tween the ridges deeper, and the spirals fewer than in the northern specimens. 
The latter usually have three or four above the suture, the Antilleans two or 
three. If these differences are worth naming, the variety may be called T. 
limatula var. acrior. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 67 

Family CONID^. 

This family, being chiefly composed of littoral or comparatively shallow 
water forms, is hardly represented in the Blake collections. A clean-up of a 
number of dead shells obtained in various places affords some notes of interest. 

Genus CONUS Linne. 

Conus Mazei Deshates. 

C. Mazei Deshayes, Journ. de Conchyl., XXII. p. 64, pi. i. fig. 1, 1874. Tryon, Man., 

Conus, p. 39, pi. ii. fig. 10 (bad), 1884. 
1 C. gracilis Sowerby, P. Z. S. 1875, p. 125, pi. xxiv. fig. 6. 

Station 262, 92 fms., Grenada, bottom of coral and shells; Barbados, 100 
fms. ; Station 132, 115 fms., Santa Cruz, bottom rock and broken shells, bottom 
temperature 65° F. 

This remarkable cone, recalling in its normal painting Scaphella Junonia, as 
observed by Deshayes, was not obtained by the Blake in perfect condition 
except for a few young specimens; broken specimens, however, nearly as large 
as the figured type, are included in the collection, and afford the following 
observations. 

The middle surface of the species is not always, nor it would seem gener- 
ally, smooth as in the type. None of the Blake specimens are smooth. All 
are strongly and rather uniformly sulcate all over ; the revolving ribs flat and 
smooth, broadest in the middle of the whorl, while the narrower sulcations are 
prettily reticulated by raised, close transverse threads. The nucleus is small, 
smooth, glassy, and rather loosely coiled, in three turns. 

The nine revolving series of squarish brown spots may be faint, or even ab- 
sent. There may exist with them a series of three obscure pale bands begin- 
ning at the carina, and alternating with cloudy brownish bands with the color 
more or less distributed in the shape of ill-defined transverse narrow flam- 
mules. The spots may be superposed on this, or absent. It may also be 
nearly uniform brown with whitish spots. The anterior end of the columella 
may also be of a darkish brown. The width varies in proportion to the length. 
The young shells are proportionately wider. The nearest relative of G. Mazei 
appears to be C. Orbignyi Audouin (planicostatus Sowerby), which apparently 
differs from the above mentioned banded variety, chiefly in being wider. 
Sowerby's C. gracilis may perhaps be an unusually brown specimen, though 
of this I am not confident. 

Conus cedonulli Lamarck. 

C. cedonulli Lamarck, Reeve, Conch. Icon. Conus, pi. ix. fig. 46 f. 

Two small specimens from Barbados; Station 290, in 73 fms., coarse coral 
bottom, temperature at the bottom 71° F. 


68 BULLETIN OF THE 

Conus proteus Hwass. 

C. proteus Hwass (1791), Tryon, Man. Conus, p. 12. 

C. spurhis Auct. as of Grnelin. 

C. leoninus Hwass, 1791. 

C. ochraceus Lam., + C breviculus Sow., + C. armillatus C. B. Adams, fide Tryon, I. c. 

One small specimen, painted almost exactly like Scaphella Junonia and hardly 
to be recognized as identical with the adult, except by comparison with a 
series, was obtained on the west coast of Florida in 19 frns. 

Conus Pealii Green. 

Conus Pealii Green, Trans. Alb. Inst., I. p. 123, pi. iii. fig. 3, 1830; Thes. Conch., 

figs. 393, 394. 
Conus Stearnsii Conrad, Am. Journ. Conch., V. p. 104, pi. x. fig. 1, 1869. 
Conus Candidas Kiener, Coq. Viv., tab. xcvii. fig. l,fide Tryon, I. c. 

This shell has been confounded with C. floridanus Gabb by Sowerby, and 
by many collectors. It is not rare on the west coast of Florida and the Keys. 
It prefers grassy ground in shallow water. Of late years it has been found by 
Jewett, Stearns, Velie, and others. Mr. Conrad redescribed it in ignorance of 
Green's paper on American cones. 

Conus Pealii is generally about three quarters of an inch in length, the 
breadth, at the sharply keeled shoulder, less than half the length ; smooth be- 
hind, grooved on the anterior half; with gradate, slightly excavated or chan- 
nelled spire, marked only by arched lines of growth; livid gray color, with 
chestnut blotches, the sides articulated with numerous narrow fillets of brown 
and white, the brown spots always smaller, sometimes obsolete, the wdiite 
sometimes merely translucent, brightest on the keel; the interior of the mouth 
white and dark brown; epidermis smooth and extremely thin, the sides nearly 
right lines, the middle of the outer lip arched forward. 

C. Pealii was not collected by the Blake, but I have introduced a notice 
of it here on account of its relation to some of the other species mentioned, and 
because it has been so generally misunderstood. 

Conus Agassizii Dall. 

Plate IX. Figs. 8, 8 a. 

Conus Afjassizii Dall, Report on Moll. Blake, Part i. pi. ix. figs. 8, 8 a, and expl. to 
plate, Sept., 1886. 

This shell was at first thought to be a transitional form, uniting C. pygmceus 
Reeve and C. Pealii, as the younger specimens first studied lent themselves to 
Mich a conclusion. The receipt of a large specimen collected at Bermuda 
(45 X 23 mm.) shows that this idea was incorrect, and that it is distinct from 
either of them. 


MUSEUM OF COMPAEATIVE ZOOLOGY. 69 

The adult is elegantly spindle-shaped, falling in a little toward the keel 
which is more or less regularly minutely dotted with reddish brown at rather 
long intervals. The suture is very distinct, almost channelled. The spire is 
without revolving sculpture, the sinus deeply concavely arched. There are 
about seven strong grooves in the adult anteriorly. The very young (tig. 8 a) 
is deeply grooved all over, as in C. verrucosus. In the adolescent shell the 
epidermis is thin, and nearly smooth ; it is a little rougher but still thin in the 
adult. The former has a somewhat waxen translucency, the adult is porcella- 
nous. The young is waxen white with faint pink cloudy suffusion and yel- 
lowish ill-defined brown patches. These colors are faint at all ages and form 
no definite pattern, except the dots on the keel. 

In the young, by transmitted light, it can be seen that there are articulated 
lines of opaque and more translucent character, but these have hardly any color 
and are lost in the adult state. The interior of the aperture is white or nearly 
so, the mouth is rather wide, the apex of the spire neatly pointed. The adult 
has about ten whorls, with a total length of 45.0, and a maximum width of 
23.0 mm. The spire rises 10.0 mm. behind the aperture. 

Specimens were dredged by the Blake at Station 132, in 115 fms., near 
Santa Cruz Island, and in 76 fms. at Station 272, Barbados. It is also found 
at Bermuda, where Prof. G. Brown Goode obtained a large specimen, and 
others have since been collected by Prof. A. Heilprin of Philadelphia. 

Conus Villepinii Fischer & Beenardi. 

C. Villepinii F. & B., Journ. de Conchyl., V. p. 292, t. ix. fig. 12, 1857. 

Station 167, 175 fms., sand, Guadalupe, bottom temperature 55° F. Several 
small specimens apparently of this species, one or two of which were fresh. The 
type came from the islet of Marie-Galante near Guadalupe. This species has 
also been dredged by the U. S. Fish Commission on Little Bahama Bank in 
338 fms., at Station 2655. It is very close to and possibly identical with 
C. Cleryi Reeve, which came from the northern shores of Brazil. 

Conus daucus Hwass. 
C. daucus Hwass, Encycl. Meth. Vers, I., Part ii. p. 651, 1791. 

One or two dead specimens of the variety ft Reevei Kiener, from Station 272, 
76 fms., coarse sand, Barbados. 

Conus centurio Born. 

C. centurio Born, Mus., pi. vii. fig. 10, 1780. 

A specimen from Station 127, 38 fms., sand, Santa Cruz island, is identified 
as belonging to this species by Mr. G. W. Tryon, Jr. It is a young shell, and 


70 BULLETIN OF THE 

might perhaps be referred with equal probability to C. fiavescens Gray. Bottom 
temperature, where found, 77° F. 

Conus centurio is however found in the Antilles and Gulf of Mexico. A 
specimen was collected by the U. S. Fish Commission at Station 2373, in 25 
fins., between the mouth of the Mississippi and Cedar Keys, Florida. 

Conus fiavescens Gray. 

C. fiavescens Gray, Sow., Conch. 111., fig. 68, 1841; Reeve, Conch. Icon. Conus, pi. 
xxx. fig 168, 1843. 

Specimens agreeing with the above figures have been received from Governor 
Rawson and two other sources, from the Bahamas; though Try on in his mono- 
graph queries Ceylon and Australia for the species. Young specimens are 
extremely variable in painting, but generally with a central more or less well 
defined paler band ornamented with a few brown blotches or dots. One is pure 
white with a faint purplish tinge at the anterior end of the shell. The epider- 
mis is thin, nearly smooth, translucent. Such young shells were collected by 
the Blake at Santa Cruz,. Station 132, 115 fms., hard bottom; Grenada, Sta- 
tion 247, 170 fms. ooze ; and Barbados, Station 290, 73 fins., coral; bottom 
temperature 54-71° F. Some of them were quite fresh, and though not con- 
taining the animal when received by me, looked as if they might have been 
living when collected. Reeve's figure of C. magdlanicus Hwass looks very 
much like some of these young shells. 

Among the species which are definitely known to inhabit the Floridian re- 
gion and Antilles and not previously mentioned here, are the numerous vari- 
eties of G. pygmceus Reeve, one of which has been named C. Melvilli by the 
late Mr. Sowerby. C. columba Brug., C. pusio Lam., and C. papillosus Kiener 
probably belong hereabouts. 

Conus floridanus Gabb was named floridensis by Mr. Sowerby, who mixed 
it up with C Pealii. C. verrucosus and C. mus are among the commoner 
Antillean species, and I have, from various parts of this region, C. nebulosus 
Sol., which indulges in some extraordinary variations, C. achatinus Lam., and, 
most interesting of all, Conus Delesserti Recluz, from a variety of stations. 
This last is a Red Sea species, closely related to C. centurio as is C. daucus 
to C. fiavescens. 

A beautiful species with very much the color of roseo-tinctus Sowerby, but 
with the form and size of suhcarinatus Sowerby (see Thes. Conch. Conus, pi. 
xxv. figs 604 and 615), the dark streaks longer and darker than in roseo-tinctus 
and always followed by an equivalent pale area, a thickish epidermis, and the 
top of the whorls excavated and striated, was dredged in 27 fms., near the 
coast of Yucatan, by the Fish Commission, and has been named by me Conus 
amphiurgus. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 71 


Family PLEUROTOMIDCE. 

The species of this family are, as is well known, extremely numerous; and 
of a majority, the operculum, if present, and the soft parts are unknown. A 
thorough review of the family, recent and fossil, would be a work of some 
years, well worth doing, Lut impossible for the writer at the present time. 
Much has been done toward bringing together the material by Tryon, Bellardi, 
Weinkauff, and others, while the arrangement of the subordinate groups adopted 
by Dr. Paul Fischer in his Manual is by far the best we have. It will, practi- 
cally, be followed here, with some trifling deviations ; but as the shells with 
which I have to do have for the most part no traces of the soft parts, I shall 
neglect for the time the subordinate divisions, into which a reference would be 
a merely tentative character. As in other cases, I shall not adopt names which 
appear in the works of authors anterior to, or who did not adopt the binominal 
nomenclature of Linnaeus; and when a name is of reasonably euphonious con- 
struction and Latinity of form I cannot follow those who, after many years of 
usage, would modify it into conformity with an arbitrary standard of classical 
purity. A self-evident misprint or an error of spelling in a proper name 
which has not become fixed by usage may be corrected, but the essential prin- 
ciple of nomenclature is to have a fixed name for an object, and this principle 
should not be violated for slight cause. It is much more important that names 
should be permanent, than that they should be elegant, of pure Latinity, or of 
applicable meaning. 

It is highly probable that, when the eight or nine hundred species of Pleuro- 
tomidce known from the Tertiaries of Europe are compared, a number of the 
recent species about to be described will be found represented. But even the 
best figures are not satisfactory for critical comparison, and the last great work 
of Bellardi is not accessible to me; so that the final correlation of the recent 
and fossil forms will not be attempted here, though such comparisons as are 
practicable, especially with the Antillean Tertiary fauna, have been carefully 
made. 

It is somewhat curious that in the until recently three most available manu- 
als, Woodward, H. & A. Adams, and Chenu, under the head of Pleurotomidce 
no references are made to the office or function of the " notch," and in each 
case there is said to be a "slit" in the mantle behind. In AVoodward alone is 
the anal or excurrent function of the posterior sinus alluded to, and by him 
oidy in general terms, while the Pleurotomidce are not mentioned in his list of 
examples. It is now known, that in the Fissur ell idee, the Pleurotomariidce, the 
Pleurotomidce, and numerous other groups of Gasteropods, the anterior sinus 
when it exists, aided by an extensile fold of the mantle (siphon), forms the 
channel of water to the gills, while the secondary or posterior sinus serves as a 
sluice for the ejection of water (after it has passed over the gills) and the renal 
and intestinal excretions. In this way pollution of the inward current to the 
gills is avoided. In very few species of Pleurotomidce is there anything which 


72 BULLETIN OF THE 

can properly be called a "slit" in the mantle. There is a sinuosity of the 
elastic border of the mantle, which often disappears after death or immersion in 
alcohol. The long clavate penis of the male lies nearly under the sinus in 
most species, and the existence of the sinus may facilitate copulation, but this is 
still somewhat doubtful. 

The band left on the outer surface by the curves of the lines of growth 
across the sinus has frequently to be referred to in descriptions, and some term 
has been needed which shall, without too much circumlocution, serve to in- 
dicate this feature, which occurs in so many molluscan shells. I have else- 
where proposed to use for the purpose the term " anal fasciole," which I trust 
may prove as convenient as the term " siphonal fasciole," introduced some 
years since by Gill, has been for a similar feature on the outer side of the canal 
in many Gasteropods. This term " anal fasciole" for the band or trace behind 
the notch has been approved by Dr. Paul Fischer and other experts, and will 
be used when necessary throughout this Report. 

Genus PLEUROTOMA Lamarck. 

Subgenus PLEUROTOMA s. s. 

Pleurotoma albida Perry. 

Pleurotoma albida Perry, Conchology, expl. pi. xxxii. fig. 4, 1811. 

Pleurotoma virgo Lamarck, An. sans Vert., VII. p. 91, 1822; ed. Deshayes, IX. p. 

350, 1843 ; Tryon, Man., VI. p. 168. 
Buccinum sinuatum Martyn, Univ. Conch., pi. xciv. right-hand figure, 1789 (not of 

Born). 
Turris Candida Humphreys, Mus. Calonnianum, p. 34, 1797 {fide Dillwyn). 
Murex tornalus Dillwyn, Cat. Shells, II. p. 715, 1822, ex parte. 
Murex virgo Wood, Index Test. Murex, No. 63, pi. xxvi., 1818. 
Pleurotoma kaitensis Sowerby, Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, VI. p. 50, 1849. 
Pleurotoma virgo Moore, Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, IX. pp. 129, 130, 1853. 
Pleurotoma Barretti Guppy, Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, XXII. p. 290, pi. xvii. fig. 6 

(bonum), 1866. 
Pleurotoma antillarum Crosse, Journ. de Conchyl., XIII. p. 34, pi. i. fig. 8, 1865, not 

of Orbigny (young shell). 
Pleurotoma Jehlcii Crosse, op. cit., p. 33, pi. i. figs. 6, 7, 1865 (var. young). 
Turris virgo Gabb, Santo Domingo, p. 205, 1873. 

Habitat. Off Sombrero, in 54-70 fms. ; off Havana, in 250 fms.; Barbados, 
100 fms. ; Station 3G, Gulf of Mexico, in 84 fms. ; Station 132, near Santa Cruz, 
in 115 fms.; Station 167, in 175 fms., mud, near Santa Cruz; Station 206, off 
Martinique, in 170 fms.; Station 2G2, near Grenada, in 92 fms. Also at U. S. 
Fish Commission Station 2120, in 73 fms., mud, off Grenada; Station 2414, 
living, in 26 fins., sand, between Tampa Bay and Dry Tortugas. P. albida var. 
tellea at Stations 2402 and 2404, in 60-1 1 1 fms., mud and sand, between the 
delta of the Mississippi and Cedar Keys, Florida. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 73 

This shell was first named by Martyn, but his name under the system then 
prevailing was preoccupied. Humphreys's name was unidentifiable, except by 
Dillwyn, who saw the specimens, and he gave neither description, figure, nor 
reference, but was the first to mention the West Indies as its true habitat. 
Perry names it, and gives a description and a better figure than that in Reeve's 
Iconica, but a wrong habitat. His name should be adopted. Wood's specific 
name of virgo, adopted by Lamarck, is seven years later in date. The best 
figure, singularly enough, is that of Guppy, who figures it from the Tertiary of 
Hayti. 

The species probably lives between the 100 fm. line and the shore. All the 
specimens above cited from deeper water were dead, and probably disgorged by 
fishes. The only living ones I have seen were dredged in 2G fms. by the Fish 
Commission. The operculum is much like that of Conus, long, narrow, strong 
and thick, rounded behind, pointed in front, with an impressed line running its 
length parallel with and nearer the right side, which is straighter than the left 
margin. The nucleus is apical, the area of attachment covers nearly the whole 
operculum, having a smooth narrow raised border around an impressed space 
concentrically granosely sculptured. On the right side the raised margin is 
very narrow. The shell reaches a length of 105 mm. or more, and the typical 
form has sharp-edged strong spirals, a narrow, flat anal fasciole more prominent 
than any of the spirals, faint transverse sculpture, and a thick pillar with a ten- 
dency to become umbilicated. The young shells described by M. Crosse look 
very different, and only after comparison of many specimens was I able to con- 
vince myself that Gabb and Try on were right in regarding them as synonyms. 
The shell is always of a pure yellowish white, without markings, though the 
apex of the very young is sometimes tinged with reddish brown. The nucleus 
is inflated, glassy, translucent, of two whorls, which are smooth, then become 
marked with semilunar riblets which pass into a tubercular keel at the periph- 
ery which becomes smooth, sharp, and takes the normal character very soon. 

Pleurotoma albida var. tellea Dall. 

This form differs from the normal in having the revolving sculpture fainter 
and more uniform, the transverse sculpture much stronger and more elevated, 
giving a finely reticulated appearance to the surface. The anal notch is more 
shallow, the canal more slender, usually without any umbilical chink. The 
shell reaches a length of over 100 mm. with a maximum diameter of 26.5 mm. 

Pleurotoma (albida var.?) vibex Dall. 

Shell resembling in a general way the young of P. albida of the same size ; 
the nucleus is the same, the spiral sculpture resembles that of P. albida but is 
flat-topped instead of sharp; the transverse sculpture is less prominent, the 
spirals somewhat more numerous; the chief character which strikes one on 
comparing the P. vibex with P. albida is that the shell is surrounded with 


74 BULLETIN OF THE 

bands of olive-green color, polished, narrow and resident in the epidermis, but 
visible through the translucent shell in the aperture. These bands sometimes 
fill the spiral channels ; sometimes there are two olive bands separated by a 
pale one between two of the elevated spirals ; sometimes the fiat tops of the 
spirals are thus colored; in general there will be about ten of these olive stripes 
on the last whorl. They extend only over the whorl, the pillar from its 
junction with the body is destitute of them, and, when fresh, is of a delicate 
rose color, which is apt to fade. This white or rosy rostrum contrasts vividly 
with the striped body and spire. Lon. of shell, 19.0; of spire, 8.5; of white 
rostrum, 8.75; max. lat. of shell, 4.75 mm. 

Habitat. Off Havana in 80-127 fms., Sigsbee; Station 143, off Saba Bank, 
in 150 fms., bottom temperature 63°.2 F. 

This may be, as Mr. Tryon claimed when it was shown him, a variety of 
P. albida, but I incline to the belief that it is a good species. 

Pleurotoma periscelida Dall. 

Plate XXXII. Fig. 2. 

Shell stout, fusiform; covered with a straw-colored epidermis; elaborately 
sculptured; ten whorled, exclusive of the nucleus; spiral sculpture consisting 
of (1) a cord at first rounded and irregularly constricted at short intervals, 
later flattened with numerous transverse waves and indentations ; this band be- 
comes gradually wider, has two small grooves along its center, and at the sides, 
especially the sutural side, it overhangs the channels on each side of it; from 
the first this band conceals the suture, toward the end of the last whorl it be- 
comes less prominent and descends slightly; (2) a broad elevated band grooved 
centrally and covered with twin nodules in pairs one above the other, which 
on the later whorls are somewhat reniform ; this band represents the fasciole 
or pathway of the square-cut anal notch; (3) in the channel between the two 
last are two small, elevated, rounded nodulous cords; (4) in front of the fas- 
ciole and on the base of the last whorl are four or five strong spirals, and be- 
tween these and in front of them on the canal are numerous smaller ones, all 
crossed and roughened by the transverse ridges of growth; one or two of these 
spirals are visible on the whorl before the last, the earlier ones not showing 
any of the basal spirals; transverse sculpture of coarse elevated incremental 
lines more or less visible over the whole shell; aperture rather wide, canal 
narrow and slightly curved ; outer lip with a deep notch squared at the bottom, 
then strongly arched forward, later contracted for the canal; margin simple, 
sharp; inner lip white, smooth, simple, slightly excavated; inside the outer lip 
are six or eight strong lira falling short of the margin; pillar nearly straight, 
attenuated and twisted in front, making the end of the canal flare a little; there 
is no umbilical trace. Lon. of shell, 40.5 ; of last whorl, 27.0; of aperture, 22.5; 
max. lat. of shell, 15.0 mm. Nucleus defective in the specimens. 

Habitat. U. S. Fish Commission Station 2143, living in 155 fms., mud, near 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 75 

Monosquillo. Station 2601, in 107 fms., sand, off Hatteras, N. Carolina, dead 
and worn. 

This species is one of the most remarkable and elegant of any from the 
deeper waters. It belongs to the group of which P. speciosa Reeve forms a 
member, by its sculpture, though whether the nucleus would agree with that 
species is uncertain. At present our judgment on such subdivisions as Gemmula 
Weinkauff, founded on nuclear characters, must be held suspended; so far as 
our knowledge goes, nuclear characters have little absolute systematic value in 
this group, and their relative value remains to be determined. 

Subgenus LETJCOSYRINX Dall. 

Shell white or pale without color pattern; thin; the anal notch behind the 
periphery or at the suture ; sculpture delicate, of spiral keels or threads and 
often oblique riblets on the shoulder of the whorls; peripheral keel if pres- 
ent not recurved; operculum thin, nucleus apical, scar of attachment small; 
larval shell glassy, rounded or keeled ; other shell characters as in Plcurotoma. 
Type Pleurotomella Verrillii Dall. 

This group is intended to contain the operculated species of Pleurotomida 
which are so characteristic of the archibenthal region. They are distinctly 
contrasted with the coarse, spotted or maculated shallow-water species of Pleu- 
roma proper, by their thin, white, delicately sculptured shells ; they are apart 
from Drillia by having no subtubular projection of the anal notch when adult 
and no thick varix to mark their maturity; they are separable from the archi- 
benthal Drillias also by their larger shells, longer canal, and more inflated 
habit. The anal notch is generally wider, more rounded and nearer the suture 
than in the typical Pleurotoma, and the operculum proportionally wider and 
more delicate. 

Leucosyrinx Verrillii Dall. 

Plate X. Fig. 5. 

Pleurotoma (Pleurotomella) Verrillii Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 57, August, 1881. 

Habitat. Station 41, 860 fms. ; Station 173, living in 734 fins., ooze, off 
Guadalupe, bottom temperature 40° F. ; Station 46, latitude 25° 43' N., longi- 
tude 84° 47' W., in the Gulf of Mexico, in 888 fms., ooze. Also at U. S. Fish 
Commission Stations 2623 a, 2626, and 2628, 25 to 100 miles off Cape Fear, 
North Carolina, in 150 to 528 fms., ooze, temperature 39° to 45° F. ; Stations 
2677 and 2678, off Cape Fear, in 478 and 731 fms., ooze, temperature about 39° ; 
and Station 2384, in 940 fms., mud, Gulf of Mexico, between the Mississippi 
delta and Cedar Keys. 

This fine species appears not to have been found by the Challenger, or north 
of Cape Hatteras. It is distinguished among several allied forms by the dis- 
tinct fine even threads on the fasciole, the form and number of its riblets, and 
the absence of any pre-sutural wrinkles or coronating band. 


76 BULLETIN OF THE 

Leucosyrinx Sigsbeei Dall. 

Plate XI. Fig. 10. 

Pleurotoma (Pleurotomellal) Sigsbeei Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 57, August, 1881. 

Habitat. Station 33, 1568 fms., Yucatan Strait, G40 fins, (young). Station 
236, off Bequia, living in 1591 tins., ooze, bottom temperature 39°.0 F. 

The differences between this and the last species were noted in the original 
description. Both species have moderately small subglobular glassy inflated 
nuclei, not large enough to give a mamillary look to the apex, but larger than 
in the average Pleurotoma. In both, the fine spiral threads cover the whole 
fasciole and there is no coronet in front of the suture. 

Leucosyrinx tenoceras n. s. 

Plate XXXVI. Fig. 5. 

Shell long, very slender, the aperture longer than the spire behind it ; white 
or ashy, the nucleus yellowish, subglobular, glassy, smooth ; whorls ten, beside 
the nucleus ; suture appressed, a coronet of short, elevated, backward pointing 
wrinkles marginating the whorl in front of it; fasciole wide, with obsolete 
sculpture or smooth, polished, very sloping, subconcave ; shoulder of the 
whorl angulated, ornamented (on the whorl before the last) with about four- 
teen nodular riblets ; these riblets on the early whorls are short, stout, and 
very prominent, later they become more slender and oblique, and on the last 
whorl tend to become obsolete entirely ; the whole shell except the fasciole is 
covered with fine flattened threads, not prominent, and often wavy or obliquely 
directed from irregularities of growth ; aperture long, rather narrow ; canal 
narrow, long, flaring a little at the end ; outer lip thin, simple, broadly arched 
forward, with no internal lira ; notch deep, very wide, extending from the 
suture to the shoulder ; pillar lip slightly excavated, white, smooth ; pillar 
straight, attenuated in front ; whorls moderately full, having a drawn-out 
appearance ; operculum thin, pear-shaped, acutely pointed, with a thin mar- 
ginal rib ; pale horn-color. Lon. of shell, 60.0 ; of last whorl, 40.0 ; of aperture, 
33.0; max. lat. of shell, 14.0 mm. 

Habitat. Station 161, near Guadalupe, in 583 fms., sand, temperature 41°. 0. 
Station 265, near Grenada, in 576 fms., ooze, temperature about 40°. 0. Also 
at U. S. Fish Commission Station 2392, in 724 fms., mud, Gulf of Mexico 
between the Mississippi delta and Cedar Keys, Florida, temperature 40°.7 ; 
and Station 2677, off Cape Fear, North Carolina, in 478 fms., mud, temperature 
39°.3 F. 

This is more slender than either of the preceding species, and has a smoother 
and always coronated fasciole, which rarely shows spiral sculpture. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 77 

Leucosyrinx subgrundifera Dall. 

Plate XXXVIII. Fig. 1. 

Pleurotoma subgrundifera Dall, in Agassiz, Three Cruises of the Blake, II. p. 66, fig. 
283, 1888. 

Shell fusiform with an acute spire, nine whorls, and a globular brownish, 
shining, smooth nucleus of about two whorls ; shell with a polished surface 
over a straw-colored very thin outer layer, the only transverse sculpture being 
due to the faint incremental lines and irregularities of growth ; spiral sculp- 
ture of an extremely sharp and wide keel nearer to the suture in front than to 
the one behind, and in some cases having its edge actually curved forward and 
overhanging ; the margin of the keel is smooth and a little rounded ; it is 
fainter on the last whorl of the adult ; in front of the keel on the base is a 
slight angulation or hardly elevated thread on which the suture coils ; in front 
of this are some faint spiral markings, hardly breaking the smoothness of the 
surface ; suture distinct ; aperture narrow ; notch deep, wide, extending from 
the suture nearly to the edge of the keel ; outer lip thin, arched forward, not 
internally lirate ; pillar lip slightly excavated, white, smooth ; pillar straight, 
attenuated in front, canal narrow, straight, shallow; base moderately rounded 
in the adult, flatfish in the young ; operculum as in L. tenoceras. Lon. of 
shell, 30.0 ; of last whorl, 20.3; of aperture, 17.0; max. lat. of shell, 11.0 mm. 

Habitat. Yucatan Strait, a fragment in 640 fms. U. S. Fish Commission 
Station 2384, Gulf of Mexico, in 940 fms., mud, between the delta of the Mis- 
sissippi and Cedar Keys, Florida ; and Station 2628, in 528 fms., sand, 100 
miles S. E. by S. from Cape Fear, North Carolina; temperatures 38°. 7 and 
39°.6 F. 

Some specimens of this singular shell look like a lot of successively smaller 
umbrellas, one over another. 

None of the Challenger species approach this one. The Surcula staminea 
and S. gonioides of Watson are carinated, but the keel is far less pronounced 
than in the present species, and they do not appear to have that curious chalky 
outer layer like a coat of whitewash varnished, which is so peculiar in L. sub- 
grundifera. In the last there is some variation in the strength of the basal 
spirals, but in none of them do the latter rise much above the surface. 

Subgenus ANCISTROSYRINX Dall. 

Ancistrosyrinx Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX p. 53, Aug. 12, 1881. 
Candelabrum Dall, 1878, non Blainville, 1830. 
? Columbarium sp. Tryon, non Von Martens. 

This very elegant section of the family extends from the Eocene, where it 
has been found at Jackson, Mississippi, and probably in Europe, to the exist- 
ing fauna. The only species which may perhaps be referred to it that was 
known before the writer called attention to it is Pleurotoma cedonulli Reeve, 


78 BULLETIN OF THE 

from Panama. It is impossible to determine with certainty from Reeve's 
figure whether his species is a true Ancistrosyrinx or not, but it looks like 
one, and he expressly states that the apex is sharp and the sinus large, which 
would exclude it from Columbarium, to which Tryon referred it.* The latter 
even considered it a synonym of the Chinese C. pagoda Lesson, which has a 
bulbous nucleus and no sinus. A species from the Eocene of Dry Creek, 
Jackson, Mississippi, was described by Mr. T. H. Aldrich in 1886 ; it is dis- 
tinct from the recent forms, with which I compared it, having a different sculp- 
ture about the sinus, and was named Pleurotoma (Ancistrosyrinx) columbaria by 
Mr. Aldrich. The figures of P. calliope Brocchi and P. controversa Jan from 
the Italian Tertiaries recall this group, but, if they are strictly to be relied 
upon, the resemblance is superficial and consists chiefly in the dentate carina. 
Nothing referable to this group was obtained by the Challenger. 

Ancistrosyrinx elegans Dall. 

Plate XXXVIII. Fig. 3. 

Ancistrosyrinx elegans Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 54, 1881. Agassiz, Three Cruises 
of the Blake, II. p. 60, fig. 282, 1888. 

Habitat. Florida Reefs, Pourtales, 1870. Station 2, 805 fms., four mile3 
from Havana, Agassiz, 1877-78. 

In this species the anterior part of the whorls is covered with granulose 
spirals, one more prominent than the rest in front of which the suture coils. 
The sinus is comparatively short with a polished flat fasciole bounded outside 
by an elevated strongly undulate keel, between which and the outer keel is 
a narrow deep sulcus with a row of faint nodules at the bottom. The spines 
are very small and curved toward the apex, the nucleus brownish, glassy, and 
unicarinate. There are indications of very faint axially directed fiammules of 
pale yellow on the white surface. 

Ancistrosyrinx radiata n. s 

Plate XII. Fig. 12. 

Shell irregularly clouded with pale brown and white, or of a diffuse very 
pale brown ; nucleus of two whorls, the first very small, rounded, obliquely set 
and partly immersed, arousing on casual inspection the unfounded suspicion 
that it is sinistral; apex sharp, the subsequent whorls (nine or ten) at first 
with a sharp dentate peripheral keel, which afterward becomes spinous and 
more or less posteriorly directed; spiral sculpture anteriorly of numerous rather 
widely separated fine threads, not granulose, but passing over rather coarse lines 
of growth and less crowded near the keel; carina with, on the tenth whorl, 

* Since the above was written I have examined Reeve's type In the British 
Museum, and it proves to be a species of Ancistrosyrinx, but different from the East 
American forms. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 79 

about twenty-six sharp short subtriangular spines more or less upturned; half- 
way between the keel and the carina is an elevated second keel, not undulate 
or dentate but much higher than in A. elegans ; behind this is the sinus, which 
is indented about one eighth of a turn; the fasciole is concave; transverse 
sculpture of rather coarse prominent lines of growth which are often strongly 
marked; aperture narrow, elongate, notched for the sinus, the canal, and the 
carina; canal long, narrow, rather open, slightly curved at the tip; base of 
shell subconic, hardly rounded, whole surface of the shell having a polished 
appearance like barley-sugar candy. Lon. of shell, 18.0; of last whorl, 12.5; 
from the carina to the anterior end of the canal, 10.0; max. lat. of shell, 8.0; of 
aperture, 3.0 mm. 

Habitat. Yucatan Strait, 640 fms. ; Station 132, in 115 fms., rocky bottom, 
off Santa Cruz; Station 143, in 150 fms., off Saba Bank; Station 220, in 116 
fms., rocky bottom, off Santa Lucia; Station 206, in 170 fms., near Martinique, 
on a bottom of fine sand; Station 273, in 103 fms., coral, off Barbados; Station 
290 (living), in 73 fms., coral, bottom temperature about 71° F. ; Stations 296, 
297, and 299, off Barbados, in 84-140 fms., hard or coral bottom. The Fish 
Commission obtained it in the Gulf of Mexico, between the delta of the Mis- 
sissippi and Cedar Keys (dead), at Station 2373, in 25 fms., coral; and at Sta- 
tion 2646 (fresh), in 85 fms., sand, off Cape Florida. 

The soft parts of this species are whitish or pale straw-color. The tentacles 
are small, the eyes large and black. The operculum, thin and yellow, resem- 
bles that of Drillia. The sides of the foot are plain, the gills as usual. The 
single living specimen, very small, was so far retracted that the shell had to be 
wholly sacrificed to get him out unlacerated. It was a male with a verge of pro- 
portionally enormous size set on the right side behind the head, smooth, some- 
what sigmoid, with an oval tip, without any appendix, and slightly flattened. 

This shell was at first confounded with A. elegans, but a comparison shows 
them to be perfectly distinct, the sculpture being entirely different. The pres 
ent species, though not so slender, is more like A. cedonulli, Reeve, than is the 
A. elegans, the latter in several respects being nearer to the fossil species from 
the Mississippi Eocene. 

Subgenus GENOTA H. & A. Adams. 
Genota mitrella Dall. 

Plate XII. Fig. 5. 

Pleurotoma (Genota) mitrella Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 56, Aug. 12, 1881. 
Pleurotoma (Genota) didj/ma Watson, Journ. Linn. Soc, XV. p. 404, Sept. 29, 1881 ; 
Chall. Gastr., p. 299, pi. xxii. fig. 5, 1885. 

Habitat. Yucatan Strait, 640 fms.; off Sombrero, in 450 fms., ooze, Chal- 
lenger Expedition. 

No further specimens of this species have been found. It is referred to 
Genota on purely conchological grounds. 


80 BULLETIN OF THE 

Section DOLICHOTOMA Bellaedi. 

Type, Pleurotoma cataphracta Brocchi. 

The folds with which this species is credited are merely the projecting 
margin of the pillar, and an obscure thickening, hardly to be compared to a 
true plait. 

Genota viabrunnea n. s. 

Plate XIII. Fig. K. 

Shell solid, fusiform; with a smooth, brown, two-and-a-half-whorled vitre- 
ous nucleus, the last whorl of which has semilunar riblets ; and eight slightly 
turrited whorls; spire short, conical, rather pointed; the early whorls deli- 
cately sculptured, the last two rather rude ; the aperture longer than half the 
shell. Transverse sculpture in the earlier whorls (which are pure white) con- 
sisting of rather crowded flutings depending transversely forward from the 
sutural margin for a third of the width of the (visible) whorl, which then swells 
outward, marked by strong growth lines, to a series of peripheral angular 
nodulations which mark the course of the anal fasciole; on the fourth, fifth, 
and sixth whorls, counting from the nucleus, the flutings are more regular and 
elegant than in the earlier or subsequent turns, on the fifth and sixth they as 
well as the growth lines are elegantly granulose or marked with small round 
nodes, the resultant of transverse and spiral sculpture; the peripheral nodula- 
tions also become more transverse and divided into three smaller nodules each, 
from the same cause; on the seventh and eighth whorls the lines of growth be- 
come more rude, the flutings and nodulation gradually vanish, and the sculpture 
is reduced to obscure spiral ridges, finer and more uniform on and behind the 
fasciole, and coarser, with a certain alternation of larger and smaller in size, be- 
fore the fasciole ; the last three and a half whorls take on a warm brownish tint, 
the fasciole being a still darker and somewhat livid madder brown ; the later 
spiral ridges are also often somewhat darker than their interspaces. Aperture 
narrow, canal short, broad, slightly recurved ; outer lip pnMuced in advance 
of the sinus, thin, simple, sharp; body polished, slightly excavated; column 
slightly twisted, swollen, white, smooth, attenuated in front, with no callus, as 
long as the canal ; suture distinct, appressed, posterior surface of the whorls 
behind the fasciole somewhat concave. Lon. of shell, 38.00; of aperture, 22.00; 
max. lat. of shell, 16.5; of aperture, 6.5 mm. 

Habitat. Off Martinique, at Station 211, in 357 fms., fine yellow sand, liv- 
ing; and near Barbados, at Station 295, in 180 fms., hard bottom; bottom 
temperature 50°.7 F. Also south of Cuba, in 254 fms., coral, at U. S. Fish 
Commission Station 2134. 

This fine shell is of unusual solidity and warm coloration for a deep-water 

species. None of the specimens showed any indications of thickening or 

striation of the aperture. Like many others, in the present unsettled state of 

the classification of the Pleurotomidce, its final place is somewhat uncertain, but 

January 26, 1889. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 81 

conchologically it belongs with Genota as defined by Dr. Paul Fischer in hi3 
invaluable Manual. 

The shell is closely allied to Pleurotoma cataphracta Brocchi, of the Miocene 
of the Paris and Vienna Basins. Though the sculpture differs in detail, and 
the fossil is more turrited, beside being sharply strongly internally Urate, the 
G. viabrunnea may be regarded as the descendant of the fossil in a more or less 
direct line. The several varieties even, so beautifully figured by Hoernes in 
his monograph of the Vienna Tertiary mollusks, are reproduced in the recent 
form. Among the five specimens I have seen there is a variation as to the 
sculpture which would divide them into two groups, just as Brocchi originally 
divided his Murex cataphracta. One has the spiral sculpture elegantly alter- 
nated, a stout thread and a slender one, all over the body, and all the threads 
minutely and prettily granulated. The other has the spiral sculpture ill- 
defined, sparser, rude, and obsolete, that on the base showing no granulations 
whatever. 

Soft parts. The foot is double-edged in front, rounded at the corners and 
behind. It is nearly smooth, and like all the rest of the integument is yellow- 
ish white (in alcohol). The tentacles are rather long, cylindrical, stout, and 
not very pointed. The eyes are small, black, situated one third of the way 
from the base toward the tips of the tentacles. The verge is very large, re- 
curved, flattened cylindrical, bluntly pointed; gills two, the lamellae rather 
short, the organs themselves rather long and of a dark greenish color. The 
operculum normally is as in Leucosyrinx, thin, horny, elongated, pointed at 
the anterior end, which is the nucleus. The scar of attachment is large and 
curiously concentrically engraved, recalling the opercular scar in Purpura, 
though not rotary-concentric as that is. 

In the Fish Commission specimens the operculum in each of three specimens 
was abnormal, being more or less truly concentric and smaller than it should 
have been. I suppose these specimens had lost the original operculum, and 
the subsequent product of the gland was deformed, as is known to happen 
occasionally in Buccinum. One of these specimens has a thickening on the 
pillar, like a clumsy reminiscence of a plait. I noticed that the upper coils 
of the soft parts appeared grooved when extracted, and, cutting into the spire 
of the specimen, found that the outer lip must have been internally lirate 
when the specimen was young, with some half-dozen obscure lira. One of the 
specimens has obsolete lirae in the throat. They cannot be seen, but by rub- 
bing the interior transversely with the point of a pin the invisible elevations 
can be felt as the pin point crosses them. It is possible that the species may 
be regularly lirate when perfectly adult, as in G. cataphracta Brocchi. The 
specimens indicate rather that the character referred to has become obsolete 
in the species, and only occasionally exists in special individuals. 

The dentition I am unfortunately unable to describe. The soft parts within 
the mouth strongly recalled those of Bela as figured by Sars (Moll. Reg. Arct. 
Norv.) ; but the gland, which in that genus is supposed to secrete venom and 

VOL. XVI. — NO. 3. 6 


82 BULLETIN OF THE 

which empties close to the radula, here seemed to enter the oesophagus some 
distance behind the proboscis, and I could not find any radular sac at the right 
side of the proboscis where it should be. On dissolving the whole buccal 
apparatus in boiling caustic potash, the residue afforded no trace of any teeth. 
Still I do not feel entirely confident that the animal is normally edentulous, 
or, if it is, that the gland in question is more than salivary. It would seem 
absurd that an edentulous mollusk should have a venom-gland. If it is eden- 
tulous, probably it is capable, in the fanged species, of producing a modified 
and poisonous secretion, while in others it is merely salivary. 

A related species is Genota atractoides Watson, from the Philippines; it is 
lighter colored and the details of sculpture are different and stronger than in 
our species. 

It will be observed that the soft parts are not like those of Conus. The soft 
parts of Adanson's Genot are not figured by him, nor described except by saying 
that they resemble those of the Cones. Unless G. mitriformis Wood, and G. 
papalis Reeve, Adams's types, be different from the present species, it is evident 
that Genota can rank only as a subdivision of Pleurotoma, and not as a genus 
by itself. If they do differ, the present forms must be separated as a subgenus 
of Pleurotoma under Bellardi's name. 


Genus DttiiXIA Gray. 

The species of this group are so varied in their characters, and yet so closely 
connected by intermediate forms, that at present no absolute conclusions as 
to their arrangement can be drawn. I shall for convenience separate those 
here treated of into three groups: A, comprising those with rough sculpture, 
the spiral sculpture being present and usually emphasized ; B, nearly smooth 
species with strong transverse ribs, and usually colored, the spiral sculpture 
faint or absent ; and C, white, polished species, without spiral sculpture, and 
usually with the spire particularly long in comparison with the rest of the 
shell. These* are deep-water forms, and shine with a peculiar lustre like rock 
candy. This is a character shared by several other groups of deep-water 
shells, and undoubtedly appears in response to some unknown factor in the 
environment. 

Section A. Roughly sculptured species. 

Drillia ostrearum Stearns. 

Drillia ostrearum Stearns, Proc. Boat. Soc. Nat. Hist., XV. p. 22, 1872. Tryon, 
Man., VI. p. 197, pi. xxxiv. fig. 79, 1884. 

Habitat. Off Sombrero, in 54-72 fms.; Station 142, Flannagan's Passage, 
in 27 fms. ; Station 247, near Grenada, in 170 fms. ; Station 272, in 76 fms., off 
Barbados. Living, in 15 fms. to low- water mark, from Cape Hatteras to Cape 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 83 

Florida, and westward to Cape Catoche, Yucatan, U. S. Fish Commission, and 
other authorities. 

The deep-water specimens of this species are all dead, and I believe them to 
be adventitious. 

Drillia Tryonii n. s. 

Shell recalling D. ostrearum, but white, more acutely pointed, smaller, with 
a more gibbous varix in the adult, an umbilical chink on the pillar, and a 
spirally threaded fasciole instead of a smooth one; shell eight- whorled, with a 
smooth nucleus; 16-18 long transverse ribs extending across the whorls, fas- 
ciole and all; crossed by numerous (eleven on the last whorl but one) ele- 
vated, even, rounded threads, with about equal or wider interspaces ; the 
threads are not swollen at the intersections ; suture distinct, the fasciole but 
slightly excavated, whorls moderately rounded ; on the last whorl, a quarter 
of a turn before the adult aperture is formed, is a prominent swollen rounded 
varix, or rib ; aperture short ; body callous ; pillar reflected, forming a distinct 
pseudo-umbilicus; outer lip thin, not lirate, strongly arched; canal short, 
curved. Lon. of shell, 12.0; of last whorl, 7.0; of aperture, 5.2 ; max. lat. of 
shell, 4.3 mm. 

Habitat. Station 231, near St. Vincent, in 95 fms.; Station 262, near Gre- 
nada, in 92 fms.; Station 272, near Barbados, in 76-100 fms. 

I regard this as a shallow-water species, adventitious in the above localities. 
All the specimens are injured, but from the lot a description was practicable. 
These shells, by some error of observation, were returned to me as a variety of 
D. ostrearum by Mr. Tryon. They are a well marked and perfectly distinct 
form, having only the most general resemblance to D. ostrearum. The average 
dimensions of the latter, from the same region, are, lon. of shell, 17.0 ; of last 
whorl, 10.0 ; of aperture, 7.5 ; max. lat. of shell, 7.0 mm. 

The nearest relative among the Blake shells to this form is D. albicoma, from 
which D. Tryoni will be distinguished by its smaller size, its more numerous 
and close-set ribs, and by its strongly differentiated fasciole. 

Drillia albicoma n. s. 

Plate X. Fig. 8. 

Shell solid, slender, acute, pure white, with a simple polished nucleus of a 
whorl and a half, followed by nine normal whorls ; spiral sculpture of ex- 
tremely fine, close-set, regular threads, uniform over the entire surface, but 
scarcely visibly developed in the first four whorls, which appear polished to 
the naked eye ; the threads on the last whorl are about nine in the breadth ol 
a millimeter; transverse sculpture of rather stout, sharp ribs (on the seventh 
whorl ten) which extend from suture to suture, with a slight fiexuosity near 
the suture, but no marked interruption for a fasciole ; on the last whorl there 
are fourteen of these ribs, beside the large shouldered varix behind the aper- 


84 BULLETIN OF THE 

ture ; they extend well over the periphery of the whorl, and are evanescent 
on the canal ; other transverse sculpture comprises only fine lines of growth 
which are not parallel to but more oblique than the aforesaid ribs, and reticu- 
late prettily the spiral threads ; whorls but little inflated, having a very regular 
taper, slightly appressed at the distinct but not deep suture ; aperture more 
than one third as long as the shell, polished within, with a deep broad notch, 
slightly in advance of the suture, whose edges are produced and considerably 
reflected ; the fasciole is indistinct and little depressed ; the outer lip smooth, 
in the middle produced, internally somewhat thickened, not lirate ; canal short, 
rather broad, somewhat recurved ; a broad, not very thick, continuous band of 
white callus from the end of the pillar over the body passes iuto the reflected 
margin of the notch ; pillar slightly curved. Lon. of shell, 25.7 ; of last whorl> 
10.6 ; of aperture, 9.0 ; lat. of last whorl, 8.0 mm. 

Habitat. This shell came to me, labelled Station 36, 84 fms. ; that is, in the 
Gulf of Mexico, Lat. 23° 13' and Lon. 89° 16' W. ; bottom temperature, 60° F. 
But the facies of the shell is that of deep, or at least of cooler water, and I sus- 
pect some error has occurred. Perhaps it might have remained in the dredge 
from the immediately preceding haul from 804 fms. 

Fragments have since turned up, in material dredged in 100 fms., at Bar- 
bados, by the Hassler expedition. This would tend to confirm the correctness 
of the original label. Another fragment was dredged in 101 fms., at Station 45. 

The species is very elegant in its slender taper and snowy whiteness. 


Drillia ? detecta Dall. 

Plate XII. Fig. 11. 

Plenrotoma {Drillia) detecta Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 65, August, 1881. 
Pleurotoma (Defrancia) circumvduta Watson, Journ. Linn. Soc, XV. p. 465, Nov., 

1881. 
Clathurella circumvoluta Watson, Rep. Chall. Gastr., p. 357, pi. xxi. fig. 1, 1885. 

Habitat. Station 43, in 339 fms., Gulf of Mexico. Off Culebra Island, 
in 390 fms., mud, Challenger expedition. 

Mr. Watson's figure represents an immature shell, slightly more slender than 
my type of detecta. It is quite likely that he may be right in his generic 
reference, as my specimen does not show the Drillia varix, yet its form and 
short last whorl seem to me more like that of a Drillia than any other group. 
The Blake specimen was dead and lustreless. 

Drillia alesidota n. s. 

Shell large, slender, ashy brown or light brown, pointed, rudely sculptured, 
ten-whorled, with a nucleus of about two whorls, round, small, glassy, smooth 
and inflated ; fasciole slightly concave, nearly smooth, very steep, separated 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 85 

from the suture by a smoothish space, marginated by a slightly raised thread ; 
suture appressed ; spiral sculpture of numerous subequal little elevated re- 
volving threads with wider interspaces; they are strongest on the summit 
of the riblets, faint in the interspaces ; there are about five in front of the 
fasciole and between it and the next suture ; they are fainter on the canal ; 
transverse sculpture of numerous (on the penultimate whorl 28) narrow, 
little elevated, slightly oblique riblets, beginning and strongest at the fasciole, 
and passing over the whorl to fade away on the base ; the thin margin of the 
suture is sometimes undulated by passing over them ; aperture narrow, long, 
notch rounded, not deep ; outer lip simple, thin, arched forward, not constricted 
for the canal ; inner lip simple with a slight callus, thicker at the posterior 
angle opposite the notcli ; pillar straight, attenuated and somewhat twisted in 
front, canal wide, slightly recurved. Max. Ion. of shell, 48.0 ; of last whorl, 
26.5; of aperture, 21.0 ; lat. of shell, 12.0 mm. 

Drillia alesidota var. macilenta Dall. 

Plate XXXVI. Fig. 1. 

Shell more slender, the sculpture more elegant, the spiral element prppor- 
tionally stronger, existing on the fasciole and canal, as well as over the rest of 
the surface. Lon. of shell, 36.5 ; of last whorl, 20.0; of aperture, 15.0 ; lat. 
of shell, 8.2 mm. 

Habitat of type form. Off Cape Hatteras, N. C, in 63 to 107 fms., sand, 
temperature 67°. to 75°.0 F., at Stations 2595 and 2601 of the U. S. Fish 
Commission. 

Habitat of var. macilenta. U. S. Fish Commission Station 2417, in 95 fms., 
sand, 52 miles S. E. of Cape Fear, N. C, temperature 66° F. Station 2402, 
in the Gulf of Mexico, between the delta of the Mississippi and Cedar Keys, 
Florida, in 111 fms., mud. Blake expedition, Station 273, in 103 fms , sand, 
Barbados, temperature 59°. 5 F. 

This is a very plain, simple-looking species of a dull color. It is quite large, 
but appears not to have been heretofore described or figured. 

Drillia polytorta Dall. 

Plate X. Fig. «. 

Pleurotoma (Drillia) polytorta Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 61, August, 1881. 

Habitat. Off Cape San Antonio, 413 fms. 

This species has much such a sculpture as the last, except that the ribs are 
larger, rounder, and fewer, the whorls shorter, more numerous, and more 
inflated. 


86 BULLETIN OF THE 

Drillia eucosmia n. 8. 

Plate XIII. Fig. 1. 

Shell pale, with touches of pale brown and a peripheral whitish zone, eight- 
whorled, with a glossy, rounded nucleus of two whorls ; fasciole rather wide, 
excavated, undulating in harmony with the ribs, marked by fine revolving 
threads and marginated at the appressed suture by a stout elevated line ; 
spiral sculpture on the rest of the shell (1) of (on the whorls preceding the 
last) two or three prominent white stout threads, somewhat swollen where 
they ride over the ribs ; on the last whorl there are about fifteen of these 
primary spirals ; between the fasciole and the end of the canal, in each of the 
wide interspaces, are (2) three or four much finer hardly elevated flattish 
threads, similar to those on the fasciole, and on the last whorl the marginating 
thread behind the fasciole is wider and somewhat crenulated ; transverse sculp- 
ture of (on the penultimate whorl 9) stout, rounded ribs, beginning at the fas- 
ciole and obsolete on the canal ; beside these there are only incremental lines ; 
the brown touches are on these ribs above and below the white zone, which 
is bounded by the peripheral pair of primary spirals ; final varix stout and 
rounded ; aperture narrow, notch rounded, strongly marked ; outer lip thin, 
arched forward, not lirate within; a single internal thread runs parallel with 
the fasciole deeper in the throat ; inner lip w r ith a thin callus with elevated 
margin; pillar straight, canal short, obliquely truncate, rather wide. Max. lat. 
of shell, 6.4; Ion. of shell, 19.0; of last whorl, 10.3; of aperture, 7.7 mm. 

Hahitat. Station 2-47, near Grenada, in 170 fms., ooze, temperature 53°.5 F. 

Drillia eucosmia var. canna Dall. 

Shell smaller, more slender ; the peripheral primary spirals always three ; 
the secondary spirals few or obsolete ; ribs six or seven, rather more prominent. 
Lon. of shell, 15.25; lat. of shell, 6.0 mm. 

Habitat. With the last. Also west of Florida, in 50 fms., Gulf of Mexico ; 
and off Cape Lookout, N. C, in 52 fms., sand, at Station 2612, by the U. S. 
Fish Commission. 

This very elegant little species belongs to a group of several, which possess 
characters in common, and which appear to be undescribed. 

Drillia haliostrephis n. s. 

Plate XIII. fig. 3. 

Shell pure white, eight-whorled, with a glossy rounded vitreous nucleus 
of two whorls ; spiral sculpture much as in D. eucosmia, a line marginating the 
suture ; two or three strong primaries on the upper whorls, five or six on the 
body whorl, and eight or ten smaller ones on the canal ; the principal pri- 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 87 

maries are strongly marked and slightly swollen on the summits of the ribs ; 
the secondary spirals, very faint or absent behind the periphery but present in 
the interspaces in front of it, are finer than in the last species, and more nu- 
merous ; the fasciole is wide, nearly smooth, undulated, and little excavated ; 
the aperture is narrow and long, the notch shallow, the interior not lirate, the 
inner lip simple with a thin callus, the canal wide, straight, rather long; the 
ribs are seven on the penultimate whorl, narrower and less prominent, as is 
the varix, than in the last species. Lon. of shell, 19.5 ; of last whorl, 11.0 ; of 
aperture, 8.0 ; max. lat. of shell, 5.5 mm. 

Habitat. Gulf of Mexico, at Station 36, in 8-4 fms. 

This shell is more slender, the primary spirals stronger, the other sculpture 
weaker, than in D. eucosmia. The color is also different. In the variety canna 
the last whorl is stouter in proportion to the spire than in this species. 

Drillia acestra n. s. 

Plate X. fig. 7. 

Shell long, slender, pale olive-color with a translucent white tip, nine- 
whorled, with a smooth vitreous rounded two-whorled nucleus ; fasciole wide, 
steep, excavated, marked with close-set fine even spirals ; it is bounded be- 
hind by a sharply cut elevated thread, a little space in front of the suture ; 
the whorl in front of the fasciole is covered with close-set, strong, subequal, 
flattish spirals, with narrow channelled interspaces ; these spirals, from two on 
the four apical whorls, increase to seven on the penultimate whorl, and eleven 
(behind those on the canal) on the last whorl ; here they are a little more 
widely separated, and have one or two intercalary fine threads in the inter- 
spaces ; on the canal there are six primary threads alternating with somewhat 
smaller secondary ones ; transverse sculpture of gently elevated ribs (eight on 
the penultimate whorl), which vary in different specimens as to elevation and 
strength ; in the type specimen figured they begin at the fasciole and fade on 
the base ; the varix is strong and protrudes, there is a touch of livid color in 
front of it, which is seen nowhere else on the shell ; aperture whitish, throat 
slightly livid, not lirate ; notch deep and strong, outer lip thin, contracted for 
the canal; inner lip with a thin elevated callus, pillar straight, canal rather 
short, recurved. Max. lon. of shell, 19.0; of last whorl, 9.8 ; of aperture, 7.0; 
max. lat. of shell, 5.5 mm. 

Habitat. Station 101, off Havana, in 400 fms. Variety (?), Station 248, 
near Grenada, in 161 fms. 

The specimen I have referred to as a variety may be distinct ; it has twelve 
ribs, a narrower and less marked fasciole, and the spiral sculpture is much less 
elevated and sharp. But the general aspect is so similar that I dare not sepa- 
rate them without a larger series of specimens. 


88 BULLETIN OF THE 

Drillia pharcida Dall. 

Plate XII. fig. 2. 

Pleurotoma (Drillia) exasperata Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 63, August, 1881. Not 
of Reeve, 1843. 

Habitat. Off Cape San Antonio, 1002 fms. ; Station 5, in 229 fms., Gulf of 
Mexico ; Barbados, 100 fms. 

The specific name having been used by Reeve for a species conchologically 
related to Drillia, I am obliged to substitute another name for the one at first 
adopted. 

This species was dredged by Dr. Rush, in 150-200 fms., off the Fowey rocks, 
Florida Strait. 

Drillia acrybia n. s. 

Shell closely related to D. pharcida with which it may advantageously be 
compared. The most obvious differences are, that in D. pharcida the ribs and 
their intersecting sharp spirals are as strong on the last whorl as on the others, 
in D. acrybia the ribs on the last whorl are obsolete and the spirals fainter ; 
the spire of D. acrybia is shorter in proportion to the last whorl, the canal is 
longer, there is one less whorl in the adult shell, the fasciole is less excavated, 
the suture more appressed, and consequently less evident. In all other re- 
spects the shells closely resemble one another. Lon. of shell, 10.0; of last 
whorl, 6.0 ; of aperture, 4.0 ; max. lat. of shell, 4.0 mm. The same measure- 
ments in D. pharcida, of the same maturity, are, lon. of shell, 11.75 ; of last 
whorl, 6.25 ; of aperture, 4.5 ; max. lat. of shell, 4.0 mm. 

Habitat. U. S. Fish Commission Station 2668, in 294 fms., sand, off Fer- 
nandina, Florida, temperature 46°. 3. Also in 136 fms., off the coast of Florida, 
Dr. W. H. Rush. 

It is quite possible that the remarkable variability which I have so often 
referred to among the deep-sea shells may have been operating here, and that 
these shells are merely an extreme variety of D. pharcida. I have not mate- 
rial enough to prove this. But if the two shells were dredged from shallow 
water, they would not, I think, be questioned as distinct species by any one 
who carefully studied them. 

Drillia tristicha n. s. 

Shell white, elongated, acute, with a rounded vitreous white two-whorled 
nucleus and nine succeeding whorls ; spiral sculpture of three principal strong 
threads, enlarged where they pass over the ribs, four more on the base of the 
last whorl, about eight somewhat weaker ones on the canal, and a single one 
in front of and marginating the suture ; the interspaces are wide, and upon 
them and over the fasciole are wound numerous fine, sharp, undulating, secon- 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 89 

dary spiral threads ; all these cross (on the penultimate whorl) fourteen even, 
rounded, narrow riblets, with narrower interspaces, which start at the anterior 
edge of the fasciole, cross the whorl, and fail on the canal ; suture distinct, 
wavy ; fasciole obscure, not excavated ; whorls rounded ; varix stout, thick, 
and rounded ; aperture narrow, notch strongly marked, round ; outer lip thin, 
without lirae ; inner lip with a thin, smooth, elevated callus ; canal distinct, 
rather long and narrow, not recurved;, pillar straight. Lon. of shell, 23.0; of 
last whorl, 12.5; of aperture, 9.7; max. lat. of shell, 5.5 mm. 

Habitat. Gulf of Mexico, between the delta of the Mississippi and Cedar 
Keys, Florida, at U. S. Fish Commission Stations 2377, 2399, and 2402, in 
210, 196, and 111 fms., mud, temperature 52° to 67° F. 

B. Nearly smooth ribbed species. 

Drillia ebur Reeve. 

Pleurotoma ebur Reeve, P. Z. S., 1845, p. 116; Conch. Icon., pi. xxx. fig. 275, Dec, 

1845. 
Clavus ebur Tryon, Man., VI. p. 188, pi. xiii. fig. 56. 

Habitat. Cape Hatteras to Florida, living, in 14 to 50 fms. Also at Station 
10, Gulf of Mexico, in 34 fms. ; Station 22, in 95 fms.; Station 36, in 84 fms.; 
off Sombrero, in 54 fms. ; all specimens dead. 

These shells were probably adventitious in the localities where found by 
the Blake, having perhaps been disgorged by fishes. 

This species forms a sort of transition to the preceding section. The nucleus 
is peculiar in being almost entirely sculptured with strong radiating riblets, and 
a little later with close-set fine spirals. This character varies somewhat in 
strength, but is sufficiently well marked in all the specimens I have examined 
to be regarded as characteristic of the species as far as known. 

Drillia fucata Reeve. 

Pleurotoma fucata Reeve, P. Z. S. 1845, p. 110; Conch. Icon., fig. 169. 
Pleurotoma paria Reeve, Conch. Icon., fig. 334, Jan., 1846. 

Habitat. Coast of North Carolina, off Cape Fear, in 14 fms., sand, to St. 
Thomas and Haiti. 

This is the variety with numerous (about 16) ribs, which is the typical 
form. This species in all its forms is larger than D. ebur Reeve, and has the 
usual smooth, vitreous Drillia nucleus ; it is proportionally shorter and has the 
last whorl stouter than any of its near connections. It is covered with fine 
spiral threading, which in well developed specimens is beautifully reticulated 
by very close, fine, sharp, elevated incremental lines, visible in the interspaces. 
The number and stoutness of the ribs varies greatly. There are specimens 
without any ribs; I have one from Samana Bay, Santo Domingo. The variety 
paria Reeve has six or eight ribs, is pale colored, and ranges from the West 
Indies to Cape Fear, North Carolina. 


90 BULLETIN OF THE 

Drillia pagodula n. b. 

Plate XIII. Fig. 6. 

Shell resembling D. fucata, but much more slender, the fasciole less im- 
pressed, the spiral sculpture of fine engraved lines and the aperture smaller 
and much more narrow. Nucleus glassy, rounded, two-whorled ; shell with 
eight or nine strongly ribbed whorls; spiral sculpture, sometimes obsolete 
near the suture, of extremely fine, wavy, close-set, incised lines; transverse 
sculpture of (on the penultimate whorl 9 to 11) nearly straight stout ribs ex- 
tending from the suture over the periphery and lost on the base ; fasciole not 
well marked; suture distinct, somewhat appressed, undulated by passing over 
the ribs; surface more or less lustrous; color white, spirally banded with rich 
yellow brown, sometimes on the periphery, sometimes on the base, etc., but 
the fasciole is usually white and the ribs are apt to show white, wholly or in 
part on the yellow, when present. Aperture short, narrow, with hardly any 
canal; notch large and deeper than wide; outer lip thin, not internally lirate; 
throat white; inner lip a little callous; pillar short, simple; canal very short, 
not differentiated from the aperture ; varix stout and prominent. Max. Ion. of 
shell, 18.0; of last whorl, 9.0; of aperture, 6.3; max. lat. of shell, 5.8 mm. 

Habitat. West of Florida, in 50 fms. ; off Havana, Sigsbee, in 119-175 fms. ; 
Station 177, in 118 fms., sand, off Dominica, temperature 65°. ; Stations 273, 
282, and 290, near Barbados, in 73 to 154 fms., coral and sand, temperature 
56° to 71° F. 

This species may be pure white, banded with yellow brown or spotted be- 
tween the ribs with pink or brown. 

A young shell, similar to the above but stouter, with the tip white, the 
whorls whitish and the summits of the five ribs brownish, was dredged by the 
Fish Commission in 49 fms., off Cape Hatteras, N. C. The ribs are continuous 
from base to summit and the cross-section of the shell forms an exact pentagon 
with rounded angles. The ribs are not continuous, except accidentally, in 
those previously described; but this may perhaps be an extreme variety (for 
which the name ■pentagonalis may be used) of D. pagodula. The indications 
are that it is the young of a distinct species. Ldn. of shell, 7.0 ; of last whorl 
(there are four beside the nucleus), 5.0 ; max. lat. of shell, 3.0 mm. There are 
two similar specimens. The Manyilia pentagonalis (Gray) Reeve is a smaller 
and much more slender shell. 

Drillia coccinata Reeve. 
Pleurotoma coccinata Reeve, P. Z. S., 1845, p. 118 ; Conch. Icon. sp. 299, Dec, 1845. 

Habitat. Station 128, off Santa Cruz, in 180 fms. ; Station 272, in 76 fms., 
Barbados. Living, in 16 fms., Samana Bay, Santo Domingo, Couthouy. 

The shell varies from white to brown or rose-pink, and may be stout or 
slender, with 8 or 10 ribs on the last whorl. The fasciole is always well 
excavated and smooth. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 91 

Drillia thea var. carminura Dall. 
Drillia thea Dall, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., VI. p. 328, pi. x. fig. 5, Dec, 1883. 

Habitat. Barbados, 100 fms. Coasts of Florida, Dall, Hemphill, and Dr. 
Rush. 

Since the original dusky type was described, the color of wet tea leaves, 
Hemphill has sent a paler variety with a narrow peripheral brown band. 
This was found at Cedar Keys, and by Dr. Rush also at Turtle Harbor. A 
still paler form without any band was dredged by the U. S. Fish Commission 
in 111 fms., in the Gulf of Mexico, at Station 2402. In this specimen the 
nucleus was of a lovely bright carmine color. This form, which is probably 
peculiar to deep water, may take the varietal name of carminura. It has seven 
whorls beside the nucleus, of a lemonade color, with nine ribs on the penulti- 
mate whorl, rather straighter than in the type and less swollen on the periph- 
ery. Lon. 11.5, lat. 4.0 mm. The Barbados specimens appear to be of the 
same sort, but are dead and faded. 

Drillia? Simpsoni Dall. 

Pleurotoma {Mangilia?) Simpsoni Dall, Proc. Davenport Acad. Sciences, V. p. 54, 
Nov., 1887. 

Habitat. U. S. Fish Commission Stations 2607 and 2619, off the coast of 
North Carolina, in 15 to 18 fms., sand, fifteen to twenty-five miles off shore. 
Tampa Bay, Florida, Simpson. 

Fragments of this pretty little species and a nearly adult specimen were 
obtained as above, thus greatly increasing its known geographical range. Its 
genus is still uncertain, but I think, in my second specimen, through the 
translucent shell, I can distinguish an operculum attached to the dried animal. 

Drillia lissotropis Dall. 

Plate XI. Figs. 3, 4. 

Pleurotoma (Mangilia) lissotropis Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 58, August, 1881. 
? Pleurotoma (Manyelia) hypsela Watson, Journ. Linn. Soc, XV. p. 433, Oct., 1881. 
Chall. Gastr., p. 341, pi. xxi. fig. 4, 1885. 

Habitat. Station 20, 220 fms., Gulf of Mexico; off Havana, in 127 fms. ; 
Station 273, near Barbados, in 103 fms. ; Stations 282 and 290, off Barbados, in 
154 and 73 fms., coral; Station 134, near Santa Cruz, in 248 fms., coarse sand. 
Range of temperatures, 54°. 5 to 71° F. 

Mr. Watson's specimen is not sufficiently perfect to decide with certainty, 
but it looks very much like the present species. The examination of better 
material since the first description was made shows this species to have the 


92 BULLETIN OF THE 

regular Drillia aperture and nucleus, and it is therefore referred to that genua. 
The curvature and number of the ribs vary slightly, and the spaces between are 
indifferently perfectly smooth, or finely spirally striate, especially toward the 
anterior end of the shell. 

This species differs from D. Verrillii, with which it has many points in com- 
mon, in the absence of the angulation of the ribs at the periphery, the longer 
and more slender form of both shell and riblets, and in D. Verrillii the absence 
of any spiral sculpture except the fasciole and a few coarse threads on the 
canal. These shells are so very small and polished that it is extremely diffi- 
cult for an artist in pure line-work to represent them adequately. Only lithog- 
raphy with its delicate mutations of shade can do it properly. For this reason 
our figures of this species and D. Verrillii are less satisfactory than most of 
these which represent rougher and larger shells. 

Drillia? Dalli Verriix. 

Pleurotoma Dalli Verrill, Trans. Conn. Acad.,V p. 451, pi. lvii. figs. 1, la, April, 1882. 

Habitat. Variety acloneta, Station 206, near Martinique, in 170 fins., fine 
sand, temperature 49° F. ; U. S. Fish Commission Station 2668, in 294 fms., 
gray sand, off Fernandina, Fla., temperature 46°.3. Variety cestrota, Station 
2399, in 196 fms., mud, in the Gulf of Mexico, between the delta of the Mis- 
sissippi and Cedar Keys, Fla., temperature 51°. 6. Typical form, off Martha's 
Vineyard, in 94 to 143 fms., and off Delaware Bay, in 104 fms. 

This species, recognizable by its large blunt tip and brownish livid streaks 
or tint, is notably variable. The type is obscurely ribbed; on the upper whorls 
the ribs are a little stronger. The variety which I have called acloneta is 
totally without ribs, and for this reason the fasciole is less apparent. The 
variety cestrota, on the other hand, has the ribs much stronger than in the 
typical form, and closer set; they even undulate the fasciole a little. The three 
forms of this species, with their connecting varieties, illustrate in a character- 
istic manner the mutability of these archibenthal species. 

Drillia nucleata Dall. 

Plate XI. Fig. 1. 

Pleurotoma (Drillia) nucleata Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 62, Aug. 12, 1881. 

? Pleurotoma (Drillia) amblia Watson, Journ. Linn. Soc, XVI. p. 249, March, 1882. 

1 Clionella amblia Watson, Chall. Gastr., p. 373, pi. xxii. fig. 12, 1885. 

Habitat. Gulf of Mexico, Station 5, in 229 fms., and Station 43, in 339 
fms. Antilles, ^ Ccmbrero, in 54 fms., an 1 Station 230, off St. Vincent, in 
464 fms., ooze. U. S. Fish Commission Station 2644, off Cape Florida, in 
193 fms., sand, temperature 43°.4 F. 1 Challenger expedition, off Culebra 
Island, in 390 fms., ooze. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 93 

It would seem, from the figure of Mr. Watson's imperfect type specimen, as 
if it must approach very closely to one of the varieties probably of D. nucleata, 
or possibly of D. Dalli. 

There are, however, in the Fish Commission dredgings, half a dozen ex- 
tremely puzzling forms of this general character, which further study and 
material are needed to elucidate. 


Drillia Verrillii Dall. 

Plate XI. Fie. 3. 

Pleurotoma (Drillia) Verrillii Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 68, August, 1881. 

Habitat. Station 19, 310 fms.; Station 20, in 220 fms. ; both in the Gulf 
of Mexico. 

This small, but very elegant species, is referred to under the head of D. lis- 
sotropis, to which it is related. It differs in its smaller size, shorter whorls, 
absence of fine spiral striae, and in the short stout ribs, swollen and angulated 
at the periphery. 

Drillia havanensis Dall. 

Plate XI. Fig. 5. 

Pleurotoma [Drillia) havanensis Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 67, August, 1881. 

Habitat. Station 16, 262 fms. ; Station 19, 310 fms. ; Sigsbee, off Havana, 
450 fms. ; Yucatan Strait, 640 fms. 

No more specimens of this species have been found in the collection. Clio- 
nella aglaophanes Watson should be compared with it. 

Drillia premorra n. s. 

Plate XI. Fig. 18. 

Shell waxen white, with a vitreous white smooth rounded nucleus of nearly 
two whorls and eight subsequent sculptured whorls. Spiral sculpture of an 
undulated more or less nodulous narrow band in front of the suture, separated 
by the fasciole from an angulation, which in the upper whorls is peripheral, 
and on the last whorl forms a well marked shoulder ; in front of this on the 
upper whorls are one to three, and on the last whorl between the angle and 
the anterior end of the canal about a dozen, small sharply elevated threads 
with much wider interspaces, threads which are, where they intersect the trans- 
verse ridges, modified by small sharp noduktions. Transverse sculpture of 
(on the last whorl 14 to 18) sharp-edged low narrow oblique strongly bent 
ridges rather than ribs, evanescent on the base and fasciole, but corresponding 


94 BULLETIN OF THE 

to the elevations on the presutural band ; these are proportionally stronger and 
more prominent near the apex, and become obsolete on the last part of the 
last whorl ; suture distinct ; whorls moderately full ; base subconic, slightly 
constricted for the short canal ; incremental lines distinct, stronger on the last 
whorl; fasciole somewhat excavated, smooth except for the curved incremental 
lines ; surface of the shell rather vitreous ; aperture of the (not adult) shell 
rather wide ; anal notch wide, rather shallow ; outer lip arched ; canal hardly 
differentiated, short, narrow; pillar straight, anteriorly attenuated. Max. Ion. 
of shell, 9.5 ; of last whorl, 5.2 ; of aperture (not quite adult), 3.5 ; max. lat. 
of shell, 3.5 mm. 

Habitat. Gulf of Mexico, at Station 100, off Morro Light, in 400 fms. 

This, after thorough study, seems distinct from any described form, and, 
though not adult, is without doubt a Drillia. Specimens on which the trans- 
verse sculpture is exceptionally strong have a somewhat different aspect, and 
are rougher than the one figured. The sculpture is sharp, and the angle of the 
bent ridges is peculiarly abrupt. The surface is not shagreened, though the 
aspect of the shell recalls that of some of the shagreened Mangilias. 

C. Shells smooth, vitreous. 
Drillia oleacina Dall. 

Plate XI. Fie. 8. 

Pleurotoma (Drillia) oleacina Dall, Bull. M. C. Z , IX. p. 66, August, 1881. 

Habitat. Gulf of Mexico, at Station 21, in 287 fms., and off Morro Light, 
Havana, in 292 fms. Antilles, Station 261, riear Grenada, in 340 fms. 

The most perfect specimens of this form under magnification show fine 
spiral incised lines over the last whorl, but to the naked eye the vitreous glis- 
tening surface appears perfectly polished. It is possible that these species 
would belong to the group of Spirotropis, to which similar shells have been 
referred, but'it is hardly worth while to put them there until the dentition is 
known. 

Drillia smirna Dall. 

Plate XI. Fig. 7. 
Pleurotoma {Drillia) smirna Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 66, August, 1881. 

Habitat. Gulf of Mexico, off Cape San Antonio, 413 fms., and Station 100, 
off Morro Light, Havana, in 400 fms. Also at U. S. Fish Commission Station 
2150, near Old Providence, W. L, in 382 fms., ooze, temperature 46°. F. 

With the exception of the type, the specimens found so far are all quite 
young.. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 95 

Drillia lithocolleta Watson. 

Plate XI. Fig. 6. 

Pleurotoma {'fyphlomangelia) lithocolleta Watson, Journ. Linn. Soc, XV. p. 441, Oct., 
1881. Chall. Gastr., p. 320, pi. xxiv. fig. 6, 1885. 

Habitat. Station 163, near Guadelupe, in 769 fms., sand, temperature 
39°.75 F. Also at U. S. Fish Commission Station 2384, in the Gulf of 
Mexico, between the delta of the Mississippi and Cedar Keys, Florida, in 940 
fms., mud ; Stations 2676 and 2677, off Cape Fear. North Carolina, in 407 and 
478 fms., mud and sand, temperature 39° to 46° F. Off Sombrero, in 450 fms., 
ooze, Challenger Expedition. 

This very beautiful species, of which some specimens reach a length of 
27.0 mm., seems to have a wide distribution. The operculum is rather thin 
and wide, shaped like that of Drillia. The specimen figured, the only one col- 
lected by the Blake, is immature. Subsequently, the Fish Commission sent in 
much finer specimens. The larger ones show a tendency to a flesh or salmon 
tint in the columellar region. 

Section CYiMATOSYRINX Dall. 

We now come to a group of Drillias which have a family resemblance to 
Pleurotoma lunata Lea, of the Miocene of Virginia, and are doubtless derived 
from the same sto^k. That species, of which the type is before me as I write, 
is larger, stouter, and finer in development than any of its recent relatives, but 
there is a singularly uniform facies to them all. D. pallida Sowerby, from the 
west coast of America at Panama, is apparently to be included in the same 
group. For these, should a sectional name be required, since they are dis- 
tinctly not typical species of Crassispira, the name Cymatosyrinx might be 
applied. The type would be Lea's species above referred to. 

Drillia? centimata n. s. 

Plate XXXVI. Fig. 9. 

Shell pure white, with a pointed turrited spire, a brownish glossy rounded 
nucleus of two and a half whorls, and nine or ten subsequent whorls ; fasciole 
wide, sloping, reaching to the somewhat appressed suture, smooth except for 
the deeply arched incremental lines ; transverse sculpture, aside from lines of 
growth, of thirteen or fourteen peripheral nodules, well elevated, and on the 
last whorl somewhat elongated and obliquely set ; there is no spiral sculpture 
even on the canal ; the fasciole is so wide, and the whorls increase so rapidly, 
that the shell has a peculiarly conical aspect ; base moderately rounded; aper- 
ture moderately wide, with a very wide and deep anal notch, and the outer 


96 BULLETIN OF THE 

lip correspondingly curved forward, arched, and thin ; inner lip with a moder- 
ate callus ; pillar simple, slender, much twisted, the canal short, rather wide, 
and flaring a little at the end. Max. Ion. of shell, 22.5; of last whorl, 12.5; 
of aperture, including the canal, 9.5; max. lat. of shell, 9.0 mm. There is no 
varix behind the aperture. 

Habitat. Station 31, in the Gulf of Mexico, in 1920 fins., lat. 24° 33', 
Ion. 84° 23' W., temperature 39°.5. U. S. Fish Commission Station 2383, 
between the delta of the Mississippi and Cedar Keys, Florida, in 1181 fms., 
mud; Station 2678, off Cape Fear, North Carolina, in 731 fms., ooze, tem- 
perature 38°. 7 F. 

This fine but rather rude-looking species is particularly characterized by 
the prominence of its nodules, and the long slope back from them to the su- 
ture, and its pointed spire. The absence of the varix suggests that it may 
eventually prove not to be a Drillia ; the soft parts in our specimens having 
contracted so far into the spire as to be inaccessible. 


Drillia sepynota n. s. 

Plate XXXVI. Fig. 10. 

Shell short, stout, with a smooth rounded whitish inflated nucleus of two 
whorls and eight subsequent whorls; color whitish or pale madder brown ; 
spiral sculpture of obsolete spiral striae, generally a little wavy, and often 
absent from a part or the whole of the shell ; they are strongest on the base, 
but are generally so faint as not to interrupt the apparent smoothness of the 
surface nor to be perceptible without a lens ; suture appressed, undulated 
over the ribs ; fasciole narrow, excavated, smooth except for lines of growth 
and the undulations due to the ribbing ; transverse sculpture of rather faint 
growth lines and of (on the last whorl 12) strong, stout rounded ribs, strongest 
in front of the fasciole where they end bluntly, extending across the whorl 
and disappearing only on the canal ; the interspaces are about equal to the 
ribs, which are slightly obliquely set; varix large, stout, simple; outer lip in 
front of it thin, arched,. not internally Urate; aperture rather narrow; notch 
subcircular ; inner lip and pillar with an elevated rather thick callus ; pillar 
concave ; canal short, distinct, deep, curved to the right in the adult; siphonal 
fasciole distinct. Max. Ion. of shell, 15.5 ; of last whorl, 8.75 ; of aperture, 
5.5 ; max. lat. of shell, 6.2 mm. 

Habitat. Off Cape Hatteras, N. C, at U. S. Fish Commission Stations 2592, 
2595, 2600, 2601, 2602, and 2606, in from 25 to 120 fms., mud and sand, tem- 
perature ranging from 58° to 77° F. 

This strongly marked little species may be readily distinguished from D. 
ebur Reeve, found with it, and of somewhat similar appearance, by the absence 
of the spiral threads, the more prominent whorls, the stouter ribs, and the more 
deeply excavated suture. It is a miniature edition of D. lunata Lea. 

February 11, 1889. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 97 

Drillia Moseri n. 8. 

Plate XXXVI. Fig 3. 

Shell varying from a rich rose color, with paler bands on the base, fasciole, 
etc., to yellowish white ; nucleus as usual in Drillia with two whorls followed 
by nine or ten subsequent whorls ; spiral sculpture of numerous very shallow 
grooves with wider flat interspaces ; the grooves are cross-striated by close-set 
fine elevated incremental lines ; this sculpture is very easily eroded and some- 
times nearly absent ; transverse sculpture of about eleven strong wave-like ribs 
with wider interspaces, the crests rounded ; these extend from the suture to the 
base, -and are narrowed and curved like the top of an interrogation point 
when they pass over the fasciole ; the fasciole is constricted rather than exca- 
vated, the grooving is closer and finer than on the rest of the shell, and if the 
shell is colored the fasciole is paler; the whorl is strongly appressed at the 
suture and a little undulated by the ribs ; the aperture is rather narrow ; 
the notch large and rounded; the callus thick and elevated, the pillar nearly 
straight; the canal short, wide, turned to the right, the siphonal fasciole strong ; 
the varix large and stout. Max. Ion. of shell, 30.0 ; of last whorl, 15.5 ; of 
aperture, 11.0 ; max. lat. of shell, 10.0 mm. 

Habitat. West of Florida, in 15 fms.; St. Martin's Reef, South Florida, in 
3 fms., Lieut. J. F. Moser, U. S. N. ; Sarasota Bay, one specimen, H. Hemp- 
hill ; U. S. Fish Commission Station 2596, 17 miles E. S. E. of Cape Hatteras, 
N. C, in 49 fms., sand, temperature 75° F. 

This shell, when pink, is one of the prettiest of the small shells on our 
southeastern coast. It is respectfully dedicated to Lieut. Moser, whose collec- 
tions while engaged on surveys in Florida often contributed material of much 
interest for the study of the Floridian marine fauna. 

Genus BORSONIA Bellardi. 

Borsonia Bellardi, Bull. Soc. Ge'ol. de France, X. p. 30, 1838. Mon. Pleurotome del 
Piemonte, p. 83, tav. iv. fig. 13 (D. prima Bell), 1847. 

Shell pleurotomoid, with a single plication of the columella near the middle 
of the inner lip. 

Subgenus BORSONIA s. s. 

Borsonia ceroplasta and B. sericea Watson, the former from 390 fms., mud, 
near Culebra Island, and the other from off Pernambuco, in 350 fms., red 
mud, belong to the typical section of the genus. 

vol. xvur. 7 


98 BULLETIN OF THE 


Subgenus CORDIERIA Rouault. 

Cordieria Rouault, Bull. Soc. Ge'ol. de France, 2me ser., V. p. 207, February, 1848. 
fAphanitoma Bellardi, Moll. Terz. Piemonte, pt. ii. p. 241, 1877. 
? Scobinella Conrad, Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 2d ser., I. p. 120, August, 1848. 
Type, 5. ccelata Conr., /. c, pi. xii. figs. 8, 9. 

The type of Scobinella has the anal sinus of a Pleurotoma and the plaits of a 
Mitra (4 or 5) diminishing in size forward. Cordieria has two plaits, which 
are high up, not anterior, like those of Mitra. In some specimens the second 
plait is not deposited until a little later than the first, and lags behind it, so 
that it is not always visible. From this fact has been derived the erroneous 
assumption that the same species may have, indifferently, one or two plaits. I 
have not seen Aphanitoma, which Tryon unites with Scobinella ; but, whether 
this be just or not, it appears to me that Scobinella is different from Cordieria 
and sufficiently distinct from Borsonia. As far as I can judge, Tryon was right 
in suspecting that none of the Borsonias in his Manual belong to the genus. 
They probably belong to Eucheilodon, Glyphostoma, or Clathurella. The pres- 
ent species, however, is genuine, and typical to a very high degree. The genus 
remounts to the Cretaceous. 

Cordieria Rouaultii n. s. 

Plate XXXVI. Fie. 11. 

Shell yellowish white with a pink vertex and the interspaces between the 
ribs of a pink brown, generally rather pale ; whorls seven or eight, two of 
which belong to the nucleus ; nucleus glassy polished, smooth, swollen, rounded, 
its second whorl with an obsolete peripheral keel ; remainder of the shell with 
rather strong sculpture ; spiral sculpture of three or four strong and a few 
much finer ridges between the sutures and in front of the anal fasciole ; on the 
last whorl these continue over the base and canal ; the anal fasciole shows only 
traces of the finer spiral threads; transverse sculpture (1) of nine stout short 
waves, or rounded ribs, with narrower interspaces, beginning in front of the 
fasciole and obsolete in front of the whorl toward the canal ; (2) of rather 
coarse, strong, and somewhat irregular incremental lines ; (3) where the fasci- 
ole borders on the suture, the arched incremental lines are crowded into a 
series of not very regular plications, which form a band or series in front of 
the suture ; the fasciole is slightly excavated ; the surface of the shell carries 
a yellowish opaque thin epidermis ; whorls moderately rounded ; base sub- 
conical ; canal short, rather large, slightly recurved and flaring at the tip ; 
anal sinus rounded, rather shallow ; outer lip convexly arched, sharp-edged, 
with or without a rib behind it, according to the stage of growth, with no 
varix; aperture narrow, long Urate in the throat; columell a straight, near 
its junction with the body having two strong plaits, which continue in- 
ternally to the apex of the shell ; inner lip with a coat of callus, somewhat 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 99 

reflected anteriorly in the adult. Max. Ion. of shell, 13.6; of last whorl, 8.0 ; 
max. lat. of shell, 5.0 mm. 

Habitat. Stations 272 and 273, at Barbados, in 76-103 fms., over a bottom 
of coral and broken shells, bottom temperature 59° to 65° F. 

This shell, owing to the coarseness of its sculpture, has a somewhat rude 
appearance, and is very characteristic. Except for the plaits on the pillar, it 
recalls Pleurotoma (Drillia) pagoda, Reeve. 

Genus MANGILTA (Leach) Risso. 

This genus is used in a manner which includes all the Pleurotomidce with- 
out opercula, as adopted by Dr. Paul Fischer; though this, of course, is a 
much wider sense than that in which it was originally employed. Cythara 
Schumacher is an older name, but it was applied to a particularly modified 
species and will better be retained with its original limits. For the purposes 
of this paper the following groups have been admitted: — 
Subgenus Aforia Dall. 

Shell large, strong, fusiform ; anal notch large, away from the suture. 
Type, Pleurotoma circinata Dall (insignis Jeffreys), Bering Strait and 
Aleutian Islands. 
Subgenus Cythara Schumacher (C. striata Schum.). 
Subgenus Daphnella Hinds. 

Section Daphnella s. s. (D. lymnceiformis Kiener). 
Section Eubela Dall (D. limacina Dall). 
Subgenus G-lyphostoma Gabb (G. dentifera Gabb). 
Subgenus Mangilia Risso s. s. (M. costulata Risso). 
Subgenus Pleurotomella Verrill (P. Packardi Verrill). 

1 Section Gxjmnobela Verrill {G. curta Verrill). 
Subgenus Taranis Jeffreys (T. Mbrchii Malm). 

Subgenus AFORIA Dall. 

This group has the shell of a typical Pleurotoma, but has no operculum; the 
typical species reaches three or four inches in length, is strongly carinated above 
the periphery, and the wide rather deep anal sulcus is nearer to the carina 
than to the suture. The following species is only provisionally referred to 
this group, as the soft parts are unknown. 

? Aforia hypomela Dall. 

Shell thin, white, fusiform, with a very thin straw-colored epidermis ; nu- 
cleus white, vitreous, of one and a half turns, polished, nearly smooth with 
faint spiral lines and lines of growth ; subsequent whorls seven, spirally sculp- 
tured with (1) a moderate angulation just behind the periphery of the last whorl, 
which becomes sharper and peripheral on the earlier whorls ; in front of this 
the whorls are ornamented with numerous rounded threads, separated by much 


100 BULLETIN OF THE 

wider somewhat channelled interspaces; on the upper whorls there are 3-6 of 
these threads, on the last whorl they extend to the anterior end of the canal, 
becoming more crowded anteriorly; behind the carina the shell is smoother, 
there are faint spirals, hardly raised, and sparser over the centre of the fasciole 
than on each side of it; there is no distinct secondary striation; transverse 
sculpture of faint incremental lines, which rise more or less into little wrin- 
kles at the suture, and sometimes undulate the peripheral angulation on the 
apical whorls ; suture distinct ; whorls moderately full ; aperture ovate ; canal 
nearly straight, not wide; pillar so twisted as to form a pervious coil ex- 
tending the whole length of the axis, thin, simple ; outer lip thin, modified by 
the sculpture; notch wide, shallow, half-way between the suture and the carina; 
outer lip strongly arched forward. Max. Ion. of shell, 47.0 ; of last whorl, 34.0; 
max. lat. of shell, 15.6 mm. 

Habitat. South of Cuba at U. S. Fish Commission Station 2127, in 1639 
fins., mud. 

This fine and fragile shell recalls Pleurotoma Catherines Verrill, which has 
the fasciole at the suture, and probably belongs to a different section. There 
is nothing like it in the Challenger collection. 


Subgenus CYTHARA Schumacher. 

Cythara Schumacher, Essai, p. 245, 1817. Type, Cancel/aria citharella Lamarck 

(not Cithara Klein). 
Mangelia Reeve, Conch. Icon , III., 18J6. (Same type.) Not Mangelia Leach and 

Risso, 1826. 
Eucithara Fischer, Manual, p. 593, 1883. 

Cithara Klein, 1753, is not binomial, and is a synonym of Harpa Rumphius, 
1705, if pre-Linnean names are to be considered. Whether we consider them 
or not, Cithara Klein, being itself a synonym, cannot stand in the way of a 
proper use of the name such as that made by Schumacher. Mangelia Reeve 
is founded on the same identical type as Cythara Schumacher, and is not the 
same as the Mangelia of Risso and Leach, properly spelled Mangilia. There 
are several species known from our southern waters. Of these there is some 
doubt as to their absolute pertinence to the group of C. striata Schum. (= C. 
citharella Lam.), which cannot be cleared up until the soft parts of both are 
known ; but, so far as the shell is concerned, they appear to be closely related. 
The shells which are known from our coasts and seem to be appropriately re- 
ferred here are C. astricta Reeve, which has been found by Hemphill in Florida 
among the Keys. C. balteata Reeve (non Auct.), which extends from North 
Carolina southward and is far from rare in Florida, is a very variable shell, es- 
pecially in regard to slenderness and number of ribs. It can usually be deter- 
mined by the microscopic character of its surface, covered with fine, close, even 
frosted spirals, and by its general aspect. The brown band present in so many 
of this group is not invariably present in any species. C. biconica C B. Adams 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 101 

has the same distribution, hut is more abundant. It is a good and well-marked 
species. Of the group having a polygonal cross-section and translucent glassy 
shells on which the sharp transverse ribs run from canal to nucleus without 
a break across all the whorls, there are several forms. These perhaps should 
be referred to a particular section of typical Mangilia rather than to any 
part of Cythara, but I will mention them here. Mangilia psila Bush, when 
fresh, is pink-tipped and transparent. It is the northern representative of 
M. lanceolata Adams, which in the Antilles grows much larger and has spiral 
color lines. M. muricoides Adams, a species of the same general characters, is 
larger and stouter. I have seen in only from Barbados. 

Cythara Bartlettii n. s. 

Plate XII. Fig. 6. Plate XIV. Figs. 5, 8. 

Shell oval, spire rather acute ; nucleus glassy, dark Lrovvn, inflated, of a 
whorl and a half, followed by five normal whorls ; color pale yellowish, with 
irregular touches of pale brown especially on the varix ; spiral sculpture of 
numerous fine subequal rounded little-raised threads, with wider interspaces, 
covering the whole shell and stronger on the canal; transverse sculpture of 
(1) extremely fine close parallel hardly raised incremental lines, visible only 
with the glass, and traversing the spiral interspaces with great regularity and 
perfect uniformity ; (2) on the antepenultimate whorl about twenty narrow, 
little raised, long rounded riblets, starting from the suture and fading away on 
the base ; the spirals run smoothly over the ribs ; fasciole only visible in the 
curve of the incremental lines; notch narrow, rounded, not deep ; outer lip re- 
inforced in the adult by a rather thick rounded varix from which the thin sharp 
edge of the lip stands out prominently, arched forward in the middle, and is 
not contracted for the canal ; inner lip simple, pillar obliquely trimmed off in 
front, otherwise straight ; canal short, wide, not differentiated from the aper- 
ture. Max. Ion. of shell, 10.0 ; of last whorl, 7.5 ; lat. of shell, 4.75 mm. 

Habitat. Off Havana, in 127 to 450 fms.; Barbados, 100 fms. ; Station 132, 
near Santa Cruz, in 115 fms., rocky bottom, temperature 65° F. ; also at Key 
West, between tides, on algoe, H. Hemphill. 

The sculpture of this form, when fresh, is very inconspicuous, and the shell 
looks almost smooth. It is perhaps the smoothest of the group, and may be 
distinguished in this way from the others. 

The young shell has very much the aspect of some of the northern species 
of Bela. 

Cythara cymella n. s. 

Plate XII. Fig. 4. 

Shell long, slender, subhyaline, polished, having a small subglobular, vitre- 
ous, tilted nucleus of one and a half whorls, and five and a half subsequent 
whorls ; color translucent, with a faint yellowish band in front of the suture, 


102 BULLETIN OF THE 

visible between the ribs, and two or three spiral series of faint spots on the 
ribs in front of the yellow on the last whorl, or all whitish ; spiral sculpture of 
numerous fine impressed lines, strongest on the ribs of which they faintly crenu- 
late the crests, and well marked on the canal where the interspaces are slightly 
raised and rounded ; transverse sculpture of (on the last whorl ten) elevated 
ribs, not continuous from whorl to whorl, extending from suture to canal, thin 
and slightly curved behind the periphery, a little swollen on the periphery and 
in front of it again diminishing; suture somewhat appressed, undulated by the 
ribs; aperture long, narrow; notch rounded, not deep ; varix behind the outer 
lip resembling a stronger rib; outer lip strongly arched forward, thin; canal 
long, rather narrow ; inner lip simple ; columella straight, obliquely trimmed off 
in front ; whorls moderately rounded under the ribs. Max. Ion. of shell, 12.5 ; 
of last whorl, 9.0 ; max. lat. of shell, 4.5 mm. 

Habitat. Gulf of Mexico, at Station 20, in 220 fms. ; Barbados, 100 fms. ; 
Station 259, near Grenada, in 159 fms., bottom temperature 53°. 5 F. 

This elegant species recalls the smooth C. funiculata of Reeve, from the 
Philippines. Like the other species spoken of, when absolutely adult the lips 
of the aperture are probably finely crenulated, but none of the specimens re- 
ceived show this stage of growth. 

Subgenus DAPHNELLA Hinds. 

Section Daphnella s. s. Shell generally brightly colored, cancellated, or re- 
ticulated ; the outer lip slightly thickened internally in the adult. Type, Pleu- 
rotoma lymiveiformis Kiener. West Indies. 

These forms are, in the main, shallow-water species. I have been unable to 
find a specimen of the type with the larval shell intact. Most of the other 
species have the Sinusigera nucleus, but some have a glassy one. The sinus 
may be shallow or deep. 

Section Eubela Dall. Shell smooth, glossy, with a sutural band, the outer 
lip sharp, a shallow anal sinus, and a short angular canal recalling that of 
Trichotropis. Type, Daphnella limacina Dall. 

These forms are few, and the type is a deep-water mollusk widely distributed. 

Section DAPHNELLA s. s. 
Daphnella leucophlegma Dall. 

Plate IX. Fig. 9. 

Pleurotoma (Daphnella?) leucophlegma Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 70, 1881. 

Habitat. Station 2, 805 fms. 

This species is the only one of the typical Daphnellas which is white. Its 
nucleus is small and glassy. The shell has a resemblance to some varieties of 
Dolophanes Gabbii, but has a different nucleus and canal, while there in no trace 
of a siphonal fasciole. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 103 

Daphnella corbicula n. s. 

Plate XIV. Fig. 7. 

Shell yellowish with pale brown flammules, with a brown Sinusigera nucleus 
of three whorls, high and slender, and five or more subsequent whorls ; sculp- 
ture on the early whorls of two very strong elevated threads, at a later time 
there are two intercalary, not quite so strong ; on the last whorl there are 
about ten strong primaries in all, partly on the back of the canal, about five 
intercalaries on the body of the whorl, and on all the unoccupied area very 
fine numerous granulous or frosty spiral threads ; on the fasciole there are no 
other spirals ; transverse sculpture (1) of fine sharp incremental lines, which 
produce the shagreening of the tertiary spirals ; (2) of numerous elevated 
rounded threads, which reticulate the stronger spirals, induce little nodes 
at the intersections, and extend from the front margin of the fasciole for- 
ward over the whole whorl, disappearing only on the back of the canal ; the 
interstices are deep, and nearly square ; whorls rounded, shouldered by the 
strong posterior primary spiral thread ; canal nearly straight, very wide, hardly 
differentiable from the aperture ; pillar nearly straight with little callus ; outer 
lip thin, crenulated by the sculpture ; notch at the suture narrow, and about 
1.0 mm. deep ; suture appressed, not very distinct. Max. Ion. of shell, 11.2; 
of last whorl, 8.0; max. lat. of shell, 4.7 mm. 

Habitat. Barbados, 100 fms. U. S. Fish Commission Stations 2595 and 
2596, in 49-63 fms., sand, 20 miles off Cape Hatteras, N. C, bottom tempera- 
ture 75°. F. 

The specimen figured is from Hatteras. The bold sculpture of this species 
is very recognizable, — even a small fragment can be easily identified, — and 
it is not very much like any of the other described species. 

Daphnella reticulosa n. s. 

Plate X. Fie. 10. 

Shell small, translucent white or yellowish, of porcellanous texture, with a 
Sinusigera nucleus, followed by five and a half normal whorls ; general shape 
elegantly fusiform, but with a rather blunt-ended canal ; spiral sculpture of 
fine even rounded elevated threads, nearly uniform all over the shell, about 
half as wide as the interspaces in most of which run an extremely fine inter- 
calary thread ; the primary threads average about eight in the breadth of a 
millimeter; transverse sculpture, first, of very fine distinct uniform lines of 
growth about twice as numerous in the same space as the primary spiral threads, 
which last are beautifully reticulated and to some extent rendered nodulous, or 
rather minutely wavy, by the intersections ; secondly, on the earlier whorls, of 
rather stout distant rounded riblets or waves seven or eight to a whorl, most 
distinct on the first whorl and entirely evanescent on the last two whorls ; 


104 BULLETIN OF THE 

these are slightly oblique, and extend from the anterior margin of the anal fas- 
ciole to the suture in front; whorls a little irregular in form; suture strongly 
appressed; sculpture, as usual, less strong, but still perfectly distinct, on the 
fasciole; the notch rather deep, semicircular behind. Aperture longer than 
half the shell, moderately narrow, with the canal well defined and somewhat 
curved to the right ; outer lip thickened within, slightly dentate at the margin 
from the spiral sculpture ; a slight callus on the body and pillar, well inside 
the aperture ; pillar nearly straight. Lon. of shell, 11.5; of last whorl, 9.0; 
of aperture, 7.0 ; lat. of shell, 5.2 ; of aperture, 2.0 mrn. 

Habitat. Station 272, in 76 fms., off Barbados, hard bottom, coarse sand 
and shell ; temperature of bottom water, 65°.0 F. 

This is an extremely pretty little shell, not properly of the deep-sea fauna, 
perhaps, but apparently undescribed and (except for its stronger sculpture) 
bearing a curious resemblance in miniature to Pleurotomella Emerto lii. 

Daphnella pompholyx n. s. 

Plate XXXVI. Fig. 4. 

Shell thin, inflated, polished, with a brown Sinusigera nucleus of three 
whorls, and five subsequent whorls ; color yellowish white, with faint axially 
directed streaks and blotches of olive brown, and articulating dots of the same 
in the region of the canal ; spiral sculpture of faint close-set scratches or half- 
obsolete minute threads more or less visible over the whole surface, and on 
the last whorl in front of the fasciole about twenty-five channelled sharply 
cut grooves separated by considerably wider flat interspaces ; the grooves are 
nearer together on the canal, and the interspaces there become rounded, almost 
thread-like ; transverse sculpture of, on the fasciole, numerous little-elevated 
arched regularly-spaced ripples, with slightly wider interspaces ; these fade 
away in front of the fasciole, or appear only as irregularities of growth which 
punctuate the channels but are obsolete on the interspaces ; whorls rounded, 
fasciole only slightly excavated, the posterior edge appressed at the suture ; 
aperture large, outer lip rather straight in the middle, contracted suddenly to 
form the canal, the edge sharp, the sculpture transvisible, the notch shallow 
and its corners rounded off ; columella straight, simple, rather long, canal 
distinct, not recurved ; the periphery of the last whorl a little flattened. Max. 
lon. of shell, 12.5 ; of last whorl, 9.2 ; max. lat. of shell, 6.0 mm. 

Habitat. Station 273, near Barbados, in 103 fms., coral and shells, bottom 
temperature 59°. 5 F. Station 299, near Barbados, in 140 fins., coral, temper- 
ature 56°. 5 F. 

This shell has somewhat the same outline as I), reticulosa, but its sculpture 
is entirely different ; it is larger, thinner, and has a different nucleus. The 
dry animal in one specimen is destitute of an operculum. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 105 

Daphnella retifera n. s. 

Shell small, thin, oval, short-spired, yellowish with pale cloudy markings of 
brownish ; nucleus of the Sinusigera type to begin with, but not strongly sculp- 
tured, and the larval shell after 2| turns of the usual sort becomes smooth and 
continues for 2£ whorls more, quite smooth and rounded, before the normal 
sculpture begins ; the latter continues in the largest specimen for Z\ turns 
more. The fasciole is hardly discernible except by following the incremental 
lines ; it is sculptured like the rest, and not excavated ; the suture is distinct ; 
the sculpture is composed of numerous fine sharp spiral threads with slightly 
wider interspaces, crossed by somewhat less prominent transverse threads, 
making a very regular reticulation over the whole surface; at most of the 
intersections a small point elevates itself, giving a peculiarly rasp-like appear- 
ance to the dull unpolished surface of the shell; notch shallow, situated at the 
suture; aperture pointed behind, outer lip arched well forward, hardly con- 
tracted for the broad short canal ; edge thin, interior not lirate ; columella 
not callous, nearly straight, simple, very slightly recurved ac the end of the 
canal; whorls moderately rounded. Lon. of shell, 6.5; of last whorl, 5.0 ; lat. 
of shell, 3.0 mm. 

Obtained by the U. S. Fish Commission at Stations 2595 and 2596, twenty 
miles E. S. E. from Cape Hatteras, in 49-63 fms., sand, bottom temperature 
75°.0. 

This is a very delicate and elegant little shell, remarkable for the number 
and size of its larval whorls and the prickly reticulation. In color, though 
less decided, it recalls D. hjmnceiformis Kiener. 

Daphnella morra Dall. 

Plate XII. Fig. 1. 

Pleurotoma (Drillia) morra Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 69, 1881. 

Habitat. Sigsbee, off Havana, 450 fms. U. 8. Fish Commission Stations 
2595, 2596, 2608, and 2614, in 22 to 168 fms., sand, off the coast of North 
Carolina, temperature 75°.0 F. 

The examination of more material has shown that this should be placed in 
Daphnella. When fresh it is of a glistening translucent rich brown ; the spire 
is often quite lax, in other cases more compactly coiled, so that at first the 
specimens would seem unrelated, especially if one was fresh and the other dead 
and opaque. This little shell has some general resemblance to Lachesis minima, 
but in details of nucleus and aperture the difference is conclusive. 

? Daphnella elata Dall. 

Shell small, Mangilia-like, elongated, narrow, translucent white with streaks 
and lines of dark brown or yellow ; nucleus with the first whorl minute, tilted, 


106 BULLETIN OF THE 

glassy, the subsequent turns translucent, smooth, or with oblique transverse 
sculpture which almost imperceptibly passes into the ribbing of the adult ;' in 
all there are seven whorls including the nucleus ; the early ones are rounded, 
and soon take on an angulation just in front of the fasciole ; spiral sculpture 
of three or four fine threads on the fasciole, and three or four stronger threads 
between the fasciole and the suture in front ; on the last whorl there are 
fifteen or twenty of these between the shoulder of the whorl and the front end 
of the canal ; they are not perfectly uniform in size, and between them are 
frequently much finer lines ; these cross about (on the last whorl) fifteen 
transverse rounded riblets, which extend from near the suture forward to the 
canal ; the last whorl is rather compressed ; the aperture elongated and nar- 
row ; the outer lip angulated at the shoulder, with a broad shallow rounded 
anal notch, thin edge, and smooth interior; inner lip nearly straight, anteriorly 
a little oblique, canal short, hardly differentiated, not recurved. Lon. of shell, 
4.75 ; of last whorl, 3.25 ; lat. of shell, 2.0 mm. 

Habitat. Twelve miles east of Frying Pan Shoals, in 12 fms., Dr. Rush. 
U. S. Fish Commission, at Stations 2608, 2610, 2616, and 2619, in 15-22 fms., 
sand, off the coast of North Carolina, bottom temperature 78°. 5 F. 

This pretty little shell may be a Mangilia, but its form seems more like that 
of a Daphnella; conch ologically it is intermediate between the two. It is re- 
lated to the group containing such forms as M. cerina and M. citronella, and to 
many of the forms from the tropics included by Tryon in Daphnella. 


Section EUBELA Dall. 
Daphnella limacina Dall. 

Plate IX. Fig. 10. 

Pleurotoma (Bela) limacina Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 55, August 12, 1881. 

Daphnella limacina Dall, op. cit., p. 102, Oct. 31, 1881. 

Pleurotoma (Defrancia) hormophora Watson, Linn. Soc. Journ., XV. p. 457, Nov. 3, 

1881. 
Clathurella hormophora Watson, Chall. Gastr., p. 351, pi. xxi. fig. 9, 1885. 
Daphnella limacina Verrill, Trans. Conn. Acad., V. p. 452, 1882; VI. p. 265, 1884. 

Habitat. Station 2, 805 fms., Gulf of Mexico ; Yucatan Strait, 640 fms. ; 
bed of the Gulf Stream, in 447 fms. ; Station 136, near Santa Cruz, in 508 fms., 
ooze, bottom temperature 42°.5 F. U. S. Fish Commission Station 994, in 
368 fms., off Martha's Vineyard ; and Station 2646, in 85 fms., sand, off Cape 
Florida. Challenger Expedition Stations 23 and 24, off Sombrero and Culebra 
Islands, West Indies, in 390-450 fms., pteropod ooze; and Station 122, off 
Pernambuco, Brazil, in 350 fms., red mud. 

This lovely little shell has a well-marked Sinusigera nucleus, which is figured 
by Watson, but it is often more depressed than in the specimen he figures, 
especially at the vertex. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 107 

Daphnella calyx n. s. 

Shell decollate and with the aperture imperfect, having evidently the 
general form of the preceding, but with a slightly more differentiated canal ; 
surface smooth, polished, with a distinct suture in front of which the fasciole 
appears as a narrow raised band, with an incised line in front of it and mark- 
ing its edge ; the only other sculpture consists of six or seven sharply incised 
lines on the canal near its anterior end ; whorls and base full and rounded ; 
incremental lines visible but faint ; color yellowish white with about ten spiral 
bands of alternate whitish and reddish brown rectangles on the last whorl 
arranged like the squares on a checkerboard, except that, the white rectangles 
bein< T longer than the brown ones and the latter being symmetrically arranged, 
the angles of the brown rectangles in one line do not generally connect with 
those of the lines in front and behind it; on the curve of the base the rec- 
tangles are drawn somewhat lozenge-shaped. Lon. of the last whorl, 3.75; 
lat. of same, 2.75 mm. 

Habitat. Station 2602 of the U. S. Fish Commission, 36 miles S. £ W. 
from Cape Hatteras, N. C, in 124 fms., sand, bottom temperature 61°.0 F. 

This specimen is but a fragment, yet its characters are so remarkable that a 
much smaller fragment would be recognizable at once, so I have decided to 
name it. 

A fragment of a perfectly white shell closely related to D. calyx, but finely 
spirally striate and with a somewhat depressed fasciole, smooth and not bounded 
by a groove, the columella much arched and the form slender, was dredged at 
Station 2, in 805 fms. It is too imperfect to describe, but belongs to no spe- 
cies known from the region. 

? Daphnella sofia n. s. 

Plate X. Fig. 11. 

Shell small, delicate, whitish, with a four-whorled brown, trochiform. Sinusi- 
gera nucleus and four subsequent rather slender whorls ; transverse sculpture 
consists of faint delicate lines of growth, which are puckered or gathered into 
a sort of narrow frill or band, appressed against the suture and bounded in 
front by the smooth anal fasciole, on which the anterior ends of the wavelets 
become obsolete; spiral sculpture rather strong on the periphery of some of 
the earlier whorls, but elsewhere consisting of faint threads and grooves which 
are extended forward more or less distinctly to the end of the canal ; notch 
small, not deep, close to the suture ; fasciole smooth, slightly impressed ; aper- 
ture elongated, simple (the specimen being adolescent) ; pillar without callus, 
thin, its edge slightly reflected and so twisted as to make the axis of the shell, 
viewed from the anterior end, minutely pervious ; canal narrow, rather long, 
outer lip thin, arched forward. Lon. of shell, 8.0; of last whorl, 5.5 ; lat. of 
shell, 3.0 mm. 

Habitat. Station 163, off Guadelupe, in 769 fms., sand, temperature 39°.75 F. 


108 BULLETIN OF THE 

Daphnella sofia var. hyperlissa Dall. 

Shell shorter, stouter, with a shorter and wider canal ; the axis more widely 
pervious ; suture appressed without the puckered band, but with a few faint 
arched wavelets which nearly cross the fasciole, not forming a band ; there are 
three normal and three or four Sinusigera whorls, all of which are more in- 
flated, while the fasciole is less sloping. There are no strong threads on the 
periphery of the early whorls. Lon. 8.5 ; lat. 4.2 mm. 

Habitat. U. S. Fish Commission Station 2678, off Cape Fear, N. C, in 731 
fms., ooze, bottom temperature 39°.8 F. 

The shell (adolescent) much resembles D. sofia, except in the particulars 
mentioned. 

Subgenus GLYPHOSTOMA Gabb. 


■'b 


? Eucheilodon Gabb, Joum. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 2d ser., IV. p. 379, 1860. 
Glyphostoma Gabb, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. for 1872, p. 270. Type, G. dentifera 

Gabb, /. c, p. 271, pi. xi. fig. 4, Feb., 1873. 
Glyphostoma Fischer, Manual, p. 573, 1883 ; as a section of Mantilla. 
Lienardia Jousseaume, Bull. Soc. Zool. de France, VIII. xl. 1884 {fide Tryon, Man. 

Pleurotomidce, pp. 271, 353, 1884). 

This group, described from the Miocene of Santo Domingo, appears in the 
recent state in the Antillean seas. A peculiarity not mentioned by Gabb is 
that the surface of the whole shell is covered with a very delicate microscopic 
granulation or shagreening. 


Glyphostoma dentifera Gabb? 

Glyphostoma dentifera Gabb, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. for 1872, p. 271, pi. xi. fig. 
4, Feb., 1873. Trans. Am. Phil. Soc, XV. p. 210, 1873. 

Habitat. Sand Key, in 15 fms. 

A single imperfect specimen of Glyphostoma was obtained as above. It does 
not agree with any of the others, but is so like Gabb's figure of his type, that 
I refer it provisionally to G. dentifera. The shagreening is extremely fine, and 
gives a faint dusty appearance to the surface under an ordinary hand magnifier 
of 8-10 diameters. 


Glyphostoma Gabbii n. s. 

Plate XIII. Figs. 4, 5, 7, 8. 

Shell white, with a peripheral and a basal brown band with ill-defined boun- 
daries, and a blotch of brown on the canal ; the transverse ribs show lighter 
through the peripheral band and the glassy nucleus is brownish ; nucleus 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 109 

acute, three-whorled, the first whorl smooth, rounded, tilted, minute; the 
others smooth, polished, keeled on the periphery, after -which the remaining 
seven whorls become sculptured ; spiral sculpture of numerous regular rather 
coarse rounded threads with equal or wider interspaces, the three most promi- 
nent on the peripheral brown band more widely separated than the others; 
on the anal fasciole the threads are finer and closer ; when passing over the 
transverse ribs the threads are rarely swollen or nodulous, nor do they weaken 
between the ribs ; transverse sculpture of (1) numerous small, gathered up 
nodulosities, forming a row coronating the whorl at the anterior edge of the 
suture ; (2) thirteen or fourteen stoutish ribs, beginning in front of the anal 
fasciole, extending over the periphery, under the spirals, bifurcating or even 
trifurcating on the base, and becoming obsolete toward the canal; whorls 
rounded, turrited by the fasciole ; base rounded-conic ; canal rather long, 
sharply curved to the right, slightly funnel-shaped at its extremity; sinus, in 
the young, shallow ; in the adult, strongly marked, not deep, but roundly ex- 
cavated in the thick varix, nearly closed by a parietal lump of callus and a 
projection from the outer lip, which are rounded and smooth at first, but later 
are transversely ridged or Urate ; aperture narrow, backed by a stout varix, 
arched forward in the middle, behind which the shell is deeply indented ; outer 
lip thin, standing out from the inner edge of the varix, transversely lirate ; 
inner lip generally smooth, except for the parietal lump above mentioned, but, 
when completely adult, furnished in the middle with two small oblique trans- 
verse ridges, rather distant from each other, and from a series of eight or nine 
close-set similar ridges on the columella extending nearly to the end of the 
canal, recalling the ridges in the aperture of a Trivia ; these are very short and 
do not coincide with the spiral sculpture. Max. Ion. of shell, 17.5 ; max. Ion. 
of last whorl, 11.0 ; max. lat. of shell, 7.8 mm. 

Habitat. Station 36, Gulf of Mexico, in 84 fms. ; Station 65, off Havana, 
in 127 fms. ; Station 132, in 115 fms., off Santa Cruz, on rocky bottom ; Station 
147, off St. Kitts, in 250 fms., sand; Station 155, off Montserrat, in 88 fms. ; 
Station 220, near Santa Lucia, in 116 fms., rocky bottom ; off Barbados, in 
100 fms. ; at Stations 272 and 282, in 76-154 fms., coral ; and Station 296, in 
84 fms., hard bottom. Also by the U. S. Fish Commission at Station 2405, 
in the Gulf of Mexico, west of Florida, in 30-50 fms., sand and coral. 

This elegant species was submitted to Mr. Tryon when engaged upon his 
monograph of the Pleurotomidce, and regarded by him as new. Though beauti- 
fully fresh, not a single specimen came to hand with the soft parts included. 
The surface is covered with a beautiful minute shagreening, which to be seen 
requires a magnification of six or eight diameters. The figures do not show the 
peculiar denticulation of the inside of the aperture. Most of the specimens 
were without it, and the only adult specimen figured is turned so that the 
outer lip would hide this peculiar feature. As the specimens for figuring were 
selected long before they could be critically studied in some cases, it was im- 
possible always to avoid such omissions. 


110 BULLETIN OF THE 

Glyphostoma gratula Dall* 

Plate XII. Fig. 10. 

Pleurotoma (Drillia) gratula Dall, Bull. M. C. Z , IX. p. 64, August, 1881. 
Pleurotoma (Drillia) incitis Watson, Linn. Soc. Journ., XV. p. 425, October, 1881. 
Report Chall. Gastr., p. 304, pi. xxiv. fig. 5, 1885. 

Shell similar to the last, but white, with the spiral sculpture sharp instead 
of rounded and the intervals wider and more irregular; the shell is more 
slender in proportion to its length, and the last whorl smaller in proportion 
to the spire ; the ribs (about 16) are sharp and the spirals minutely nodu- 
lous where they cross the crests of the ribs ; the latter cross over the periph- 
ery and grow gradually smaller to the canal, never bifurcating; the varix 
is much thinner, and the indentation behind it much less marked ; there 
is no gathering up of nodulations at the suture, and the anal fasciole is 
smoother or even quite free from spiral threads. The largest specimen had 
not completed its lirations in the aperture and on the inner lip, but they 
seemed fewer, coarser, and more irregular than in G. Gabbii. Max. Ion. of 
shell, 17.5 ; of last whorl, 10.5 ; max. lat. of shell, 6.0 mm. There are seven 
normal and three nuclear whorls. 

Habitat. Gulf of Mexico, at Station 2398, in 227 fms., mud, between the 
Mississippi delta and Cedar Keys, Florida; and Station 2150 in 382 fms., ooze, 
near Old Providence, U. S. Fish Commission. Off Culebra Island, in 390 fms., 
Challenger Expedition. Station 43, Gulf of Mexico, in 339 fms. ; Station 19, 
in 310 fms. Off Havana, in 292-805 fms., Blake Expedition. Bed of the Gulf 
Stream, Pourtales, in 447 fms. 

Both the specimen figured by Mr. Watson and that here figured are not 
quite mature, and do not show the adult mouth characters. Indeed, it was 
not until I had examined the Fish Commission specimens that I realized the 
true position of the species. The species varies considerably as regards the 
height of the spire in proportion to the last whorl. Perhaps Mr. Watson's 
name may be retained for the shorter ones as variety incile. 

Glyphostoma phalera n. s. 

Shell white, acute, seven-whorled ; nucleus glassy, rounded, not keeled, hav- 
ing about 1| whorls ; remainder of the shell solid, finely granulated with micro- 
scopic granules, which are arranged in close, even transverse lines between the 
spirals; spiral sculpture of numerous rather coarse flatfish threads with about 

* This is one of a few species of Pleurotoma in which, publishing almost simul- 
taneously, my friend Mr. Watson and myself have unintentionally both named 
the same species. Our manuscripts went to the printer about the same time ; but 
mine were published immediately, while his were several months delayed. I had 
thought of resigning my names in favor of his, as first figured, but have been ad- 
vised by several naturalists that this was not admissible, and would cause confusion 
in the nomenclature. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. Ill 

equal or narrower interspaces, the fasciole with much finer threads or nearly 
smooth ; transverse sculpture of faint waves or obsolete ribs (about nine on the 
last whorl) with a tendency to bifurcate toward the canal ; suture strongly 
appressed with obscure undulations on the margin of the fasciole bordering the 
suture ; base rounded conic ; spire acute ; whorls below the fasciole moderately 
rounded; varix thick, broad, and strong, with a slight depression behind it; 
canal short, slightly recurved ; anal sulcus shallow, rounded ; aperture very 
narrow, about nine lira? inside the outer lip, stronger posteriorly ; lirse on the 
inner lip and pillar (mature ?) less strong and not so numerous. Max. Ion. of 
shell, 12.3; of last whorl, 8.0; max. lat. of shell, 5.3 mm. 

Habitat. U. S. Fish Commission Station 2123, near the island of Trinidad, 
in 117 fms., mud, bottom temperature 59°. 5 F. 

This species is smoother than any yet described, but it is possible the strength 
of the transverse sculpture may be greater in some individuals. The most 
prominent characters beside the weak transverse sculpture are the appressed 
fasciole at the suture, and short sharp spire. It has a much shorter canal, 
narrower mouth, and less channelled fasciole than G. Gabbii. 

Subgenus MANGILIA (Leach) Risso. 

Many of the species referred to this group are only known from the shells. 
Except in cases where it is otherwise stated, the reference must be understood 
as provisional. 

Mangilia caribsea Orbignt. 

Pleurotoma caribcea Orb., Moll. Cuba, II. p. 172, pi. xxiii. figs. 32, 34, 1846. 
Habitat. Barbados, 100 fms. Martinique, Guadelupe, and Cuba, Orbigny. 

Mangilia Lavalleana Orbignt. 

Pleurotoma Lacalleana Orbigny, Moll. Cuba, II. p. 174, pi. xxiv. figs. 7, 0, 1846. 
Pleurotoma Vespuciana Orbigny, op. cit., p. 175, pi. xxiv. figs. 13, 15. 

Habitat. Barbados, 100 fms. Antilles, Orbigny. 

The two forms named by Orbigny would appear to differ only in age. P. 
antillarum Orbigny, which grows half an inch long, is probably another species. 

Mangilia atrostyla Dall. 

iDrillia limonitella Dall, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus„ 1883, p. 329, pi. x. fig. 10, Dec, 1883. 
Daphnella atrostjla (Dall, MS.) Tryon, Man., VI. part 3, p. 310, pi. xxxiv. fig. 100, 

October, 1884 (as var. of cerina). 
Mangilia ephamilla Bush, Trans. Conn. Acad., VI. p. 457, pi. xlv. figs. 4, 4 a, June, 

1885. 

Habitat. Barbados, 100 fms. Station 185, near Dominica, in 333 fms., sand, 
bottom temperature 44°.0 F. Northward to the coast of North Carolina, U. S. 
Fish Commission. 


112 BULLETIN OF THE 

There are several closely allied small forms found on our southern coast 
which it may be well to differentiate, as without careful discrimination and 
study they are liable to be confounded, as by Mr. Tryon, though they are 
separated by what appear to be very constant characters. The species are 
M. cerina Kurtz & Stimpson, M. cerinella Dall, M. citronella Dall, M. serga 
Dall, M. atrostyla Dall, M. limonitella Dall, and M. ephamilla Bush. I have 
been able to study typical specimens of all of them. They all have transverse 
ribs, fine granulous or frosty spiral sculpture, and are distributed over very 
much the same region. In order of size they run from citronella, which is the 
smallest, through cerina, limonitella, serga, and atrostyla, to cerinella, which is 
the largest. They have, in the same order, omitting the nucleus, five whorls, 
up to atrostyla which has six, and cerinella which has seven. M. citronella is of 
a brilliant yellow, cerina of a waxen white tending to ash color on the upper 
whorls, but no lines of color or any tint on the columella or lip ; limonitella is 
whitish, lineated spirally with yellow brown and often with some brown on 
the outside of the canal or on the pillar; serga as far as known is pure white ; 
atrostyla is variable as to its colors, ranging from yellowish white to dark 
brown, wholly or in stripes and bands ; but the most typical form has a dark 
purple brown shade just in front of the suture, the rest of the shell ashy, or 
waxen white, except the pillar, which is very dark purple or almost black. All 
the Antillean specimens I have seen are colorless. It may prove to be a larger 
form of limonitella, which is the older name. M. cerinella is whitish toward 
the vertex, ashy on the intermediate whorls, and with a tendency to orange or 
flesh-color for the body whorl; it is never striped or spotted, and the pillar is 
always like the rest of the last whorl. 

M. citronella has a very minute brown tilted nucleus followed by three tro- 
choid larval whorls; a spire markedly shorter than the last whorl, with inflated 
whorls ; twelve riblets, no varix, and a very faint sutural notch, while the suture 
is distinct and not appressed. The four larval whorls are prettily marked 
with transverse concave ripples. Lon. 6.25 ; last whorl, 4.25 ; lat. 2.5 mm. 
(See Plate IX. fig. 5.) Off Sombrero, in 70 fms. 

M. cerina has a smaller larval shell with a less acute apex, the spire nearly 
equal to the last whorl, with flattish whorls angulated at the periphery, nine 
swollen riblets, no varix, the notch well marked and away from the suture 
which is broadly appressed and undulated ; the canal is very short and the ribs 
arched when they extend over the fasciole. where they usually fail. The nu- 
clear whorls are smooth except the last, which has three or four nodulous spiral 
lines on it. Lon. 6.75; last whorl, 3.75 ; lat. 2.1 mm. North Carolina to 
Florida. 

M. limonitella has the spire but a trifle shorter than the last whorl, the 
whorls rounded, and angulated behind the periphery, twelve narrow riblets, no 
varix ; the notch shallow, deepest near the angulation ; suture hardly appressed 
or undulated; canal not differentiate from the aperture ; ribs obsolete on the 
fasciole, or, if present, arched in harmony with the lines of growth. Lon. 7.1 ; 
last whorl, 3.7 ; lat. 2.5 mm. Florida. Fresh specimens show this to be a 
February 11, 1889. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 113 

Mangilia, and I suspect it to be a differently colored dwarf form of what I 
afterward called atrostyla. 

M. serga has a larger and differently sculptured larval shell, a much sharper 
and more rasp-like sculpture with a few spirals larger than the rest; the angu- 
lation more peripheral and less marked, the last whorl longer and narrower 
proportionally, the notch wide but not quite sutural; the suture distinct, not 
appressed, marginated by a thread; ribs thirteen, no varix; canal longer; ribs 
narrow, not strong except on the periphery and almost spinose at the intersec- 
tion of the primary spirals. Lon. of shell, 9.0; last whorl, 5.12; lat. 3.1 mm. 
Antilles and Straits of Florida. 

M. atrostyla differs from limonitella by larger size, stronger shoulder, deeper 
suture, having only eight ribs, the last of which forms a strong varix; and in 
its usual color markings. Lon. 8.75 ; last whorl, 5.0; lat. 3.1 mm. Hatteras to 
the Antilles. M. ephamilla Bush is an immat"*? color variety of atrostyla 
proper. 

M. cerinella recalls cerina by its color, is much larger than the genuine cerina, 
more drawn out and slender ; it has only six or at most seven ribs, a short 
aperture, no canal to speak of, and hardly any indentation for a notch; the 
suture is less appressed and undulate ; while the ribs are almost obsolete in 
the fasciolar region ; the angulation is nearly at the periphery and the slopes 
either way from it are nearly equal. Lon. 11.75 ; last whorl, 5.87; lat. 3.75 mm. 
North Carolina to Florida and Texas. 

Mangilia quadrata Reeve. 

Pleurotoma quadrata Reeve, P. Z. S. 1845, p. 114; Conch. Icon. Pleurotoma, pi. xxviii. 

fig. 253 (magnified), 1845. 
Clathurella quadrata Tryon, Man., VT. p. 278, pi. xviii. fig. 31, 1884. 

Habitat. West Indies, Krebs, Tryon. 

I have no doubt that Krebs and Tryon are right in identifying Reeve's species 
with P. diminuta C. B. Adams, a name proposed for the West Indian shell 
should it prove to be different. This species differs from the group of which 
atrostyla is a type chiefly in its stronger sculpture and consequently prominent 
outer lip at the resting stages. It has similar nucleus, habits, granular spiral 
sculpture, and distribution. 

There are several forms which may be treated as varieties, being connected, 
though the extremes seem widely separated by intermediate forms. 

Mangilia quadrata var. quadrata. 

Shell resembling Reeve's figure, which is three times magnified, though this 
is not stated in the text. Miss Bush's M. eritima, judged by an author's speci- 
men before me, agrees well with this variety. The red color mentioned by her, 
on the pillar and throat, is very rarely developed ; I find it on only one speci- 
men out of many. Range, North Carolina to Yucatan and the West Indies. 

VOL. XVIII. 8 


114 BULLETIN OF THE 

Mangilia quadrata var. diminuta Adams. 

These differ from the type in the greater strength of the sculpture. The 
mouth and pillar are white. Same range as the preceding. I have distributed 
some specimens of this under the manuscript name of corticaria before recog- 
nizing its relations. 

Mangilia quadrata var. rugirima Dall. 

This differs from diminuta in being smaller and shorter proportionally, and 
with the strength of the sculpture even more exaggerated. Key West. 

Mangilia quadrata var. monocingulata Dall. 

Plate XI. Figs. 15, 16. 

This variety ditters from diminuta by having one more rib (nine in all) and 
in having the basal cingulum obsolete so that the prominence of the posterior 
nearly peripheral angulation though not enlarged is much more apparent. This 
is shown in Figure 15. Figure 16 shows a further modification, in which the 
number of primary spirals is diminished, and those that are left are less prom- 
inent, thus making the whorls appear more rounded. Both of the specimens 
figured are not quite adult, and hence do not show the aperture fully formed. 

Habitat. Barbados, 100 fnis. 

Mangilia serga Dall. 

Plate IX. Fig. 4. 

Pleuroloma (Drillia) serga Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 65, August, 1881. 
Pleurotoma (Mangelia) acanthodes Watson, Linn. Soc. Journ., XV. p. 433, Oct., 1881. 

Chall. Gastr., p. 342, pi. xxiii. tig. 3, 1886. 
Pleurotoma serga Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., XII. pi. ix. fig. 4, expl., 1886. 

Habitat. Bed of the Gulf Stream, Pourtales, 447 fms.. Also by the TJ. S. 
Fish Commission, at Station 2150, near Old Providence, in 382 fms., ooze 
bottom temperature 56°. F. Off Bermuda, in 1075 fms., Challenger Expedition. 

This species would appear to be identical with acanthodes, while M. corallina 
Watson evidently belongs to this group, though I do not find its exact equiv- 
alent among my specimens. It is within the bounds of possibility that it may 
be an extreme variety of M. serga, especially as between my two specimens 
of M. serga there is a notable a mount of variation. 

Mangilia ? halitropis n. e. 

Shell with eight whorls and a small Sinusigera nucleus, white or ashy, with 
a pointed spire and broad body^ whorl ; surface microscopically granose or 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 115 

shagreened ; fasciole wide, smooth except for faint arched incremental lines, ex- 
cavated, extending from the appressed suture to the angle of the whorls ; spiral 
sculpture of slender elevated threads, tending to run in pairs, with wide inter- 
spaces, and extending from the fasciole to the suture in front; there are five 
or six on the whorl next to the last and 20-22 on the last whorl including the 
canal; these, without becoming swollen, run over (on the last whorl 16) nu- 
merous oblique riblets, beginning at the angle of the whorls where they are 
largest, crossing the whorl and becoming obsolete on the base ; mouth rather 
narrow, outer lip thin, arched ; notch at the suture moderately deep, rounded ; 
inner lip slightly excavated, pillar straight, attenuated in front ; canal short, 
slightly twisted. Lon. of shell, 17.0; of last whorl, 11.0; of aperture, 7.0; 
max. lat. of shell, 6.8 mm. 

Habitat. Station 136, near Santa Cruz, in 508 fms., ooze, temperature 
42°.5 F. 

This looks a little like, a Drillia not mature, but from the character of its 
surface is probably allied to the preceding species. 

Mangilia ? ipara Dall. 

Plate XI. Fig. 14. 
Pleurotoma (Mangilia'') ipara Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 57, August, 1881. 

Habitat. Yucatan Strait, 640 fms. ; Station 195, near Martinique, a frag- 
ment, in 502 fms. 

Mangilia ? peripla Dall. 

Plate XI. Fig. 17. 

Pleurotoma (Drillia) peripla Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 68, August, 1881. 
Pleurotoma (Defrancia) chyta Watson, Journ. Linn. Soc, XV. p. 466, Nov., 1881. 
Chall. Gastr., p. 358, pi. xviii. fig. 4, 1885. 

Habitat. Yucatan Strait, 640 fms. 

As observed elsewhere, this species is very closely related to elusiva. The 
spiral sculpture is equally composed of two sets of threads, a coarse and a fine 
series. M. ipara and its connections have only one kind of spirals, but in 
other respects they approach peripla, etc. very nearly. 

Mangilia ? elusiva Dall. 

Plate XII. Fig. 7. 
Pleurotoma (Drillia) elusiva Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 69, August, 1881. 
* Pleurotoma (Defrancia) perpanxilla Watson, Linn. Soc. Journ., XV. p. 468, Not., 
1881. Chall. Gastr., p. 359, pi. xxii. fig. 7, 1885. 

Habitat. Yucatan Strait, 640 fms. Off Culebra Island, in 390 fms., Chal- 
lenger Expedition. 


116 BULLETIN OF THE 

I am inclined to think that Mr. Watson's PL perpauxilla is a young specimen 
of this species. At all events it is evidently immature and closely related to 
elusiva and its connections. 

Mangilia bandella Dall. 

Plate X. Fit. 3. 

Pleurotoma (Mangilia) bandella Dall, Bull. M. C. Z , IX. p. 59, August, 1881. 
Pleurotomella diomedeoz Verrill & Smith, Trans. Conn. Acad., VI. p. 152, pi. xxxi. 

figs. 5, 5 a, 1884. 
Pleurotomella bandella Verrill, Trans. Conn. Acad., VI. p. 250. 

Habitat. Station 47, Gulf of Mexico, in 321 fms., bottom temperature 47°.0; 
Station 236, off Bequia, in 1591 fms., ooze, temperature 39°. 0. U. S. Fish 
Commission, at numerous Stations off the east coast of the United States, in 
1200 to 2100 fms. 

The metropolis of this species would appear to be in the northern waters. 

Mangilia antonia Dall. 

Plate X. Fig. 4. Plate XI. Fig. 11. 

Pleurotoma (Mangilia) antonia Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 59, August, 1881. 

Habitat. Cape San Antonio, 640 fms. ; Station 163, near Guadelupe, in 
769 fms., sand, temperature 39°.7 F. 

This species or race may be distinguished from the preceding by the absence 
of the raised pre-sutural band, the more elevated and slender form, and its 
Bparse widely separated and rather strong spirals as compared with the rather 
faint and close-set fiat spirals of M. bandella. 

Mangilia comatotropis Dall. 

Plate XI. Fig. 12. 

Pleurotoma (Mangilia) comatotropis Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 58, August, 1881. 
Pleurotoma (Mangilia) tiara Watson, Journ. Linn. Soc, X. p. 440, Oct., 1881; Chall. 

Gastr. p. 347, pi. xxi. fig. 7, 1885. 
Pleurotoma comatotropis Verrill, Trans. Conn. Acad., V. p. 452. 
Taranis pulchella Verrill, Tran9. Conn. Acad., V. p. 487, pi. lvii. fig. 17 (young), 

June, 1882 ; op. cit., VI. p. 267, pi. xxix. fig. 8, 1884. 

Habitat. Off Cape San Antonio, Yucatan Strait in 640 fms. ; Barbados, 
100 fms. U. S. Fish Commission, off the east coast of North America from 
New England to Florida, in 50-500 fms., and south of Cuba, at Station 2135, in 
250 fms. Challenger Expedition, off Bermuda and Culebra Island, 390-1075 
fms., mud. It has been found in temperatures from 38°. 5 to 75°.0 F. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 117 

Mangilia scipio n. s. 

Plate X. Fig. 18. 

Shell extremely slender, thin, white, with nine or ten delicately rounded 
whorls ; transverse sculpture consisting only of the delicate yet evident lines 
of growth ; nucleus very small, not differentiated from the rest of the shell by 
color or texture; three nuclear whorls marked by a distinct, apparently finely 
serrate equatorial carina, which soon becomes obsolete; fasciole slightly con- 
cave, smooth, except for lines of growth ; remainder of whorl covered with 
fine slightly raised spiral threads separated by nearly equal interspaces and 
continued to the anterior end of the canal; last whorl more than half the 
length of the shell ; aperture simple, the notch broad, not very deep, and lying 
upon the preceding whorl ; outer lip moderately arched forward, simple ; col- 
umella hardly washed with callus; canal rather narrow and unusually long; 
Lon. of shell, 14.0; of last whorl, 8.0 ; max. lat. of shell, 3.2 mm. 

Habitat. Station 269, off St. Vincent, in 124 fms., bottom temperature 57°.5. 
Station 180, near Dominica, in 982 fms., ooze, temperature 39°.5 F. 

This is a remarkably delicate and singular shell ; the mouth being broken, the 
characters of the lip were made out from the lines of growth. It is not like 
any other species known to me. The nearest relative seems to be Daphnella 
monoceros Watson, which is much larger and less attenuated in proportion to 
its size. The long narrow canal of the present species forbids its reference to 
Daphnella, and it is not improbably related nearly to the Pleurotomella group, 
and to M. pelagia Dall. 

Mangilia pelagia Dall. 

Plate XI. Fig. 9. 
Pleurotoma (Mangilia) pelagia Dall, Bull. M. C. Z , IX. p. 61, August, 1881. 

Habitat. Station 44, 539 fms., Gulf of Mexico, bottom temperature 39°.5 F. 
There seems to be no described species at all nearly related to this one. 

Mangilia? exsculpta Watson. 

Plate XV. Fig. 9. 

Pleurotoma (Drillia) exsculpta Watson, Journ. Linn. Soc., XVI. p. 247, March, 1882. 
Clionella exsculpta Watson, Chall. Gastr., p. 371, pi. xxiv. fig. 2, 1885. 

Habitat. Yucatan Strait, 640 fms., fragment. Station 134, near Santa 
Cruz, in 248 fms., coarse sand, temperature, 54°. 5 F Challenger Expedition, 
390 fms., ooze, north of Culebra Island, West Indies. 

The nucleus of this species is white, glassy, globular and nearly smooth, 
composed of about two whorls, not swollen beyond the size of those that follow 


118 BULLETIN OF THE 

them. It looks like the nucleus of Taranis on a larger scale, and is bigger than 
that of Mr. Watson's specimen as figured. But the difference is not sufficiently 
important to be of any systematic value. 

Mangilia ? Pourtalesii Dall. 

Plate IX. Fig. 6. 
Pleurotoma (Mangilia) Pourtalesii Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 60, August, 1881. 

Habitat. Bed of the Gulf Stream, Pourtales, in 447 fins- Off Fernandina, 
Fla., in 294 fms., sand, temperature 46°. 3, at U. S. Fish Commission Station 
2668. 

This is related to M. exsculpta, though easily distinguishable. If either is a 
Clio7iella, both seem likely to be. But both seem to me to want the siphonal 
fasciole of Clionella, and to be more probably Fleurotomoid or Mangilioid. The 
nucleus is globular, polished, smooth, of two rather large whorls. It resembles 
the most common form of the nucleus in Drillia, to which it may perhaps b* 
removed when more is known. 

Mangilia? subsida Dall. 

Plate XII. Fig. 3. 
Pleurotoma (Drillia) subsida Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 62, August, 1881. 

Habitat. Station 43, in 339 fms. 

This conies nearest to P. toreumata, but is much stouter and more solid, re- 
calling Drillia Kennicottii. The sculpture too is less varied and elegant. It 
is possible that its true place is near where I originally referred it rather than 
here, but I have preferred to put it next its nearest relation, conchologically, in 
the absence of any knowledge of the animal. 

Mangilia toreumata n. s. 

Plate XII. Fig. 8. 

Shell seven-whorled, the nucleus lost, the fragment of it remaining is smooth 
and colored like the rest of the shell, a pale straw color ; spiral sculpture 
(1) of a large undulate thread, or continuous series of undulations, fiat behind, 
sloping forward, sixteen or seventeen on the whorl next to the last; these give the 
whorl a turrited appearance; (2) of a strong simple thread revolving a short 
distance in front of the suture and forming the posterior margin of the fasciole; 
(3) of a dozen or more similar threads on the last whorl, extending from the 
periphery, where the interspaces are wide, to the canal, where they are narrow ; 
on the first three whorls of the spire none of these threads are visible ; on the 
whorl next the last there are two between the suture and the shoulder of the 
whorl; transverse sculpture of rather strong, even, irregularly spaced, concavely 
arched waves, which cross the fasciole from side to side like a succession of 
irregularly huddled parentheses; also of a few faint ridges on the base due to 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 119 

incremental irregularities. Base subconic, slightly constricted for the canal; 
notch wide, squarely cut, rounded at the bottom, not touching the suture, a 
little deeper than wide ; outer lip arched forward, thin, not lirate within ; 
inner lip smooth, simple : pillar straight ; canal short, wide, very slightly re- 
curved, leaving a fasciole behind the pillar which is slightly obliquely trimmed 
off anteriorly ; aperture long, narrow, shorter than the spire. Max. Ion. of 
shell, 10.2 ; of last whorl, 6.0; lat. of shell, 4.0 mm. 

Habitat. Station 176, near Dominica, in 391 fms., ooze, temperature 
43°.5 F. 

The sculpture of this shell is of remarkable elegance ; its general form recalls 
Genota, but the aperture is rather short for that^group. 

Subgenus PLEUROTOMELLA Verrill. 

Pleurotomella Verrill, Am. Joum. Sci., V. p. 15, Dec, 1872. Type, Pleurotomella 
Packardi Verrill, /. c. 

This group is blind and without operculum ; the teeth resemble those of Bela. 
The type has the Sinusigera nucleus, turbinate and beautifully obliquely retic- 
ulate, dark colored and differing in texture from the succeeding shell. It is 
short, inflated, and very thin, with a rather deep anal sulcus. It is impossible at 
present to say whether this assemblage of forms is homogeneous or should bear 
the name of Pleurotomella. Pending further knowledge of the nomenclature 
in this family and of the animals which have been referred to this subgenus, 
it forms a convenient resting place for a number of large archibenthal species 
having some characters in common. 


'o 


Pleurotomella Packardi Verrill. 

Pleurotomella Packardi Verrill, Am. Joum. Sci., V. p. 15, Dec, 1872; Trans. Conn. 
Acad., V. x). 453, pi. xliii. fig, 9, pi. lvii. fig. 1 ; VI. p. 265. 

P. Packardi var. formosa Jeffreys. 

Defrancia formosa Jeffreys, P. Z. S. 1883, P. 397, pi. xliv. figs. 9, 9 a, 9 b, 1883; 

Watson, Chall. Gastr., p. 349, 1885. 
Pleurotomella Saffordi Verrill & Smith, Trans. Conn. Acad., VI. p. 151, pi. xxxi. 

figs. 4, 4 a, 1884. 

P. Packardi var. Benedicti Verrill & Smith. 

Plate XIV. Fig. 4. 

fClathurella cala Watson, Chall. Gastr., p. 361, pi. xxvi. figs. 21 a-c, 1885. 
Pleurotomella Benedicti Verrill & Smith, Trans. Conn. Acad., VI. p. 148, pi. xxxi. 
figs. 2, 2 a, 1884. 

Habitat. Station 235, off Bequia, in 1507 fms., ooze, temperature 39° F. 
The typical form is thin, brown, with a somewhat depressed nucleus. The 


120 BULLETIN OF THE 

variety formosa has the sculpture stronger, and is a little thicker; the nucleus 
intermediate between the type and the variety Benedicti. The latter has the 
sculpture somewhat sharper, and is more elevated proportionally, the nucleus 
being taller and with one more whorl. The differences are not greater than 
those observed in other cases, both among the larval and the adult shells. I 
have compared typical specimens of all the named forms. The height and size 
of the larval shell depends upon its original size in the ovicapsule, where, it is 
well known, some individuals are much larger than others, and upon the length 
of time the animal continues in the larval state, which differs according to 
temperature and other factors of the environment. The differences spoken 
of by Jeffreys in the nucleus of his Defrancia formosa are well illustrated by 
the specimens in his collection, which are fully as variable as the adult shells, 
and, as far as depressed or elevated form is concerned, much more discrepant 
among themselves. In this connection I would refer to my introductory 
remarks, Part I. p. 183. 

Pleurotomella leucomata Dall. 

Plate XI. Fig. 13. 

Pleurotoma {Drillial) leucomata Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 63, 1881. 

Shell brilliant white, with a trochoid brown glassy nucleus of four whorls, the 
last of which has a sharp peripheral keel ; subsequent whorls seven, with a 
peripheral row of (on the last whorl 14) short prominent subnodular waves 
which on the last two whorls tend to become a little elongated and oblique ; 
they do not form ribs or pass on the last whorl before the periphery; between 
them and the suture the whorl is excavated somewhat and marked with very 
fine spiral grooves crossed by the arched incremental lines ; over the nodules 
run a few small spiral threads, strongest on the early whorls ; on the base are 
five or six flattened threads with wide interspaces, on the canal are about a 
dozen smaller threads, closely set ; the whole surface appears polished and the 
fasciole smoooth ; notch deep and wide, abutting on the preceding whorl at 
the suture ; outer lip arched forward about a quarter of a turn, thin, simple ; 
inner lip smooth, pillar short, obliquely twisted; canal wide, distinct, flaring at 
the end, slightly recurved ; aperture narrow, shorter than the spire. Max. Ion. 
of shell, 13.75 ; of last whorl, 8.2 ; lat. of shell, 6.0 mm. 

Habitat. U. S. Fish Commission Station 2384, in the Gulf of Mexico be- 
tween the delta of the Mississippi and Cedar Keys, Florida, in 940 fms., mud, 
temperature, 39°.6 F. Blake Station 48, in 533 fms., Gulf of Mexico, bottom 
temperature, 41°. 75 F. 

Though small, this is one of the most elegant of the American species, and 
does not accord in the details of its sculpture with any other known to me. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 121 

Pleurotomella Agassizii Verrill & Smith. 

Pleurotomella Agassizii V. & S., Am. Journ. Sci., XX. p. 394, 1880; Trans. Conn. 

Acad. Sci., V. p. 454, pi. lvii. figs. 3, 3 a. 
? Pleurotomella Sandersoni Verrill, Trans. Conn. Acad., VI. pp. 149, 26G, pi. xxxi. 

figs. 3, 3 a, 1884. 

This remarkably fine species, peculiar in its colored columella, is ruder and 
larger and more thick-skinned in the north ; smaller, more elegantly sculp- 
tured, whiter, and with less epidermis in the Gulf of Mexico. This form, 
which rarely exceeds 25 mm. in length, and has the color on the pillar very 
faint or absent, may take the varietal name of, mexicana. After a careful com- 
parison of the young of this species with an authentic specimen of P. San- 
dersoni, I am much inclined to the opinion that the latter is merely a more 
slender variety with the transverse ripples on the anal fasciole finer and more 
numerous. I can see no other differences. The name may be retained in a 
varietal sense. 

This form, though apparently not rare in the mainland arcbibenthal region, 
was not obtained among the Antilles on the Blake Expedition. 

Pleurotomella Edgariana n. s. 

Plate XXXVI. Fig. 6. 

Shell large, straw-colored with a tinge of rufous about the margin of the 
anal sulcus outside ; whorls 10-1 1 (seven remaining, nucleus and first normal 
turn broken away) ; whorls keeled or angulated at the periphery, the keel not 
riblike or sharp, but lightly rounded ; in the first small whorls it is undulated 
or obscurely nodulous, but in the last four or five whorls not so ; from it the 
posterior part of the whorl ascends to the suture almost in a straight line or 
section of a cone, the anterior slope is full and rounded; the anal fasciole 
is polished and marked only by the fine silky incremental strife; the other 
transverse sculpture solely of fine incremental lines ; spiral sculpture, beside 
the keel, of fine, rather angular threads (about seven in a space of 3.0 mm.) 
with a single finer thread generally present, on the last whorl, in the inter- 
spaces ; these cover the whole shell, which appears when quite perfect to 
have a thin dark olive-colored epidermis, of which only traces remain on the 
type ; aperture very large, the notch being one quarter of a volution in extent, 
very wide, and gently rounded into the outer lip, which is correspondingly 
curved forward ; canal short, wide, hardly differentiated from the aperture; 
columella nearly straight, a broad (in the type specimen) rather thick mar- 
ginated callus extending from in front of the notch around on the body, well 
around behind the columella, and so on to the canal ; in the type the edge of 
the callus is somewhat thickened and raised, but this seems to be due to senile 
degeneration. Max. Ion. of shell (tip lost), 58.0 ; of last whorl, 45.0; of aper- 
ture, 35.0; diameter at broken tip, 1.5; max. diameter, 25.0 nun. 


122 BULLETIN OF THE 

Habitat. Station 2125 of the U. S. Fish Commission, near Curasao, in 208 
fms., sand, bottom temperature 51° F. 

This fine shell in its simplicity of sculpture and wide sweep of the peristome 
from the notch along the outer lip is quite unparalleled by any of the known 
species. Its nearest relative is P. Bairdii Verrill, which is stouter, with a 
much shorter spire and coarser spirals, beside having a shallow notch, distinct 
transverse ribbing, and no distinct carina. P. Edguriana is much more spindle- 
shaped. It is named in honor of Mr. Edgar A. Smith, the well known con- 
chologist of the British Museum. Gymnobela engonia Verrill, and some other 
forms which are considerably smaller, have somewhat the general aspect of 
this species, but all are stouter in proportion. 

Pleurotomella Enaertonii Verrill & Smith. 

Plate X. Fig. 9. 

Pleurotomella Emertonii V. & S., Trans. Conn. Acad., VI. p. 154, pi. xxxi. fig. 6, 
April, 1884. 

Habitat. Station 121, between St. Thomas and Santa Cruz, in 2393 fms., 
gray globigerina ooze, bottom temperature 39°. 5 F. 

This fine specimen, which measured 34.0 mm. in length, is one of the most 
delicate and beautiful shells obtained by the expedition, and was obtained from 
the deepest water of any of the Blake shells. 

Pleurotomella chariessa Watson. 

Pleurotoma (Defrancia) chariessa Watson, Linn. Soc. Journ., XV. p. 458, Nov., 1881. 
Clathurella chariessa Watson, Cliall. Brach., p. 352, pi. xx. fig. 6, 1885. 
Pleurotomella Jeffreysii Verrill, Trans. Conn. Acad., VI. p. 411, pi. xliv. fig. 3, 1885. 

Habitat. Station 163, off Guadelupe, in 769 fms., sand ; Station 173, near 
the last, in 734 fins., ooze ; Station 230, off St. Vincent, in 464 fms., fine sand; 
Station 236, in 1591 fms., ooze, near Bequia. Bottom temperatures 39° to 41° F. 
Also off Martha's Vineyard, in 1537 fms.; off Delaware, in 1168 fms. ; east 
from George's Banks, in 1710 fms.; off North Carolina, in 731 fms., and off 
Jamaica, W. I., in 966 fms.; U. S. Fish Commission. North Atlantic sea-bed 
in 350 to 1125 fms., from western Europe to the American shores. 

This is another one of those species which appear to luxuriate in variation, 
and which, if we had only material enough, would make the student pause 
to inquire what common criterion of species he is to adopt for conditions so 
different as those of the shallow water and the archibenthal forms respectively. 

Among those forms in the collection before me which I regard as too 
closely connected to be separable as species, the following varieties can be 
recognized : — 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 123 

Pleurotomella chariessa Watson, typical. From this Verrill's PL Jeffreysii 
cannot be separated. 

PI. chariessa var. spica Dall. Shell more slender and elongate, 58 X 18 mm., 
with eleven whorls, not counting the lost nucleus ; 966 fms., Jamaica, W. I. 

PI. chariessa var. phalera Dall. Slender like the last ; the transverse riblets 
fewer, longer, and stronger, the plaits in front of the suture on the anal fasciole 
fewer or obsolete ; the canal shorter and wider; 38 X 14 mm.; nine whorls 
and the nucleus. Off Cape Fear, N. C, in 731 fms., ooze. 

PI. chariessa var. tellea Dall. Shorter, much like the typical form, but the 
transverse riblets and sutural plaiting strong only on the early whorls, absent 
or obsolete on the last two or three ; the spiral lines absent or obsolete ; the 
shell glossy ; 29 X 1 1 mm ; six and a half whorls and the nucleus ; with the 
preceding. 

PI. chariessa var. aresta Dall. Shell shaped like variety phalera but with 
the suture less excavated, and therefore looking more compact, the spiral sculp- 
ture more deeply cut, and the transvere riblets more elongated forward, a little 
more numerous and more distinctly defined ; the canal is also a little narrower; 
28 X 10 mm. ; eight whorls and the nucleus; with the preceding. 

It is possible that a good many conchologists might regard the above vari- 
ations as of specific value, but I cannot bring myself to believe that they are 
equivalent to species or what we are accustomed to regard as species among 
shallow-water forms, where variation is more limited by the intensity of the 
struggle for existence. 

Pleurotomella filifera Dall. 

Plate XII. Fig. 9. 

Pleuroloma (Bela) Jilifera Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 56, August, 1881. 

Habitat. Station 47, in 331 fms., Gulf of Mexico. 

This species is chiefly separated from P. chariessa by its stronger spiral sculp- 
ture and proportionally shorter canal. The nucleus also, though eroded, seems 
to have been considerably smaller than that of chariessa when perfect. A 
larger amount of material might perhaps connect the two, but I do not see 
my way clear to unite them at present. 


There now follow a few species which are intermediate between Pleuroto- 
mella, especially such forms as P. Bairdii Verrill, and those called Gymnobela 
by Verrill. I am unable to see, either in the shells themselves or in the 
diagnoses, any differences of generic value between Pleurotomella and Gymno- 
bela, except that the small and short stout forms are placed by Professor Verrill 
in the latter group. The animals have similar dentition, similar larval shells, 
and are similarly destitute of operculum and generally of eyes. It does not 


124 BULLETIN OF THE 

seem to me that they can be separated, except in a merely sectional sense. But 
so capricious are the characters, that, until each species has been thoroughly 
examined as to its anatomical relations, it will not be possible finally to 
determine its systematic place. 

It is just as well here to call attention to a peculiarity which is liable to 
deceive students. The nuclear or larval shells of the Pleurotomidce may be 
broadly classified in two groups. In one the shell is horny, dark colored, and 
in a very large number of cases has the pretty oblique reticulation of curved 
lines which distinguish what I have called, after Orbigny, the Sinusigera 
nucleus. In the other group the larval shell is glassy or porcellanous, much 
like the rest of the shell, except that it is usually more translucent. Both 
kinds of nucleus have a very similar series of subordinate modifications, of 
which one might construct a whole systematic classification. Neither sort of 
larval shell is confined to this family. 

Now, after the larva has assumed the adolescent features of the species, the 
thin horny kind of nucleus is a weak point, easily abraded or drilled, and liable 
to decay. So, at an early stage, the animal begins to deposit a shelly layer 
inside of the horny one and closely imitating its coils, but of course smoothly 
rounded like the inside of the original shell, and always destitute of the exter- 
nal Sinusigera striation or other sculpture. It often happens that the shell is 
filled solidly with the new deposit, and that the horny envelope decays, leaving 
no trace, while there will be no sign of erosion, and the internal deposit will 
have all the effect of being an original nucleus of the shelly sort. This being 
accomplished, it only needs a few of the superficial variations of sculpture and 
relative slenderness to make very fair grounds for the description of a new 
species. "It has such and such differences," the observer will reason, "but 
above all the nucleus is totally distinct." As the writer has been several times 
nearly taken in in this way, he thinks a warning may be useful for others. 


? Pleurotomella catasarca n. s. 

Shell small, fusiform, compact, with a turbinate Sinusigera nucleus of three 
whorls and seven succeeding whorls, a keeled periphery and no ribs; exterior 
pale straw-color with darker axially directed cloudings, following the incre- 
mental lines ; spiral sculpture of a well-marked but not sharp-edged keel at 
the periphery, which on the earlier whorls is minutely undulated; the fasci- 
ole extends forward from the suture nearly to the keel, but falls short a little, 
and is bounded by an obscure, little elevated ridge parallel Vvith the keel, 
marked by one or two especially prominent fine revolving threads; the whole 
space between the keel and the suture behind it is covered with these fine 
threads with slightly wider interspaces, and crossed by delicate arched ripples, 
neatly and uniformly spaced. In front of the keel the spirals are divisible 
into primary (10-15) and secondary; the latter, much finer than the others, 
run in the interspaces in groups of two or three in each interspace, except on 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 125 

the canal, where the threads become nearly uniformly coarse. Whorls pre- 
ceding the last extending in a nearly straight line from the keel to the suture 
before and behind, the incremental lines distinct but not coarse; suture simple, 
not appressed; base neatly rounded, canal moderately long and wide; sinu3 
rather deep, outer lip arched forward, thin, sharp ; inner lip with a thin layer 
of white callus ; pillar and canal nearly straight. Max. Ion. of shell, 20.25 ; 
of last whorl, 13.25 ; max. lat. of shell, 9.0 mm. 

Habitat. Station 117, off Porto Rico, northward, in lat. 17° 47' N. and 
Ion. 67° 3' W., in 874 fms., gritty ooze, bottom temperature 40°. Station 291, 
near Barbados, in 200 fms., stony bottom, temperature 50°.0 F. 

Tins shell recalls Surcula gonioides Watson, but is more compact, with a 
proportionally shorter last whorl and canal ; the young of Pleurotomella Ed- 
gariana Dall has fewer whorls in the same length ; Typhlomangelia Tamieri, 
which has a good deal the same general form, is ribbed, has the fasciole more 
excavated, and the keel or shoulder behind the periphery. In fact, I have not 
been able to find anything which closely resembles it among figured species, 
and its nearest relative seems to be the next species. 

? Pleurotomella hadria n. s. 

Shell resembling the preceding in its. general features, but larger and stouter, 
and differing in details of sculpture, etc. It is best described by comparing 
it with the P. catasarca. The nucleus is similar and there are seven subse- 
quent whorls ; the keel is less prominent, there is a narrow shallow groove 
behind it, and then two sharp threads marginating the fasciole, which are more 
distinct on the earlier whorls ; the spiral threads on the fasciole are crossed, 
as in P. catasarca, b} r fine arched ripples, but in P. hadria these ripples are 
more numerous, finer and closer together, they follow the incremental lines, 
and, as the sinus is less profound in P. hadria, they are less deeply concave; 
one of the most marked differences is a series of small oblique riblets, which 
begin in front of the fasciole or on the keel itself, especially on the earlier 
whorls, cutting its continuity, and continued obliquely in front of it nearly or 
quite to the suture as threads reticulating the spirals ; this feature becomes 
obsolete on the last whorl or half-whorl, and is stronger in archibenthal speci- 
mens from the Gulf of Mexico than in those from off the Carolina coast ; on 
the base of P. hadria the threads are hardly divisible into two series, and the 
alternations of size are very slight, and occur in every other thread if at all, 
instead of several fine ones intercalated between two primaries ; the aperture, 
roundness of the base, outer lip, etc., are much as in P. catasarca, but the 
notch is not so deep, the pillar is not quite so straight, and the canal is a little 
twisted and plainly somewhat recurved. Max. Ion. of shell (of same number 
of whorls as the specimen previously described under P. catasarca), 27.0 ; of 
last whorl, 19.0; max. lat. of shell, 13.0 mm. 

Habitat. U. S. Fish Commission Stations 2676, off Cape Fear, N. C, in 
407 fms., sand, temperature 45°.8; 2678, in the same vicinity, in 731 fms., 


126 BULLETIN OF THE 

ooze; and 2383, in tfte Gulf of Mexico, in 1181 fms., mud, between the delta 
of the Mississippi and Cedar Keys, Florida. 

The Gulf specimens, as usual, show a thinner and more glistening epidermk 
over a sharper and more delicate sculpture and a thinner shell. Gymnobela 
engonia Verrill may belong in this vicinity, but it has much more the aspect 
of a genuine Bela. 

Section GYMNOBELA Verrill. 
Pleurotomella (Gymnobela) extensa Dall. 

Plate X. Fie. 2- 

Pleurotoma {Bela) Blaheana var. extensa Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 55, August, 1881. 
Pleurotoma (Defrancia) streptophora Watson, Linn. Soc. Journ., XV. p. 4G4, Nov., 
1881 ; Chall. Gastr., p. 366, pi. xix. figs. 8 a-b, 1885. 

Habitat. Yucatan Strait, off Cape San Antonio, in 640 fms. ; Gulf of Mex- 
ico, Station 35, in lat. 23° 52' and W. Ion. 88° 58', in 804 fms., bottom tem- 
perature 40°. 5 F. Challenger Expedition, North Atlantic, in over 1000 fms. 
Station not noted. 

It will seem extraordinary to many concnologists, that in my preliminary 
paper I separated this form and the one which follows only as varieties. The 
extremes look very unlike, but I separate them for convenience, and not be- 
cause I am at all certain that all these Gymnobela;, excepting G. engonia Verrill. 
and G. lotto; Verrill, do not belong to one and the same species. The single 
characters which, in general, are common to them all, may be all or only in 
part exhibited, may be absent, or each single, character may be weak or in- 
tensified in strength, and the combinations of a few sculptural elements in this 
way may exhibit an incredible number of forms, which in total, until carefully 
analyzed, will seem very different from each other. The absence of struggle 
which characterizes life in the deeps as opposed to that of the shores, and which 
is illustrated by the absence of the protective operculum in so many species, 
does not limit the variations of external form as they are limited by econom- 
ical and other reasons where the struggle is intense. In estimating the archi- 
benthal fauna this must be steadily kept in view. 

Pleurotomella (Gymnobela) Blakeana Dall. 

Plate X. Fig. 1. 

Pleurotoma {Bela) Blakeana var. normalis Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 54, August, 

1881. 
Gymnobela brevis Verrill, Trans. Conn. Acad., VI. p. 417, pi. xliv. fig. 8, 1885. 

Habitat. Yucatan Strait, 640 fms. Gulf of Mexico, at Station 43, in 339 
fms., mud, off Tortugas, bottom temperature 40°.0 F. ; Station 136, near Santa 
Cruz, in 508 fms., soft ooze, temperature 42°. 5. U. S. Fish Commission, off 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 127 

George'3 Bank, off Nantucket Shoals, off Maryland, and off Hatteras, North 
Carolina, in 100 to 1608 fins. 

In the typical form the transverse riblets are sharp-edged, the spirals are 
faint or tend to become so, the spire is low, and there is a tendency to corona- 
tion or the formation of a wrinkled band in front of the suture. When perfect, 
the notch is cmite shallow, as in Bela. The epidermis is pale, glistening, and 
Bmooth. 

Pleurotomella (Gymnobela) Blakeana var. agria Dall. 

Shell in general resembling P. Blakeana, but differing by more elevated 
6pire, by the much stronger closely set spiral threads, which cover the whole 
shell, by the rounder and more oblique riblets confined to the vicinity of the 
angulation in the adult and nearly absent on the spire, and the columella so 
arched and twisted as to make the axis nearly pervious. The epidermis is 
rougher and darker than in the type and there are six whorls without the nu- 
cleus. Lon. of shell, 10.0 ; of last whorl, 7.5 ; lat. of shell, 6.0 mm. 

Habitat. U. S. Fish Commission Station 2723, 125 miles off the mouth of 
Chesapeake Bay, in 1685 fms., gray ooze. 

The typical form and a specimen of this well-marked variety were collected 
together. 

A much larger shell with the surface much eroded was collected by the 
Blake at Station 173, in 734 fms., near Guadelupe. In this the general form 
has become more oval, the angulation a sharp keel forming a notch in the 
outer lip, and when perfect probably marked with vaulted scale-like projec- 
tions. There is a sulcus in front of this keel. The slope from the suture to 
the keel is much steeper than in var. agria, and even a little rounded. Before 
the sulcus the whorl is covered with coarse primary threads, over and among 
which are a finer secondary series. The columella is callous and twisted, there 
is a short but evident canal, slightly recurved, and followed by a siphonal fasci- 
ole. The transverse riblets appear to have been well marked only on the 
periphery. There are five whorls, but the apex is eroded ; there were perhaps 
two and a half more beside the nucleus. I regard this as probably the adult 
form of the var. agria, but it is too imperfect to decide with certainty. 


Pleurotomella (Gymnobela?) tornata Verrill 
var. Malmii Dall. 

Taranis Morchii Dall, Bull., M. C. Z., IX. p. 70, 1881 ; Verrill, Trans. Conn. Acad., 
V. pp. 486, 487, 1882 ; not of Jeffreys. 

Habitat, Station 2, in 805 fms. 

This is the form with subspinose sculpture. The variety with the spiral 
sculpture strongest is the variety tomatus Verrill (op. cit., VI. p. 251, 1884), 


128 BULLETIN OF THE 

and his varietal name will have precedence, since the shell is not the Taranis 
Morchii as we supposed. See under the head of Taranis cirrata Brugnone, 
immediately following. 

Subgenus TAEANIS Jeffreys. 

Taranis cirrata Brugnone. 

Pleurotoma cirratum Brugnone, Mem. Pleur. Fos., p. 17, fig. 9, 1862. 

Trophon Morclui Malm. Giitlieborgs Vet. Samml. Handl., 1863, p. 130, pi. ii. fig. 15, 

1863. 
Bela demersa Tiberi, Journ. de Conchyl., XVI. p. 179, 1868. 
Taranis Morchii Jeffreys, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., V. p. 10, 1870. 
Taranis cirrata Monterosato, En. e Sin. Med., p. 41. 

Habitat. U. S. Fish Commission Station 2602, in 124 fms., sand, off Cape 
Hatteras, N. C. Also off Fowey Eocks, Straits of Florida, in 150-200 fms., 
Dr. Rush. 

This is not the shell referred to under the name of Taranis Morchii in my 
Preliminary Report. Nor is it the shell called Taranis Morchii by Prof. Verrill 
in Trans. Conn. Acad., V. pp. 486, 487, 1882. 

I have carefully studied the types of the genuine Taranis in the Jeffreys 
collection, including original types of Jeffreys, Brugnone, Tiberi, Malm, Monte- 
rosato, etc. They all belong to one species, characterized among other things 
by a swollen smooth white bulbous nucleus of about two whorls, which 
when the shell is young and thin sometimes shows brownish from the con- 
tained animal matter. It recalls the nucleus of some species of Sipko, which 
was doubtless the reason Malm referred it to Trophon. 

As I have not seen Prof. Verrill's types, I cannot say whether his specimens 
are all of one species, but presume they are, and in their characters they agree 
very well with the single specimen dredged by the Blake, which has the usual 
brown Sinusigera nucleus of so many Pleurotomidce. It has very much the 
sculpture of T. cirrata or Morchii, but the transverse sculpture is as strong as 
the spirals and tends to become prickly at the intersections. A variety of this 
form with the spiral sculpture predominant is the Taranis Morchii var. tornatus 
of Verrill, Trans. Conn. Acad., VI. p. 251, 1884. Both of these probably 
belong to Mangilia, somewhere in the vicinity of Pleurotomella or Gymnobela, 
and the former is referred to above as Pleurotomella (Gymnobela ?) tornata var. 
Malmii Dall. 

The name of cirratum given by Brugnone to this species is not preoccupied 
by Pleurotoma cirrata of Bellardi, as the latter is a genuine Pleurotoma and 
not a Mangilia,. As it is a year older than Malm's name, I follow Monte- 
rosato in giving it precedence. The brown color of the nucleus of his Bela 
demersa, referred to by Tiberi, is, according to his specimen in the Jeffreys 
collection, an accidental tincture due to a deposit of extraneous matter, per- 
haps iron oxide. 

February 16, 1889. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 129 

Genus CANCELLARIA Lamarck. 

Cancellaria reticulata Linne. 

Voluta reticulata Linne', S. N., XII. p. 1190, 1767. 

Cancellaria reticulata Lamarck, Prodrome, p. 71, 1799; An. s. Vert., VII. p. 112, 
1822; Sowerby, Thes., II. p. 442, pi. xcii. fig. 17, 1848. 

Habitat. South Carolina (Gibbes and Kavenel) to West Indies. Sarasota 
Bay, Sanibel Island, Punta Rasa, Long Key, and Charlotte Harbor (Stearns, 
Hemphill, Mastin, and others). Nassau, N. P., U. S. Fish Commission. West 
Florida, 30 fins., (a fragment,) U. S. Steamer Bache. 

This is the type and most common species of the genus. It is abundant in 
South and West Florida, and somewhat less so on the shores of the Antilles. 
It is reported from the Pliocene and Post-pliocene by Tuomey and Holmes, 
and is found rarely on the coast of the Carolinas. The fossil Cancellaria de- 
pressa of Tuomej 7 and Holmes is hardly more than an extreme variety of this 
species. Their C. venicsta of the Pliocene beds is evidently a different thing. 
So is the Pliocene C. Conradiana Dall, from Florida, a slender form, of which 
the Fish Commission seems to have dredged a few fragments in a recent 
state ; but the C. venusta of Holmes in the Post Pliocene volume is not a Can- 
cellaria at all, but a Tritonidea, probably T. cancellaria Conrad. Beside these 
there are only six recent species of Cancellaria proper yet known from the An- 
tillean region. These are C. reticulata, C. rugosa Lamarck, C. tenera Philippi, 
and three others discovered recently by the Fish Commission. 

I find among some shells supposed to be from Nassau, New Providence, two 
specimens of C. similis Sowerby, and one of C. piscatoria Gmelin, both West 
African species and probably adventitious. I think it worth mentioning, how- 
ever, for one would expect to find some West African species on the outer line 
of the Antilles. C. rugosa has obstinately been referred to China by the 
Monographers, except Tryon, but it is a rather common West Indian species. 
Perhaps it has a Chinese analogue with which it has been confounded. 
C. Slimpsoni Calkins is a very distinct form, somewhat analogous to C. bullata 
of West America, but the species described from Yucatan by Philippi under 
the name of C. tenera, from the description, must be very like it. It has 
not been figured, but, if identical with C. Stimpsoni, as I believe it to be, 
Philippi's name has many years priority. 


Subgenus TRIGONOSTOMA Blainville. 
Trigone-stoma Smithii Dall. 

Plate XXXVII. Fig. 1. 

Cancellaria Smithii Dall, Agassiz, Three Cruises of Blake, II. p. 70, fig. 292, 1888. 

Shell reddish brown, turrited, scalar, with 8-9 corded varices; the interior of 
the aperture darker and redder, the outer lip arched, 6harply internally lirate; 
VOL. xviii. 9 


130 BULLETIN OF THE 

pillar lip with a moderate callus and about the middle two strong plications ; 
anterior notch shallow ; umbilicus none in young shells, and very small in 
adult specimens. This shell has a depressed polished brown nucleus of about 
two and a half whorls, and our largest specimen has four sculptured whorls 
with about (on the last whorl) nine rounded strong varices crossing the whorl. 
At the beginning of the last whorl there are about eight spiral strong threads 
between the sutures, equally strong on and between the varices ; there is 
also a single fine thread between each two coarse ones. The epidermis is 
coarse, fibrous, and dehiscent. The sutures are very deep, the mouth ovate 
trigonal, with about eight strong lira? within the outer lip and two well- 
marked plaits on the inner lip; the margin of the aperture is continuous; 
there is a very small umbilical chink in the adult, but none in the young. The 
throat is of a ruddy brown. The largest specimen measures 10.5 by less than 
6.0 mm., and the aperture less than 5.0 mm. in length. 

Habitat. U. S. Fish Commission Station 2610, living, in 22 fms., sand, 
off Cape Lookout; and at Station 2596, seventeen miles E. S. E. from Cape 
Hatteras, North Carolina, in 49 fms., sand, bottom temperature 75°. F. 

This interesting species is named in honor of Mr. Sanderson Smith of the 
U. S. Fish Commission. It is related to the Miocene C. scalatclla Guppy, 
from which it is distinguished by its more attenuated form, fewer varices, and 
smaller aperture. It differs from C . funiculata Hinds, by the continuous spiral 
stria? between the varices, greater attenuation, and its chestnut (fading to a 
lighter) brown color. C. minima Reeve is very like it, but wants the very 
deep sutures, is smaller, and has a larger number of varices. 

Trigonostoma Agassizii n. s. 

Plate XXXV. Fig. 4. 

Shell small, orange brown, turrited, six-whorled ; nucleus finely irregularly 
reticulated, polished, nearly smooth, of one and a half whorls; adult with (on 
the last whorl) about fourteen small even little-elevated ribs, which pass clear 
over the whorl, and are sharply nodulous on the edge of the shoulder of the 
whorl, which they cross obliquely to the suture ; beside these there are very 
evident crowded incremental lines which reticulate the finer spirals ; spiral 
sculpture of on the last whorl eight or more primary spirals, with finer and 
still finer intercalary threads, the primary ones somewhat swollen as they 
override the ribs. The whorls are strongly shouldered in front of the suture, 
the shell being covered when fresh with a hispid epidermis ; tufts of this stand 
up from the nodules on the carina of the whorl, coronating the shell; aperture 
subpentagonal, orange brown, outer lip internally lirate, rather thin; anterior 
notch quite small, pillar excavated in the middle, bearing three strong folds, a 
moderate callus on the body ; siphonal fasciole distinct, arched, but the umbili- 
cus a mere chink, hardly perceptible in the young. Lon. of shell, 13.5; of 
last whorl, 9.5 ; of aperture, 7.0 ; max. lat. of shell, 8.3 mm. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 131 

Habitat. U. S. Fish Commission Station 2607, off the Carolina coast, in 18 
fms., sand, temperature 73°. 5; and Station 2373, in the Gulf of Mexico, in 25 
fms., coral, between the delta of the Mississippi and Cedar Keys, Florida. 

This little species belongs to the same general group as C. minima Reeve, 
C. Smithii Dall, and C. subangulata Scacchi, but differs by good characters from 
them all. It has one more columellar fold than C. Smilhii, which has fewer 
and corded varices and' no carina on the shoulder of the whorl. Its nearest 
relative is the Miocene C. scalarina Conrad (non Deshayes) which is less 
turrited and has a different pillar. 

Cancellaria (Trigonostoma?) microscopica n. s. 

Shell minute, five-whorled ; upper whorls gray, the last whitish; nucleus 
inflated, glassy, polished, remaining whorls shouldered near the suture ; last 
whorl spirally sculptured with subequal rather coarse threads (which on the 
preceding whorls alternate large and small) crossed by evident little elevated 
lines of growth ; the earlier whorls are crossed by small rounded riblets, most 
evident at the shoulder, which become obsolete on the last whorl ; umbilicus 
distinct, moderate, with no bounding carina or siphonal fasciole ; aperture 
rounded behind and hardly angular in front, the outer lip faintly Urate within, 
not thickened - , the inner lip moderately callous with one (or more?) extremely 
faint folds about the middle ; epidermis hispid, thin, yellowish. Max. Ion. of 
shell, 4.3 ; of last whorl, 3.3 ; of aperture, 2.0 ; max. lat. of shell, 2.0 mm. 

Habitat. Campeche Bank, off Yucatan, in 200 fms., and off Cuba, in 780 
fms., mud, Dr. W. H. Rush, U. S. N. Station 2668, off Fernandina, Florida, 
in 294 fms., sand, U. S. Fish Commission. 

This is probably the smallest species known, and, notwithstanding the faint- 
ness of the folds, which may be an incident of its stage of growth, it has the 
aspect of a Cancellaria rather than an Admete. Its nearest ally is perhaps 
C. minima, which has a different sculpture, no umbilicus, and is about twice 
as large. C. subangulosa S. Wood, an Eocene fossil, now living in the waters 
of Madeira and the Canary Islands, is more elongated in the spire and has a 
proportionally smaller body whorl ; it is strongly ribbed, red brown in color, 
and has a well-marked siphonal fasciole. It is but little larger than the present 
species. None of the Italian Tertiary forms appear closely related to the present 
species. Admete nodosa Verrill is totally different, and perhaps not even an Ad- 
mete; and the northern species need not be compared with C. microscopica. 

Of species erroneously referred to this region are the West American C. bre~ 
vis, corrugata, and tessellata ; C. scalarina Reeve, or Thomasiana Crosse, is 
Chinese, and C. Candcana Orbigny is a young Phos. 

Genus BENTHOBIA Dall. 

Shell 6mooth, short-spired, resembling Admete, or an imperforate smooth 
Trichotropis, with a broad concave columella destitute of plaits, shorter than 


132 BULLETIN OF THE 

the aperture, and not forming a canal ; outer lip sinuous but not notched ; 
epidermis thin and smooth. Soft parts ? 
Type, Benthobia Tryonii Dall. 


Benthobia Tryonii n. s. 

Plate XXXV. Fig. 6. 

Shell with a pale brown, thin smooth epidermis, under which is a thick 
easily eroded chalky layer, recalling that of some fresh-water shells; spire 
short, eroded in all the specimens, but seemingly originally acute ; whorls 
about six, exclusive of the (decollate) nucleus, full, rounded ; sculpture of sin- 
uous lines of growth, not disturbing the polish of the surface, and faint micro- 
scopic spiral scratches ; in front of the suture the margin of the whorl is pinched 
up into ten or twelve obliquely radiating short waves, which may be either 
sharp-edged or flattened, and become obsolete toward the end of the last whorl ; 
they are slightly constricted near the suture ; base rounded, without any um- 
bilicus or siphonal fasciole ; the eroded apices seeming perforate, it is possible 
that the very young may be umbilicate ; aperture longer than wide, pointed 
behind and in front, but not canaliculate; outer lip simple, receding from the 
suture, then running parallel with the axis for a short distance, then again re- 
ceding and arching round in front of the end of the pillar; inner lip callous; 
columella thick, broad, concavely arched, subtruncate and rounded at the end, 
behind which is a shallow groove and in front of which the peritreme is ex- 
tended in a rounded point. Lon. of shell (tip eroded), 13.0; Ion. of last 
whorl, 10.0 ; lat. of shell, 7.5 mm. 

Habitat. U. S. Fish Commission Station 2678, off Cape Fear, North Caro- 
lina, in 731 fms., ooze, bottom temperature 38°. 7 F. 

This is a very remarkable shell, with its brownish smooth surface and eroded 
chalky substratum it recalls a fresh-water animal and its aperture resembles 
to some extent that of Pyrgulifera or Melanopsis, but there is no canal. It is 
somewhat like Trichotropis except that it is smooth and has an arched columella. 
It recalls Cancellaria or Admete, but has no umbilicus and is perfectly destitute 
of plaits on the axis. It is impossible to determine its place until the soft 
parts are known, but it is equally impracticable to place it in any known 
genus from the shell characters. I suspect it is related to Admete, and leave 
it temporarily in that vicinity. Tritia integra Conrad, also referred by him to 
Buccinum and to Bulliopsis (subgenus of Nassa), from the Calvert Cliffs Mio- 
cene of Maryland, may perhaps belong to this group, but I have not seen an 
authentic specimen and judge chiefly from the figure in the Proceedings of the 
National Institute, Plate III. Fig. 5, 1842. 

It is dedicated to the memory of that indefatigable conchologist, the late 
G. W. Tryon, Jr. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 133 


Super-Family RHACHIGLOSSA. 

The connection of this group with the Toxoglossa has been already shown 
to be intimate, as illustrated by the radula of Spirotropis, at once Toxoglossate 
and Rhachiglossate. Doubtless the two series should be combined under one 
head, and thus opposed to the Tsenioglossa. But until more is known, I prefer 
to leave the nominal arrangement undisturbed. 


Family OLIVIDjE. 

Genus OLIVA Brcgi£re. 

Oliva reticularis Lamarck. 

Oliva reticularis Lam., Ann. du Muse'um, XVI. p. 314. Tryon, Man. Oliva, p. 83, 
pi. xxx. figs. 90-100, 1-4. 

A fresh specimen was obtained in 73 fms., at Station 290, near Barbados, 
and a young dead specimen in 54 fms., near the island of Sombrero. 

This beautiful shell lives in the sand, for the most part too deep to be 
reached by tbe trawl, which may explain their comparative absence from the 
collection while so common in the region visited. 

Oliva litterata Lamarck. 

Plate XXXIV. Figs. 8 a-o, 8'. 

Oliva litterata Lam., Ann. du Muse'um, XVI. p. 315 ; Say, Am. Conch., III. p. 152, 

1830. 
Oliva Sayana Ravenel, Cat., p. 19, 1834. 

Fragments occurred in several dredgings, but the specie3 lives in shallow 
water, on sand fiats. 

Genus OLIVELLA Swainscw. 
Olivella mutica Sat. 

Plate XXXIV. Figs. 1 a-r, 2. 

Oliva mutica Say, Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phil., II. p. 228, 1822. 
Olivella zonalis Conrad, Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phil., VII. p. 153, 1834. 

This species occurs in fragments, evidently disgorged by fishes in deep 
water, but lives only on the shores, in shallow sandy places. 

The animal has the posterior filament to the mantle, like Oliva, but wants 
eyes and tentacles, while possessing an operculum which is denied to Oliva. 
According to Stimpson, there does not seem to be any proboscis in Olivella 


134 BULLETIN OF THE 

mutica, or else it is extremely short. It is very voracious, and will swallow 
whole a young mussel one third its own length. The respiratory siphon re- 
sembles that of Oliva. The species occurs from Cuba to North Carolina, and 
is fossil in the Post-pliocene of our Atlantic coast. 

Olivella fuscocincta Dall. 
Olivella nilidula Dillwyn (Tryon, Man., p. 64), var. ?? 

It is evident that nothing but a study of a much larger series of individuals 
of each species than has yet been discussed will have to be made before we 
can define the species of Olivella. Meanwhile, though of the nitidula form, 
I can find nowhere any figure or description corresponding to this shell, while 
the (some fifty) specimens which have been examined show hardly any trace 
of variation among themselves except what is evidently due to differing stages 
of growth. I have come to the conclusion that it is best to name it. 

Shell stout, subcylindrical, short-spired ; form about that of Fig. 298 in 
Sowerby, Thes. Conch. Mon. Oliva, by Marrat ; free from any spots, streaks, or 
zigzag markings whatever; body pale fawn-color, with a white revolving band 
about two fifths of the way from the suture to the anterior end of the shell; 
this band is always present, and in some specimens another fainter one is 
visible anterior to the former ; the nucleus, the anterior edge of the suture, 
the posterior edge of the outer fasciole, and the callosities of the mouth, are 
translucent white ; the callus on the spire and the anterior part of the outer 
fasciole are uniform dark brown; the interior fasciole or anterior callus is 
white with from two to five ridges, in the gap between this and the posterior 
callus are about five ridges, while the posterior callus is smooth. Lon. of 
shell, 10.0 ; of aperture, 8.0 ; max. lat. of shell, 5.0 mm. 

Dredged at Barbados, in 100 fms., and near by, at Stations 273 and 292, in 
103 and 56 fms. ; at Station 36, in 84 fms. ; at Station 147, near St. Kitts, in 
250 fms. There were apparently living specimens in all of these hauls ; the 
bottom temperature varied from 52°. 5 to 74°.5 F. at the stations mentioned. 

Olivella jaspidea Gmelin. 

Voluta jaspidea Gmel., S. N., p. 3442, No. 21, 1788. 

Oliva conoidalis Lam., An. s. Vert., VII. p. 437, 1822. 

Olivella exigua " Martini," Marrat, Sby., Thes. Oliva, p. 33, pi. xxiii. figs. 39y-401, 

1871. 
Cylinder tenuis, longus exiguus, variis coloribus, etc. Martini, Neues Syst. Conch. Cab., 

II. p. 186, pi. 1. fig. 556, 1773. 

Variety rotunda. 

Among the specimens brought back by the Blake were a number belonging 
to what, for safety's sake, it is more prudent to call a variety of Olivella jas- 
pidea, as it goes through much the same series of color varieties, and, excepting 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 135 

the absence of spots or dots, has much the same color markings. It differs 
from the typical form in having a much shorter spire, a stouter olive-seed-like 
form, and especially in the denticulation of the body callus, which, beginning 
anteriorly, has two strong and a number of small not very regular ridges, be- 
hind which is a marked depression, and then an even uniform series of about 
ten fine ridges, the posterior of which is on the same line as the most posterior 
ed^e of the outer fasciole ; the callus, throat, and nucleus are white ; the size 
is larger than that of any jaspidea I have been able to find, and the shape is 
that of 0. fuscocincta on a giant scale. The colors are usually pale, the whorls 
transversely streaked with rather broad soft lines of pink or brown, which vary 
from straight to zigzag, or may be more or less broken ; the glaze of the fasciole 
and spire tends to brownish. Lon. of two specimens, 22.6 and 25.0 mm.; of 
the aperture of the same, 16.6 and 17.0 mm. ; max. diam., 10.2 and 10.5 mm. 
They are very thick and solid, but most of the specimens are smaller. 

Dredged by the Blake at Station 2, in 805 fms. ; Station 57, in 177 fms. ; 
Station 20, in 220 fms. ; Station 36, in 84 fms. ; Station 34, in 400 fms. ; all 
near Cuba; Station 132, 115 fms., off Santa Cruz; and Station 147, in 250 
fms., near St. Kitts ; Station 167, in 175 fms., off Guadelupe; Stations 248, 
259, and 262, near Grenada, in 161, 159, and 92 fms. ; in 72 fms., near Som- 
brero ; and at Stations 261, 272, 273, 282, and 299, near Barbados, in 340, 76, 
103, 154, and 140 fms. ; the bottom temperatures ranging from 40° to 65° 
and averaging 57° F. Some very zigzag-marked specimens were obtained at 
Station 152, in 27 fms., bottom temperature 67°. 5 F. 

Some of the specimens were almost white, none of them showed any very 
dark coloration; the most intense markings were, as usual, the terminations 
of the transverse lines just in front of the suture, where there is a tendency to 
form a band of fasciculated streaks, as in many Olivellas. 

Olivella bullula Reeve. 
Olivella bullula Reeve, Conch. Icon. Oliva, pi. xxx. fig. 96. 

A few poor specimens were obtained at Station 5, in 229 fms. ; Station 50, 
in 119 fins.; and Station 20, in 220 fms. ; all off Cuba; also off Sombrero 
Island, in 72 fms., living; and at Station 230, near St. Vincent, in 464 fms., 
sand. 

These specimens were all poor, and only by studying them in connection 
with material from the same region in better condition, brought by the U. S. 
Fish Commission, could anything be made of them. Though varying much 
in characters, in the present confused state of the genus it is perhaps most 
advisable to refer them to this species. The differences between the different 
stages of growth in Olivella require much study, and are doubtless of much 
importance. Differences in proportion of the length of the spire to the whole 
length, in stoutness or slenderness, and in color, may occur within the same 
species to a very marked extent. As soon as we can determine the differences 


136 BULLETIN OF THE 

due to growth-stages in one or two species, it will become much easier to 
assign a place to some at present very puzzling forms. 

Olivella (bullula var. ?) tubulata Dall. 

This form varies from moderately stout, or a little more slender than Reeve's 
figure, to extremely attenuated. It is in the last case about the shape of 
0. nyrnpha Adams & Angas, but more cylindrical, pure white, the walls and 
spire sometimes translucent ; the broader form recalls 0. floralia (Duclos) 
Tryon, from the' white varieties of which it is at once distinguishable by the 
large size of its nuclear whorls. The soft parts dried up in one specimen show 
no sign of an operculum. The slender form is 11.3 mm. long and 3.5 mm. in 
greatest diameter, with five whorls. The length of the aperture is almost ex- 
actly half that of the shell. The stouter form is 13.3 mm. long, 5.0 mm. in 
diameter, with five whorls, and the aperture 8 mm. in length. The suture in 
both is deeply channelled, except between the two nuclear whorls, which are 
rounded and flattened on the summit. A specimen was obtained at Station 
20, in 220 fms., off Cuba, and another by the Fish Commission in 225 fnis., 
off the northeastern end of the same island. 


Family MARGINELLIDiE. 
Genus MARGINELLA. 

This group has been absurdly over-divided. The species melt into one an- 
other, as it were, as soon as plenty of material is brought together ; bo that 
most of the subgenera quietly efface themselves. For the species of the Blake 
Expedition, which comprise only a small part of those native to the region, 1 
adopt for the occasion the following subgenera : — 

Marginella, with Sections Volvarina and Volutella; Persicula, with Section 
Gibberula. 

Marginella apicina Menke. 

Marginella apicina Mke., Syn. Moll., p. 87, 1828. 

Marginella conoidalis Kiener (1840), Auctorum. 

Marginella caribata Orbigny, Moll. Cuba, II. p. 97, pi. xx. figs. 24-26, 1845. 

Marginella livida Hinds, P. Z. S. 1844, p. 73. 

Marginella flavida Redfield, Ann. New York Lye Nat. Hist., IV. p. 163, pi. x. fig. 4 

a-b, 1846; Cat. Marg., p. 223, 1870. 
1 Marginella borealis Verrill, Trans. Conn. Acad. 

One specimen of this common West Indian form was collected by the Bache 
in 100 fms., south of Inagua Id., Bahamas, 1872. 

Specimens of undoubted apicina have been collected by the U. S. Fish Com- 
mission near Cape Hatteras, in 1885, which fact renders it highly probable 
that Verrill's borealis is at most a northern race of this protean species, or of 
M. limatula Conrad. The specimens I have seen seem intermediate between 
these two. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 137 

Marginella "Watsoni Dall. 

Plate XIX. Fig. 3. Plate XXXVIII. Fig. 2. 

Marginella Watsoni Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 71, Aug. 25, 1881. Agassiz, Three 
Cruises of the Blake, II. p. 70, fig. 290, 1888. 

Habitat. Sigsbee, off Havana, 480 fms. ; Station 2, 805 fms.; bed of the 
Gulf Stream, Pourtales, 447 fms. ; Yucatan Strait, 640 fms. ; Station 20, 220 
fms. (young). 

Although taken at several stations, this species appears to be rare, and in 
most cases was represented by a single specimen, or by fragments only. 

Marginella amabilis Redfield. 

Marginella amabilis Redfield, Ann. N. Y. Lye. Nat. Hist., V. p. 225, 1852 ; Cat. Marg., 

p. 246, 1870, note. 
Marginella carnea Shy., not Storer, Thes. Conch, I. p. 398, pi. Ixxvi. figs. 102, 114, 

1846. 
Marginella oblonga (Swains.) Auct., in part. 

Habitat. Sand Key, 125 fms. ; off Sombrero Island, 72 fms. ; Sigsbee, off 
Havana, in 119 fms. 

This seems, as Mr. Redfield suggests, sufficiently distinct from M. rostrata 
and oblonga to retain its separate name. 

Marginella rostrata Redfield. 

Marginella rostrata Redfield, Am. Journ. Conch., VI. ; Cat. Marg., p. 246, note. 1870. 
Marginella oblonga Sby., pars, Thesaurus, pi. Ixxvi. figs. 106, 107. 

Habitat. Station 36, in lat. 23° 13' N. and Ion. 89° 16' YV., Gulf of Mexico, 
north of Yucatan, in 84 fms. ; bottom temperature 60° F. 

This seems a well-characterized form, and among the specimens compared 
there did not seem to be any intermediate specimens as between this species 
and arnabilis or oblonga. 

Marginella cassis n. s. 

Plate XXXV. Fig. 8. 

Shell cassidiibrm, smooth, white or pale flesh-color, with a brown spot just 
above the posterior sinus, the anterior edge of the anterior sinus brown, and 
three faint touches of brown above and outside of the callus of the outer lip. 
There are also opaque streaks or delicate lineations coincident with the lines of 
growth and very perceptible under a lens. Nucleus translucent whitish, rather 
blunt; shell with five and a half turns; spire depressed conical, sutures dis- 
tinct; columella with four strong squarely cut plaits diminishing backward; 
columella lip with a heavy white callus, forming a prominent lump on the 


138 BULLETIN OF THE 

inner side of the posterior sinus ; outer lip considerably thickened, with a sul- 
cus above and outside of the callus, extending backward as far as the tip of the 
spire ; posterior sinus deep ; outer lip with its inner edge irregularly trans- 
versely grooved and with numerous rounded denticles ; nearly parallel with 
the body whorl, and with the anterior sinus shallow. Length of shell, 15.00 ; 
greatest width of shell, 11.20 ; width of aperture in adult, 1.75 mm. 

Habitat. Station 45, in 101 fms., Gulf of Mexico, west of the Tortugas, in 
lat. 25° 33' N., Ion. 84° 21' W., bottom temperature 61°.75 F. 

This species is readily recognized by its triangular form, callous Cypraea-like 
aperture, and denticulated outer lip. I have not been able to find figured any 
species which seems to approach it very closely. A young specimen was ob- 
tained by the Blake, and an older one, affording the above description, by the 
Albatross, in 1884, while off the coast of Cuba. 

Marginella hfcematita Kiener. 

Marginella hcematita Kiener, Coq. Viv., p. 11, pi. vii. fig. 31, 1834. Dall, Bull. M. C. 

Z., IX. p. 137, Dec. 5, 1881. 
Erato hematina Reeve, Conch. Icon. Erato, pi. xi. fig. 8 a-b, 1865. 

Habitat. Stations 10 and 11, in 37 fms. ; Station 247, in 170 fms., off Gre- 
nada ; Station 276, in 94 fms., Barbados. 

One of the most lovely little shells of the region. 

Marginella fusina Dall. 

Plate XIX. Fig. 4. 
Marginella fusina Dall, Bull. it. C. Z., IX. p. 72, Aug. 25, 1881. 

Habitat. Yucatan Strait, 640 fms. 

Marginella yucatecana Dall. 

Plate XIX. Fig. 5. 

Marginella (var. ?) yucatecana Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 72, Aug. 25, 1881. 

Habitat. Yucatan Strait, 640 fms. ; off Sand Key, South Florida, 125 fms. 

As no more material has come to hand in regard to this species the question 
of its relations to M. seminula remain unsettled, but it appears, on mature 
consideration, probably distinct. 

Marginella opalina Stearns. 

Marginella opalina Stearns, Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., XV. p. 21, Jan. 17, 1872. 

Habitat. West Florida, in 14 fms. ; Barbados, in 100 fms. ; Tampa, Fla., 
Stearns. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 130 

The researches of Mr. Hemphill in Florida, and of the U. S. Fish Commis- 
sion in the Gulf of Mexico, have brought together material which seems to 
bridge the gap between this species and M. denticulata Conrad, described many- 
years previously as a fossil. We find that the shell varies from wholly rich 
amber brown to a lighter brown with obscure light and dark bands, to white 
or pale yellow with darker yellow or brown cinctures, and finally to pure 
white. The last form is what is here reported from Barbados, and has since 
been found on the eastern coast of the United States nearly to Hatteras. The 
shape of the shell is quite constant, and does not vary with the color. The 
M. aureocincta Stearns is a constantly smaller and more slender species, run- 
ning through a similar range of color. It has been called M. Smithii by Prof. 
Verrill. 

Marginella seminula Dall. 

Plate XIX. Fig. 3. 
Marginella seminula Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., p. 72, Aug. 25, 1881. 

Habitat. Yucatan Strait, 640 fins. 

Marginella (Glabella) elata Watson, from Culebra Island, in 390 fms., be- 
longs to this group, and should be carefully compared with M. aureocincta, the 
young of which it appears closely to resemble, and which has been abundantly 
dredged in deep water by the Fish Commission. 

Marginella Redfieldii Tkyon. 
Marginella Redjieldii Tryon, Manual of Conch., V. p. 34, pi. x. fig. 99, 1883. 

Habitat. Station 5, near Havana, Cuba, in latitude 24° 15' N. and lon- 
gitude 82° 13' W., in 229 fms., soft bottom, temperature about 50° F. 

This species in this haul was found rather numerous, with M. succinea and 
M. turticula. It seems sufficiently distinguished by its very narrow straight 
mouth, thin outer lip, and anterior attenuation. 

Marginella fusca Sowerby. 

Marginella fusca Sowerby, P. Z. S. 1846, p. 95. Redfield, Cat. Marg., p. 234, 1870. 

Habitat. North of Cuba, in lat. 24° 43' N. and Ion. 83° 25' W., in 37 
fms. (dead). 

Marginella succinea Conrad. 

Plate XIX. Fig. 6. 

Marginella succinea Conr., Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phil., III. p. 26, pi. i. fig. 17, 1846. 
Marginella {avena var.?) avenella Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 73, Aug. 25, 1881. 

Habitat. Off Sombrero Island, in 70 fms. (dwarfs); Sand Key, 125 fms.; 
Station 5, north of Cuba, in lat. 24° 15' N. and Ion. 82° 13' W., in 229 fms., 


140 BULLETIN OF THE 

abundant; Station 2, off Morro Light, Cuba, in 805 fms. ; and off Cape San 
Antonio, in 1002 fms. Bottom soft ooze, with temperatures between 40° and 
50° F. where recorded. 

This species, which I was led to think a possible deep-water race of M. avena, 
is found more or less abundantly in shallow water in South and West Florida. 
Specimens have been compared with Conrad's type, by the kindness of Mr. 
G. W. Tryon, Jr., at the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia. Conrad's 
species has never been figured in a satisfactory manner. The figure we give 
represents, considerably enlarged, a rather blunt-tipped deep-water specimen. 
They vary somewhat in the height and acuteness of the spire. The color is 
usually light fawn or amber of the yellow shade, or a mixture of the two with- 
out color pattern. I have from Florida some small pure white specimens which 
are only differentiated by color and size from the typical form, though the ab- 
sence of color gives them quite a distinct aspect. This species as a whole is 
distinguished from M. Redfieldii Tryon, by its more flexuous and callous outer lip 
and wider aperture; from M. torticula, by its greater width and straight axis; 
from the Volvarina group, by the higher spire and posteriorly angulated outer 
lip. The deep-water form is larger and less pellucid than those found in shal- 
low water, but hardly distinct enough to retain a separate name. Mr. Tryon 
unites this with nitida Hinds, described in 1844 without locality. I confess 
myself unable to see the exact correspondence between them which he men- 
tions, even by his own figures. The color and form seem to me quite as 
different as in any two valid species of the same group. If nitida is to sup- 
plant a later name, it would seem that Marginella paxillus Reeve is much more 
like M. nitida than is Conrad's species. The species described by Hinds is of 
a deep brown, like the dark varieties of M. opalina Stearns. In looking over 
a great many specimens which have come to me, I have never seen a specimen 
of M . succinea of this color, though, knowing how variable this section of the 
genus is in its coloration, there seems to be no reason why it should not 
occasionally be of a dark color. 

Marginella styria n. e. 

Shell slender, extremely lucid, glassy or colored by the soft parts showing 
through ; whorls four and a half; spire conical, rounded, and rather blunt; 
suture visible, whiter than the rest of the shell, being thicker and more opaque; 
shell subfnsiform, the convexity of the left side somewhat greater than that 
of the right; aperture very narrow; outer lip hardly thickened, produced 
and impressed toward its middle part; columella four-plaited, without callus ; 
aperture less than two thirds the length of the shell. Length of shell, 5.55; of 
aperture, 3.50; greatest width of shell, 2.00 mm. 

Habitat. Dredged near Sombrero Island, in 54 fms., also at Station 5, in 
229 fms., with the preceding. 

This little shell has somewhat the shape of Marginella torticula in miniature, 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 141 

but is less asymmetrical. I have not found any species described or figured 
which is so small, slender, and lucid as this one, though there are a number 
of species which approach it in general outline on a larger scale. 

Marginella torticula Dall. 

Plate XIX. Fie. 7. 

Marginella torticula Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 73, Aug. 25, 1881. 

Habitat. Station 5, lat. 24° 15' N., Ion. 82° 13' W., in 152 fms., soft coral 
ooze ; also in 229 fms., near Havana, bottom temperature about 50° F. These 
two hauls seem to have had but one station number. 

The number of specimens obtained, and their uniformity of character, suffi- 
ciently indicate that the bent axis of this species is not an individual or 
pathological character. The color is about the same as in if. succinea and 
M. Redfieldii. 

Section? VOLVARINA Hinds. 

Volvarina avena Valenciennes. 

Marginella avena (Val. MS.) Kiener, Coq. Viv., p. 17, pi. vi. fig. 24, 1834. 

Marginella avenacea Deshayes, in Lam., X. p. 455, 1844. 

Marginella Beyerleana Bernard!, J. de Conchyl., IV. p. 149, pi. v. figs. 15, 16, 1853. 

Marginella livida Reeve, Condi. Icon., pi. xx. fig. 100, 1865. 

Marginella avena Redfield, Cat. Marg., p. 223, 1870. 

Dredged dead off Cuba, in 200 fms., and at Station 2, in 805 fms., probably 
from shallower water. 


Volvarina avena var. guttula Reeve. 

Marginella guttula Reeve, Conch. Icon. Marginella, pi. xx. fig. 101, 1865. 

Dredged living off Sombrero Island, in 72 fms. Mr. Tryon confirms my 
identification of the above " species," described by Reeve without a habitat, and 
evidently a variety of M. avena. 

Volvarina albolineata Orbignt. 

Marginella albolineata Orbigny, Moll. Cuba, II. p. 99, pi. xx. figs. 27-29, 1845. 
Marginella varia (partly) Sowerby, P. Z. S. 1846, p. 97. 

Habitat. Barbados, 100 fms. ; Sigsbee, off Havana, in 80 fms. 

Volvarina varia of Sowerby comprised two species, according to Messrs. Red- 
field and Tryon ; namely, the Californian species known to Carpenter and the 
West Coast conchologists as V. varia (which Tryon, following Redfield, con- 


/ 


142 BULLETIN OF THE 

siders to equal albolineata), and V. arena. The latter has not heen found on 
the western coast, but the specimens of varia and West Indian albolineata are 
very similar to one another. 

Volvarina subtriplicata Orbignt. 

Marginella subtriplicata Orbigny, Moll. Cuba, II. p. 99, 1845. 

Marginella triplicata Orbigny, Moll. Cuba, pi. xx. figs. 30-32, 1842, not of Gaskoin. 
Marginella lactea Reeve, Conch. Icon., pi. xvii. fig. 81, and pi. xxiv. fig. 135; not of 
Kiener. 

Habitat. Station 9, seven miles S. by W. from Sand Key, in 111 fms., 
bottom temperature 55°. 5 F. 

The fourth plait is often quite perceptible, and I confess to some doubt of 
the validity of this species. I have not, however, enough authentically named 
material to decide on its relations with confidence. It seems to be rare. 

Volvarina pallida Donovan. 

Bulla pallida Donovan (not Linne'), Brit. Shells, pi. lxvi. fig. 527, 1800. 
Voluta pallida Montagu, Brit. Test., p. 232, 1803. 
Volvaria pallida Lamarck, An. s. Vert., VII. p. 363, 1822. 
Marginella pallida (Kiener) Redfield, Cat. Marg., p. 247, 1870. 

Habitat. West Indies ; one dead specimen dredged at Station 247, off 
Grenada, in 170 fms., soft gray ooze, bottom temperature 53°.5 F. 
This species probably lives in shallower water. 

Section'? VOLUTELLA Swainson. 

Volutella lacrimula Gould. 

Marginella (Gikberula) lachrimula Gould, Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., Vni. p. 280, 
Feb., 1862. Otia, p. 238, 1865. 

Habitat. Off the coast of Georgia, in 400 fms., Gould. Off the coast of 
North Carolina in 17 to 124 fms., sand, U. S. Fish Commission. Lon. of 
shell, 2.8 ; lat. 2.0 mm. 

Volutella (lacrimula var.?) hadria Dall. 
Volutella lacrimula Dail, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., VI. p. 324, 1883. 

Habitat. Mud fiats at Cedar Keys, Florida, Hemphill. 

Shorter, wider, and with the lip less prominent on top of the spire, than 
in the typical lacrimula Gould. The two anterior plaits are subequal and 
much larger, and extended outside the aperture beyond the two subequal small 
posterior plaits in V. hadria, while in V. lacrimula they diminish evenly 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 143 

backward and the anterior pair is not prolonged over the pillar outside the 
aperture. They have been compared with Gould's original type. The lat- 
ter is quite pyriforra, the shell being widest near the posterior third. The 
V. hadria is more stumpy though still a little pyril'orm, and has a remarkably 
thick outer lip. Lon. 2.0; lat. 1.50 mm. 

Volutella (lacrimula var. ?) amianta Dall. 

Habitat. Off the coast of North Carolina, in 14 to 52 fms., sand, U. S. Fish 
Commission. 

Shell more cylindrical, sides more parallel, longer, narrower, thinner, plaitB 
subequal, all small and confined to the aperture, which is narrower. The 
greatest diameter is about in the middle. The callus where the outer lip 
rounds over the spire is not prominent. Lon. 2.75; lat. 1.75 mm. 

The above all have four plaits. V. ovuliformis Orbigny, from the Antilles, 
has a much narrower aperture and only three plaits. 

V. agger Watson, from Culebra Island, in 390 fms., Challenger Expedition, 
is somewhat peculiarly produced behind in the young state, and does not agree 
exactly with any of the preceding forms. 

Subgenus PERSICULA Schumacher. 
Persicula catenata Montagu. 

Marginella catenata Montagu, Brit. Test., p. 236, (Suppl., p. 104,) pi. vi. fig. 2, 1803. 

Redfield, Cat. Marg., p. 227, 1870. 
Marginella alba C. B. Adams (worn), Contr. Conch., p. 66, 1850. 

Habitat. Off Grenada, Station 262, in 92 fms. 

Two dead and worn hermit-crab specimens were found as above, and referred 
to this species. 

Section? GIBBERULA Swainson. 
Gibberula minuta Pfeiffer. 

Marginella minuta Pfr., Arch, fur Naturg., I. p. 259, 1840. 

Marginella Lavalleana Orbigny, Moll. Cuba, II. p. 101, pi. xx. figs. 36-38, 1845. Red- 
field, Cat. Marg., p. 240, 1871. 

Marginella minima Sby., Thes. Conch., I. p. 388, pi. lxxviii. fig. 220, 1846; not of 
Guilding. 

Habitat. Barbados, 100 fms., one fresh specimen. 

It is probable that this little shell will be found to inhabit the Mediterra- 
nean, the southeast coast of the United States, and the coast of California, as 
well as the West Indies. The specimens from these three regions seem to be 
identical, but more material should be compared before making a final decision. 


144 BULLETIN OF THE 


Family VOLUTIDJE. 

This family has submitted to many classifications, and contains several nat- 
ural groups. Yet, as might be expected when we take into consideration the 
fossil as well as the recent forms, the lines of demarcation begin to grow less 
sharp, and characters are interchanged, so that it becomes almost impracticable 
to distinguish, in the group separated from V. musica, which for present pur- 
poses we may call Scaphella, features which may serve as a basis for sectional 
arrangement as opposed to those which possess merely specific value. It 
would not fall in with the purpose of this paper to discuss the classifications 
which have been proposed for the entire family, but to pass over the con- 
dition of those belonging to the fauna of the United States would be equally 
undesirable. 

The American Volutidce begin in the Cretaceous. The direct progenitor of 
the recent Scaphella of the east coast of the United States is found in the Eocene 
(Vicksburg and Red Bluff deposits), and has been described under the name of 
Caricella demissa by Conrad. It is not a Caricella, but a Valuta, belonging 
to the group of V. junonia. There is a fine species named V. Newcombiana by 
Whitfield, in the Eocene of Bells Landing, Alabama, about the middle of the 
Lignitic series. It recalls V. angulata, and there is no recent species on our 
coasts which resembles it. Valuta demissa has the tip or nucleus of Aurinia 
(Eopsephosa Fischer), but strong rounded plaits. The shell is small and 
thick. The other so-called Volutes of the Eocene seem more closely to ap- 
proach Volutilithes. In the Miocene there are but two * species of the Scaphella 
section yet known ; namely, V. Trenholmii T. & H. and V. mutabilis Conrad. 
The former is exactly like V. demissa in its general features, but has become 
large and well developed. It persists into the Pliocene ; a variety from the 
Caloosahatchie Pliocene is intermediate between Trenholmii and the recent 
junonia. It has been named fioridana by Heilprin. Its descendant is the 
living junonia of Floridian waters. The V. mutabilis of Conrad was described 
from the Miocene of Maryland. I have not seen any specimen exactly agreeing 
with Mr. Conrad's figure. All those specimens labelled Voluta mutabilis which 
have come under my observation are indistinguishable from S. (Aurinia) dubia 
of Broderip, still found living in Florida. Some of my specimens are from 
the original locality. If Mr. Conrad's figure properly represents his type, it 
is certainly a very strongly marked variety of or possibly distinct from the 
S. dubia. This group seems to be an offshoot from the demissa-junonia series, 
and is continued into the Pliocene of South Carolina, where two varieties of 
dubia are figured by Tuomey and Holmes under the name of mutabilis, though 
they are possibly not Conrad's mutabilis. In recent seas this line of descent is 
represented by S. dubia, S. Qouldiana, and S. robusta. 

* V. obtusa Emmons is a young V. mutabilis ; V. solitaria is more of the type of 

Volutilithes. 

February 18, 1889. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 145 

The true Volutes of the V. musica type appear in the Red Bluff Eocene. 
Voluta mississippiensis Conrad, of this age, is identical with V. costata Sow- 
erby, from the English Eocene. These species are directly derived from 
Volutilithes. They are small, and would, if recent, be placed in the subgenus 
Lyria. Their Miocene descendants begin to diverge from one another, some 
taking on the large form of recent Volutes, others remaining small.* 

None are yet known from the Pliocene, but V. musica and V. virescens 
inhabit the waters of the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean region at the pres- 
ent day. Lyria, which is not distinguishable generically from the small Mio- 
cene forms, exists in the shore fauna of subtropical West America, and Voluta 
or Scaphella will doubtless be found when the depths are dredged, though the 
latter is not known at present north of Chile. The single Alaskan species, 
S. Slearnsii, belongs to the group of S. ancilla, with which the late Mr. Sowerby 
absurdly united it. Its nearest congener in the North American region seems 
to be the S. Newcombiana of the Eocene, before referred to, but they are not 
very closely related. V. Lamberti of the English Crag and some Continental 
Miocene species are nearer to it than any one from our own strata yet known. 

Judged by the recent species the shells of the junonia group are readily 
separable from those of the dubia group. When the fossils are consulted, it is 
evident they are genetically connected. I shall, however, retain the sectional 
distinction of Scaphella proper and Aurinia for the two series, respectively. 

There can be no doubt that the genus Lyria is very closely related to Voluta 
as restricted ; and the one is doubtless an offshoot from the other, both exist- 
ing, well characterized, in the Ballast Point Miocene of Tampa Bay. 

That Volutomitra belongs in this family is certain, and I give (Plate XXXIV. 
Figs. 6 and 7) some unpublished drawings of Stimpson showing the shell and 
dentition of V. gronlandica. The shell figured is apparently young ; those 
which I have received from Copenhagen are larger, and have a proportionally 
longer canal and a little more of the Mitra form about them than these 
figures. 

The other forms of Volutidce (excluding Lyria) belonging to the Antillean 
region are all rare shells, and, from their rarity, have' been little studied. 
The U. S. National Museum possessed five fairly good adult specimens of 
S. junonia, beside several much more interesting specimens of the very young. 
Several specimens of S. junonia and A. dubia were obtained by Pourtales in 
the Floridian region. The U. S. Fish Commission in the same vicinity ob- 
tained an adult A. robusta, old and young A. dubia, and eight or nine A. Gould- 
iana in various stages, including one adult living specimen. The very young 
of A. robusta were dredged by the Blake. In this way, probably for the first 
time, a sufficient number of these extremely interesting shells for satisfactory 
study has been brought together. 

* This subject will be more fully discussed in my forthcoming Report on the 
Tertiary Paleontology of Florida, to be published by the Wagner Free Institute of 
Science, Philadelphia. 

VOL,, xviii. 10 


146 BULLETIN OF THE 

Genus VOLUTA Linn£. 

Voluta Linne", Syst. Nat., ed. x., 1758. 

Voluta Lamarck (circumscr.), Prodr. Nouv. Class. Coq., p. 70, 1799; type, Voluta 

musica Linne. 
Phjona (Bolten) Link, Beschr. Rost. Samml., p. 110, 1807; type, V. hebrcea L. 
Voluta Gray, On the Volutidoz, P. Z. S. 1855, p. 59; type, V. musica Linne". 
Voluta H. & A. Adams, Gen. Rec. Moll., I. p. 164, 1863; type, V. musica Linne'. 
Volutolyria Crosse, Journ. de Conchyl., XXV. p. 99, 1877; type, V. musica Linne'. 

The type and. sole example cited of the genus Voluta when restricted by 
Lamarck was the V. musica. which consequently cannot be separated from the 
generic name, whatever be the fate of other species. Among the numerous 
names which have been applied to the various sections of the Lamarckian 
Volutes, the name Scaphella of Swainson appears to be the earliest which will 
be appropriate for those which differ (as M. Crosse and Dr. Gray have shown) 
from the type by the absence of an operculum and other characters, including 
their dentition. 

The Volutes of the Gulf of Mexico and the Antillean region are compara- 
tively few in number, but among them is found the type of the genus in sev- 
eral very elegant varieties. Among other peculiarities of V. musica the form 
of the nuclear whorls is very noticeable. They comprise a stout rather blunt 
coil of four or five compact regular well-shaped whorls, somewhat like the tip 
of a Megaspira, generally of a brilliant orange-yellow or its complement, a livid 
purple, with its initial whorl perfectly regular, its tip in perfect unworn speci- 
mens about 0.3 mm. in diameter. In a large series, varying greatly in other 
respects, I have found only trifling modifications of the nuclear whorls, which 
present a marked difference from the blunt irregular mammillate tip of most of 
the species generally included under the old signification of Voluta. The young 
shell with two or three whorls and its nucleus I have found more uniform in 
its characteristics, when not modified by wear or acid, than the adult shells in 
this family. Unfortunately I have never been able to examine a very young 
specimen of tfcis species, which would doubtless give us the normal number of 
plaits (five '?), which cannot be determined from the adults. 

Among the specimens in the U. S. National Museum are three which were 
referred by Dr. Carpenter with a query to a variety of Voluta musica, but which 
on careful study present characters which seem incompatible with that hypoth- 
esis. All are beach shells. Two were collected by Berlandier in 1 847, on the 
coast of Texas, near a place called Mesquital. The other was obtained by 
Arthur Schott, at Carthagena, New Grenada, during Lieut. Michler's expedi- 
tion to Darien. It measures about 32.0 by 53.0 mm., and the length of the 
aperture is 45.0 mm. The shell is lighter than a Voluta musica of the same 
size ; the columellar lip is straighter, with smaller and more numerous plaits ; 
the outer lip is marked with six purple brown spots, the throat is of a yellow- 
ish cream-color. The exterior of the whole shell is marked with sharp distant 
grooves ; toward the canal the interspaces rise aa rather strong threads. The 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 147 

color and painting of the shell are unlike any of the described varieties of 
V. musica. The gr6und is pretty uniformly clouded with a livid purple hrown, 
with three or four paler bands, which in the young are narrow, distinct, and 
articulated with rectangular brown spots rather distant from one another ; the 
surface generally is dotted over with a profusion of brown dots, and there is a 
tendency toward a band of the dark body color just in front of the ribs, which 
gives the appearance of a succession of large squarish spots, one in front of each 
rib. There are eleven ribs on the last and twelve on the preceding whorl ; they 
are shorter, more pinched up, and much less prominent than in the short- 
spired varieties of V. musica, which generally have seven or eight very promi- 
nent ribs, almost like spines. They are in the present species smaller behind 
and more inconspicuous than in any V. musica I have seen, coronating the 
suture, and occupying less than half the exposed part of the whorls on the 
spire. In the adult they are very short, but in the young they are extended 
nearly to the canal. 

The most important feature, however, and that which leads me to believe 
that the Texas shell is specifically distinct from V. musica, lies in the nucleus. 
This is composed of two turns, of which the first is white and inflated, as in 
most Volutes of the Scaphclla group, and is itself larger than the first two turns 
of the nucleus of V. musica taken together. The second turn is, if anything, 
slightly smaller, giving a papillary appearance to the nucleus. The adult shell 
has four and a half whorls, which with the nucleus form six and a half, against 
seven and a half of the V. musica of similar length. The youngest specimen 
of the Texas shell shows seven plaits on the columella, the largest fifteen, of 
which each alternate one is smaller. I have not been able to find more than 
twelve plaits on the largest V. musica in the collection. This interesting form, 
the only true Voluta known from the coast of the United States, should bear 
the name of Voluta virescens Solander, though Lamarck's later name of V. poly- 
zonalis is more appropriate. According to various authorities, V. virescens 
would also have as synonyms V. fulva and chlorosina of Lamarck and V. pusio 
of Swainson ; the latter a broad variety. The West African habitat assigned 
to Voluta virescens is probably erroneous, but at all events there can be no 
question as to its American habitat. 

Genus SCAPHELLA Swainson (em.) 

> Scaphclla Swainson, Zool. 111., 2d ser., II., No. 19, 1832 ; Malacology, pp. 103, 318, 

1840. 
Caricella sp. Conrad, Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 2d ser., I. p. 120. 

It seems evident that Voluta and Lyria on the one hand and the rest of the 
Volutes on the other are separated by a greater gap than divides either group 
above indicated within itself. Some name must be adopted from among those 
which have been applied to the shells not included in Voluta proper to cover 
the genus, of which most names in use are indicative of merely sectional di- 


143 BULLETIN OF THE 

visions. Cymbium being eliminated, the next name is Fulgoraria, which has a 
too evidently limited application to be adopted for the whole group left anony- 
mous by tbe abstraction of Voluta. The classification of Swainson comes next 
in order, and by treating his nomenclature according to the accepted rules we 
find ourselves with three names to select from, Cymbiola, Harpula, and Sca- 
phella. It would seem at the first glance as if this might be decided by tbe 
types, but on thorough examination it appears that Swainson was not strict in 
his vise of the expression " type," and named a number of different species as 
" types" of a single genus in different parts of tbe same work. His reasoning 
is so entangled with his peculiar theory of representative groups, as to make 
his meaning 'frequently obscure. However, of the names above referred to, 
Harjpula may be eliminated, as he figures V. vexillum as the example of the 
genus, and moreover this section is, as it were, somewhat intermediate in its 
characters, and some day may prove to belong in the vicinity of Voluta proper. 
Of the two remaining names, Cymbiola is more restricted in the forms referred 
to it. In one place V. aucilla is cited with a query as to whether this is the 
type or not (p. 317) ; at another place the author queries whether V. ancilla 
should not form a separate division (p. 106), and on the same page refers to 
V. vespertilio as the type of the whole genus. Yet we find V. ancitki referred 
to as the type of Cymbiola by authors of distinction. \^ 

The " best known type" also figured (p. 107) by Swainson for his genus 
Scaphella is the S. undulata. This group includes a larger variety of forms 
than the other, and recommends itself to us as on the whole the better for our 
purpose, and will be here adopted. 

Scaphella junonia Hwass. 

Plate XXXIV. Figs. 5, 5 c, 5d, 5e. 

Voluta junonia Hwass, Chemnitz, Conchyl. Cab., XI. p. 16, pi. clxxvii. figs. 1703, 

1704 ; 1795. Swainson, Exotic Conchology, pi. xxxiii. 
Scaphella junonja Swainson, Malacology, p. 108, 1840. 

Habitat. Pass-a-Grille, Florida, on the beach, Hemphill ; Florida Keys, 
Jewett ; Florida Reefs, Pourtales; Station 2608, U. S. Fish Commission, 17 
miles S. E. by E. ^ E. from Cape Lookout, North Carolina, in 22 fms., sand 
and shell, bottom temperature 78°.2 F. ; Station 2414, in the Gulf of Mexico, 
between Tampa Bay and Dry Tortugas, lat. 25° 4' N., Ion. 82° 59' W., in 26 
%is., sand ; and near Nassau, New Providence, dead in shallow water. 

The adult shell is well known and has been repeatedly figured. It has no 
overglaze. The characters of the nucleus and the young have been less pre- 
cisely stated, except as might be inferred from a study of the adult. Chemnitz 
pointed out that the early whorls are sculptured, and that a coarse spiral stria- 
tion is faintly visible toward the anterior end. The anterior plaits are less 
strong than those behind them, especially in the young, a feature which was 
the chief character relied upon by Swainson in his division of the Volutidse. A 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 149 

young shell of (in all) three and a quarter turns, perfectly fresh, affords the 
following notes. 

Color. — The beginning of the nucleus livid purple ; the second whorl (which 
is post-embryonic) pale waxen white ; the rest of the shell waxen white with 
five series of rectangular dark purple-brown spots ; two other series begin on 
the last half-whorl ; the spots, at first angular, become rounded at the corners ; 
throat, plaits, and siphonal fasciole of varying pale shades of salmon-color; 
epidermis very thin, smooth, very pale brown. 

Sculpture. — Embryonic part of the shell finely granulous and with a slightly 
irregular surface, its initial point rounded and folded in laterally ; next half-turn 
polished, finely spirally striate; then small narrow longitudinal ribs begin to 
appear, which are most developed on the third whorl and begin to die out at 
the end of that whorl. These when most developed extend entirely across 
the whorl, their centres a little more than a millimeter apart, on the average. 
There are in this specimen about twenty-four well-developed ribs, and a num- 
ber more or less incomplete or obsolete. They are, on the body of the whorl, 
crossed by fine threads, more prominent in the interspaces between the ribs, and 
on the anterior part by about ten stouter threads, which ride over the ribs and 
reticulate them ; these threads, however, become obsolete on the siphonal fas- 
ciole. The pillar has four strong plaits on its posterior half; they increase in 
size, from in front backward. The length of the shell is 23.0 ; the length of 
the last whorl, 19.0; the maximum diameter of the shell, 12.0 mm. The form 
of the nuclear (embryonic) part is globose, with the initial point rounded and 
slightly inflated, or protruding laterally from the general orb of the nucleus. 

From the appearance of the nucleus in these forms of the genus I am im- 
pressed with the idea that the earliest shell substance, under which a shelly nu- 
cleus is secreted, is soft and cuticular, and that this protoconch is lost, perhaps 
while still in the ovicapsule. In this respect th6y differ strongly from the 
true Volutes typified by V. musica, which look as if their regularly coiled nu- 
cleus was shelly from the outset. Another point is worthy of attention, and 
that is that the young shells appear to show the plaits much more characteris- 
tically and normally than do the adults, especially in the section which follows 
(Aurinia). It should also be noted that the characters of the nucleus cannot 
be as well studied in the adult shell as in the very young, for the shelly matter 
of and about the nucleus seems softer than that secreted by the adult, and all 
the characteristic features are liable to be worn away, leaving a smooth mammil- 
lary tip which might readily be taken as normal. It would seem that the 
Volutes, as they grow, rapidly fill the cavity of the nucleus with solid shell, 
from which the original surface is in adults often entirely worn away, without 
appearing denuded to the observer. 

It is perhaps worth mentioning that a very intelligent waterman with whom 
I cruised on the west coast of Florida, and who had found a living Scaphella 
junonia on the beach after a heavy storm, insisted that it had an operculum. 
He cleaned the shell and sold it to a tourist, but did not preserve the oper- 
culum, which he alleged resembled that of Fulgur, but was proportionally 


150 BULLETIN OF THE 

smaller. I give this information for what it may be worth, and am by no 
means certain that the memory of my informant is to be wholly trusted ; 
though I believe the statement was made in entire good faith. 

Subgenus AURINIA H. & A. Adams. 

= Aurinia H. & A. Adams, Gen. Rec. Moll., I. p. 166, 1853. 

< Aurinia H. & A. Adams, Ibid., II. p. 617, 1858. 

< Livonia Gray, fide H. & A. Adams, /. c, p. 617, 1858. 

== Volutifusus Conrad, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phil., p. 563, 1862; Meek, Check-List 
Inv. Fos. N. Am. Miocene, p. 19, 1864. Conrad, Am. Journ. Conch., II. p. 66, 
1866. Tryon, Struct. & Syst. Conch., II. p. 166, 1883. 

< Megaptygma Gabb, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phil., 1876, p. 292 ; Tryon, Struct, and 

Syst. Conch., II. p. 166, 1883 (not Megoptygma Conrad, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. 
Phil., 1862, p. 563, type V. sinuosa Gabb). 
Aulica sp. Tryon, Man., IV. p. 90, 1882. 

Shell fusiform, thin, columellar plaits obsolete in the adult, external surface 
finely sculptured sometimes beneath an overglaze ; permanent nucleus begin- 
ning with a sharp erect point ; operculum and radula absent. Type, Volula 
dubia Broderip. 

The subgenus Aurinia was first proposed by H. & A. Adams for V. dubia. 
In the supplement to their work they included with it an entirely distinct 
form with a lateral nucleus, which would seem to have been named Livonia 
by Gray, and afterward Mamillana by Crosse. Volutifusus Conrad was based 
on V. mutabilis, V. dubia, and allied forms purely identical with Aurinia. 
Megaptygma Conrad, which has been united with Volutifusus by Gabb and 
Tryon, has directly antithetical characters, as the name implies, and, while 
perhaps not valid, is not a synonym of Aurinia or Volutifusus. All these 
forms have been referred to Aulica by Tryon, but the nucleus oi Aulica is of 
an entirely different character. 

The type is one of the most remarkable shells of the family. It is accom- 
panied in the Miocene Tertiary by Aurinia mutabilis Conrad, and is itself not 
uncommon in the Post Pliocene. 

It may be observed, that the Scaphella (Pseph&a) concinna Broderip,* of 
which a fairly preserved specimen was dredged by Stimpson in Hakodadi Bay, 
Japan, is closely related to Aurinia in its conchological characters. The ex- 
treme tip of the nucleus appears to be lost in all the specimens, but is very 
likely to resemble that of Aurinia. The Eocene species of the Paris Basin 
referred to by Dr. Fischer (Man., p. 607, ex. V. muricina), and to which, on 
account of their Aurinia-like nucleus, he has given the name of Eopsephoza, 
may be paralleled in the Scaphella demissa of our own Eocene, which has, 
however, the plaits of normal Scaphella. It is evident that the gaps are 
bridged by the fossils, and too many names will prove little less than a burden. 

* Of which 5. lyriforrm's Kiener (not Swainson) and S. Prevostiana Crosse are 
perhaps varieties, and all possibly referable to 5. megaspira Sby. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 151 

It may also be noted that the peculiar thick anterior plait in S. Prevostiana 
and concinna is almost paralleled in the S. Stearnsii of Alaska, though, if the 
description given in the Manual by Dr. Fischer of the dentition of S. concinna 
be correct, the two species are very properly subgenerically, or even generi- 
cally separated. Still, the free interchange of characters in the known species 
would lead us to suspect a similar state of things with those species whose 
soft parts are not yet known, and it will not be until all have been examined 
that we can feel confident that any present arrangement will not have to be 
modified. 

Aurinia dubia Brodebip. 

Voluta dubia Brod., Zool. Journ., III. p. 81, pi. in. fig. 1, 1828. 

Fusus tessellatus Sdmbert & Wagner, Suppl. Bd. Mart, und Chemn. Conchyl. Cab., 

p. 24, pi. ccxix. figs. 3048, 3049, 1829. Kiener, Icon. Kec. Shells, Fusus, 

p. 39, pi. xxix. fig. 1, copied in Reeve, Conch. Icon., IV. Fusus, pi. xiv. fig. 

53, 1847. (Not of Zekeli and Pictet, Fos. Gosaugeb., 1852.) 
Voluta dubia Sby., Thes. Conchyl., pi. lv. fig. 115, 1847 ; Reeve, Conch. Icon. Voluta, 

pi. xxii. fig. 59, 1849. 
Voluta (Aurinia) dubia H. & A. Ad., Gen. Ree. Moll., I. p. 166, 1853. 
Voluta ( Volutifusus) dubia Conrad, Am. Journ. Conch., II. p. 66, 1866. 
Voluta mutabilis Tuomey & Holmes, Plioc. Foss. S. Car., p. 128, pi. xxvii. figs. 5, 6, 

1856. Not of Conrad, Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phil., VII. p. 135, 1838, and 

Am. Journ. Sci., XLI. p. 346, pi. xi. fig. 7, 1841. 
Voluta (Aulica) dubia Tryon. Man., IV. p. 90, pi. xxvii. figs. 77, 81, 1882. 
Voluta dubia Dohrn, Jahrb. D. Mai. Ges., VI. pp. 150-156, pi. iv. figs. 1-3, 1879. 

Habitat. Florida Reefs, Pourtales , south and west coast of Florida, Dohrn ; 
U. S. Fish Commission, at Station 2402, between the mouth of the Mississippi 
and Cedar Keys, in the Gulf of Mexico, lat. 28° 36' N., Ion. 85° 33' W., in 111 
fins., gray mud, two living specimens ; Station 2603, thirty-six miles S. £ W. 
from Cape Hatteras, N. C, in 124 fms., sand ; Station 2604, thirty-nine miles 
S. by W. h W. from Cape Hatteras, in 34 fms., yellow sand, bottom tempera- 
ture 79° F. (dead fragment) ; and Station 2614, thirty-six miles S. E. ^ S. 
from Cape Lookout, N. C, in 168 fms., gray sand, bottom temperature 48°. 5 F. 
(fresh young specimen). 

This is probably the most slender species of the genus, and one of the thin- 
nest, though the specimens figured by Dohrn seem to have been heavier than 
any of those I have seen, or than are represented by any of the other figures 
extant. It is covered all over by fine spiral sculpture, no coarser in front than 
elsewhere ; it has also the peculiarity noted in some species of Cymba, of 
sometimes being covered all over by a sort of whitish glaze, which obscures the 
suture, the sculpture, and the coloration. Dohrn's figures look as if the shells 
had been artificially cleaned, to the advantage of their appearance but the loss 
of scientific value. This species has normally only two plaits, which, in the 
adult, are generally obsolete ; one of Dohrn's, however, had the columellar edge 
grooved, as if possessing two additional minor plaits. 


152 BULLETIN OF THE 

A young specimen, of the same age as the young S.junonia before described, 
presented the following characters. 

Colors. — Nucleus and first turn purplish brown (this fades with wear and 
exposure to an orange or buff) ; ground color pale salmon, or like the inside 
of a ripe canteloupe melon ; spots smaller, more angular, and more uniform 
than in S. junonia, and arranged in six series ; the peripheral series had twelve 
spots, in S.junonia only nine ; pillar like the basal color. 

Sculpture. — The nucleus, larger than the next turn, is finely granulous as in 
junonia, but is shaped like Natica mamilla ; the initial point is a point, dis- 
tinctly elevated above the rest. When its original surface is worn away, the 
hard core with which it is filled forms a sharper and more elevated point than 
there was originally. The spiral striation is uniform ; the whorls are com- 
pressed in front of the suture ; the ribs therefore, which do not become obsolete 
as soon as in S. junonia, have their shoulders some distance in front of, instead 
of at, the suture, as in that species ; there are seventeen of them on the last turn, 
and they become obsolete immediately in front of the periphery as a rule ; tbe 
epidermis, smooth in the adult, is distinctly hispid in the young; there are 
two clear cut but small plaits on the remarkably straight columella at its pos- 
terior end. The shell is 32.0 mm. long, the last whorl, 27.0 mm., and the 
maximum diameter, 12.0 mm. In an adult of 90.0 mm. long, the maximum 
diameter is25.0 mm. 

A very good figure of this species is that (fig. 5) given by Tuomey and 
Holmes, above cited. It represents a specimen from the Post Pliocene beds of 
the Peedee River, S. C. Casts are said to be abundant in the marl of Goose 
Creek. Neither of the figures on this plate represents the typical S. mutabilis, 
as they differ remarkably from Conrad's original figure. 

Two specimens of this species were obtained in a living state at Station 2402, 
by the U. S. Fish Commission, but were not discovered in the alcoholic col- 
lection until after the preceding and succeeding remarks on this family had 
been some time concluded. They were both males, and afforded the following 
notes. 

The animal is of a pinkish white color, the anterior parts more orange or 
reddish, the sides granular, with stellate black markings, and a certain amount 
of dark pigment aggregated toward the tip of the proboscis, siphonal fold, and 
margin of the foot. The foot is somewhat auriculated at its anterior corners, 
double across its front edge, and folded longitudinally. The tentacles are 
large with acute tips, and their bases, laterally angulated, continuous with 
the veil and not notched, are separated in the median line by a deep sulcus. 
The eyes are small and black, on small pretty well differentiated peduncles, 
outside of and behind the bases of the tentacles. There are two well-developed 
gills, and, on the opposite side, on the dome of the mantle, a large transversely 
corrugated slime-gland. The anus is in the nuchal commissure and incon- 
spicuous. The penis is not sickle-shaped, but small, subrectangular, with an 
inconspicuous lateral tip, the whole laid back on the neck and pointing 
caudally. There is a small squarish appendicle to the siphonal fold which 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 153 

resembles that of A. Gouldiana. There is no jaw, nor any radula, so this fea- 
ture may be taken as diagnostic of Aurinia. There are two little cartilaginous 
pads near the tip of the proboscis. There is no opercular pad or operculum, 
nor was there any visible color gland. 

On the whole, the general characters of the soft parts agree well with 
A. Gouldiana, though differing in some minor details. 

Aurinia robusta n. s. 

Plate XXXV. Fig. 2. 

Shell large, stout, with a chalky external layer under a thin pale yellow epi- 
dermis, and an internal porcellanous white layer ; a strongly curved and re- 
curved canal ; four columella plaits, nearly obsolete in the adult; the surface 
finely spirally striated; earlier whorls with the suture appressed and numerous 
(on the fourth whorl about 25) small short transverse riblets mounted on the 
periphery ; outer lip sharp ; throat pure white ; pillar lip merely glazed, ex- 
terior spotted with squarish brown spots with less regularity of size and posi- 
tion and more distant than in S. junonia ; whorls six beside the nucleus, fully 
rounded, somewhat irregularly coiled. Lon. of shell, 119.0; of last whorl, 
100.0 ; of aperture, 8S.0 mm. Max. diameter of shell, 52.0 mm. 

Nucleus small, of , one and a half concave whorls, with the acute initial point 
central, rising above the margin of the concave, which is formed by the sharp 
posterior edge of the first post-embryonic whorl ; this whorl is sculptured 
with very low flat striated transverse riblets with narrower channelled inter- 
spaces, extending clear across the whorl and both crossed by about eight dis- 
tinct spiral threads between the two sutures ; after the first turn the transverse 
bands become narrower, the interspaces about equal to them, and he spiral 
threads wider and flattened so that a fine and exceedingly elegant trellising is 
the result. The second whorl begins to be spotted with squarish brown spots 
with fainter edges, of which seven series appear at the end of the second turn ; 
interior yellowish white with four sharp plaits on the pillar, very oblique, and 
growing stronger backward ; epidermis smooth, thin, not polished ; suture 
very closely appressed. Lon. of this young shell, with nucleus and two whorls 
12.0 ; of second whorl, 11.0 ; max. diarn., 5.0 mm. 

Habitat. Station 55, off Havana, in lat. 22° 9' .5 and lon. 82° 21'.5, in 242 
fms.; Station 50, lat. 26° 31' and lon. 85° 53', in 119 fms ; U. S. Fish Com- 
mission Station 2397, in the Gulf of Mexico, lat. 28° 42', lon. 8G° 36', in 
280 fms., gray mud, bottom temperature 40°. 1 F. 

This fine and remarkable species is peculiarly distinguished by its chalky 
outer layer, under a pale epidermis, which becomes eroded, like that of a fresh- 
water shell. The form of the nucleus, if the hypothesis of a membranous em- 
bryonic first shell be admitted, would be due to a calcification which did not 
extend to the dome of the membrane, while the acute initial point of the cal- 
cified part may be supposed to occupy the vicinity of the pillar in the soft 


154 BULLETIN OF THE 

shell. The posterior margin of the first post-embryonic whorl might easily be 
rounded off by erosion, when the solid nucleus within after a little wear would 
put on quite a different appearance. The pattern of coloration, resembling 
S.junuiiia and S. duhia, also resembles that of young Cojius Jioridanus, Co7ius 
Mazei Deshayes, and other not related archibenthal species. The pillar is 
more flexuous than in either of the other species. The riblet sculpture resem- 
bles not only that of S. dubia and S. Gouldiana in a general way, but also that 
of the fossil 5. mutahilis, perhaps the precursor of all the Gulf species. The 
Blake dredged only fragments of this shell, the Fish Commission a single 
adult. 

Aurinia Gouldiana n. s. 

Plate XXIX. Fi£. 3. 

Voluta Gouldiana Dall, Conch. Exchange, II. p. 10, July, 1887. 

Shell rather small, solid, slender, white, brownish plum-color, or spirally 
banded with whitish and claret-color, rarely square-spotted in spiral series; 
whorls moderately full, five and a half beside the nucleus ; sculpture of fine 
close distinct spiral threads covering the whole surface except the anterior part 
of the last whorl, where they gradually give way to much stronger and more dis- 
tant threads, which in some specimens wind into the aperture, as if simulating 
small plaits ; the nucleus is nearly flat, whitish, consisting of one whorl rising 
a little above the posterior edge of the first post-embr} - onic whorl, and having 
a central projecting initial point, hut less prominent than in V. robusta. The 
suture is appressed and in the early whorls a little marginated ; the first whorl 
is only strongly spirally striated and convexly rounded; the succeeding whorls 
have the periphery rippled by a succession of (on the third whorl 22) small 
waves, with their anterior slope steeper than the other, and which, in some 
specimens, extend to the last third of the last whorl before becoming obsolete, 
though ceasing sooner in others ; these waves are generally confined to the 
periphery and vary in strength and number in different specimens, one speci- 
men having only eighteen on the third whorl ; the color varies from yellowish 
white to a ruddy brown with a suggestion of purple in it, which is usually 
stronger at the suture along the pillar and outer lip, and especially toward the 
end of the canal. The fresh specimens nearly all show a tendency to spiral 
banding; one beautiful but half-grown specimen has six narrow pale bands, the 
second from the suture being on the periphery, with the much wider inter- 
spaces of a brownish claret color; this fades slightly, but the white ones do not 
seem faded. The outer lip is sharp with a dark margin, the throat whitish, 
the pillar callus yellowish white ; there are, in the very young, four plaits, of 
which the first and third, counting backward, are fainter than the other two; 
in adult shells rarely are more than two visible and those are quite faint ; 
there is only a light glaze on the body whorl; in the adults the nucleus and 
first whorl are generally so worn as to resemble one of the common round 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 155 

mammillate tips seen normally in many Volutes. Lon. of shell (largest adult), 
69.0; of last whorl, 55.0; of aperture, 45.0; max. diameter of shell, 25.0 mm. 
Habitat. U. S. Fish Commission Station 2316, off Key West, in 50 fms., 
coral, a unique spotted fragment ; Station 2415, off Georgia, in 440 fms., sand; 
Station 2314, off South Carolina, lat. 32° 43', lon. 77° 51', in 159 fms., coarse 
sand, bottom temperature 47°.4 F. ; Stations 2624 and 2625, seventy-five 
miles S. by E. ^ E. from Cape Fear, North Carolina, in 258 and 247 fms., gray 
sand, bottom temperature 46°.0 F. ; also at Stations 2659 and 2661, off Cape 
Canaveral, Florida, in 509 and 455 fms., bottom temperature 45°.2 and 45°.5 ; 
Station 2665, off St. Augustine, in 263 fms., sand, temperature 45°.2 ; and Sta- 
tion 2668, off Fernandina, in 270 fms., sand, temperature 48°.3 F. (living). 

This species is the only one of the group, except V. vexillum,which. has a 
normal color pattern of unmodified spiral bands. Out of twelve specimens 
seen, only one had the bands broken into squarish distant spots. Its surface, 
in some specimens, shows a very thin chalky layer, but it does not seem to be 
subject to erosion. Though a comparatively small species, it offers in its color- 
ation an agreeable variety from the brown spotted pattern presented by the 
others, and, with the exception of V. Stearnsii which outrivals all others, is 
one of the most northern species of the genus. It is named in honor of the 
late Dr. A. A. Gould, author of the Report on the Shells of the Wilkes Ex- 
ploring Expedition. 

This species is entirely without trace of an operculum, opercular gland, or 
pad. To better make comparisons I took the oportunity of examining the 
corresponding soft parts of Scaphella Stearnsii Dall, from Alaska, in lat. 55° N., 
lon. 160° W. Gr. 

In S. Stearnsii there was a small but distinct opercular pad, but with no 
operculum on it. I should not be surprised if at some future time specimens 
of this species were found with a small operculum. The surface of the foot in 
S. Stearnsii is coarsely granulous, whitish with spots and streaks of vermilion. 
The color gland produced an abundance of a beautifully pure blue secretion. 
In Aurinia Gouldiana the surface of the foot is velvety, smooth with very 
fine granulations, white, with shades of olive tipping the stronger granulations. 
The sole of the foot in Stearnsii (as contracted in alcohol) showed a spongy 
layer with reticulated structure, evidently very distensible, the front edge of the 
foot was double, the groove not deep, and the front edge seemed to show no 
tendency to indentation in the median line, or lobulation at the anterior cor- 
ners ; Gouldiana seemed to be somewhat indented, otherwise the foot did not 
differ from Stearnsii except that the spongy sole was of finer texture. In both, 
in retracting it into the shell, the foot was folded longitudinally. In Gouldiana 
the secretion of the color gland is pale violet and scanty. There are two gills 
in both species, the lower or outer (left hand) one the smaller. In Gouldiana 
the outer gill is a blackish olive-color, the other one whitish like the body. 
The former doubtless performs the function of an osphradium, but I question 
whether it has not also something of a respiratory function. In Stearnsii the 
gills seemed coarser and the lamellae proportionally less numerous. The 


156 BULLETIN OF THE 

penis in Gould iana is stout, long, and twisted back, circularly wrinkled 
with a small pointed appendage at the tip. In Stearnsii the penis is broader 
and shorter, folded under and backward, and shaped like the distal end of a 
flattish bean-pod, transversely striated and thicker on its anterior than on 
its hinder edge. In Stearnsii there are two appendages like tentacula at the 
posterior end of the siphonal fold, one on each side, which must project forward 
when the animal is expanded ; in Gouldiana there is a median ridge in the 
gutter of the siphonal fold, which projects more and more as one follows it 
backward, and at its posterior end has a single appendage, shorter and broader 
than the lateral appendages of Stearnsii. which last has no median ridge in the 
fold. There is something like this ridge in the siphonal fold of Turbinella 
pyrum. 

In Stearnsii the siphonal fold when developed by the animal must resemble 
that of Cymbiola Irasiliana as figured by H. and A. Adams (Gen. Rec. Moll., 
pi. xviii. fig. 1), and the rest of that figure would do very well for the soft parts 
of Scaphella Stearnsii except in two particulars. The first is, that the flap, 
upon the anterior outer corner of which the eyes are situated, ceases a little 
distance behind the eye, and its outer edge rounds inward to the body wall. 
The second is, that between the tentacula and separated from them by a deep 
notch on each side is a broad flap or veil, very thin and rounded in front with- 
out indentation. From under this the stout long proboscis is extruded. This 
flap in a contracted state is as long as the tentacles. The teeth are precisely 
like those of Scaphella scapha L., as figured by various authorities (Troschel, 
Gebiss der Schnecken, Bd. II. pi. v. fig. 3). 

In Aurinia Gouldiana the front of the head is somewhat different. The eye 
flaps are small and subtriangular, instead of rounded rectangular. The tenta- 
cles are proportionally flatter, larger, and longer, and are divided from the veil 
by only a slight notch. The veil itself is divided into two lobes by a deep 
median fissure, and these lobes have each a sort of blunt point in the middle in 
front. I was unable to discover any radula after careful search. There cer- 
tainly was no sign of it in its proper place. 

It will be seen from these observations, that, so far as the head and foot are 
concerned, Aurinia is very much like Lyria. The siphonal fold, penis, and 
operculum differ; the last being wholly absent in Aurinia. From Scaphella 
proper it is also separated by marked differences of the soft parts. I hope 
that in time I shall be able to examine the soft parts of- V. junonia. The late 
Colonel Jewett told a story, which might well make a conchologist shudder, of 
coming upon a Floridian "Cracker," by the beach, just as he had broken the 
roasted shell of a fine V. junonia, and was about to swallow the contents ! 

Genus MITRA Lamarck. 

The Mitre-shells of the "West Indies have never been revised, though a list 
of the species known or supposed to belong to the fauna was included by Krebs 
in his Catalogue, and the species referred to in the general literature were 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 157 

indexed by me in the " List of Marine Mollusca." Some species have been 
wrongly referred to this fauna, such as exilis Reeve, and tiarella Lamarck, 
through erroneous identifications or labels. Some species have been so poorly 
described that no identification is possible, such as obliquata Lam. (perhaps a 
variety of nodulosd) and exigua C. B. Adams. M. interpunctata Carpenter, I 
find catalogued by Morch in Poulsen's list ; but I can find no other reference 
to it, or any description anywhere, so I suppose it to be unpublished. 

There can be no question that the group, generally called by the untenable 
name of Turricula, Klein, is entitled to be generically separated from the true 
Mitras ; but being unable to procure the soft parts of the species which I have 
for study, I prefer for the present to retain them under the general name of 
Mitra, even when the contour is that of species known to be Turriculate, since 
the form of the shell in this matter is far from decisive. 

There are but two common species of Mitra in the West Indies ; namely, 
M. nodulosa Gmelin (nucleoid Krebs, obliquata Pfr., granulosa Brugiere, La- 
marck, and the majority of authors) and M. barbadensis Ginel. (striatula La- 
marck, tessellata Kiener, picta Reeve, and perhaps cozligena (Rve.?) Krebs). 
Neither of these was obtained by the Blake, and both are usually seen in a 
more or less worn or rolled condition. There is a close connection between 
Mitra lens of the western coast of America and M. nodulosa ; the character- 
istic pits may frequently be seen in undoubted nodulosa. There is a variety, 
referred to M. lens, by the name of Dupontii Kiener, which is said to come 
from the Red Sea, a locality which Tryon and others have doubted. It may 
be erroneous, but there is nothing a priori unlikely in it ; as I have a speci- 
men half-way from nodulosa to lens which every one would say was an imma- 
ture lens if it came from Panama ; and it is well known how Red Sea species 
are constantly turning up about the West Indies, especially those from rather 
deep water. 

Other ancient species which are certainly West Indian are M. sulcata 
Gmelin (microzonias Lam., monilifera C. B. Adams), and its variety cavea 
Reeve ; M. dermestina Lamarck (of which speciosa. pulchella, and histrio, Reeve, 
are mere variations) and ebenus Lamarck, which I have also under the names 
of M. chelonia Reeve and M. nitilina Duclos. M. semicostata Anton, I have 
not seen, but from the figure it might be a ribbed variety of ebenus. Of more 
lately described species we have M. albocincta C. B. Adams, a good species 
(miscalled M. albicostata Ad. in my list of " Hemphill's Shells"), which on a 
very dwarfish scale recalls M. sulcata, and is a native of the Florida Keys and 
Cuban waters; M.puella Peeve, Florida and the Antilles (alveolus Reeve is 
perhaps synonymous) ; M. Candida Reeve (of which straminea A. Adams, may 
be an elongated variety) ; M. Hanlcyi Dohrn (1862), not of Sowerby (1874) 
nor Hanleyana Dunker (1877); this is a pale and delicately marbled species, 
varying from nearly pure white to mottled gray with dark columella, and 
which has a nearly black variety with white ribs that has received the name of 
M. gemmata from Sowerby. The difficulty attending the generic determina- 
tion of these small sheli3 in the absence of the soft parts is illustrated by the 


158 BULLETIN OF THE 

fact that Tryon puts one of these varieties in Mitra proper and the other in 
Turricula. It abounds in the Florida Keys. Mitra fioridana Dall, a little 
black (sometimes pale brown) species, is found with it. 

The Blake collection furnishes several interesting forms, and a new one has 
recently been obtained from the same region by the U. S. Fish Commission. 

Mitra Swainsoni Broderip. 

Plate XXXVIII. Fig. 7. 

Mitra Swainsoni Broderip, P. Z. S. 1835, p. 193. Reeve, Conch. Icon. Mitra, pi. i. 
fig. 4, 1844. (Not Sby.l) Agassiz, Three Cruises of the Blake, II. p. 70, 
fig. 293, 1888. 

Habitat. " Monti Christi, West Columbia," in 7 fms., sandy mud, Cuming. 
Variety antillensis Dall, Blake Station 250, in 421 fms., off Grenada, broken 
shell. U. S. Fish Commission Station 2354, off Arrowsmith Bank, Yucatan, 
in 130 fms., coral bottom ; Station 2614, thirty-six miles S.E. ^ S. from Cape 
Lookout, N. C, in 168 fms., gray sand. 

The shells dredged by the Fish Commission which retain their epidermis 
and are nearly perfect agree very well with Reeve's figure ; the later figure of 
Sowerby seems to be taken from a different species, perhaps a variety of 
M. maura as suggested by Tryon. The shouldered whorls and black epi- 
dermis are quite different from the regular convex series of whorls and olive- 
gray epidermis of the specimens before me. I have been able to compare my 
shells with a specimen of M. Swainsoni in the British Museum, and find them 
very similar. The color in the Antillean shells is a little more gray, and the 
shell not quite so rude in its general aspect. The range thus indicated is 
extraordinary, but not more so than that of Amusium Mortoni or Conus Deles- 
sertii Recluz. There is an almost identical species in the Miocene of Maryland, 
of which I have only seen fragments. 

Mitra fulgurita Reeve. 
Mitra fulgurita Reeve, Conch. Icon. Mitra, pi. ix. fig. 61, 1844. 

Habitat. Sigsbee, off Havana, in 119 fms. ; near Barbados, at Stations 282, 
290, and 299, 73-154 fms., bottom temperature 56°. 5 to 73°. 5 F., coral bottom ; 
also at Station 220, near Santa Lucia, in 116 fms-. rocky bottom, bottom tem- 
perature 58°,5 ; Station 247, off Grenada, in 170 fms., ooze, bottom temper- 
ature 53°. 5 F. Also by the U. S. Fish Commission at Station 2646, off Cape 
Florida, in 85 fms., gray sand. 

The habitat of this species according to Tryon has been hitherto unknown. 
The specimens were mostly rather young. The longitudinal white fiammules 
are exceptional, the tendency, at least in the young, seems to be toward a pale 
zone at the periphery, with darker brown on each side of it, especially in front 


MUSEUM OF COMPAKATIVE ZOOLOGY. 159 

of the sutures. The epidermis is well marked ; the interior of the aperture is 
white, with one obscure and three well-marked plaits, in the Blake specimens. 

Mitra straminea A. Adams. 

Mitra straminea A. Adams, P. Z. S. 1851, p. 132; Sby., Thes. Conch. Mitra, pi. xxv. 

fig. 561, 1874. 
? M. pia (Dohrn MS.) Sby., /. c, fig. 550 (an adult ?). 
1 M. Malleti Petit, Journ. de Conchyl., III. p. 58, pi. ii. figs. 1 a-b, 1852. 

A single specimen of what appears to be this species was dredged off Cuba, 
at Station 36, in 84 fms. It looks as if it might be a young stage of M. pia, 
but figures, however good, are to be trusted only with all reserves. 

Mitra (Costellaria ?) styria n. s. 

Plate XV. Fig. 6. 

Shell pale yellowish, white, or pinkish, sometimes with a faint peripheral 
brownish band, or mottled brown and white; elongated, acute, cancellately 
sculptured ; nucleus elongated, pointed, glassy, pale brownish, smooth, of about 
three and a half whorls ; other whorls 10-14, subconvex, with a distinct but 
not channelled suture; sculpture of about (on the last whorl) 25 slightly 
flexuous regular narrow even transverse ribs separated by wider interspaces, 
extending clear over the whorl ; spiral sculpture of (behind the suture about 
6-10) even threads, separated by squarely channelled narrower interspaces, 
crossing the ribs and with a tendency to form a nodule at the intersection ; 
canal rather slender, with seven or eight strong spiral threads externally, which 
are crossed only by incremental lines ; the tip of the canal is slightly recurved ; 
internally the outer lip is thin, unreflected, and smooth; deeper in the throat 
are 6-10 tine spiral elevated lirge, ending in the adult in as many little knobs. 
On the body whorl near the angle with the outer lip, at certain stages, is a 
single small elevated callus ; over the surface and on the column the callosity 
is thin ; the pillar has three well-defined plaits behind its own margin, the 
posterior the largest; the completely adult may have two more. Lon. of shell, 
19.0 ; of aperture, 7.0 ; max. diam. of shell, 5 mm. 

Habitat. Gulf of Mexico, off Havana, in 1 19 fms. ; at Station 32, in 95 fms. ; 
Station 36, in 84 fms. ; at Barbados, in 73-100 fms.; off St. Domingo, at 
Station 185, in 333 fins. ; Station 262, in 92 fms., near Grenada ; and by the 
U. S. Fish Commission at Station 2646, near Cape Florida, in 85 fms., sand. 
Bottom temperatures at the above stations, 44°. to 70°. 75 F. Specimens dead, 
but in most cases fresh, and probably lived at the depth stated. 

This species varies in the relative strength of the ribs and spiral threads, and 
the prominence of the intersections ; some specimens are more attenuated than 
others. The measurements of the description are taken from the most perfect 
specimen, but, judging from fragments, it attains a size one third larger, and 
the adult will be proportionally somewhat stouter. 


1G0 BULLETIN OF THE 

This species recalls M. (Turriculal) longispira and nasuta Sby., and casta 
A. Adams. It has less ilexuous ribs, which are not shouldered against the 
suture, more rounded whorls and a longer canal than any of the above as far 
as one can determine by the figures in the Thesaurus. A pale pinkish-white 
variety has the maximum number (10) of spiral riblets behind the termination 
of the suture, and in this form the cancellation is less marked than in the 
majority, which have the spiral about equal to the transverse ribs. 

Mitra (Costellaria V) Deshayesii Reeve? 

Mitra Deshayesii Reeve, Conch. Icon., fig. 170, 1844. 

Mitra rustica Sowerby, non Reeve ; Thes. Conch., fig. 143, 1874. 

The single imperfect specimen which I refer with much doubt to the above 
species, while strongly resembling Sowerby's figure, differs from it in having 
the aperture strongly internally lirate, and between the ribs spiral threads, 
hardly visible on the ribs ; there is an impressed line before the suture, which 
indents the ribs, forming a sort of margination to the suture ; there are half 
a dozen strong spiral threads on the canal; the color is chestnut with a pale 
band above the periphery, and there are three plaits on the columella. The 
original Deshayesii is reported from the Eed Sea. 

Mitra (Costellaria?) Rushii n. a. 
Mitra Rushii Dall, Conch. Exchange, II. p. 9, July, 1887. 

Shell small, evenly fusiform, dark brown, bleaching to pale brown or yellow- 
ish; nucleus smooth, large, obtuse, of one and a half brown glassy whorls; other 
whorls about six, not convex, the last more than half the length of the shell ; 
suture well marked but not channelled ; sculpture of narrow even numerous 
flexuous ribs (about four to 1.0 mm.) extending clear across the whorl and hav- 
ing about equal interspaces ; spiral sculpture of fine even close-set lines which 
do not cross or are obsolete on the ribs, and a few impressed lines cutting the 
ribs near the anterior end of the last whorl ; aperture short and rather wide, 
the outer lip simple, not thickened or reflected, the throat strongly lirate ; a 
small callosity near the angle of the outer lip on the body whorl, and three 
stout plaits on the short columella. Lon. of shell, 8.75 ; max. lat. of shell, 3.0; 
Ion. of aperture, 3.75 mm. The majority of specimens are about half as long 
as this one, and proportionately stouter. 

Habitat. Near Sand Key, Cuba, in about 80 fms. Dredged by the U. S. 
Fish Commission at Station 2372, in the Gulf of Mexico, in 27 fms., gravel, 
and off the Carolinas at Stations 2595, 2596, 2607, 2608, 2612, 2616, 2617, and 
2619, in from 14 to 63 fms., gravel, bottom temperature from 67°. to 75°.5 F. 

This little shell resembles no recent species I find figured ; perhaps M. cethi- 
opica Jickeli, from the Red Sea, comes as near as any. Volutomitra wandoensis 
February 25, 1889. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 1G1 

Holmes, of the Carolina Post Pliocene, would seem to be related to it. The 
simplicity and elegance of the sculpture are remarkable. It is named in honor 
of Dr. W. H. Rush, U. S. N., who has made praiseworthy collections of shells 
in the Antillean region. 

Mitra (Costellaria?) trophonia n. s. 

Shell elongated, with a Stilifer-like nucleus of five or more whorls, acute, 
yellowish brown, polished, glassy, and about eight other normal moderately 
rounded whorls ; the last whorl forms more than half the shell ; sculpture 
of about (on the last whorl) fourteen sharp little-elevated ridges, which are 
rounder on the earliest whorls and obsolete on the last half of the (adult) last 
whorl ; incremental lines irregularly prominent ; spiral sculpture of fine faint 
grooves, most visible between the ridges, three or four ill-defined distant re- 
volving ridges on the anterior part of the last whorl which make a sort of arch 
in the transverse ridges when the latter cross them, and two to four ridges 
on the canal corresponding to the plaits ; siphonal fasciole prominent and 
well marked ; suture distinct, not deep, waved by the ends of the transverse 
ridges ; color from pale yellow to deep orange, with a narrow opaque white 
band a little way behind the suture, which swells a little where it crosses the 
transverse crests, and may in some specimens be represented by a series of spots 
on the crests; surface rather glossy ; aperture narrow, outer lip thin, sharp, 
with faint fine lirse in the throat; a small callus at the posterior angle on the 
body whorl ; plaits four, the first rather small ; canal nearly as wide as the 
aperture, somewhat recurved. Lon. of adult shell, 20.0; of last whorl, 12.0: 
of nucleus, 2.0; max. lat. of shell, 6.75 mm. 

Habitat. Station 132, in 115 fms., broken shell, off Frederickstadt, Santa 
Cruz, bottom temperature 65°.0 ; Station 247, off Grenada, in 170 fms., ooze, 
bottom temperature 53°. 5 F. 

The peculiarly rude aspect resulting from the irregular incremental lines 
and the sharp-edged transverse ridges is characteristic, and resembles some- 
what that of certain species of Trophon or Anachis. I have not been able to 
find in the monographs, or elsewhere, any species which could well be com- 
pared to this one in sculpture. It is quite possible that its color varies. 

The nearest species to M. trophonia is M. albocincta C. B. Adams, which is 
much stouter and stumpier, with wider and rounder transverse ridges, rounder 
form, and less acute and laterally flattened spire. It is also considerably smaller, 
with a shorter canal in propoi-tion, and is black in all the specimens I have 
seen, without exception, and shows no tendency to paler variations. M. trophonia 
has also a faint distant resemblance to M. Defrancei Payraudeau. 

Mitra (Turris ?) Bairdii Dall. 

Shell waxen gray or greenish, elongated, acute, with ten or eleven flattened 
whorls; nucleus? (wanting); sculpture consisting on the earlier whorls of up 

VOL. XVIII. 11 


162 BULLETIN OF THE 

to fourteen little raised hardly fiexuous transverse waves extending clear across 
the whorls, rounded, equal throughout their length, and separated hy shallow 
slightly wider interspaces; this transverse sculpture becomes gradually fainter, 
and entirely obsolete on the last whorl, which in the adult seems only marked 
by the fine and slightly irregular incremental lines which give to the thin 
smooth pale brown and slightly fibrous epidermis a silky appearance ; spiral 
sculpture of numerous very fine close half-obsolete grooves or scratches, and 
six or seven deeper stronger grooves encircling the canal ; whorls mostly 
flattened, the last slightly rounded ; suture distinct, appressed; aperture white, 
the outer lip thin, sharp, with no lira? on the typical specimen ; column with 
three plaits, the anterior one faint; canal short, nearly as wide as the aperture, 
hardly recurved ; siphonal fasciole distinct ; soft parts whitish, with no oper- 
culum. Lon. of shell (nuclear whorls lost), 35.0; of last whorl, 17.-0; of 
aperture, 12.0 ; max. lat. of shell, 9.0 mm. 

Habitat. 100 miles S. E. by S. i S. from Cape Fear, N. C, in 528 fins., 
yellow mud, bottom temperature 38°. 7 F. Dredged by U. S. Fish Commission 
steamer Albatross, one living specimen, at Station 2628. 

The soft parts are so contracted that they could not be extracted without 
breaking the shell. This species looks a good deal like a Terebra in form. 
None of the described species at all resemble it. 

Mitra (Thala ?) torticula n. s. 

Plate XV. Fig. 8. 

Shell elongated, acute, pale yellowish, paler toward the extremities, with a 
dehiscent thin fibrous epidermis, its axial line somewhat convex toward the 
right ; nucleus glassy, white, mammillate, of two whorls ; other whorls about 
six, of which the last forms more than half the shell ; sculpture of (on the last 
whorl) 12 rounded straight ribs, widest near the periphery, extending across 
the whorls and fainter near the suture and on the canal ; these are crossed by 
about (on the last whorl) 16 rounded even threads, wdiich pass over the ribs 
and interspaces without any marked nodulation and are separated by wider 
interspaces; suture not impressed ; aperture narrow ; outer lip thin and simple 
except for slight crenulation due to the sculpture; columella straight, acute 
anteriorly ; no callus on the body or pillar ; plaits two, distinct but not strong. 
Lon. of shell, 12.2; max. lat. of shell, 4.0 mm. Soft parts dried up within 
the shell, inaccessible, but apparently without an operculum. 

Habitat. One living specimen from off Havana, Cuba, in 400 fins., bottom 
and temperature not determined. 

The form of this shell (apart from its departure from a straight line) recalls 
Mangilia more than Mitra ; the two plaits are well inside, so that they would 
seem to be true plaits, and not mere callosities. It is possible that it should 
he referred to Cordicria, but the aspect is more like Mitra. Its permanent 
place will depend on the results of the future dismemberment of the doubtless 
now heterogeneous group named Thala by H. & A. Adams. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 163 

Subgenus CONOMITRA Conrad. 
? Conomitra Conrad, Am. Journ. Conch., I. p. 25, 1865. 

Shell stout, short, like a short Beta; spire obtuse with a relatively large 
shelly mammillate nucleus ; outer lip straight, simple, smooth inside ; colu- 
mella nearly straight with 3-5 rather strong plaits enlarging backward; no 
posterior notch ; siphonal notch deep ; surface smooth or axially plicate or 
reticulated. 

This group resembles Microvoluta Angas, but in that the siphonal notch 
is wanting or obsolete, and the general form more elongated ; in Strigatella 
and Zierliana the outer lip is armed, and the dentition of the columella is 
quite different. It differs from the type of Conomitra Conrad in its apex, in 
its simple outer lip, and in the absence of the peculiar anterior attenuation. 
I have not been able to find any other group into which it would fit in a 
satisfactory manner, and have decided to use Conrad's undescribed name for 
it ; I do not feel positive that it really belongs in the Mitrida*, yet its form, 
plaits, and nucleus seem more allied to such forms as M. Hanleyi Dohrn than 
to Enceta and the other connections of Voluta. The colors are exactly those 
of Enceta. It is possible that there may be a caducous nucleus, and that the 
mammillary tip is merely the consolidated base thereof ; this cannot be deter- 
mined until quite young specimens have been obtained. My impression is, 
however, that the apex is naturally mammillate, as in Mitra Hanleyi. The 
species like M. (?) styria have an elongated rather acute translucent nucleus of 
three or four whorls, like a little Assiminea, which is usually lost. This may 
be a character of Turricula. 

The type of Conomitra Conrad, on which, in default of any diagnosis, the 
subgenus must rest, is Mitra fusoides Lea (Contr. to Geol., p. 169, t. vi. fig. 176, 
1833). C. staminea and C. vicksburgensis Conrad, the latter being unfigurecl, 
are probably mere varieties of Lea's shell, which was derived from the Clai- 
borne beds. The differences between them are such as I observe between my 
specimens of C. Blaheana. The simple unlirate outer lip of the latter may be 
due to the period of growth; at all events. I prefer to retain the recent form 
with Conomitra until there is more material available upon which to base a 
final decision. This is the more desirable since the Miocene C. angulata Heil- 
prin, from the Tampa silex beds, with the smooth outer lip of the recent form 
has the small pointed apex of the Eocene type. 

Conomitra Blakeana n. s. 

Shell columbelliform, short, stout, the aperture equalling or exceeding half 
the shell ; apex large for the shell, mammillate ; whorls about six, their pos- 
terior faces well rounded and somewhat turrited between the sutures ; the 
elevation of the spire different in different specimens ; sculpture of numerous 
close stout transverse ribs with very narrow interspaces, incremental lines 


1G4 BULLETIN OF THE 

rather well marked ; spiral sculpture of rather strong threads, strongest on the 
anterior part of the whorl and obsolete behind the periphery ; aperture nar- 
row, outer lip thickish, not reflected, smooth inside; body whorl free from 
callus ; columella with four strong subequal plaits and one or two obscure 
anterior folds ; color whitish or brownish when faded, plum color and white 
variegated when fresh. Lon. (of two specimens) of shell, 10.0 and 8.0; of 
aperture, 6.25 and 5.50; max. lat. of shell, 5.0 and 4.6 mm. 

Habitat. Yucatan Strait, 640 i'ms., two dead specimens. 

This form is related to Gonomitra minima Seguenza, Form. Terz. Reggio, 
p. 101, pi. xi. fig. 4, 1879, but is about twice as large. The latter is from the 
Tortonian division of the Sicilian Miocene. 

Conomitra Blakeana var. laevior. 

Plate XXXV. Fig 10. 

Shell resembling the preceding in form and size, but smooth or with but 
few faint plaits on the apical whorls; color orange, or flaked and clouded with 
opaque white, or marbled like Meta cedomdli; the spiral threads are absent 
except a few on the canal ; the whorls are more appressed and the appearance 
of the spire less stumpy. Lon. of shell, 9.75 ; max. lat. 4.6 mm. 

Habitat. Stations 57, in 177 fms., and 62, in 80 i'ms., off Havana; dredged 
by Sigsbee while in search of Pentacrinus. Also in 300 fms., mud, off Cape 
San Antonio, by Dr. Rush. 

This must be a charming shell when in good order, and apparently must 
inhabit moderate depths of water. 


Genus MITROMORPHA Adams. 

Mitromorpha A. Adams (Cpr.), Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., 3d ser., XV. p. 182, March, 
1865. (M.Jilosa Cpr.) 

This group, though indicated, seems not to have been characterized by either 
Adams or Carpenter, and it may be well to indicate its chief features. The 
form of the typical species is biconic with a globose nucleus, a narrow aperture 
very slightly or not at all notched behind, a nearly straight columella on 
which (1) the spiral riblets of the sculpture may run into the interior; or 
(2) may be overlaid with a smooth layer of callus ; or (3), while in either con- 
dition, may have two faint oblique ridges on the column, which, however, are 
not continuous within the shell. The outer lip is thickened, but not reflected, 
and lirate or denticulate a little way within the margin. The nucleus is like 
that of some of the small Mitras, the shell (as in M. dormitor Shy.) recalls 
Columbella, Conus, Cithara, etc. The spiral sculpture is usually stronger than 
the transverse. My own impression, subject to modification with greater 
knowledge, is that these shells are related to Mitra rather than Daphnella, etc. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 165 

The species about to be described is more like Mitra conchologically than are 
the Californian species. 

The genus is known from Japan, California, and the Antilles. 

Mitromorpha biplicata n. s. 

Plate XXXV. Fig. 1. 

Shell small, biconic, cancellated, yellowish or whitish or with brown flam- 
mules; nucleus glassy, white, globose, of one and a half turns; other whorls 
five or six, hardly rounded; sculpture of about (on the last whorl) sixteen 
spiral squarish riblets with about equal interspaces, in which near the aper- 
ture of the adult a fine intercalary thread appears; the spiral sculpture is 
crossed by incremental lines and numerous faint rounded transverse ribs which 
go nearly across the whorl, but which are chiefly evident through the rounded 
waves they form on the spiral riblets, especially behind the periphery of the 
whorls; suture hardly distinguishable; aperture narrow, outer lip lirate within, 
a little patulous; inner lip plain, with two strong plications near its middle, 
the posterior the largest. Lon. of shell, 7.0; of aperture, 3.5; max. lat. of 
shell, 3.0 mm. 

Habitat. Barbados, in 100 fms. 

None of the specimens had completed the thickening of the outer lip and 
the glazing of the columella which mark the adult state, but several were very 
near it. The surface of the shell is glossy except for the incremental lines. 
The colors much resemble in variations those exhibited by Mitra fulgurita 
Reeve. 


Family FASCIOLARIID^E. 

Subfamily FUSING. 

Genus FUSUS Lamarck. 

The Fusacea of the West Indies appear to be few in number of species, and 
rare as individuals. Omitting those already known to belong to other genera 
though described as Fusus, the following species appear to be known to inhabit 
the Antillean region: Fusus closter Philippi; F. Couei Petit (very close to 
tenuiliratus Dunker and probably a variety of it); F. distans Lamarck; F. gra- 
datus Reeve (+ Hartvigii Shuttlew'orth) ; F. muricoides C. B. Adams; F. nitens 
C. B. Adams; Fusus Schrammi Crosse; and F. sinistralis Lamarck. F. mult- 
angulus Philippi is a Muricidea, F. limbatus Dunker a dwarf species of Trito- 
nidea ; both are good species. The two species of C. B. Adams are in need of 
more study. They have not been figured, but both were noted by me, when 
going over the Amherst collection, as rather peculiar. F. muricoides looks as if 
it might belong to the Purpuracea. It is colored somewhat like Pleuroioma 
albocincta, and the canal is closed and twisted up as in Tritonium. F. nitens 


1G6 BULLETIN OF THE 

reminded me of a young Phos. Fusus perrugatus Conrad (Florida, 1846) is 
better classified in the genus Urosalpinx. On the other hand, Urosalpinx caro- 
linensis Verrill appears much like a Fusus of short and compact form. The 
species of Fusus described as new by Holmes, in the " Post Pleiocene Fossils 
of South Carolina," are all young shells of Nassa, Columbella, etc. The Colus 
exilis of Conrad, figured in the Pliocene part of the same work, is not known 
to me in a recent state. The species dredged by the U. S. Fish Commission 
along the eastern coast, with the exception perhaps of Sipho glyptus Verrill, 
belong to Chrysodomus and its subdivisions, or, at all events, not to Fusus 
proper. The researches of the Blake and the Albatross in the Gulf and An- 
tillean region enable me to add several interesting forms to the list of known 
species, and new localities for some which have been regarded as rare. 


Fusus tirnessus n. s. 

Shell solid, waxen white, with nine and a half inflated whorls. Nucleus of 
two whorls, swollen, polished, the last whorl with sharp transverse riblets. 
Sculpture of sharply carinate spiral ridges, 6-8 on the earlier whorls, 11-15 on 
the last whorl, beside about 20 on the canal. On the last whorl, the four or 
five ridges in front of the suture are smaller than the others ; there is generally 
a small sharp ridge between the pairs of large ones which becomes a fine thread 
if we follow it up the spire; on the canal all the ridges become less prominent 
anteriorly. On the apical whorls there are 10-12 transverse ribs, rounded, and 
only prominent toward the periphery; the ridges run over these without much 
change and the transverse riblets become fainter on the later whorls and usually 
vanish on the last one. The only other transverse sculpture is formed by the 
lines of growth, which are rather sharp and scalloped between the ridges, cor- 
responding to serrations of the outer lip; the whorls increase rapidly in diam- 
eter, and the suture is deep but not channelled. The base of the last whorl is 
rather suddenly constricted, while the canal tapers rapidly. The aperture is 
small, surrounded by a continuous sharp lip-lamina which extends to the end 
of the canal. The outer lip is strongly serrate, corresponding to 12-14 strong 
internal lirse; the inner lip is also Urate, but the lirse are often broken up irreg- 
ularly toward their outer ends. In the immature shell the lamina about the 
mouth and the lirations on the inner lip are of course absent. Max. Ion. of 
shell, 88.0; of last whorl, 60.0; of aperture, 20.0; of aperture and canal, 
55.0; max. lat. of shell, 33.0; of aperture, 15.0 mm. 

Habitat. U. S. Fish Commission Stations 2134, south of Cuba, in 254 fms., 
sand; 2316, off Key West, in 50 fms., coral bottom, temperature 74°.0; 2404, 
in the Gulf of Mexico, between the delta of the Mississippi and Cedar Keys, 
Florida, in 60 fms., sand; and 2411, between Cedar Keys and the Dry Tortugas, 
in 27 fms., sand. 

This is a very remarkable species; in the short and rapidly increasing spire, 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 167 

large body whorl, and rapidly tapering canal, it has no parallel among recent 
species. Its nearest relative, and doubtless ancestor, is the Fusus Caloosaensis 
Heilprin, from the Pliocene of the Caloosahatchie River, Florida, which has 
very much such a spire, but the whorls are appressed to the suture and the 
sculpture is markedly different in detail ; the lira? of the outer lip are double, 
and the shell is usually smaller than in the present species. 

In Fusus timcssus the soft parts are white, the operculum thick and solid. 
Neither appears to differ from those ordinary to the genus. 

Fusus eucosmius n. s. 

Plate XXXV. Fig. 5. 

This shell is close to Fusus turriculus Kiener, from the Chinese coast, and i3 
best described by a comparison with it. The nucleus of turriculus is brown 
and swollen, the first whorl being larger than the one which succeeds it ; in 
eucosmius it is smaller, white, and the second turn is larger than the first. 
F. turriculus with eleven whorls measures 110.0 mm. long and 30.0 in diam- 
eter. F. eucosmius with eleven whorls measures 85.0 by 23.5 mm. It has its 
mouth relatively as well as actually smaller than the Chinese species; the 
maximum diameter of the aperture in the latter enters 6.1 times into the total 
length, while in F. eucosmius it will enter 6.6 times. The average number of 
transverse ribs in F. turriculus is ten, in F. eucosmia eight, while in the latter 
they are usually more prominent, especially at the periphery, and the inter- 
spaces are deeper. The color of the Chinese form is yellowish white, but most 
of the Antillean specimens tend toward an orange hue like that of a ripe apri- 
cot. In other features the two species are very similar, except that the inner 
lip of eucosmius is always smooth, while in adult specimens of the Chinese 
shell the equivalent surface is strongly irregularly lirate. 

Habitat. West Florida, in 60 fms. ; Station 11, in 37 fms., near Cuba; 
Station 290, in 73 fms., sand, off Barbados, bottom temperature 70°. 7. Also 
at U. S. Fish Commission Stations 2316, 2317, 2318, off Key West, in 45-50 
fms., sand, temperature 75°. 0, and 2402, in 111 fms., and 2411 in 27 fms., sand, 
in the Gulf of Mexico. 

The specimens obtained by the Blake were all very young and imperfect. 
The characters of the species could not have been made out without an exam- 
ination of the Fish Commission specimens, most of which were adult and 
living. 


o 


FUSUS Couei Petit. 
Fusus Couei Petit, Journ. de Conchyl., IV. p. 249, pi. viii. fig. 1, 1853. 

Habitat. U. S. Fish Commission Stations 2411 and 2414, in the Gulf of 
Mexico between Tampa and Dry Tortugas, in 26-27 fms., sand. 


168 BULLETIN OF THE 

This extremely neat little species is closely approached by F. tenuiliratus 
Dunker, of unknown habitat, which may prove to be a mere variety or abnormal 
form of our species. 

Fusus distans Lamarck var. closter Philippi. 

I can fully corroborate the remarks of Mr. Tryon in regard to this variety. 
It is absolutely indistinguishable from specimens from the Philippine Islands 
known to be varieties of F. distans. F. Dupetit-thouarsi of Kiener runs through 
a parallel series of variations. 

Fusus halistreptus n. s. 

Plate XXXV. Fig. 7. 

Shell pure white, of about ten whorls. Nucleus decollate in the specimen; 
early whorls with 10-12 faint rounded transverse ribs which become nearly 
obsolete on the later whorls ; lines of growth elevated, sharp, fluted and retic- 
ulated by the spiral sculpture, giving the surface a rasplike character; they 
are also gathered into a frilled band just in front of the suture, which they cut 
obliquely ; spiral sculpture of numerous fine threads, and on each whorl three 
to five stronger ones, more prominent and sharp-edged on the ribs; aperture 
small, surrounded with an elevated border; outer lip delicately lirate within, 
inner lip perfectly smooth, a distinct notch in the callus on the body at the 
posterior commissure of the aperture ; canal long, slender, subcylindrical. 
Max. Ion. of shell, 80.0 ; of last whorl, 51.0 ; of aperture, 15.0 ; of canal in 
front of the aperture, 28.0; max. lat. of shell, 20.0 mm. 

Habitat. U. S. Fish Commission Station 2655, living, in 338 fms., Little 
Bahama Bank, bottom sandy, temperature 47°. 5 F. 

This species recalls F. Schrammi Crosse, being about the same size and other- 
wise similar, but it is more drawn out, the whorls are rounded and full, and 
they are not angulated by the prominent peripheral thread which replaces the 
carina of F. Schrammi. The gathered oblique lamellae at the suture are also 
peculiar. 

The soft parts are white except the eyes, which are remarkably large and 
black, and some of the internal organs. The tentacles are very short and 
small. The operculum and other features seem to resemble those of F. colus 
as figured by H. & A. Adams. 

Fusus benthalis n. s. 

Plate XV. Fig. 10. 

Shell small, yellowish white, eight-whorled. Nucleus milk-white, polished, 
two-whorled, smooth. Spiral sculpture of (on the last whorl about 12) rather 
strong rounded threads, of which three appear on the upper whorls about equal 
and equidistant, riding over and becoming a little swollen upon the transverse 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 1G9 

ribs; between tbese are numerous small subequal close-set spiral threads ; 
transverse sculpture of (on the last whorl about 12) equal even ribs, which 
fall away toward the sutures and on the canal; these ribs are wider than their 
interspaces, with a tendency to become nodulous where crossed by the strong 
spirals ; both margins of the suture are bordered by a thread and appressed to 
each other in a wavy line ; canal and aperture moderate ; the outer lip lirate 
within ; inner lip simple, with a light wash of callus ; whorls moderately 
rounded. Max. Ion. of shell, 15.0; of last whorl, 10.0; of aperture, 4.0; of 
canal in front of the aperture, 4.0 ; max. lat. of shell, 5.5 mm. 

Habitat. Off Cape San Antonio, living, in 1002 fins. Station 5, near Cuba, 
in 152-229 fins., ooze, temperature 49°.5; off Sand Key, 15-128 fms; off 
Sombrero, in 54 fms. 

This little shell appeals to be abundant, and to have a very wide bathy- 
metrical range. 

Fusus amiantus n. s. 

Plate XV. Fig. 11. 

Shell pure white, with a straw-colored nucleus, ten-whorled. Spire rather 
acute, whorls obliquely smoothed off in front of the sutures. Nucleus four- 
whorled, above smooth, below sculptured with semilunar transverse ripples 
and a basal carina; spiral sculpture of very fine spiral threads, lightly decus- 
sated by wavy lines of growth ; there are also two strong threads near the 
periphery, one lower which is obscured by the suture, and on the last whorl 
three, more anterior, beside the usual spiral sculpture of the canal; these 
strong threads become much more prominent, stronger, and sharply keeled, as 
they pass over the transverse riblets ; transverse sculpture of eight rounded 
ribs, which appear near the periphery and extend over it on to the base ; they 
are crossed by the spiral sculpture ; suture appressed, wavy ; the absence of 
ribs near the suture and the flattening of the shell there give this species a 
somewhat Pleurotomoid aspect, but there is no notch ; canal moderate, strongly 
twisted ; aperture smooth within, edges sharp, simple. Max. Ion. of shell, 17.0; 
of last whorl, ,10.3 ; of aperture and canal, 8.0; max. lat. of shell, 6.6 mm. 

Habitat. Gulf of Mexico, at Station 2, off Havana, in 805 fms., bottom tem- 
perature 39°.75 F. 

The nucleus of this little shell is peculiar, and the aperture is imperfect, but 
it is clearly different from any of the known species. There is something in 
the texture of the shell and the finer sculpture which recalls Sipho ghjptus 
Verrill. 

Fusus gepynotus n. s. 

Shell small, slender, white, eight-whorled ; nucleus milk-white, strongly 
transversely plicate below, above smooth, rounded ; spiral sculpture of (on the 
last whorl 18) strong rounded threads, of which four or five are visible on the 


170 BULLETIN OF THE 

upper whorls; these are slightly swollen, but not keeled, where they pass over 
the ribs ; between these are numerous fine close-set threads slightly marked, 
by inconspicuous lines of growth. The transverse sculpture consists of (on 
the last whorl 10) rounded rather close stout ribs which pass clear over the 
whorl and are straight and slightly larger behind ; suture appressed and wavy, 
conspicuous ; canal stout, slightly twisted, aperture subovate, marginated ; outer 
lip internally lirate with two or three strong denticles anteriorly ; inner lip 
smooth, or slightly granulous. Max. Ion. of shell, 24.0 ; of last whorl, 16.5 ; 
of aperture and canal, 12.5; max. lat. of shell, 9.0 mm. 

Habitat. Station 36, in 84 fms., Gulf of Mexico; off Sombrero, in 70 fms. 
U. S. Fish Commission Station 2648, off Cape Florida, in 84 fms., green mud. 

This species recalls F. Bocayei Fischer, dredged by the Travailleur in about 
500 fms., but that species, from an authentic specimen, is shorter, stouter, with 
only seven transverse ribs and three principal spiral threads on the spire. The 
fine spirals in F. Bocagei are also more conspicuous. F. wpijnotus has a little 
the aspect of Fusus carolinensis Verrill, especially the young ones, while differ- 
ing in many details, especially the number and straightness of the ribs. Its 
nearest relative would seem to be a form named by Borson Fusus lamellosus, 
from the Tertiary of Modena; but this is merely the young of F. rostratus, and 
the adult has very different characters. 

Fusus alcimus n. s. 

Shell resembling the last species, but shorter and more acute at both ends, 
with only six much more oblique and proportionally stouter ribs, coarser re- 
volving spirals, and none of the fine spiral striation which exists between the 
primary threads of F. cepynotus. It has eight whorls; the nucleus is strongly 
plicate below; the interspaces between the ribs are deep, and in them the 
spirals are much closer together than they are on the summit of the ribs; on 
the last whorl there is sometimes an intercalary single fine spiral thread. The 
color is yellowish with touches of dark brown ; the canal is very short ; the 
aperture is contracted, the lips much thickened, the outer one strongly inter- 
nally lirate, the inner one smooth ; the suture is inconspicuous and very much 
waved. Max. Ion. of shell, 15.0; of last whorl, 9.2; of aperture and canal, 7.0; 
max. lat. of shell, 7.0 mm. 

Habitat. Station 32, in 95 fms., 100 miles north of Yucatan, in the Gulf 
of Mexico. 

Fusus alcimus var. Rushii Dall. 

Shell smaller, pure white, nucleus hardly plicate, depressions between the 
ribs less deep, ribs less prominent and hardly oblique. Lon. of shell, 8.5; 
lat. 4.0 mm. 

Habitat. West of North Bernini, Bahamas, in 200 fms., Dr. W. H. Kush, 
U. S. N. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 171 


Fusus ceramidus n. s. 

Shell of a waxen or brownish yellow color, of a peculiar waxen subtranslu- 
cency, nine-whorled, strongly transversely ribbed, with obscure spiral sculp- 
ture and an imbricated band in front of the suture. Nucleus white, smooth, 
small but swollen. Transverse sculpture of seven or eight rounded ribs, 
stouter and more prominent on the early whorls, and on most of them not 
quite reaching the suture; also sharpish lines of growth whicli in front of the 
6uture are elevated into flattish somewhat irregular imbricated scales, forming 
a narrow band in front of the suture. Spiral sculpture of primary and finer 
secondary threads, one or two of the former, near the periphery, becoming 
sharper and more prominent as they pass over the ribs ; on the later whorls 
all the spiral sculpture has a worn or partially obsolete appearance. Aperture 
large, canal moderate, curved to the left; outer lip not much thickened, inter- 
nally lirate ; a callous ridge on the body, near the outer lip ; the inner lip 
smooth, or with a few liree near the canal. Max. Ion. of shell, 46.5; of last 
whorl, 32.0; of aperture and canal, 26.0; max. lat. of shell, 18.7 mm. 

Habitat. Stations 272, 273, and 290, at Barbados, in 73-103 fins., sand, 
bottom temperature 60° to 71°.0 F. 

This is a peculiar species and easily recognized by the color and imbricated 
band before the suture. 


Fusus amphiurgus n. s. 

Shell small, eight-whorled , yellowish, translucent, with spiral touches of 
reddish brown; nucleus polished, smooth, brownish, two-whorled; transverse 
sculpture of fine sharp distinct incremental lines, and 9-10 narrow rounded 
subequal ribs, with wider interspaces, and somewhat broader anteriorly than 
near the suture; spiral sculpture of, on the periphery, two primary threads 
stronger than any of the others, swollen, keeled, and opaque white where they 
pass over the ribs; between these and the suture behind are three or four 
smaller threads with touches of brown in the interspaces; in front of the 
periphery and between it and the canal are about six more smaller primary 
threads, and others which cover the canal ; between these on the whorl are 
from one to four extremely fine secondary threads. Owing to the difference 
in the size of the primaries the upper surface of the whorls slopes, roof-like, to 
the periphery, and this, with the white noduled peripheral threads, is the most 
striking feature of the shell; the aperture is rounded, the outer lip internally 
lirate, the canal slender and well differentiated. Max. Ion. of shell, 14.0; of 
last whorl, 9.0; of aperture and canal, 7.3; max. lat. of shell, 6.5 mm. 

Habitat. Gulf of Mexico, at Station 45, in 101 fins., bottom temperature 
62° F. 

This little shell is immature, and is described with some hesitation for that 
reason, yet it does not show characters like those exhibited by the young of 


172 BULLETIN OF THE 

any of the known species, and it seemed best to put it on record by giving it a 
name. Its nearest relative is Fusus pulchellus Philippi, of the Mediterranean, 
from which its most obvious distinction lies in its lighter color, more delicate 
texture, and the peculiar bevel of the upper surface of the whorls. In F. pul- 
chellus the whorls are rounded and full, and the spiral sculpture coarser and 
sharper. 


Subfamily FASCIOLARIIN^E. 

Genus FASCIOLARIA Lamarck. 
Fasciolaria distans Lamarck. 

Two young shells were dredged off Sombrero, in 54 fms. 

The more southern specimens of this shell are paler than those from the 
United States. A specimen received from Balize is almost destitute of re- 
volving color lines and is of a very pale salmon-color. The species is perfectly 
distinct from any of the varieties of F. tulipa. 

Subgenus MESORHYTIS Meek. 

Mesorhytis Meek, Inv. Pal. Upper Missouri, pp. 356, 364, 1876 ; type, Fasciolaria 
gracilentis Meek ; Cret. 

Mesorhytis Meekiana n. s. 

Plate XXXVI. Fig. 7. 

Shell elongate-fusiform, thin, pale waxen or brownish, glossy; nucleus blunt, 
globose, of about one whorl ; other whorls seven or more, little rounded, the 
second, third, and fourth showing 8-10 sharp high transverse ribs, a little 
shouldered behind, and crossed by fine spiral threads and grooves most distinct 
on the posterior side of the whorl; one of the threads is stronger than the 
others and angulates the ribs in crossing them; the sculpture becomes obsolete 
or nearly so on succeeding whorls, the fine distant grooves persisting longest ; 
specimens differ in this respect ; usually the succeeding whorls are smooth except 
for incremental lines, appressed toward the suture and with a little fine spiral 
grooving on the canal; aperture elongated, acute behind; outer lip smooth, 
thin, and sharp; canal about half as wide and nearly as long as the aperture, 
slightly recurved; columella without callus, somewhat flexuous ; at its middle 
are three plaits, the largest being posterior, very thin, elevated, and somewhat 
oblique. Lon. of shell, 15.5; of aperture, 9.0; max. lat. of shell, 5.0 mm. 

Habitat. Off Morro Light, Cuba, 250-400 fms.; Gulf of Mexico, Station 
16, 292 fms., and Station 20, in 220 fms., bottom temperature 62°.0 F. 
Though not containing the soft parts, the specimens were fresh, and probably 
lived at these depths. They seem not completely mature. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 173 

The very young, owing to its sculpture, might be taken for an immature 
Mitra, but the shell when older is very characteristic. It is the first living 
species of the subgenus which has been reported. 

Genus MAZZALINA Conrad. 

This group is known only from a single Eocene species, M. pyrula Conrad, 
which I agree with Messrs. Fischer and Tryon in regarding as nearly related to 
Lagena, having recently examined the original type. Another shell, which 
has recently been referred to this group, is of a good deal of interest, and 
represents without dcubt a new generic type. 

Genus LIOCHLAMYS Dall. 

Shell resembling a Fasciolaria of the type of F. distans, but short and glo- 
bose, with a short curved canal, three plaits on the column, and the usual 
features of Fasciolaria, but entirely covered over in the adult with a coat of 
enamel which obscures the sutures, and as it were varnishes the whole shell. 
The mantle in this form must have been prolonged, as in Dipsaccus or Cyprcea, 
so as entirely to hide the shell. 

Type, L. bulbosa Dall = Mazzalina bulbosa Heilprin, Trans. Wagner Free 
Inst., I. p. 76, plate ii. fig. 7, 1887. Pliocene of the Caloosahatchie beds, 
Florida. 

The original specimen of Prof. Heilprin was somewhat decorticated, and the 
usual spiral sculpture of the canal and anterior part of the shell running into 
the aperture, where the enamel had been lost, gave somewhat the aspect of the 
grooving of Lagena or Mazzalina. In perfect specimens nothing of this sort 
is to be seen. The shell is a short bulbous Fasciolaria, covered with a coat of 
enamel brilliantly polished. This species is found with many other rather 
deep-water species, of which several are in the Albatross dredgings. It would 
not be very extraordinary if future dredgings in the Gulf of Mexico should 
bring it to light in the recent state. 

Genus LATIRUS Montfort. 

The following species, though not obtained by the Blake, form part of the 
fauna of this region. Leiicozonia cingulifera Lamarck (sometimes 70.0 mm. in 
length) which extends from the Florida Keys to the Isthmus of Darien. By 
a typographical error transplanted into Mr. Tryon's Manual (Vol. III. p. 96), it 
was referred to as L. cingulata by Mr. W. W. Calkins. The latter is a West 
American species, of which no trace has ever been found in Florida. L. occllata 
Gmelin also reaches the Keys, though rare ; L. dubia Petit is a variety of it 
L. triscrialis, to which Tryon refers L. dubia, is confined to the eastern Atlantic. 
L. multangulus of Tryon (after Philippi), as we have elsewhere shown, is a 


174 BULLETIN OF THE 

Muricidea. In the genus Latirus, L. infundibulum Gmelin, L. brevicaudatus 
Reeve, and L. cayohuesonicus Sowerby are Antillean, the last named bein" the 
only one known to reach the Keys. L. maderensis Watson, L. fastigium Reeve 
and L. contemptus A. Adams are stated to be West Indian, but I have not seen 
any authentic specimens of them from that region. 


Family BUCCINID^E. 

Subfamily CHRYSODOMIN.E. 
Genus CHRYSODOMUS Swainson. 

Subgenus SIPHO Morch. 

The name Chrysodomus is the first which, according to the rules of nomen- 
clature, can be properly adopted for the group typified by Fusus antiquus of 
Lamarck, Neptunea and other names in common use never having been de- 
fined or diagnosed for this group until long after Chrysodomus had been pro- 
posed by Swainson. This group has been united with the Buccinidce, and there 
are many points of resemblance, but it is a question whether it would not be 
more correctly regarded as a subordinate part of a family which shall include 
the genus Fusus properly so called, with, on the one hand, Chrysodomus and 
its allies, and, on the other, Fasciolaria and its allies, each group being rated 
as a subfamily. Numerous characters link these subfamilies together ; and 
the features of the dentition, which formerly seemed so remarkable, and which 
were assigned as a sufficient reason for uniting the group with the Buccinidte, 
now that we begin to know of the dental characters in a much larger number 
of species, seem less and less distinctive. 

There are a large number of arctic and archibenthal forms of the Sipho 
group. None of them are known to inhabit very warm water, where they are 
replaced by Fusus and Fasciolaria. In the deep water, however, a few mostly 
small species reach quite far south. A number of interesting forms have been 
described by Prof. Verrill, while some described from the other side of the 
Atlantic have turned up here without being at first recognized. Such are 
Sipho Bocagei Fischer, which has been described by Messrs. Yerrill and Smith 
as Sipho ccelatulus, and of which a specimen 36 mm. long was dredged in 966 
fms., off Jamaica, W. I., by the Fish Commission. The adult operculum 
shows that it is not a typical Mohnia, though that appendage is less pointed 
and acute than in most of the genus Sipho. Another species is the Sipho Sarsii 
of Jeffreys, which has been named Fusus ahyssnrum by Fischer from the Talis- 
man dreclgings, and Siptho profundicola V. & S., from the Fish Commission 
dredgings. What seems to be a very slender variety of this species was also 
obtained at the same station off Jamaica, and very young specimens off the 
Floridian and Georgian coast. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 175 

Sipho Rushii n. s. 

Shell small, thin, white, elongated, with a furfurescent epidermis and six 
whorls. Nucleus regular, white, smooth, but becoming gradually spirally 
striate ; whorls well rounded, suture distinct ; spiral sculpture of (between the 
sutures 5) primary threads, with a smaller thread in the intervals and finer 
ones on the anterior part of the last whorl and canal ; these are crossed by fine 
flexuous lines of growth which decussate the threads, or give them, in strongly 
sculptured specimens, a somewhat beaded look ; there are also 12-15 faint 
flexuous ribs crossing the whorl, tending to become obsolete on the last half of 
the last whorl, and more marked on some specimens than on others ; these are 
quite concave at and behind the periphery ; canal short, narrow, twisted to the 
left; columella rather concave ; aperture entirely simple, with no visible cal- 
lus ; operculum rather wide and short. Max. Ion. of shell, 11.0; of last whorl, 
7.5; of aperture and canal, 5.5 ; max. lat. of shell, 4.5; of aperture, 1.25 mm. 

Habitat. Station 264-4 of the U. S. Fish Commission, off Cape Florida, in 
193 fins., sand, bottom temperature 43°.4 F. Also in 205 fms., off Fowey 
Rocks, in the Straits of Florida, by Dr. W. H. Rush, U. S. N. 

This is a delicate and pretty little shell, which is, in its general characters, 
very much like the young state of Tritonidea limbata Philippi ( + Fitsus pul- 
chellus Pfr. non Phil.) ; but that is more strongly sculptured and hao a different 
nucleus, beside being clouded with color. 

Sipho? (Ptychosalpinx?) globulus n. s. 

Plate XXXV. Fig. 13 a. 

Shell stout, short, white, spirally channelled, with about six whorls; spire 
short, whorls moderately rounded, apex rather blunt ; nucleus small, depressed, 
glassy, smooth ; spiral sculpture of (between the sutures) about a dozen broad 
flattened cinguli separated by narrower channelled interspaces, and covering 
very equally the whole shell ; there are also a few faint spiral stria?, especially 
in the channelled interspaces near the aperture; transverse sculpture only of 
rather strong lines of growth, most evident in the channels. Suture very dis- 
tinct; aperture elongate, arched, the outer lip thin, smooth, and hardly thick- 
ened inside; a little callus in the commissure and on the body and pillar; 
canal wide, very short, deeply notched, strongly twisted to the left; siphonal 
fasciole narrow but distinct, sharp-edged, producing false plaits under the 
columellar enamel ; columella arched, its anterior edge sharply keeled. Oper- 
culum rather bluntly pointed. Max. Ion. of shell, 31.0; of last whorl, 25.0; 
of aperture and canal, 21.5; max. lat. of shell, 20.0; of aperture, 9.5 mm. 

Habitat. Station 2655 of the U. S. Fish Commission, in 338 fms., ooze, on 
the Little Bahama Bank, the bottom temperature 47°. 5 F. 

This shell is thin, and recalls Odcorys as well as Liomesus. The nearest rel- 
atives, conchologically, are Chrysodomus ventricosus Gray, from Newfoundland, 
which is a much larger shell with a strong epidermis and longer canal, and the 


176 BULLETIN OF THE 

fossil shells named Ptychosalpinx by Gill, in 1867, of which Buccinum Escheri 
Mayer and B. altile Conrad are types. 

The animal is pure white, and destitute of eyes. The tentacles are small, the 
proboscis extremely long ; the verge is long, sigmoid, flattened, and has a small 
pointed process at the tip. The dentition resembles that of Chrysodomus 
(Mohnia) Mohni Friele (North Atlantic Exp., Eeport, Part I., plate v. fig. 14, 
1882), but the teeth are wider, the laterals more arched, and it is certain that 
the rhachidian tooth has only one prong or cusp, while the laterals have no 
small denticles between the two terminal ones. If this specimen had not re- 
tained the soft parts I should have supposed it to be a Liomesus. The keeled 
columella is peculiar, though this feature is common to Liomesus, but the faint 
plait-like ridges above are merely the raised edges of the siphonal fasciole, 
showing through the enamel, and they disappear in adult specimens and are 
not present in some young ones. 

Genus LIOMESUS Stimpson. 

Buccinopsis Jeffreys, not Conrad. 

Liomesus was defined before Buccinopsis Jeffreys, and would take precedence 
of it even if the name Buccinopsis had not been long preoccupied. 

Liomesus ? Stimpsoni n. s. 

Plate XXXV. Fig. 11. 

Shell solid, strong, porcellanous; suffused with flesh color, lighter toward 
the apex; short-fusiform with the extreme apex a little flattened; six-whorled; 
nucleus minute, somewhat sunken, with the shell for two and a half whorls 
smooth polished and white ; after this the sculpture gradually appears, and 
consists of spiral threads, or cinguli, smaller, rounder, and more distant an- 
teriorly, wider, flatter, and closer posteriorly, except that in front of the suture 
there are one or two rather wider interspaces; beside this there are obsolete 
spiral strise and rather strong lines of growth passing equally over the whole 
shell; epidermis thin, yellowish; the whorls are slightly flattened behind and 
squared off to the suture, producing a slightly turrited aspect, but the suture 
is not channelled; canal short, wide, deepby notched, producing a strongly 
marked but not swollen fasciole; aperture rather elongated, not wide, thick- 
ened within; on the pillar a moderate whitish callus, which is microscopically 
punctate, a thin wash on the body; the outer lip thick from the thickness of 
the shell, a little lirate by the sculpture close to the sharp edge, but not re- 
flected; canal short, not recurved; pillar obliquely truncate, arcuate, keeled 
on the front edge. Max. Ion. of shell, 32.5; of last whorl, 26.5; of aperture, 
20.0; max. lat. of shell, 18.7; of aperture, 9.0 mm. 

Habitat. U. S. Fish Commission Stations 2314 and 2625, off the Carolina 
coast, in 159 and 247 fms., sand, bottom temperature 46° to 47°. 5 F. 

February 28, 1889. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 177 

The specimens were perfectly fresh, but did not contain the soft parts. The 
generic place therefore remains a little doubtful. So far as the shell is con- 
cerned, it does not differ from Liomesus, unless in the somewhat narrowed aper- 
ture. In some respects the shell recalls Dalium, but wants the prominent band 
in front of the suture and is of a much more Buccinoid form. It is dedicated 
to the memory of Dr. Wm. Stimpson, the author of the genus, which was 
long erroneously included with the Buccinums. 

Subfamily BUCCININjE. 

Genus PISANIA Biyona. 

Subgenus TRITONIDEA Swainson. 

Pisania pusio Lin. (non Auct.) is widely spread through the Antilles, and 
was collected at Key West from the hermit crabs by Captain Pickering, U. S. N. 
It has many synonyms, and when young is strongly striated. These young 
with the epidermis on resemble P. striata Gmelin very much, and have been 
so labelled in collections, but the true striata (+ maculosa Lam. Tryon) is a 
Mediterranean form. To the dark striated variety of pusio are to be referred 
P. wthiops Phil, and P. janeirense Phil. 

The transition between Pisania proper (P. pusio) and Tritonidea is easy. 
Take P. pusio var. cethiops and compare it with a small specimen of T. varie- 
gata, or a smooth variety of T. iincta, from which there is no difficulty in reach- 
ing T. auritula via the ribbed varieties of T. tincta. I can only regard Tritonidea 
as a subgenus of Pisania. 

Of the group Tritonidea, the region under consideration affords T. cancellaria 
Conrad (-+- T. floridanus Petit), T. tincta Conrad, T. auritula Link (+ T. coro- 
mandelianus Lam., + T. ringens Tryon non Reeve, -f- lauta Reeve,), T. vari- 
egatus Gray (+ T. vivcrratoides Orb.), T. UOrbignyi Payr. (21 fms., off Cape 
Catoche, Yucatan), and T. limbata Phi]., provided this last, elsewhere referred 
to in this paper, really belongs to this group. Of this list T. auritula is, so 
far as we know, Antillean ; T. cancellaria extends from the Caribbean to Texas 
and Florida; T. tincta extends from Cape Hatteras southward to Mexico and 
the northern Antilles ; T. variegatus is rare everywhere, but reaches the Florida 
Keys ; while T. limbata and D" 1 Orbignyi are known to me by specimens from 
only one or two localities. The T. Haneti of (Petit according to) Tryon is not, 
in my opinion, a Tritonidea. The T. ringens of Calkins and Tryon, from 
specimens submitted by those gentlemen, is T. tincta, pure and simple, and has 
no particular resemblance to T. ringens, which is a West American species. 

Genus PHOS Montfort. 

Notwithstanding the error of Mr. Tryon's statement that this genus is sepa- 
rated by good conchological characters from Nassa, I do not doubt its validity, 
but the differences are to be found in the soft parts and the operculum, not in 
vol. xvm. 12 


178 BULLETIN OF THE 

the shell. The oblique basal fold of the columella, regarded as characteristic 
by Mr. Tryon, can be observed in nearly every species of Nassa which one may 
.examine, and is, in fact, conspicuous. 

But a very small amount of investigation in this case, as in many others, will 
show that, apart from the bare shells, there is much yet to be learned about 
almost all these animals. 

Phos ? unicinctus Sat. 

Nassa unicincta Say, Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phil., V. p. 211, 1826; Tryon, Mar. 

Conch., p. 35, fig. 55. 
Nassa guadeloupensis Petit, Journ. de Conchyl., III. p. 56, pi. ii. figs. 3, 4, 1852 

Krebs, Cat., p. 32 ; Beau, Cat., p. 11. 
Nassa textilina Morch, Jide Tryon, Man., p. 220. 
Phos guadeloupensis Arango, Fauna Mai. Cubana, p. 201, 1878; Tryon, Man., III. p. 

219, pi. lxxxiii. figs. 612, 620. 

Habitat. St. Thomas, C. B. Adams. St. Croix, Rawson. Shore at Curacao, 
U. S. Fish Commission. 

The South Carolinian habitat assigned by Say was doubtless accidental or 
erroneous. This shell has more the aspect of a Nassa than of a Phos, as these 
go, though considerably resembling the specifically distinct Phos pallidus of 
the west coast of America. But it has the operculum neither of a Nassa nor of 
a Phos ! The operculum is lozenge-shaped, pointed in front and behind, with 
a nearly central nucleus and concentric elements much like those of Buccinum 
except in outline. In our present ignorance as to the character of the opercu- 
lum in nearly all the species of Nassa and most of the species of Phos, I do not 
think it advisable to propose a new sectional name for this form, as it may very 
probably turn out to be characteristic of some of the sections of Nassa already 
named on conchological grounds. 

Phos Beaui Fischer & Berkardi. 

Phos Beaui F. & B., Journ. de Conchyl., V. p. 358, pi. xii figs. 8, 9, 1860 ; Krebs, 
Cat., p. 32 ; Fischer, Cat. Beau, p. 10. 

Habitat. Barbados, in 73-82 fms., at Stations 272, 290, and 293, bottom 
temperature 65° to 71° F. 

The soft parts of this species are white, dotted with blackish toward the 
middle line of the foot above, and with the end of the siphon very dark brown. 
The eyes are very large in proportion to the size of the animal, are mounted 
on large long stout peduncles, from the inner side of the distal end of which pro- 
ceed very slender acute tentacles. The foot is large, thin, with an entire edge 
and pointed linguiform tail-end. In withdrawing it into the shell it is doubled 
transversely in the middle. The operculum is like that of Phos as figured by 
H. & A. Adams. When entirely perfect the point terminates in a little claw- 
shaped process. The surface of the body is smooth and without accessory flla- 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 179 

ments or other processes. The specimen was not a male. The tentacles are 
not " connate at their bases " in this or the next species, any more than in any 
other Gastropod with retractile proboscis. The tail end of the foot had no fila- 
ment, but was (in spirits) merely narrow and pointed. Fragments of this 
fine species, readily recognized by its polished surface, were obtained as above, 
and one broken but living specimen at Station 293. 

Phos Candei Orbignt. 

Cancellaria Candei Orbigny, Atlas to Moll. Cub., pi. xxi. figs. 23-25, 1842 ; text of 
the same, II. p. 129, 1847. (Not Nassa Candei Orbigny, op. cit.) 

Phos erectus Guppy, Geol. Mag., 1874, pi. xvi. fig. 1 (extra copies, p. 8). 

Phos Candei Arango, Fauna Mai. Cub., p. 201, 1878. 

Phos antillarum Petit, Journ. de Conchyl., IV. pp. 238, 242, 418, pi. viii. fig. 9, 1853. 

Phos grateloupianus Petit, op. cit., p. 243, pi. viii. fig. 4, 1853. 

t Phos veraguaensis Hinds, Ann. Nat. Hist., XI. p. 257, 1843; Voy. Sulph, p. 37, 
pi. x. figs. 13, 14, 1844; Tryon, Man., III. p. 219. 

? Buccinum zonale Krebs, Cat., p. 31, 1864, as of Brugiere. 

Habitat. Off Sombrero, 54-70 fms.; Barbados, 80-100 fms.; Station 36, off 
Cuba, in 84 fms., bottom temperature 60°. F. ; Station 128, off Santa Cruz, in 
180 fms., sand, and Station 132, in 115 fms., rocky bottom, temperature 
60° to 65° F.; Station 143, off Saba Bank, in 150 fms., temperature 63°.5; 
Station 167, off Guadelupe, in 175 fms., sand, temperature 55°. 0; Station 155, 
off Montserrat, in 88 fms., temperature 69°.0, and Station 247, off Grenada, in 
170 fms., ooze, bottom temperature 53°. 5 F. Also at U. S. Fish Commission 
Stations 2145, near Aspinwall, in 25 fms., mud; 2403, in the Gulf of Mexico, 
between the delta of the Mississippi and Cedar Keys, Florida, in 88 fms., mud ; 
and 2601, in 107 fms., sand, 36 miles S. \ W. from Cape Hatteras, North 
Carolina, bottom temperature 67°. 4 F. 

I doubt the identity of this species with that of Hinds from West America, 
but in any case the name and excellent figure of Orbigny have precedence, 
though the text of his description was delayed. I have no doubt that Mr. Tryon 
was correct in uniting the Phos grateloupianus of Petit with his P. antillarum. . 
Most of the Antillean specimens are more like the figure of the former, said to 
be from Senegal, than like the pattern of that from the West Indies. There 
is probably some error about the figure or the habitat. 

There is a small variety of this shell which is brighter colored and more 
finely sculptured than the more common form, but they intergrade. There is 
much variation in regard to the presence and position of varices, which are 
often entirely absent on the upper whorls. The operculum is like that of 
Chrijsodomus or Phos senticosus. 

The nucleus is glassy, sharply peripherally carinate, and has three to five 
otherwise nnsculptured whorls. The soft parts and operculum are exactly like 
those of Phos Beaui, but there is less of the blackish dotting, even the siphon 
has not much. 


180 BULLETIN OF THE 


Phos parvus C. B. Adams. 

Triton parvus C. B. Adams, Contr. to Conch., p. 59, Jan., 1850. 
Triton eximium Rawson, Carpenter in litt. as of Reeve. 

Phos intricatus Dall, Hemphill's Shells, U. S. Nat. Mus. Bull., VI. p. 325, pi. x. 
fig. 9, 1883. 

Habitat. West coast of Florida, to Key "West. Vera Cruz, Mexico, Strebel. 
Progreso, Mexico, Mex. Sci. Commission. Bahamas, Rawson. Jamaica, Rum 
Cay, and Turk's Island, C. B. Adams. St. Thomas and Anguilla, in two feet 
of water among stones and corals, Krebs. 

A visit to Amherst, where I was able to consult Prof. Adams's types, has en- 
abled me to identify my P. intricatus with his Triton parvus. The eximium of 
Reeve is subsequent to Adams's name, and was described as from the Indo- 
Pacific region. They are probably not identical, though similar. The Flo- 
ridian specimens are short, compact, with very prickly sculpture, and of a 
white or muddy gray color. The Antillean specimens are more slender and 
elongated, less prickly, and of a clear white, or banded prettily with light yel- 
low brown or purplish, in a spiral direction. 

Perhaps the less attractive Floridian kind may retain the name of intricatus 
in a varietal sense. 

I have what is either a distinct species or a very marked variety of P. parvus 
in the National Collection, from the West Indies, but the specimen is not per- 
fect enough for description. It has much the appearance and color of Phos 
Beaut, but is more sharply sculptured and is very little larger than the largest 
specimens of undoubted P. parvus. The sculpture has nothing of the imbri- 
cated prickly quality so marked in that of P. })arvus. 

Genus NASSARIA (Link) H. & A. Adams. 

< Nassaria Link, Beschr. Rostock Samml., p. 123, May, 1807. 

= Hindsia A. Adams, P. Z. S., 1853, p. 182; Fischer Man., p. 631. 

= Nassaria H. & A. Adams, Gen. Rec. Moll., I. p. 123, 1853. 

The name Nassaria of Link, like the Nassarius of Dumeril, was originally in- 
tended as a verbal emendation or improvement of the name Nassa of Lamarck. 
It was not intended as a new genus, but as an equivalent of one already exist- 
ing. It was divided into two sections by Link, of which Section A contains 
as examples, in the order given, Buccinum niveum Gmelin, Nassa papillosa La- 
marck, N. reticulata Lamarck, N. ornata Kiener, N. exilis Gmelin, Phos sen- 
ticosus Montfort, and Pleurotoma buccinoides of Lamarck (=P. sinuata Born); 
Section B contains Pisania tranquebarica, P. coromandeliana, and P. undosa of 
Lamarck. 

It will be seen that the larger number of the species were Nassas, and all of 
them looked like Nassa, as the name was used in those days. 

But if we regard the name as hiving any right to stand in nomenclature, and 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 181 

proceed by a process of elimination, we find very soon that in 1853 the onlj 
unappropriated unit of this heterogeneous assembly is the first species. Rafi- 
nesque in 1815 had adopted Nassaria, but he did not define it, merely putting it 
next to Nassa and among the genera of his subfamily Buccinidia. Pfeiffer does 
not regard the Buccinum niveum of Gmelin as identifiable, and the figure is 
certainly far from good, but later the Adams brothers concluded that it rep- 
resented a shell which one of them had just placed in a new genus, Hindsia A. 
Adams. It would doubtless have been better to have left Nassaria as an ab- 
solute synonym of Nassa, and retained Hindsia for the new group. But the 
brothers Adams were the first to revise it, and the most interested in the later 
name, and they did not adopt this plan*; so perhaps science will best be served 
by accepting their decision, though much might be said on both sides. 

The investigations of the Fish Commission and the Blake in Antillean waters 
and along the coasts of the United States have brought to light several species 
of a group nearly related to Nassaria, but which it seems necessary to distin- 
guish by a subgeneric name. None of the typical Nassarias have so far been 
found in the region under consideration, but the present group seems to replace 
the typical genus in East American waters. 


Subgenus NASSARINA Dall. 

Shell with the general characters of Nassaria, but more compact, spindle- 
shaped and small, and with the aperture long and narrowed anteriorly, and the 
columella margin elevated and prominent, and united in the adult by an ele- 
vated callus with the outer lip on the body whorl. Soft parts unknown. 
Type, N. Bushii Dall. 

To this group belong N. Bushii, N. Grayii, N. columbellata, all new species, 
and N. glypta Bush, which was described, with doubt, as a Mangilia. The 
group goes to the Miocene, if Columbella arnbigua Guppy proves to belong to 
it. N. glypta is fossil in Floridian Pliocene. 


Nassarina glypta Bush. 

Mangilia? glypta Bush, Trans. Conn. Acad., VI. p. 461, pi. xlv. figs. 5, 5a, 1885. 

This is the smallest species of the group, and the figure above referred is un- 
fortunately not a good one, the specimen being imperfect. In an adult speci- 
men the aperture is a little more than two thirds as long as the whole of the 
last whorl. In the figure it is only about half as long as the whorl, and in so 
far does not well represent the mature shell, nor the peculiar anteriorly pinched 
aperture. This species has been found at TJ. S. Fish Commission Stations 
2276, 2595, 2596, 2597, 2607, 2608, 2610, 2612, 2615, 2616, 2617, and 2619, 
off the coast of North Carolina, in 14-63 fms., sand, bottom temperature 
67° to 80 3 F. 


182 BULLETIN OF THE 

Nassarina Bushii Dall. 

Plate XV. Fig. 12. 

Shell white, strongly sculptured, six-whorled; nucleus shining, large, swol- 
len, of one and a half whorls, at first smooth, later assuming fine spiral striation ; 
the remaining whorls with (on the last whorl 8-10) strong sube<|ual equidis- 
tant spiral threads nodulous on the summit of 9 or 10 strong rounded trans- 
verse ribs which cross the whorls; on the earlier whorls only three or four of 
the spirals appear, and the one nearest the suture is fainter than the others; 
the rib behind the aperture of the mature shell is somewhat swollen; the base 
of the last whorl is constricted at the beginning of the canal, which is short and 
sharply recurved; aperture contracted, surrounded with a thin elevated not 
reflected continuous margin, interrupted in the adult only by the canal; outer 
lip smooth, inner lip with three or four strong nodulous teeth; whorls rounded; 
suture distinct but not channelled. Max. Ion. of shell, 9.0; of last whorl, 5.5; 
of aperture, 4.0; max. lat. of shell, 3.6 mm. 

Habitat. Barbados, 100 fms.; Sand Key, Florida, 15-128 fms.; Station 5, 
Gulf of Mexico, near Cuba, in 152-229 fms., ooze, bottom temperature 49°.5 F. 

This species is extremely like N. glyjita Bush, on a larger scale, and without 
the pretty brown and white spiral coloration of that species. 

Nassarina columbellata Dall. 

Shell pure white, attenuated anteriorly, rather acutely conical behind, with 
eight whorls. Nucleus two-whorled, polished, smooth, milk-white, rather large; 
spire flatly conical with a conspicuous suture, upper whorls with about five 
strong close-set equal threads, most conspicuous in the interspaces between the 
numerous (on the last whorl 18) flattened transverse ribs, which cross the 
whorls but stop short before the sutures, giving a grooved aspect to the latter, 
which is increased by the existence of a peripheral line or space wider than 
any of the others between the two spirals nearest the periphery; last whorl 
attenuated toward the long canal, but not constricted as in the last species; 
aperture long, narrow, contracted, with an elevated continuous margin, inter- 
rupted only by the canal, which is recurved near its termination; outer lip 
with four or five internal teeth; inner lip with five or six finer smaller ones; 
whorls not rounded above. Max. Ion. of shell, 12.2; of last whori, 8.0; of 
aperture, 6.0; max. lat. of shell, 4.5 mm. 

Habitat. U. S. Fish Commission Station 2367, off Cape Catoche, Yucatan, 
in 124 fms., sand. 

The upper whorls of this shell are flattened and sculptured much like those 
of Columbella similis or translirata. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 183 

Nassarina Grayi Dall. 

Plate XXXII. Fig. 12 a. 

Shell solid, strong, yellowish white with darker brown spiral lines and about 
six whorls. Nucleus smooth brown ; sculpture of numerous close-set spiral 
threads, of which about every third or fourth is stronger and darker colored than 
the others; transverse sculpture of stout ribs becoming obsolete behind the 
periphery, thus giving the whorl a shouldered aspect, there are nine or ten of 
these on the last whorl, extending well forward; the rib behind the aperture is 
varicoid and swollen; the spiral sculpture passes over the ribs, which are a 
little angulate at the periphery ; the whorl is. appressed to the suture, which in 
the upper whorls is more or less waved by the ends of the ribs behind it; the 
aperture is long, narrow, and somewhat contracted, the continuous margin less 
elevated than in the preceding species; the base of the last whorl is somewhat 
constricted, the canal is twisted, recurved, and with a strong siphonal fasciole; 
the outer lip has about seven teeth of which the hinder ones are the stronger; 
there is a rounded callus on the body and also a few denticulations on the 
anterior part of the columella. Max. Ion. of shell, 12.0; of last whorl, 9.0; of 
aperture, 6.0; max. lat. of shell, 5.8 mm. A larger but imperfect specimen is 
15.5 mm. long. 

Habitat. Station 152, off St. Kitts in 122 fms., bottom temperature 67°. 5. 
Stations 272 and 290, off Barbados, in 73-76 fms., coarse sand, bottom tempera- 
ture 65° to 71° ; and U. S. Fish Commission Station 2354, in 130 fms., coral, 
off the Arrowsmith Bank, Yucatan. 

This is a rather short broad species, and has a little the aspect of a Tritoni- 
dea, but the pinched aperture suggests its reference to this group. 


Family NASSIML 

Genus NASSA Lamarck. 

The species of this genus are well known to be extremely variable, and a 
large number of names have been applied to the varieties of the genus indige- 
nous to the Antilles. 

With a large series of specimens it is less difficult to set specific bounds as 
the varietal relations rapidly become evident. There may be a larger number 
of species in the region, but all the specimens I have seen are referable to one 
of six littoral or two deeper- water species of this genus. Curiously enough, of 
this small number four have fallen into neglect of late years, and one appears 
to be undescribed. N. trivittata does not appear to exist in a living state much 
south of Cape Hatteras, and does not appear in the Antilles. The species which 
occur are Nassa vibex Say,* N. acuta Say, N. consensu Ravenel, N. Hotessieri 

* N. unicincta Say will be referred to under Pkos. 


184 BULLETIN OF THE 

Orbigny, and N. ambigua Montagu, llyanassa obsoleta Say, confined to the 
continental shore and noc reaching the southernmost extreme of Florida, and 
an undescribed species mentioned later, make up the list. The deep-water 
Nassa nigrolabra of Verrill has not turned up in these waters yet, and I doubt 
the propriety of referring it to this genus. Indeed, it has, judging from the 
figure, the appearance of a larval shell, though without examining a specimen 
I would lay no stress on this suggestion. Its smooth unsulcate pillar, however, 
removes it from the genus Nassa, if it is adequately figured. 

Nassa ambigua Montagu. 

Buccinum ambiguum Mont., Brit. Test., pi. ix. fig. 7, 1803. 

Nassa alba Say, Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phil., V. p. 212, 1826. 

Nassa antillarum Orbigny (not Philippi), Moll. Cuba, II. p. 141, pi. xxiii. figs. 1-3 

1815 (dark variety). 
Nassa ambigua Orbigny, Moll. Cuba, II. p. 142. 

Nassa Candei Orbigny, op. cit., p. 142, pi. xxiii. figs. 4-6, 1845 (voung shell). 
Nassa candidissima C. B. Adams, Krebs, Cat. p. 32. 
1 Nassa obtusata Marrat, Argo Exp., pp. 16, 17, 1876 (not of A. Adams, an E. Indian 

species). 
1 Nassa incrassata Guppy, Geol. Mag., p. 447, 1874 (not of Strom, a European 

species). 
1 Nassa pura Marrat, New Forms of Nassa, p. 13, 1877. 
Nassa annellifera Reeve, Conch. Icon. Nassa, pi. xxv. fig. 168, 1853 ; Marrat, Argo 

Exp. p. 8. 
Not N. ambigua Dunker, W. Africa, = N. incrassata Strom. 

Habitat. Yucatan Strait, 640 fms.; Station 2, 805 fms.; Barbados, 76-103 
fms., including Stations 273 and 276; Station 142, Flannegan Passage, in 27 
fms.; Station 155, off Montserrat, in 88 fins.; Station 210, near Martinique, 
in 191 fms.; off Sombrero, in 54 fms.; Sigsbee, off Havana, in 80 and 177 fms.; 
Bahamas; Bermuda; Dominica; Florida, Lower Matacumba Key, in grass 
below low-water mark (Hemphill); Key West, Goodland Point, and other 
localities in Florida from low water to 2 fms. (Hemphill).  

The shells dredged by the Blake were all dead, and most of them occupied 
by Paguri ; none of them probably lived below a depth of a few fathoms, above 
which it would seem that this must be one of the most abundant and widely 
spread of the Antillean species. 

This is the commonest littoral species of Nassa, and its varieties have received 
many names. It has a different nucleus from the very similar N. incrassata 
of Europe and "West Africa. It varies in the number of its ribs, their angula- 
tion in front of the suture, in being white or banded or speckled with brown, 
and in the strength of its spiral threads. The typical ambigua has numerous 
rounded ribs, not angulated, and evenly reticulated. The variety antillarum 
has the ribs fewer and stronger, and with a marked angulation which tur- 
riculates the whorls. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 185 

It is entirely different from N. acuta Say, which has been referred to it by 
Tryon. N. acuta extends on the southern coast from South Carolina to Texas, 
and I have received it from Barbados; it appears to be rare everywhere. 

Nassa consensa Ravenel. 
Nassa consensa Ravenel, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phil., 1861, p. 43. 

Habitat. Off Charlotte Harbor, W. Florida, twenty miles, in 13 fms. (Blake). 
Off the coast from Florida to North Carolina living at moderate depths, 8-49 
fms., and dead in 8-150 fms. (U. S. Fish Commission). 

This species, as identified by Prof. Verrill, seems to me well defined and 
worthy of acceptation. Though its general form is very much the same as 
that of ambigua, its spiral sculpture is of an entirely different character ; and 
its color painting, though variable in both species, has a distinctive character 
for each of them. 

Nassa Hotessieri Orbignt. 

Nassa Hotessieri Orbigny, Moll. Cuba, II. p. 142, 1845. 

Nassa Hotessieriana Orbigny, op. cit., Atlas, pi. xxi. figs. 40-42. 

Nassa Hotessieri Orbigny, Voy. dans l'Am. Mer. Moll., 1840. 

Habitat. Gulf of Mexico, Station 36, in 84 fms.; off Sombrero, 54-72 fms.; 
off Sand Key, 80 fms. ; Station 2, in 805 fms. ; U. S. Fish Commission Station 
2596, seventeen miles E. S. E. from Cape Hatteras, N. C, in 49 fms.; and 
Station 2646, off Cape Florida, in 85 fms., gray sand. None of the specimens 
were living, though nearly all were perfectly fresh. 

The specimen figured by Orbigny was quite young. The species grows even 
larger than N. ambigua, and is perfectly distinguishable from it, the chief 
and most obvious characters being the flattened whorls turrited by the appli- 
cation of the suture below a peripheral band, the close and uniform transverse 
riblets prickly nodulated by the revolving sculpture, which is weak or absent 
between the riblets, and the clean-cut channel behind the siphonal fasciole 
margined in front by a small sharp keel. 

On the base of large specimens the spiral sculpture shows as grooves deep 
on one side and running out on the other, like those on a flat file, instead of the 
rounded threads characteristic of ambigua. In some specimens the transverse 
riblets become obsolete or irregular on the last whorl. The aperture is like 
that of ambigua. 

Nassa scissurata Dall. 

Shell short, conical, glistening, white clouded with light brown or buff; whorls 
stout, well rounded; nucleus of two translucent turns, smooth or transversely 
slightly wrinkled; remainder comprising five or six turns separated by a deep 


186 BULLETIN OF THE 

but not channelled suture ; sculpture of (on the last whorl about fourteen) 
stout rounded ribs with wider interspaces, completely crossing the whorls, and 
fine incremental striae; spiral sculpture of (on the last whorl about ten) re- 
volving ridges, faint in the interspaces, strongly ovally noduled on the ribs, 
three rows showing on the upper whorls; ribs interlocking at the sutures; 
aperture rounded, with its edge continuous and raised, contracted in front of 
a stout varix, Urate on both sides, a stout tooth on the body and another at the 
base of the pillar; a deep groove behind the siptional fasciole; canal short, 
strongly twisted. Operculum serrate at the sides. Lon. of shell, 12.0; of last 
whorl, 8.0; of aperture, 5.0. ; max. lat. of shell, 7.5 mm. 

Habitat. Station 272, at Barbados, in 76 fins.; Station 132, near Santa Cruz, 
in 115 fins., rocky bottom, temperature 65°. F. (living); Station 2, in 805 
fms. ; Station 206, near Martinique, in 170 fins.; Station 220, off Santa Lucia, 
in 116 fms., rocky bottom, bottom temperature 58°.5 F. 

Nassa scissurata var. pernitida Dall. 

Shell more slender and elongated, spiral sculpture weaker, hardly nodu- 
lating the ribs; ribs becoming obsolete on the last whorl. Lon. 16.5; max. 
lat. 7.5 mm. 

Habitat. Station 299, near Barbados, in 140 fms. 

This species is clearly distinguished from N. Hotessieri, which is its nearest 
relative, by the character of the sutures which are not channelled, by its fewer 
strongly nodulated ribs, and by the curve of the ribs, which in Hotessieri, as in 
most ribbed univalves, are convex forward on the periphery and then curve 
a little backward, while in N. scissurata the curve is in a contrary sense, as is 
at once evident on comparing two specimens. The total curve is not great, 
but quite sufficient to form a marked distinction. 

This species has the bright waxen lustre of a deep-water shell, and probably 
lives in between 75 and 200 fms. depth. Its sculpture recalls that of N. spi- 
nulosa Phil. 


Family COLUMBELLID^. 
Genus COLU3IBELLA Lamarck. 

Of the genuine typical Columbellas there are two abundant species in this re- 
gion, C. mercatoria Lamarck and C. rustica Linne. The Antillean and Floridian 
specimens of the latter, though probably conspccific, have a markedly different 
facies from the Mediterranean variety, and have been called rusticoides by 
Heilprin in a recent paper on the Pliocene of the Caloosahatchie beds of South 
Florida. C. rustica is found in these beds precisely like the recent Florida 
form, for which it may be well to retain Heilprin's name in a varietal sense. 

Most of the other species can be referred to one of five subgenera or sections 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 187 

of the genus, as follows: Anachis, Astyris, Nitidella, JEsopus, and Conidea. 
There is no doubt that the number of subdivisions in this group has been mul- 
tiplied in excess of the needs of science or the indications of nature, while 
several subdivisions of importance have not been recognized. Even the above 
mentioned groups, or at least the first three of them, are connected closely by 
intermediate species. On the other hand, such a remarkable form as C. turtu- 
rina Duclos, with internal plaits as pronounced as in Turbinella, has not been 
separated. For it I propose the sectional name of Euplica. 

Subgenus ANACHIS H. & A. Adams. 
Anachis avara Say. 
Columbella avara Say, Journ. Phil. Acad. Nat. Sci., II. p. 230, 1822. 

This abundant and well-known shell extends from Massachusetts Bay to 
Cape Florida, always in shallow water. It is found in the Miocene of Mary- 
land and Virginia (Conrad), and the Pliocene and Post Pliocene of the more 
southern coast. The variety translirata has been collected on the coast of 
Yucatan, but I have seen no specimens from the Antilles. Notwithstanding 
the common occurrence of this species, its range and typical form have not 
been very clearly realized by conchologists, judging from the labels of specimens 
received from many different sources. 

The type is rather small, dull-colored, smooth, few (10) ribbed and spindle- 
shaped. Longer slender greenish specimens with these characters form the 
Floridian variety semiplicata of Stearns ; many-ribbed acute bright-colored 
specimens are the (var.) translirata of Eavenel, more commonly regarded as 
the typical form of the species, as it is the most common, largest, and wide- 
spread; the dwarf form common to all species of Columbella, especially in this 
subgenus, is C. similis Ravenel, which is almost distinct enough to rank as a 
species, but differs only in size from var. translirata. It extends from Cape 
Fear to Yucatan, the Florida Keys, and probably to Cuba. I have seen no 
Antillean specimens. 

Among the absolute synonyms of this species are C. terpsichore Greene, 
Columbella Gouldii Reeve (Conch. Icon., XXII. fig. 135), not Stimpson, and 
Fusus minor Holmes (Post Pliocene, S. Carolina). 

Specimens dredged at New Bedford, Mass., had the foot long and slender, 
square cut in front, a little indented in the median line, linguiform behind. 
The tentacles are contractile, not sharp-pointed, but quite slender when extended, 
the eyes small, black, extending laterally without any peduncle at the outer 
bases of the tentacles. The siphon is rather large, subcylindric, without ap- 
pendages, about one third as long as the foot, the proboscis more slender, taper- 
ing, and about the same length when fully protruded. The verge is sickle- 
shaped, slender, sharply pointed, flattened, and with its outer edge sharp. It is 
thrown back above the neck, the point lying at the right of the base under the 


188 BULLETIN OF THE 

dome of the mantle. The dentition is as usual, an edentulous obsolete central 
plate with a single broadish tridentate sigmoid lateral tooth on each side. The 
operculum resembles that of Chrysodomus in miniature, but the point is usually 
defective. It is attached to the surface of the foot by about half its own sur- 
face, which exhibits an ovate scar. Stimpson found the ovicapsules in 3 fath- 
oms, on Sertularians, at Great Egg Harbor, New Jersey, August 7, 1864. They 
are about 1.0 mm. long and half as wide, on the ovate base; they are shaped 
like a compressed volcano or balanus, the crater of which is represented by a 
fiat subcircular smooth apical disk, from the peripherj 7 of which radiate to the 
base about ten elevated thin, sometimes bifurcating ribs. There were about 
thirty ova in each capsule, which had already assumed the larval shell. 

Beside this species, the following are known from the eastern and southern 
coast of the United States and adjacent waters, though the list is not claimed 
to be complete. 

Anachis catenata Sowerby, Antilles, Yucatan, Vera Cruz. 

Anachis haliceeti Jeffreys (costulata Jeffreys, Verrill, not of Cantraine), New 
England and northward, in deep water. 

Anachis albella C. B. Adams (from type described as Pleurotoma, +A. iontha 
Ravenal and A. acuta Stearns), Cape Hatteras to Florida, low water to 50 fms. 
There is a variety {A. samanensis Dall) which differs from the commoner form 
by its fewer ribs, slightly longer canal, larger vanx behind the outer lip, and 
smoother back to the last whorl. It has been received from Florida and the 
Keys, and Samana Bay, St. Domingo. The typical albella is smaller than the 
northern variety called iontha by Ravenel. 

Anachis pulchella Kiener. (C. costulata C. B. Adams, not Cantraine, from 
type. This is wrongly referred to catenata Sowerby by Tryon.) Antilles and 
Florida Keys. 

Anachis obesa C. B. Adams (C. ornata Ravenel, C. cancellata Gaskoin, 
C. ostreicola Melvill), North Carolina to Florida, Texas, and Vera Cruz ; also 
the Antilles generally. The dark brown or black ones are var. ostreicola. 

Anachis Hotcssieriana Orbigny, has been obtained in 30 fms. near the Ba- 
hamas, and would appear to be a good species. It is the smallest of all, and 
has been reported from Cuba and Guadelupe. 

When one reaches such species as C. Verrillii it is impossible to tell by the 
shell in which subgenus they should be located. 

Anachis amphissella Dall. 

Plate XIX. Fig. 10 c. 

Columbella (Astyrisl) amphissella Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 91, 1881. 

Habitat. Yucatan Strait, 413-640 fms. 

A variety (which may take the name of Rushii) of this species was dredged 
by Dr. Rush, U. S. N., off Fowey Rocks, Florida Straits, in 465 fms. It is 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 189 

distinguished from the type by the absence of the undulations or transverse 
riblets; the fine sculpture alone is left. Both have a notably large and translu- 
cent nucleus, much bigger proportionally than is found in any of the shallow- 
water forms. Its nearest relative seems to be A. obesa. These shells stand 
about midway between the subgenus Astyris (like A. rosacea) and the small 
forms of Anachis, and might equally well be referred to either section. 

Subgenus NITIDELLA Swainson. 

In the subgenus Nitidella we have in this region N. nitidula Sby., N. cribra. 
ria, Lamarck, N. laevigata Linne, N. parvula Dunker, and JV. dichroa Sowerby, 
the last two being somewhat uncertain as to their subgeneric affinities. Most 
of these species have numerous varieties and synonyms. Columbella idalina 
Duclos, a beautiful Antillean species, and G. moleculina Duclos, which extends 
to the Florida Keys where it was abundantly collected by Hemphill, have 
much the aspect of Nitidella, and perhaps should be referred there. To the 
last mentioned species I refer, as a variety, dicomata, a very pretty little form 
collected by Hemphill on the reefs at Key West. It differs from G. moleculina 
in being smaller, more distinctly spirally grooved all over, and in having the 
brown color (on a translucent ground) concentrated in two revolving brown 
bands, one above and the other below the periphery, the upper one alone being 
visible on the older whorls. 

Subgenus ASTYRIS (H. & A. Adams) Dall. 

Astyris (H. & A. Adams, 1853) Dall, Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., 1870, p. 242; Am. 
Journ. Conch., VII., 1871, p. 115. 

Out of a number of superfluous names, the present one was selected by me, 
nineteen years ago, to be used for sundry colored, small, mostly polished little 
Columbellids which have been scattered through a variety of sections which 
form phases of a continuous series and cannot be strictly' diagnosed. Of this 
group there is a goodly number on both coasts of North America and in the 
Antilles. The species on the east coast of the United States would repay more 
study than they have received. 

Astyris lunata Sat. 

Columbella lunata Say, Journ. Phil. Acad. Nat. Sci., V. p. 213, 1826 ; Tryon, Am. 
Mar. Conchology, p. 38, fig. 61, 1873. 

This very common little shell has several absolute synonyms, among which 
are C Gouldiana (Agassiz MS.) Stimpson and TVheatleyi DeKay. It has also 
several marked varieties. G. dissimilis Stimpson, of which the U. S. National 
Museum possesses typical examples, is a rude purplish brown rather large 
northern form of lunata. None of the specimens so labelled by Stimpson 


190 BULLETIN OF THE 

have any trace of white on them, or any light coloration. A form in which 
the hrown coloration of the ordinary lunata coalesces to form two or more 
dark bands with lighter interspaces is the zonale of Linsley, but the banded 
specimens from off ftatteras in deep water, which have been referred to zonale 
by Prof. Verrill and Miss Bush, appear to me to be a distinct species, and have 
nothing to do with lunata. An unusually dark, stout, and stumpy variety 
from the Carolina coast has been determined from authentic specimens to be 
the C. spizantha of Ravenel. The coloration is much like that of the ordinary 
lunata, but the spots are more disconnected and squarer. A smaller, brighter, 
more polished, and elegantly colored pale variety is that which, following the 
general rule of species having a wide distribution, is found toward its southern 
limit in South Florida, Cuba, etc., northward to the Carolinas, and which has 
received the name of C. Duclosiana Orbigny. The typical A. lunata is abun- 
dant in Florida but does not extend south of it, and in South Florida is largely 
replaced by the variety Duclosiana. The latter farther north, as off the coast 
of the Carolinas, is found, not along the shore, like the typical form, but in 
15-50 fms. water, in a temperature of 65° to 80° F. 

The genuine deep-water or archibenthal species are distinguished, as far as 
I have been able to examine them, by a larger and more inflated nucleus than 
that carried by the littoral species. It is possible that, in the absence of violent 
struggle characteristic of life in the depths as compared with the shores, a large 
number of young in each capsule may become less necessary and the size of 
the individuals more important. Of these speiies we have A. Raveneli Dall 
(C nivea Ravenel, not Sowerby), larger, more elongated than A. pura, and 
recalling a minute A. rosacea Gould. Dr. Rush dredged it in 205 fms., off 
the coast of Florida, and the U. S. Fish Commission at Station 2602, in 124 
fms., sand, off Hatteras, the bottom temperature being 61°.0 F. So far as 
known, A. pura Verrill is more northern in its distribution, having been 
obtained in the deep water off the southeast coast of New England. 

Another species is Astyris multUineata Dall, which has been referred to 
A. lunata var. zonale by some writers. It is longer, and proportionally more 
slender and acute, than any form of A. lunata. The whorls are less rounded, 
the spire has a somewhat flattened appearance, and the periphery is obscurely 
angulated, even in the last whorl of the adult. But the character which most 
clearly distinguishes it, in its typical form, is the coloration ; which consists of 
five or six pale brown narrow even spiral lines, alternating with straw-colored 
interspaces, on the last whorl. From its uniformity in a large number of 
specimens this character seems to be stable and diagnostic. In dead shells the 
brown lines fade, and among live ones there is a pure white variety which is 
distinguishable from A. Raveneli by its form and smaller size (4.5 mm. long by 
2.0 mm. wide, while A. Raveneli measures 5.5 by 2.2 mm., and A. pura about 
4.0 by 2.5 mm.), and from A. pura, which is still smaller, by its more polished 
compact appearance and more slender form. A. multUineata has been ob- 
tained from U. S. Fish Commission Stations 2592, 2595, 2601, 2602, and 2614, 
in from 63 to 168 fms., sand, with a bottom temperature of 61° to 78° F. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 191 

Adult specimens have four or five well-developed denticles inside the outer lip, 
and a larger one at the beginning of the canal opposite a tooth-like callus on the 
pillar. The other characters are much like those of A. Raveneli. 

Among the widely distributed forms which appear in deep water on our 
eastern coast is the Astyris rosacea of Gould. After examining a very fine 
geographical series, I have been unable to separate the Greenland shells from 
those of Norway, New England, or Alaska, all the characters which have been 
relied upon as diagnostic being mutable and interchangeable. The name 
Holbbllii of Mdller will therefore fall into synonymy. However, the slender 
shell called diaphana by Prof. Verrill I regard as entitled to specific rank, 
although the spiral lines are quite variable, and are distinctly visible on 
some of the specimens of diaphana received from him. The nucleus, as stated 
by him, is more compact, but this is a difference which alone could hardly be 
regarded as of specific value. The shell, however, has other characters, which 
are enumerated below. 

Before leaving this topic, I may mention as an addition to our fauna the 
Astyris fusiformis Orbigny, an Antillean form, which was obtained in 6-10 fms. 
at Turtle Harbor, Florida, by that zealous collector, Dr. W. H. Rush, U. S. N. 

Astyris diaphana Verrill. 

Plate XXXV. Fig. 9. 

Astyris rosacea (pars) Verrill, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., III. p. 408 (non Gould). 
Astyris diaphana Verrill, Trans. Conn..Acad., V. p. 513, pi. lviii. fig. 2, 1882. 

Shell of the form and general appearance of A. rosacea Gld. (Holbollii Moll.), 
but more slender, with a prominent swollen varix behind the outer lip, which 
is slightly thickened and finely lirate within. In front of the varix the suture 
descends quite sharply, or bends forward. The nucleus is white and like that 
of A. profundi, and there are five other whorls, which are marked with ob- 
scure elevated spiral lines, with irregular interspaces, which look as if scratched 
with a pin on the inside of the shell and showing through. These give the 
surface, which is polished and lightly marked with lines of growth, a malleated 
appearance. The anterior half of the last whorl is grooved, the grooves being 
stronger and wider in proportion as they are anterior; the interstitial eleva- 
tions on the canal are like rounded threads. The suture is distinct but not 
channelled; on some of the whorls it is accompanied by a fine groove just in 
advance of it. The general color of the shell is pale straw-color, and the epi- 
dermis is not hispid like that of rosacea. Lon. of shell, 9.0; of last whorl, 5.6; 
of aperture, 4.0; max. lat. of shell, 3.3 mm. 

Habitat. U. S. Fish Commission Stations 876, off Newport, R. I., in 65 
to 487 fms., and 2399, in 196 fms., mud, between the Mississippi delta and 
Cedar Keys, Florida, bottom temperature 51°.6 F. 

It recalls A. profundi Dall, but is more elegant, slender, and has more 
rounded outlines. There are no traces of transverse ribbing. 


192 BULLETIN OF THE 

Astyris profundi n. s. 

Plate XXXV. Fig. 3. 

This shell has nearly the same form as Astyris Holbollii or rosacea as figured 
by Sars (Moll. Reg. Arct. Norv., t. 16, fig 1), but is proportionally a little 
wider anteriorly, and when immature has a peripheral angulation, not sharp 
but distinct enough to be readily observed. It differs from that species in 
(1) being more solid and strong; (2) having no transverse riblets anywhere, but 
a very fine close spiral striation on the early whorls; (3) having a firm smooth 
polished epidermis showing no lines of growth ; (4) having a more regular, 
acute, and smaller apex, and less swollen apical whorls ; (5) having the outer 
lip thickened, strengthened by a varicoid swelling, internally strongly lirate 
with six or eight raised lira?, the inner lip with a raised callus and nine or ten 
deeply incised grooves on the canal. The color of the deep-sea species is a 
little more pink and its appearance more elegant owing to the polished epider- 
mis. It averages about the same size as the G. rosacea. The specimen figured 
is 8.0 mm. long and 3.5 mm. in maximum width. From C. diaphana Verrill, 
it differs in most of the above characters as well, but especially in being still 
broader in proportion. From a dwarf specimen of C. Saintpairiana the present 
form would differ by its less constricted canal, more regularly ovate whorls, 
less conspicuous varix, and especially by its less acute spire without traces 
of ribs anywhere. The very oblicpae edge of the columella is extended into a 
sharp plait, which appears to project like a tooth behind the columellar callus, 
and, being so far up, would at first sight be taken as unconnected with the 
pillar margin, which is masked by a false edge, in front, of labial callus. 

Habitat. Station 2, off Morro Light, Havana in 805 fms., bottom tempera- 
ture 39°. 7 F. Also by the U. S. Fish Commission at Station 2601, thirty-six 
miles S. ^ W. from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, in 107 fms., sandy bottom, 
temperature 67°. 4 F. 

Astyris Verrillii Dall. 

Plate XIX. Fig. 8. 

Columbella, (Astyris) Verrillii Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 91, Sept. 26, 1881. 
Columbella (Pyrene) strix Watson, Linn. Soc. Journ., XVI. p. 339, June 12, 1882; 
Challenger Gastr., p. 237, pi. xiii. fig. 2 a-d, 1885. 

Habitat. Sculptured variety, Station 2, 805 fms.; Station 19, 310 fms.; 
Station 43, 339 fms. ; Station 47, 331 fms. Figured variety, Station 43, 339 fms. ; 
Station 47, 331 fms. Challenger Expedition, Stations 23, off Sombrero, in 
450 fms., ooze; 24, off Culebra, in 390 fms., ooze; and 122, off Pernambuco, in 
350 fms., red mud. 

No more specimens have turned up. The specimen figured happens to be 
the smoothest of the lot; the more strongly sculptured specimens, taken by 
themselves and without the connecting links, would be thought by most natu- 
March 8, 1889. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 193 

ralists to be distinct ; the smooth ones have rounder whorls, a feature result- 
ing mechanically from the absence of the ribs. For these reasons the name 
given by my friend Mr. Watson to the sculptured form would better be re- 
tained in a varietal sense. His variety subacta does not differ from his type 
more than many of my individuals differ from each other. The outer lip is 
immature or broken in both of the specimens he figures. 

Astyris Saintpairiana Caillet. 
Columbella Saint- Pairiana Caillet, Journ. de Conchyl., XII. p. 279, pi. ii. fig. 4, 186-1. 

Habitat. Station 247, off Grenada, in 170 fms., ooze; and Station 259, near 
by, in 159 fms., ooze, bottom temperature 53°.5 F. Marie- Galante, W. I., 
Caillet. 

It is possible that this rare and pretty species may be a large, smooth form 
of C. Lafresnayei F. & B., described from the same locality in 1856. The latter 
differs chiefly in having the transverse ribbing continued on to the last whorl, 
and in somewhat smaller size. One of the Blake specimens of C. Saintpairiana 
in addition to the rosy tint shows pale yellow brown mottlings over the sur- 
face, strongest near the suture, recalling the coloration in pale specimens of 
0. lunata Say. 

Astyris (lunata var.?) Duclosiana Okbignt. 

Columbella {Astyris) Duclosiana Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 91, 1881. 
Columbella Duclosiana Orb., Moll. Cuba, II. 136, pi. xxi. figs. 31-33, 1842. 

Habitat. Station 20, 220 fms.; Sigsbee, off Havana, in 450 fms. 

This pretty little species is closely related to Astyris lunata Say, of which it 
is with little doubt only a southern color-variety. The National Museum has 
it from Samana Bay, St. Domingo, and Tampa Bay, Florida, where it occurs 
abundantly. It has also been received from Barbados. 


Subgenus ^ESOPUS Gould. 

jEsopus Gould, Otia Conchologica, p. 138, Dec, 1860; type, jE. japonicus Gould. 

Little attention seems to have been paid to this peculiar and interesting 
group since it was described by Dr. Gould. Several species have been de- 
scribed that should be referred to it, beside JE. filosus Angas which according 
to Tryon should not be referred to it, but this opinion I am not in a position 
to discuss for want of material. Beside the type which is now under my 
eyes, and was collected by Dr. Win. Stimpson in Japan, there is a Californian 
species called Amycla ? chrysalloidca by Dr. P. P. Carpenter, and also the species 
about to be referred to from the eastern coast of America. 

VOL. XVIII. 13 


194 BULLETIN OF THE 

^3E3sopus Stearnsii (Trton) Dall. 

Plate XXIX. Fig. 5. 

Nitiddla filosa Steams, Proc. Phil. Acad. Nat. Sci., 1873, p. 345, figure. Not Alsopus 

filosus Angas, 1867. 
? Columbella peculiaris Guppy, Geol. Mag., 1874, pi. xviii. fig. 20 (extra copies, p. 9). 
Seminella Stearnsii Tryon, Man. Conch., V. p. 179, 1882. 

This species was described from bleached specimen-^ collected by Dr. Stearns 
at Tampa Bay, Florida.. 

Instead of being white, it is,' when fresh, of a handsome warm brown, with 
an articulated presutural band of white and darker brown. Occasionally there 
are faint articulations of the color on the spiral riblets of the body whorl. 
The operculum is like the Japanese one. Beside those collected by Dr. Stearns 
in West Florida, it was obtained by the U. S. Fish Commission at Stations 
2616, 2617, 2619, and 2622, in 15-17 fms., sand, off the North Carolina coast, 
and by Dr. Rush, in 12 fms., off Frying Pan Shoals. 

Beside the above mentioned species, another, in which there is no spiral 
striation, has been collected at Samana Bay, St. Domingo, many years since, 
by Capt. J. P. Couthouy. This I have identified as Terebra Metcalfei of Reeve; 
it is of course not a Terebra at all, but belongs to the subgenus JEsopus of the 
Columbellidce. 

In taking leave of this family, I may observe that, though Conidia ovulata 
has not been taken nearer than the Bahamas, it is highly probable it will 
eventually be found in South Florida or among the Keys. 


Family MURICIDiE. 
Subfamily MURICIN^E. 

In variety of form and variability within the species-limit, probably no group 
of Gastropods surpasses the present family. Few have suffered more at the 
hands of the splitter-up of genera ; the number of names proposed, in most 
cases without any reference to the rules of nomenclature or any investigation 
into the history of the species, is astonishing. I do not know a more discredit- 
able exhibition of pseudo-science and very real mischief of this kind than that 
which may be found in the recent treatment of Murex and Typhis by certain 
authors, who, it is almost unnecessary to observe, have not been known to 
contribute anything of value to real biology, to atone for the unnecessary 
confusion they have created in biological nomenclature. 

Fischer, Tryon, and the majority of those who have treated the modern 
genus Murex, have reduced the number of subgenera to six or seven, leaving 
the further subdivision into sections optional. The subgenera of Murex, as in 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 195 

all "roups when sufficient material is studied, are found to fade into one an- 
other by moderate degrees. In studying the group it will be found, if the 
student is possessed of material enough and from a sufficiently wide geograph- 
ical range, that the number of varices, while generally constant, is not an in- 
variable character; that the same species has many and long, or few and short, 
spines within the range of its variation, and that the young of nearly related 
species, especially of the same faunal region, are often indistinguishable one 
species from another, while the adults present fairly tangible characters. 
The Murices of the fauna we are considering may be arranged as follows. 

Genus MUKEX Linne. 

Subgenus MUREX s. s. 

This group has been badly handled in Tryon's Manual, the text of which 
indicates haste and insufficient material, while, the figures are extremely poor 
and very badly colored. There is no doubt that Tryon was right in reducing 
the number of species, but a proper reduction can only be made by the exer- 
cise of great care and the thorough study of a large multitude of specimens. 
Without committing myself to the distinctness of all the species here included 
under this group, I can say that they appear to be distinguishable from the 
rather full material I have been able to examine. 

Murex Beaui Fischer & Bernardi. 
Murex Beaui F. & B., Journ. de Concliyl., V. p. 295, pi. viii. fig. 1, 1856. 

Habitat. On the Florida Reefs, in 119 fms., Sigsbee; Station 300, at Barba- 
dos, in 82 fms.; Station 132, in 115 fms., rocky bottom, off Frederikstadt, 
Santa Cruz; Station 144, on the Saba Bank, in 21 fms.; Station 171, off 
Guadelupe, in 183 fms., bottom temperatures ranging from 55°.5 to 65°. F. 
Also at U. S. Fish Commission Stations 2134, south of Cuba, in 254 fms., sand 
(remarkably fine); and 2402, in 111 fms., mud, between the delta of the 
Mississippi River and Cedar Keys, Florida. 

This fine and remarkable species was obtained in large numbers at Station 
2402 of the Fish Commission. It is unquestionably a distinct form, though 
the very young are hardly to be distinguished from those of M. nodatus and 
M. clcgans. The adult of the frilled or webbed variety in perfection is a mag- 
nificent shell. It is curious, however, that the webbing which is so remark- 
able a character is only found in specimens from deep, clean, and quiet waters. 
Those from muddy bottom, and all the young ones, show only traces of it, 
and in the adults there is often not even a trace of it, the varices being as 
rounded and spinous as if it never had a web. The most prominent and con- 
stant characters are the height of the spire, deep suture, and peculiarly rounded 
whorls. 


196 BULLETIN OF THE 

Murex Cabritii Bernardi. 
Murex Cabritii Bernardi, Journ. de Concbyl., VII. p. 301, pi. x. fig. 3, 1858. 

Habitat. Off Sombrero, 50-72 fms. ; Station 36, Gulf of Mexico, in 84 fms. ; 
Station 132, off Santa Cruz, in 115 fms., rocky bottom; Station 143, off Saba 
Bank, in 150 fms.; Station 155, off Montserrat, in 88 fms.; Stations 253, 254, 
off Grenada, in. 92-164 fms., coral; and Station 272, off Barbados, in 76 fms. 
Bottom temperatures 57° to 69° F. 

This is a fine species, of which the adults are a fine uniform pink, or pinkish 
white, with no dots or other color markings whatever. They may be luxu- 
riantly spinous, or nearly destitute of spines. 

Magnificent specimens were dredged in 25 fms., in the Gulf of Mexico, in 
various places by the Fish Commission, and off shore it was found even as far 
north as Stations 2595 and 2604, in 34-63 fms., sand, 20-40 miles east and 
south from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. Murex Tryoni Hidalgo, from the 
figure and description, seems to be a young specimen of this species. 

Murex elegans Beck. 
Murex elegans (Beck) Sowerby, Conch. Illustrations, fig. 84. 

Habitat. Off Sombrero, in 54 fms.; Station 290, at Barbados, in 73 fms., 
coral, bottom temperature 71°.0 F. 

This seems a strictly Antillean species with which trilineatus Reeve is sy- 
nonymous, but which seems perfectly distinct from the genuine recurvirostris, 
which name has been made to cover a heterogeneous collection in Tryon's 
Manual. 

Murex messorius (Sbt.) Reeve. 
Murex messorius Reeve, Conch. Icon. Murex, fig. 90, 1845 (not of Tryon). 

Habitat. Station 142, Flannegan Passage, living in 27 fms., .sand. Dead 
specimens at Station 220, off St. Lucia, in 116 fms., rocky bottom; Station 247, 
in 170 fms., ooze, off Grenada; bottom temperature 78° F., at the first station. 
In shallow water near the shore on the coast of Florida and the mainland 
round to Aspinwall. 

This form is almost without spines, has one faint and two strong intervarical 
ribs, and has no color dots or lineations. It has a hispid epidermis, while 
that of M. Cabritii, its nearest relative, is smooth. The latter has a perfectly 
straight and much longer canal, unless it has met with some injury. The 
Florida specimens are often of a deep rose-pink. They are usually less hooked 
and spinose than the discolored specimen figured by Reeve, and have been 
well figured as Murex Gundlacld by Dunker. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 197 

Murex nodatus Reeve. 
Murex nodatus Reeve, Conch. Icon. Murex, fig. 107, 1845. 

Habitat. Station 132, off Santa Cruz, in 115 fms., rocky bottom; Station 
142, Flannegan Passage, in 27 fms., sand; Station 155, off Montserrat, living, 
in 88 fms., bottom temperature 69°. F. ; Station 272, off Barbados, in 76 fms., 
sand. 

This is a solely Antillean species, so far as known. It is distinguished from 
the preceding as more light and spinose, by the more numerous inter-varical 
plicae, the inter-nodular brown spiral lines, and a tendency to pale brown 
spiral zones. It is related to M. elegans, but from the material at hand appears 
to be distinct. 

Murex Cailleti Petit. 
Murex Cailleti Petit, Journ. de Conchyl., V. p. 87, pi. ii. figs. 1, 2, 1856. 

Habitat. Off Santa Cruz, dead but fresh specimen, in 248 fms., sand, at 
Station 134. 

I feel a good deal of doubt as to whether this is distinct from recurvirostris, 
but have not the material to determine the fact. It seems to differ in its 
longer canal, lighter texture of shell, more elaborate sculpture, and brown- 
spotted coloration. It is also rather more spinose. 

Beside the above mentioned species of this subgenus the National Museum 
possesses, from the Antillean region, specimens of Murex chrysostoma Gray 
and M. concinnus Reeve. 

Subgenus CHICOREUS Montfort. 


o 


The species figured to represent this genus, and which must determine its 
typical form in subdividing the group, is not the true Murex ramosus to which 
the text makes reference in Montfort's work, but a species related to M. rufus, 
palmarosce, and adustus. Montfort doubtless would have included all the 
species like pomum and brassica in his Chicoreus, as would Swainson have 
done in his group named Phyllonotus ; but as the latter figures a species of the 
pomum type as his example, if we divide the two series the name of Phyllonotus 
must be adopted for the latter, while Muricanthus stands only for the few 
species like M. radix, which possess a tooth or spine on the outer lip at the 
base of the aperture. Through such species as M. quadrifrons, etc., there is a 
gradual passage from Chicoreus to Phyllonotus, but for most purposes it will be 
convenient to retain the distinction. 

Of the group comprehended under the name Chicoreus, the most prominent 
species of the region under consideration is Murex rufus of Lamarck, which 


198 BULLETIN OF THE 

has many synonyms, but in regard to which Mr. Tryon's manual is in hopeless 
confusion. It is, as far as plentiful material permits a judgment, perfectly 
distinct from M. adustus. It varies greatly in its frondosity. The most pro- 
fuse, long, and subdivided processes are found in the variety M. florifer Reeve, 
which is found at Nassau, N. P. The typical form reaches as far north as 
within 25 miles of Cape Fear, N. C, where it is found in 15 fms., off shore, in 
the warmer water. It is abundant in Florida, the Keys, and the Bahamas. 
I have seen no Antillean specimens. M. brevifrons Lamarck has been found 
as far north as South Carolina, and is firmly established from Florida to Vene- 
zuela, and in the Antilles. A specimen of M. quadrifrons Lamarck, from the 
West Indies, is also in the National Museum. To this group, rather than to 
Phyllonotus, the following species may be also referred. 


Chicoreus Hidalgoi Crosse. 

Plate XVI. Fig. 3. 

Murex Hidalgoi Crosse, Journ. de Conchyl., XVII. p. 408, 1869 ; XIX. p. 68, pi. i. 
fig. 4, 1871. 

Habitat. Stations 155 and 158, off Montserrat, in 88 and 148 fms., sand, 
bottom temperature 64° to 69°.0 F. ; Station 272, in 76 fms., off Barbados. 

This is an extremely pretty and distinct species which seldom attains much 
more than an inch in length. It has been found in several places in the Lesser 
Antilles, and always in deep water. 


Subgenus PHYLLONOTUS Swainson. 

The most remarkable American species of this group is also rather north- 
ern in its distribution. P. fulcescens Sowerby* is in the National Museum 
from the coast of North Carolina and also from Texas. It grows to a large 
size and is the largest American species, but probably inhabits shallow water, 
as none of the off-shore dredgings show any specimens. I have not seen any 
specimens from the Antilles. 

The second species of this group found on the shores of the United States is 

Phyllonotus pomum Gmelin. 

Plate XVI. Fig. 2. 

Murex pomum Reeve, Conch. Icon., sp. 85 ; Gmelin, Syst. Nat., p. 3527, no. 6. 
Murex oculatus Reeve, op. cit., sp. 36, 1845. 

* Conch. 111., p. 7, fig. 30, 1840. It was afterward published as M. spinacosta 
Val. (MS.) in Kiener, Icon. Murex, p. 49, pi. xli. fig. 1, 1843, which has been 
amended to spinicostata. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 199 

Murex mcxicanus Petit, Journ. de Conchyl., III. p. 51, pi. ii. fig. 9, 1852. 
Murex asperrimus Lam., Orbigny, Moll. Cuba, II. p. 158, 1853. 
Murex pomiformis (Martini) Auctorurn. 
? Murex imperialis Tryon, ex parte. 

Habitat. Station 152, Flannegan Passage, in 27 fms., sand, temperature 
78° F., one very young specimen, which I have figured. 

This species extends its range from the warm water off the coast of North 
Carolina to Florida, the mainland round to Venezuela, etc., and the Antilles. 
One of the brightest-colored specimens I have seen came from near Beaufort, 
N. C. The colors are variable, and I suspect the Murex imperialis from the 
island of Margarita, West Indies (if not an error for Margarita in the Gulf of 
California), referred to by Mr. Tryon, is merely a very large, pale, bright- 
mouthed M. pomum. The typical color of the mouth is pale salmon-color 
picked out with dark brown, but in some specimens the brown becomes a 
tolerably lively yellow, and the salmon-color a pale pink,, while in still others 
the mouth is white, especially at inter-varical periods. The number of varices 
is usually three, but this is not invariable; there may be four, or the number 
may be irregular. The young shell sometimes looks like a little stumpy Fusus, 
of a vivid pink. Varices are inconspicuous in the early whorls, which are 
reticulated, while the nucleus is deep pink, or brown, smooth, small, and about 
two-whorled. The epidermis of the young shell is quite hispid. 


Phyllonotus interserratus Sowerby. 

Murex interserratus Sowerby, Tlies. Conch. Murex, p. 39, no. 180, fig. 204, 1879. 
Murex Pazi Sby., op. cit., fig. 208, not of Crosse. 

Habitat. Station 273, off Barbados, in 103 fms., coral; and Station 156, off 
Montserrat, in 88 fms., sand, bottom temperatures 60° to 69° F. 

This is a very neat and pretty little species, which combines characters re- 
minding one of Ocinebra, Paziella, Trophon, and Phyllcmotus. No habitat 
was given for it by the describer, and it is now determined as Antillean for 
the first time. 


Phyllonotus Pazi Crosse. 

Plate XV. Fig. 1. 

Murex Pazi Crosse, Journ. de Conchyl., XVII. p. 183, 1869; XVIII. p. 99, pi. i. 
fig. 7, 1870. Not of Sowerby, Thes. Conchyl. Murex, fig. 208, 1879. 

Habitat. Station 20, off Bahia Honda, Cuba, in 220 fms., bottom tempera- 
ture 62° F. Also at U. S. Fish Commission Station 2655, on the Little 
Bahama Bank, in 338 fins., sand, temperature 47°. 5 F. 

This is a remarkable little shell, which takes a long step toward uniting 


200 BULLETIN OF THE 

Murex with Trophon. It has been called Paziella by one of those gentlemen 
who employ themselves in inventing superfluous names for these animals. 
He also called Murex zelandicus (which only differs from M. Pazi in 
wanting the spines on the canal) Perrieria. I do not know which name is 
prior, and neither of them are particularly worth retaining. Sowerby has 
figured what seems to be a specimen of M. interserralus for this shell. No 
figure of the genuine M. Pazi appears in the Thesaurus. The figure we give 
is of the young -shell dredged by the Blake. A fine specimen, 32 by 32 mm., 
was afterward obtained from the Fish Commission. It differs from M. Crosse's 
figure only in wanting the revolving lines on the base of the last whorl. 

Phyllonotus hystricinus Dall. 

Plate XV. Fig. 4. 

Shell yellowish white, thin, translucent when young, nine-whorled. Spire 
pointed, turrited; nucleus white, smooth; remainder of the whorls with close- 
set varices, crimped by the intersection of three principal posterior and several 
smaller anterior spiral ribs, the largest being the most posterior and angulat- 
ing the whorls. The ribs are prolonged on the varices into guttered recurved 
spines, of which the posterior series is much the longest, the next pair smaller 
and subequal, those in front much smaller and more recurved; there are nine 
of these varices on the last whorl and more on the earlier whorls ; with each 
varix a new canal is formed, much recurved, so that the base shows a vortex of 
four radiating canal spines with a deep chink in their midst. The canal re- 
mains always open; with this exception the margin of the aperture is con- 
tinuous; it is elevated, a little thickened and with three or four nodular 
denticles in the adult within the outer lip. Max. Ion. of shell, 21.0; of last 
whorl, 15.0; of aperture, 6.3; and of the canal, 8.5; max. lat. of aperture, 
5.5; of shell, including spines, 16.5 mm. 

Habitat. Station 158, in 148 fms., rocky bottom, off Montserrat ; Station 
206, off MartinH}ue, living in 170 fins., sand, bottom temperature 49°. F. ; 
also at U. S. Fish Commission Station 2134, south of Cuba, in 254 fms., 
sand. 

This singular shell belongs to the group of M. carduus Broderip and fimbria- 
tus Hinds (= luculentus Reeve). All of them might be or have been referred 
to Trophon, where I should have placed them, except that the operculum is 
tvpically Muricoid and the interior of the lip dentate. Multiply the series of 
spines and varices on Murex Pazi and you will have a shell of this kind, which 
is directly connected with Trophon, as far as shell characters go, by such species 
as T. actinophorus. But no linear arrangement can express the relationship of 
these groups or species. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 201 


Subgenus PTERONOTUS Swainson. 

This group has been regarded as rather characteristic of the shores of the 
Southwestern Pacific Ocean, but we now have several species to add to the 
Atlantic fauna, where a few were already known. 

Pteronotus macropterus Deshayes. 

Murex macropterus Deshayes, Mag. tie Zocil., 1841, pi. xxxviii. 
Pteropurpura macroptera Jousseaume, 1880. Fischer, Man., p. 641, 1884. 

Habitat. U. S. Fish Commission Station 2595, 22 miles E. S. E. from Cape 
Hatteras, N. C, in 63 fins., sand, bottom temperature 75° F. 

Two living specimens of the above species were obtained by the Albatross. 
The operculum is as figured by Deshayes in his original paper, the nucleus 
nearly lateral, but also nearly apical, as in M. rufus and M . pomum, though of 
course on a smaller scale. This species has had a generic or subgeneric name 
applied to it, but as for differential characters there are none alleged of a 
permanent and definite character. 

Pteronotus phaneus n. s. 

Shell ashy white, elongated, thin, six-whorled. Nucleus translucent, smooth, 
polished, of about one and a half whorls ; whorls slightly convex, appressed to 
the suture behind them, connected by three continuous fin-like varices which 
in descending the spire make about half a revolution around it; these varices 
on the upper whorls were extended backward into a little wing-like point with 
dentate edges ; on the last whorl the lines of growth indicate that the thin 
margin was rounded, parallel with the whorl. Transverse sculpture of fine 
growth-lines, and on the last two whorls at the periphery three short little 
narrow pinched-up riblets between the varices; spiral sculpture of fine rather 
faint striae and wider undulations, hardly visible except on the varices; of these 
there are nine or ten on the last varix. Aperture elongate-oval, internally 
white, thickened, smooth; canal rather long, open, bent back. Max. Ion. of 
shell, 17.0; of last whorl, 13.5; of aperture, 5.0; max. lat. of aperture, 3.0; of 
shell, 8.0 mm. 

Habitat. U. S. Fish Commission Station 2662, off St. Augustine, Florida, 
in 434 fms., sand, temperature 43°. 7 F. 

This species agrees more nearly with the Indo-Pacific species by having three 
inter-varical ribs, while the Atlantic species hitherto known have only one. It 
is, however, more nearly related to the next species than to any hitherto de- 
scribed, as far as I have been able to ascertain. The body of the shell is not 
unlike that of P. cordismei Watson, figured in the Challenger Report, but the 
present species has none of the semitubular spines which give the Australian 
shell the look of a Typhis. 


202 BULLETIN OF THE 

Pteronotus tristichus n. s. 

Plate XV. Fig. 3. 

Shell pure white, thin, polished, delicate, with six rather loosely coiled, 
rounded whorls ; body more slender than in the last species, sutures much 
deeper and not appressed. Nucleus large, loosely coiled, glassy, white ; varices 
making about one quarter of a revolution around the spire, very thin, edges 
dentate, prolonged on the shoulder of the whorls into a long pinna with a flat 
central rib; below there are three other less prominent ribs, which project at the 
edge of the varix on the last whorl; there is no transverse sculpture except 
incremental lines, nor any inter- varical ribs; the spiral sculpture is obscure and 
very faint, except the ribs on the varices ; aperture small, pear-shaped ; canal 
open, rather long, bent to the right, the canal belonging to the preceding varix, 
behind it, persistent and bent to the left. Max. Ion. of shell, 15.5; of last 
whorl, 11.0; of aperture, 3.3; max. lat. of aperture, 2.0; of shell, 10.0 mm. 

Habitat. Station 51, off Havana, in 243-450 fms., Sigsbee. Station 5, 
152-229 fms., off Cuba. 

This is a very elegant little shell, and not like any of the shallow- water 
species. 

Genus EUPLEURA H. & A. Adams. 

This genus, separated from the Tritoniidw by Stimpson, with the type 
Eupleura caudata Say, is a Pteronotus with irregular and more numerous 
varices. It has been referred to Trophon as a subgenus by Kobelt, but, while 
admitting that some of the Trophons are more nearly related to Eupleura than 
to the type of Trophon, I think the dentate aperture and heavy primary varices, 
the texture and habits of the shell, the station occupied by the animal on the 
shores, and its subtropical preferences as to habitat, all point to a distinction 
wortlry of preservation. I would, therefore, rather remove the muricoid Tro- 
phons, or rather the muricoid species which have been included with the real 
Trophons, to the vicinity of Eupleura, than sink the differences by a transfer in 
the opposite direction. I should not retain among the typical Trophons any of 
the species with a contracted callus and dentate aperture, or with varices' of 
which part are distinguished from the others by a heavy deposit of shell 
substance. 

Eupleura caudata Sat. 

Ranella caudata Say, Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., II. p. 236, 1822. 
Eupleura caudata Stimpson, Am. Journ. Conch., I. p. 58, pi. viii. fig. 5, 1865. 

The range of this species, as exhibited by the specimens of the National 
Museum, extends from Cape Cod to Charlotte Harbor, Florida. The northern 
specimens are rather larger, rougher, with the longitudinal sculpture more equal 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 203 

to the transverse, and taking on in this way a more reticulated appearance. It 
has been confounded with a closely related, but quite distinguishable, West 
American species, Eupleura muriciformis Broderip, or clathrata Gray. The 
latter (A) is a considerably larger shell when adult, and may be distinguished 
from E. caudata (B) by the following characters. 

A. Larger (circa 40.0 mm.); strongly three-noduled on the back of the last 
whorl, the middle nodule most prominent, giving the shell a trigonal aspect 
when viewed from the apex of the spire ; a second primary varix frequently 
found behind this middle nodule, or near it ; line of the nodules represented 
by a keel on the varix, which terminates in a strong recurved hook, grooved 
in front, with no teeth behind this groove, or between it and the body whorl, 
inside the aperture; aperture tapering gradually into the canal, and therefore 
ovate-pyriform. 

B. Smaller (max. circa 28.0 mm.), with two strong or several obscure nod- 
ules on the back, all the varices nearly in the same plane, so that the shell is 
not trigonal but flattened-ovate viewed from the apex; the keel from the line 
of the nodules does not materially interrupt the rounding over of the varix to 
the body, though the young have a small spine here, which is not grooved in 
front, and the denticulations of the aperture extend quite up to the body, and 
there is even one on the callus overlaying the body whorl itself; the varices 
are broader, the mouth shorter and rounder, and more contracted at the begin- 
ning of the canal. 

The comparison should be made in all cases with fully adult specimens; the 
young, and those specimens in which the callosity of the mouth is not fully 
complete, are very close to one another, especially if Floridian specimens are 
compared with those from the west coast of America. This is, however, only 
what we should anticipate with two forms which in all probability are de- 
scended from the same ancestors, and have become differentiated within a 
comparatively short geological time. The soft parts of Eupleura caudata are 
of a yellowish white color with opaque white dots and mottlings. The ten- 
tacula taper from base to tip, with the eyes about midway, not showing any 
enlargement. The foot is short, truncate in front, rounded behind. The verge 
is behind the right tentacle, turned back in a curve like the outline of the 
concha of the human ear. It is compressed at the base, thick, rounded and 
blunt at the tip, the transverse diameter subequal throughout. The egg cap- 
sules, like those of many Muricidaz, are pedunculate on a long slender pedicel, 
like a three-sided prism, swelling above, one keel rounding off and sending 
bifurcations to the other two, which are unequally prominent, the right or 
highest one terminating in a minute circular aperture, the left in an acute 
point. There are 12 to 20 very minute dark eggs in each capsule. They were 
taken by Dr. Stimpson at Beaufort, S. C. The wide difference between these 
and the flattened circular capsules of Trophon (see Jeffreys, Brit. Conch., IV. 
pi. viii. fig. 2) is apparent. The operculum is chestnut-brown, and like that of 
Murex or Pteronotus, not like that of Trophon. 


204 BULLETIN OF THE 

Eupleura Stimpsonii n. s. 

Shell small, thin, whitish, not polished, with four varices to the whorl and 
five whorls; nucleus smooth, white; spiral sculpture of extremely fine faint 
striae, and of (on the last whorl) five low keels, most prominent on the back of 
the varices. The posterior keel is produced at the shoulder as a spine, which 
on the front side of the varix looks as if it were holding up the webbing of the 
varix as a tent-pole holds a tent; the other keels are represented on the front 
of the varix only by shallow grooves. The transverse sculpture is composed of 
well marked incremental lines; above the spine on the last whorl the web 
of the varix extends to the fifth preceding varix; below the spine it follows 
the outline of the aperture, nearly, and terminates midway down the canal; 
the margin is even except at the spine and the ends of the grooves; aperture 
rounded, continuously marginate except at the open narrow canal; there are 
four teeth inside the outer lip in front of the spine, and three near the front of 
the inner lip ; the canal is slightly recurved, the end of the antecedent canal 
projecting from it at the left; suture well marked. Max. Ion. of shell, 12.0; 
of last whorl, 9.0; of aperture, 3.0; of canal, 4.0; max. lat. of aperture, 2.2; 
of the varix at the spine, 2.8; of the shell, 7.0 mm. 

Habitat. Barbados in 100 fms. A fragment in 1002 fms., off Cape San 
Antonio. 

This is a very short and triangular little species, which was dredged alive ; 
but the alcohol spoiled, and the soft parts and opercula were lost before I 
received the jar. 

Genus TROPHON Montfort. 

This genus has been very properly divided by Fischer and others into sec- 
tions, sufficiently well characterized for the most part* 

* In connection with this genus it may be as well to clear up the synonymy of 
a West Coast species which has fallen into confusion. 

Trophon (Boreotrophon) Dalli Kobelt. 
Trophon muriciformis Dall, Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci., VIII., extras, p. 4, March 19, 1877 ; 

Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., IX. 302, pi. iv fig. 6. 
Trophon Dalli Kobelt, Mar. & Chemn., ed. Kuster, N. Ausg., t. lxxiv. fig. 1. 
Trophon Gondridgri Forbes, MS. name on tablet in British Museum. 
Trophon Gooderichii Sowerby, Thes. Conch., pi. ccccv. figs. 25, 26, 1880, as of Forbes ; 

in error. 
Trophon coronatus Sowerby, not of A. Adams. 

Not Trophon? (" Buccinum") muriciformis King, Zoiil. Journ., V. p. 348, 1831. 
Not Eupleura (" Ranella ") muriciformis Broderip, P. Z. S. 1832, p. 179. 
Not Trophon muriciformis Sowerby, Thes., sp. 38, pi. ccccv. fig. 40, 1880, wrongly as 

of Philippi (= Fusus albidus Phil. = Trophon Gerversianus Pallas, testa jun.). 

The blunders of Mr. Sowerby in this connection are almost incredible. There 
is no Trophon Gooderichii Forbes, nor T. muriciformis Philippi. The Buccinum muri- 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY 205 

The deep-water species off the American coast would all appear to be refer- 
able to Borcotropkon Fischer, with the exception of one of the species about to be 
described. This presents in some respects such analogies with species of Murex 
like M. hyutricina, that I have doubts as to whether the specimens I have seen 
are fully adult, and whether they might not, when more mature, develop an 
aperture of the muricoid type. For this reason I forbear to suggest any sectional 
name for the form in question until more data shall have been obtained. 

The species known from the eastern coast (excluding the ordinary Arctic 
forms) are few. They comprise T. vaginatus C. & J. (+ clavatus Sars); 
T. abyssorum Verrill,* and the following species. All of them are closely 
related, and the range of variation is not yet well determined. 

Boreotrophon (aculeatus Watson var.?) lacunellus n. s. 

Plate XV. Fig. 4. 

Shell solid, white, turrited, with about eight whorls, carrying each twelve 
to fourteen slightly vaulted lamellae, which are angulated on the smaller whorls 
at about the middle of their visible surface; nucleus smooth, white, with about 
one and a half turns; subsequent coils sculptured only by the stout lamellae, 
moderately strong lines of growth, and rather numerous irregular scratches or 
ill-defined ridges directed in a spiral sense here and there on the shell. The 
angulation of the (aperture and consequently of the) varices, though distinct, is 
not sufficiently produced to form spines; suture distinct but not deep; posterior 
surface of the whorls oblique, here and there slightly concave ; anterior surface 
(or base) rounded, produced and prolonged into a slender canal somewhat 
curved to the left ; aperture narrow, long, rather sharply angulated at the 
suture, in front passing without any very marked constriction into the tapering 
canal ; inner and outer lips reflected and connected over the body by a contin- 
uous callus; the inner lip has a chink behind it at the beginning of the beak; 
the outer portion of the reflection of the outer lip is angulated about one third 
of the way from the suture toward the beak; the lips are polished, white, and 
slightly thickened within. Max. Ion. of shell, 41.0 (?) ; of last whorl, 29.0 ; of 
aperture, 24.5; lat. of shell, 15.5; of aperture, 7.5 mm. 

Habitat. Station 163, off Guadelupe, in 769 fms., sand, bottom tempera- 
ture 39°. 75 F. 

I am in some doubt in regard to this shell, which presents several differences 
from any of a number of closely allied forms, to none of which does it yet seem 
quite safe to refer it. It is larger and has a longer and more even spire, less 
angulated whorls, and angles much less produced, than in T. multilamellosus 
Philippi. It is nearer T. clavatus of Sars, but still with similar differences, 

ciformis King, which he tried to quote, is probably a variety of T. Gerversianus ; but 
owing to the confusion and doubt attending the specific name, it is probably better 
to adopt that of Dr. Kobelt. 

* Trophon Lintoni Verrill strongly suggests Coralliophila rather than Trophon. 


206 BULLETIN OF THE 

and is three times as large as T. clavatus, with nearly the same number of 
whorls. It is most closely related to T. aculeatus Watson, from deep water off 
Pernambuco, and I am disposed to consider them the same, though our shell 
has fewer whorls in the same length and a proportionally longer canal. But 
the types of T. aculeatus are evidently quite young. 

Younger specimens of what I suppose to be the same species have been taken 
by the U. S. Fish Commission at Stations 2677, 2678, off Cape Fear, N. C, 
in 478 and 731' fms., mud, bottom temperature 49°. 3 and 3S°. 7. Also in 
the Gulf of Mexico, at Station 2398, in 227 fms., mud, bottom temperature 
48°. 6 F. 

Boreotrophon actinophorus n. s. 

Plate XV. Fig. 2. 

Shell translucent white, very thin, glassy, seven-whorled ; nucleus white, 
smooth, two-whorled ; spiral sculpture of very fine faint irregular spiral lines; 
transverse sculpture of the incremental lines and a keel or angulation at the 
shoulder of the whorl which is produced into long nearly horizontally extended 
triangular spines, deeply guttered out, and having the upper or posterior side 
shorter in the direction of rotation than the other, so that looked at from the 
apex the spines recall the paper whirligigs or wind-wheels used as children's 
toys. There are six of these spines on the last whorl and thirty-one on the 
whole shell figured. Spire elevated ; suture distinct, not channelled ; aperture 
narrow, long, angulated at the spine, continuous with the open canal which is 
curved to the right; at the left of the canal projects a whorl of three or more 
tips of antecedent canals (often broken away). Interior of aperture simple, not 
thickened. Max. Ion. of shell, 17.5; of last whorl, 12.3; of aperture and canal, 
10.0; max. lat. of aperture, 3.0; of the shell exclusive of spines, 6.0; of the 
whole shell, 14.0 mm. 

Habitat. Station 134, off Santa Cruz, in 248 fms., sand; Station 206, off 
Martinique, in 170 fms., sand; and Station 299, near Barbados, in 140 fms., 
coral; temperatures from 49°. to 56°. 5 F. 

This is a very remarkable shell, and if immature, as I suspect, it is singular 
that an adult was not taken at one of the three stations. Whether a Murex or 
a Trophon it is entirely distinct from anything I have been able to find any 
record of. It has in all respects the appearance of a truly abyssal species. 


Subgenus ASPELLA Morch. 

Aspella Morch, Malak. Bliitt, XXIV. p. 24, 1877. (No description.) 
Poweria Monterosato, Norn. Gen. Conch. Medit, p. 113, 1884. Not Poiveria Bona- 
parte, Ichthyology, 1841. 
Murex, Triton, Ranella, etc., Auct. var. 

The name suggested by Morch for Ranella anceps Lamarck, was not accom- 
panied by any diagnosis or differential characters. There is, however, no reason 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 207 

why it should not be retained, in the absence of any fully established name of 
other date. It is somewhat uncertain in the absence of definite information 
as to the nucleus of A. anceps, its operculum, dentition, and soft parts, to know 
whether it belongs to the group of which Murex scalarioides would form a 
type. But A. anceps presents so many analogies with A. hastula, especially as 
to form and quality of surface, while A. hastula has the nucleus and surface 
identical with and is otherwise so closely like certain forms of A.? scalarioides, 
that I do not think it judicious to separate them. 

Aspella anceps Lamarck. 

Ranella anceps Lamarck, An. s. Vert., VII. p. 154, 1822. 

Ranella (Aspella) anceps Morch, Malak. Blatt, XXIV. p. 24, 1877. 

Ranella pyramidalis Broderip, P. Z. S. 1832, p. 194 ; Sowerby, Conch. 111. Ranella, 

fig. 2. 
Ranella producta Pease, P. Z. S. 1860, p. 397. 

Habitat. St. Thomas, Riis and Morch. West Indies, Tryon. 

This species has been reported several times from the West Indies. It is 
doubtful, however, whether the shell referred to is really T. anceps or the fol- 
lowing species. At least there is no reason why it should not be found in the 
Antilles, since I have seen specimens from Ceylon, Mauritius, Panama, Aca- 
pulco, and the Sandwich Islands. 

The identity of Pease's shell with the ordinary anceps is determined from a 
specimen received from the author. 

This shell is almost always found in collections dead and worn, with the 
secondary varices worn down, the calcareous layer which should clothe the 
surface eroded, and the nucleus lost. I have never been able to examine a 
perfectly fresh specimen. I have no doubt, however, of its distinctness from 
the next species. 

Aspella hastula Reeve. 
Ranella hastula Reeve, Conch. Icon. Ranella, fig. 42, 1844. 

Habitat. China Seas, Stimpson. Station 2617, in 14 fms., sand, twenty- 
five miles S. E. from Cape Fear, North Carolina, U. S. Fish Commission. 

This curious little species is of a chestnut-brown under the spongy calcareous 
layer. It has 3-5 varices to the whorl; A. anceps, always six. The revolving 
lines are less elevated than "is usual with A. anceps, and never nodulated, as is 
often the case with the latter. The nucleus is exactly that of the following 
species, and the amount of compression varies very greatly, some specimens 
showing almost none. 


208 BULLETIN OF THE 


Aspella? scalarioides Blainville (em.). 

Murex scalaroides Blainville, Fauna Fran9aise, p. 131, pi. 5 a, figs. 5, 6, 1826 ; Monte- 

rosato, Bull. Soc. Mai. It., V. p. 227, 1879. 
Murex scalarinus Bivona-Bernardi, Nuovo Gen. Moll., p. 27, pi. iii. fig. 11, 1832. 
Murex distinotus Cristoforis e Jan, Cat. No. 4, pi. xi. fig. 2, 1833 (or later) ; Phi- 

lippi, Moll. Sicil., I. p. 209, pi. xi. fig. 32, 1836 ; Reeve, Conch. Icon. Murex, 

fig. 161, 1845. 
Murex Itucoderma Scacchi, Cat. Concliyl. Reg. Nap., p. 12, fig. 16, 1836. 
Ocinebra scalaroides Kobelt, Jahrb. Mai. Ges., IV. p. 244, 1877. 
Murex (Muricidea) scalarioides Brugnone, Bull. Mai. Ital., III. p. 29, 1877. 
Poweria scalarina Monterosato, Nom. Gen. Conch. Medit., p. 113, 1884. 

Habitat. Mediterranean and. Adriatic. 


Aspella scalarioides var. paupercula C. B. Adams. 

Murex pauperculus C. B. Adams, Contr. Conch., p. 60, 1850. 

Triton Cantrainei Recluz, Journ. de Conchyl., IV. pp. 246, 418, pi. viii. fig. 10, 1853; 

and V. p. 156, 1856. Krebs, Cat., p. 21. 
Ocinebra Cantrainei Kobelt, Jahrb. Mai. Ges., IV. p. 244, 1877. 

Habitat. West Coast of Florida, in 50 fms. 


Aspella scalarioides var. lamellosa Dunker. 
Ranella lamellosa Dunker, P. Z. S. 1862, p. 240. 
Habitat. Florida Keys, Bermuda, Antilles. 

Aspella scalarioides var. obeliscus A. Adams. 

Murex obeliscus A. Adams, P. Z. S. 1851, p. 269; Sowerby, Thes. Conch. Murex, fig. 

233, 1879. 
Murex alveatus Reeve, Conch. Icon. Murex, figs. 157, 163, 1845. 
1 Murex alveatus Kiener, Icon. Murex, p. 24, pi. xlvi. fig. 2. 

Habitat. St. Thomas, W. I., Adams; Vera Cruz, Mexico, Strebel. 

The characters which I take to be of more than specific value in this poly- 
morphic form are as follows: — 

Nucleus small; at first obliquely and loosely wound, like a "stranded" rope, 
giving the appearance at first sight of a reversed nucleus ; its material not 
different from that of which the rest of the early whorls are formed. 

Shell with a tendency to lateral compression, as in Gyrincum, which may be 
more or less constant in the same species or vary during the ages of the same 
specimen. 

Operculum elongated, acute, with an apical nucleus, resembling the opercu- 

March 13, 1889. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 209 

lum of Sipho or Boreotrophon. Favarlia, which is nearest in form to this 
among the Murices, has a muricoid operculum with its nucleus not apical. 

Dentition like that of typical Murex, not resembling Muricidea, Ocinebra, or 
Trophon. 

Superficies of the shell with a cellulose or finely vermiculated cretaceous white 
layer ; beneath this chalky layer a harder shell-substance, sometimes colored. 
Epidermis seemingly absent. 

Canal short, recurved, always open; aperture denticulated in the adult. 

The soft parts of a specimen of A. scalarioides var. paupercula Adams, taken 
at Key West by Hemphill, were white with very distinct black eyes. The ten- 
tacles were small and close together, the eyes situated on their outer sides 
half-way toward the tip. The foot is large for the size of the animal, rounded 
behind, double-edged in front, and auriculated at the anterior corners. As far 
as one could judge from the contracted alcoholic specimen, the auriculation 
must have been very marked and the anterior median indentation deep. The 
proboscis moderately long, the radula long but very small, its formula 1+^4-1. 
It much resembled that of M. trunculus and M. brevispina as figured by Tro- 
schel in his Gebiss der Schnecken. There were the usual two gills on the left 
side. The oesophagus was rather long, with no post-oral dilatation, and much 
contorted. There seemed to be a small appendix to the right margin of the 
siphonal extension of the mantle. 

The shell of this species when quite young looks like a small inflated Boreo- 
trophon. As it gets older, a tendency is often exhibited in two of the normal 
six varices to grow bigger than the others, beside which the intermediate part 
of the whorl actually becomes somewhat flattened. A specimen of this sort, 
especially if the flattening is pronounced, as it sometimes is, looks much like a 
large white Aspella hastula, and one such was described by Dunker as Ranella 
lamellosa. For this state or stage, sometimes permanent, I reserve the varietal 
name lamellosa. 

Generally the second stage passes, later on, into what may be called the nor- 
mal form, which is not flattened but muricoid or like a small Tritonium. This 
I call variety paupercula, as it is what was described as Murex pauper cuius by 
Adams, and later as a Triton by Recluz. 

This may be stout or slender, and is usually pure white. The slender form 
is apt to have the spiral lines stronger. When very long and with some 
touches of light brown on the under layer of the varices it becomes variety 
obeliscus, described as a species by A. Adams. This may be the same as 
Murex alceatus Kiener (if that is not a Favartia), and is certainly the shell 
figured under that name by Reeve. 

The typical form is that from the Mediterranean, which, in a full series, I find 
to be generally more elevated, with rounder whdrls, less prominent varices, and 
obscurer spirals. Still there are some Mediterranean specimens exactly like 
the Floridian variety paupercula. Blainville's specific name seems to be gen- 
erally accepted, and I have used it, but have not been able to consult the original 
work. Monterosato adopts Bivona's specific name and separates the shell under 

vol. xviii. 14 


210 BULLETIN OF THE 

a generic name which had been used for a fish some time previously by Bona- 
parte. For reasons already stated, I refer the species provisionally to Aspella. 

Aspella hastula has exactly such a surface as this shell, and so when perfect 
does A. anceps. The nucleus of A. hastula is precisely that of A. scalarioides. 
I have not seen any specimen of anceps which retains the nucleus. But the 
more perfect the specimens, the nearer their general character agrees with that 
of hastula and scalarioides, though I admit that the commonly worn and defect- 
ive beach specimens of anceps would usually convey a different impression. 

Murex erosus Broderip has been compared with this species, and much re- 
sembles M. intermedius C. B. Adams. Both belong to the group which follows. 
It is destitute of an external cretaceous layer, and has a different operculum. 

In the Jeffreys collection I find a " Murex distinctus var. acanthopterus" 
labelled by Monterosato. This shell is a young and slender whitish specimen 
of a Muricidea, like M. hexagona. I have not seen it referred to elsewhere, 
and the name may be a manuscript one. 

Genus OCINEBRA Leach. 

There does not seem to be any good reason why this name should be mis - 
spelled, as it is so often, and as I find it in the " Mollusques Marins du Roussil- 
lon," for example ; but it probably arises from the fact that it is easier to look 
at Dr. Gray's P. Z. S. list of genera of 1847, than it is to correct the numerous 
errors contained in that list by going to the original authority. 

There are several species on our coasts which belong to this group if we 
regard the shell only ; but in 0. erinacea the operculum is that of typical 
Murex, anterior but not apical, and somewhat laterally situated. In the 
American species the nucleus is apical, and I suppose them to bear somewhat 
such a relation to Ocinebra proper as Boreotrophon Fischer does to the typical 
Trophon. I have not been able to examine the operculum of Murex breviculus 
Sowerby, to which the name of Favartia was applied in 1880, according to 
Fischer. 

But the shell of M. breviculus has so many points in common with that of 
our little Ocinebras, that I suspect it belongs to the same group, which would, 
in that case, form a subgenus of Ocinebra rather than of Phyllonotus. 

For the present T shall adopt the name referred to for the shells in question. 

Subgenus FAVARTIA Fischer. 
Favartia cellulosa Conrad, 

Plate XVI. Fig. 1. 

Murex cellulosa Conrad, Proc. Phil. Acad. Nat. Sci ., III. p. 25, 1846. 
Murex nuceus Morch, Cat. Kierulf, p. 14, no. 343, pi. i. fig. 9, 1850. 
Ocenebra nuceus Morch, Cat. Yoldi, p. 95, 1852. 

Habitat. Coast of the United States from the vicinity of Cape Fear, N. C , 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 211 

to Florida, Vera Cruz, Bermuda, and the Antilles. Off Sombrero in 54 fms., 
Blake Expedition. 

I found this form together with Urosalpinx tampaensis and varieties of 
U. cinereus on the oyster-beds in Tampa Bay, exactly as described by Conrad 
nearly half a century ago. The Tampa specimens have spots of purplish brown 
inside the mouth, but most of the specimens from other localities have the 
mouth whitish with a brownish throat. It has been received from the Antilles 
under the name of M. casta A. Adams; it is probably the same as Sowerby's 
M. jamaicensis, which appears to be a young shell, and it is without doubt the 
shell whose varieties are catalogued by Melvill in his list of Florida shells 
under the names of Murex tetrarjonus and cycloslomus. The very slender and 
strongly recurved canal is almost always broken off in cabinet specimens. 

Favartia (cellulosa var. ?) levieula Dall. 

This form differs from the typical cellulosa in being somewhat smaller and 
more slender, with one less varix on the average and with the varices thinner, 
6omewhat more branched, and each forming a sharp-edged rather than a broad- 
ish rounded ridge. The revolving ribs are feebler, and in nearly all the speci- 
mens entirely obsolete over most of the space between the varices on the last 
whorl. This gives the shell a very different aspect, but a tendency to such a 
condition is seen in some specimens of cellulosa and other apparently allied 
species. I regard it as a variety of cellulosa, and Sowerby's figure (Thes. 
Murex, pi. xxiii. fig. 223) of his jamaicensis would fairly well represent a 
specimen in which the ribs had not become obsolete. 

This form was obtained by the U. S. Fish Commission off Cape Lookout, 
N. C, at Station 2609, and in 25-40 fms. at various stations in the Gulf of 
Mexico, including Key West. 

Favartia intermedia C. B. Adams. 
Murex intermedins C. B. Adams, Contr. Conch, p. 60, 1850; not of Tryon. 

This species is found from the Florida Keys to Vera Cruz, Mexico, is abun- 
dant at Bermuda (Hamlin), and has been received from Cuba and St. Thomas. 

It is entirely distinct from the shell called Triton Cantrainei by Recluz and 
M. paupcrculus by C. B. Adams. That species may be identical with M. alve- 
olus Kiener, as claimed by Tryon, but he is wrong in referring the present 
species to it. It may be distinguished from M. cellulosa Con. by being more 
slender, elevated, and having in the adult the last varix proportionally larger 
thon any of the others. M. pauperculus C. B. Adams, which is in the National 
Museum from Vera Cruz and St. Thomas, is remarkable for having a sort of 
calcareous whitish outer coating, like that seen on Ranella hastula Reeve, 
which is easily removed, and under which the shell is often of a darker color. 


212 BULLETIN OF THE 


Genus MURICIDEA (Swainson) Morch. 

< Muricidea Swainson, Malac, p. 296, 1840. 
= Muricidea Morch, Cat. Yoldi, p. 95, 1852. 

= Muricopsis Bucquoy et Dautzenberg, Moll. Marins du Roussillon, p. 19, pi. i. 
figs. 5, 6, 1882 ; Fischer, Man., p. 642. 

Swainson's genus contained a heterogeneous assembly After eliminating the 
forms which had already been separated from Murex by Montfort as Trophon, 
Phos, etc., there remained M. hexagona Lamarck and allied species to conserve 
Swainson's name. This revision was indicated by Morch as above cited, who 
gives M. hexagona and M. Blainvillei Payr. as examples. This revision has 
been accepted by Carpenter and others without comment, but appears to have 
been overlooked by the authors of the Marine Mollusca of Roussillon, who in 
1882 proposed the subgenus Muricopsis for the same two species. Numerous 
species which have been referred to Pseudomurex, etc., doubtless belong in this 
group, which is so intimately related to the genus Murex as to raise grave doubts 
as to its right to rank higher than a subgenus. The chief characters of the 
group are the absence of primary varices, or those, so characteristic of Murex, 
Tritonium, Ranella, etc., which dominate over the ordinary system of ribs; 
the operculum, like that of Fusus rather than Murex, with its apical or almost 
apical nucleus; the tallish spire, and the always open canal. Some species 
have only ribs; in the typical species there are spiny varices instead of ribs; 
in others again it is difficult to say whether the structure is a rib or a varix. 

Muricidea hexagona Lamarck. 

Fragments of this species were found in several of the dredgings. It is not 
rare on the Mexican coast and among the Antilles. 


n 


Muricidea floridana Conrad. 

Urosalpinx floridanus Conrad, Am. Journ. Conch., V. p. 106, pi. xii. fig. 4, 1869. 
? Murex ostrearum Conrad, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phil., III. p. 25, 1846. 
Muricidea floridana Dall, Hemphill's Shells, p. 326, 1883. 

This species is well named, as I have never seen a specimen except from 
Florida. I have little doubt, from all the circumstances, that this is Murex 
ostrearum of Conrad. Conrad's description was very short, loose, and insuffi- 
cient for purposes of identification, so it is just as well to let it alone and re- 
tain the name about which no doubt exists. This species is very liable to be 
confounded with Urosalpinx perrugatus Conrad, which is found with it, among 
the oysters. That species is best distinguished by the longer, more sculptured, 
and less excavated shoulder to the whorl, the shorter and wider canal, and the 
purpuroid operculum. M. floridana has a totally different fusoid operculum 
with apical nucleus, as I showed in 1883. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 213 

Muricidea multangula Philippi. 

Fusus multangulus Philippi, Zeitsclir. fiir Mai., V. p. 25, 1819 ; Abbild. u. Beschr., 

III. p. 117, t. xxiv. 1, fig. 6, 1850. 
Muricidea HemphiUii Dall, Hemphill's Shells, p. 327, 1883. 

This fine species ranges from Cape Fear to Florida, Yucatan, and the West 
Indies. It varies greatly in color and often has a rich pink mouth. When 
in its highest state of perfection the epidermis is rendered hispid by little 
triangular projecting points. In most specimens, even when taken alive, 
the epidermis is smooth, the points having been rubbed off. There is a raised 
anterior edge to the pillar in the adult. The operculum is fusoid. I have 
not examined the dentition, but think it possible that its true place may per- 
haps be with Fusus, in spite of the short canal. It is one of our most elegant 
species. 

Muricidea Philippiana n. s. 

Shell short, acutely fusiform, solid, with about five whorls; spire acute, 
suture flexuous, appressed; slope of the spire nearly flat, the turns being flat- 
tened or even slightly excavated above the periphery; transverse sculpture of 
lines of growth, and of (on the last whorl nine) peripheral undulations or ribs 
with about equal interspaces; these are almost confined to the periphery; in 
one specimen these are crossed by three or four about equidistant spiral ridges, 
faint, becoming prominent and keeled or nodulous on the ribs; this one has 
also two strong ridges on the canal, and is pure white ; another specimen has 
only faint spiral strise on the canal, the periphery is smooth, the ribs lumpy, 
the color white with spiral brown lines toward the periphery; in still another 
the posterior row of nodulations becomes short, sharp, and spinous, the revolv- 
ing threads seem more numerous on the base; canal short, rapidly tapering, 
open, pointed; a well marked siphonal fasciole is normal, one hardly shows it, 
another has it funicular; aperture elongate oval, outer lip with 5-7 strong 
lirae within; margin simple, acute; throat porcelain-white with a tendency to 
rosy or purple; columella smooth with a dash of rose or purple in some speci- 
mens, and two or three faint granulations, in the perfectly adult, near its an- 
terior edge. Max. Ion. of shell, 17.4; of last whorl, 12.4; of aperture, 10.0; 
max. lat. of aperture, 4.5; of shell, 10.5 mm. 

Habitat. U. S. Fish Commission Stations 2362, 2363, off Cape Catoche, 
Yucatan, in 20-25 fms., coral sand ; and by Hemphill at Key West, among 
coral at low water. 

This is a singular shell, over which I have puzzled for some time. It has 
features recalling Latirus, Tritonidca, etc., but seems most fairly placed here. 
It is almost always overgrown with calcareous algae; one has had this coat 
gnawed off by some vegetarian mollusk, the result of which is a pretty ver- 
micular surface sculpture, which looks as if it might be natural. The most 
characteristic feature of the shell is the peculiar half translucent milk-and-water 
whiteness of its substance. 


214 BULLETIN OF THE 


Genus UROSALPINX Stimpson. 

This genus differs from Muricidea by its operculum, which is externally like 
that of typical Murex and internally shows gyratory Furpura-like scars. The 
nucleus is within the edge about midway between the ends, not apical or sub- 
apical as in the preceding group. In other respects they do not greatly differ. 
The genus is of economic importance, as it destroys millions of young oysters 
in all our seaboard States, holding the destructive eminence here which 
Ocinebra erinacea is accorded in Europe. There are three American species 
known to belong to it; U. cinereus Say, ranging from Massachusetts to Florida; 
U. tampaensis Conrad, known only from the west coast of Florida, and which 
has been referred to Eupleura by Tryon ; lastly U. perrugatus Conrad,* a 
species not included in Tryon's list, and of which the distinctive characters 
have already been referred to. It is also an inhabitant of West Florida from 
Cedar Keys to Key West. 

Beside these shallow-water species, we have two species, described by Prof. 
Verrill, from 120-938 fins., off Hatteras, U. carolinensis and U. macra Verrill. 
There is some question as to the generic place of these shells, but, pending an 
examination of the soft parts, they seem as properly placed here as anywhere. 
The first mentioned, however, looks much like a Muricidea or short Fusus, 
closely related to Fusus Pfeifferi Philippi. 

Genus TYPHIS Montfort. 

This genus, founded by Montfort on a fossil species, is composed of a very 
compact little group of shells containing about a dozen recent and a few fossil 
species. These have accordingly been divided into twelve subdivisions by 
Jousseaume, to each of which he has applied a name, generic or subgeneric as 
the reader may prefer. It is perhaps no more than we should expect of a 
mind capable of laying such a performance before the scientific world, that he 
has selected invariably the most superficial and trivial specific characters upon 
which to base his subdivisions, and has missed entirely the only shell character 
in the whole group upon which a rational subdivision can be founded. 

The authors: who have monographed this genus have called attention to the 
fact that the tube which is the chief characteristic is sometimes situated between 
the varices and is sometimes continuous with them. A careful study of the 
surface of the shell shows that the fold of the mantle around which the tube is 
formed is, like the siphon, a fold, and not a continuous cylinder, although its 
edges are appressed so closely that the shelly secretion forms a perfect cylinder. 
It would seem that in the typical species of Typhis, as figured by Montfort, the 
tubes are wholly disengaged from the varices. In the recent species of this 
sort a continuous sutural line will be found to pass from the anterior side of 
the tube to the aperture, in the direction of rotation. Sometimes at the point 

* Fusus perrugatus Conrad, Am. Journ. Science, n. ser.,II. p. 397, 1846. Collected 
at the Manatee River, West Florida. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 215 

where this line crosses the varix there is merely an angle, at others we find a 
hook or recurved even sigmoid spine, which, however, does not retain its origi- 
nally excavated character. In species of the other type, like T. arcuatus Hinds, 
T. duplicatus Sovverby, T. japonicus A. Adams (very probably all varieties of 
a single species), T. fistulosus Brocchi, and the one about to be described, we 
find that the varix commences with and at the tube, though mostly developed 
beyond it, giving the completed shell the appearance of having had its tubes 
bent backward. Now in the common Mediterranean T. tetrapterus Bronn 
(+ T. Sowerbyi Auct.) a sinus was observed and is figured by A. Adams, though 
there are no permanent processes on the mantle-edge. It is absolutely certain, 
however, that at times when the shell is being secreted there must be a sinus 
in the mantle-edge analogous to that in Drillia, and the subtubular projection 
at the bottom of the sinus observable in many Drillias is analogous in its for- 
mation to the tube of Typhis. Both are doubtless avenues of escape for effete 
matter voided from the intestine. In Typhis of the typical section (like 
T. tetrapterus) there must be in the portion of the mantle which secretes this 
part of the shell an alternation of functions daring the period of growth from 
one varix to another. In the other section (which may be called Trubatsa) 
there is only a resting time and a renewal of identical functions. 

It is of course true, that, in taking a general survey of the genus, certain 
somewhat intermediate species may be found ; but this is what we must ex- 
pect everywhere when we know all the species of any genus in their numer- 
ous variations. The worker who has the interest of science really at heart 
will in such cases avoid undue subdivision, either specific or generic; and 
when he finds that a division is advisable, he will give, not merely a few 
lines of description in more or less canine Latin, but a differential description 
showing, not only the characters on which he relies, but the way in which 
they differ from the characters exclusive to other groups, and to groups of less 
value, such as species. If all the specific characters were eliminated from his 
consideration, and he had been obliged to give differential diagnoses, it is 
likely that the author of the eleven unnecessary synonyms of Typhis would 
have paused, and probably thought better of it. 

The length of both the tube proper and the tubular canal is greater when 
it is first formed than later. It seems to be soon dissolved by the water, or 
broken off. The last tube, until it is broken, is therefore always longer than 
the others. Specimens from the quiet abyssal waters occasionally preserve the 
tubes, or part of them, in a way to make this evident. 

There is only one species of Typhis known in the recent state from the 
Antillean region. A species of Murex or Eupleura (M. cancellata Sby.) is 
reported by Krebs, and has been catalogued as a Typhis by Try on. I doubt 
whether it can properly be referred to this genus. In 1849 Sowerby described 
a fine species, T. alatus, from the Miocene Tertiary of St. Domingo (Geol. 
Journal, VI. p. 48, pi. x. fig. 4), which is so much resembled by the Typhis 
expansus of the junior Sowerby, a recent species described without habitat in 
1874, that I cannot help suspecting that they are the same, and that the species 


216 BULLETIN OF THE 

still exists in a living state among the Antilles, like many of the other Tertiary- 
fossils. Both are very similar to the Mediterranean tetrapterus, and I have 
another species of the same type from the Pliocene Caloosahatchie beds of 
South Florida. It differs from the Haitian fossil in its more elongated form 
and narrower varix, and from the Mediterranean species in being much more 
acute anteriorly and destitute of the linguiform anterior varical expansion 
found in T. tetrapterus. In my report on the Caloosahatchie Pliocene it is 
named T. floridanus. 

In the Thesaurus, the younger Sowerby describes this genus as trivaricose, 
and also in his continuation of the Conchologia Iconica. How inaccurate this 
is may be observed by any one who will examine a specimen. Whether there 
are any three-varixed species I do not know, as in the specific diagnoses of 
the monographs the number is not stated, but in all I have ever seen there 
were four varices in each whorl. 

Typhis (Trubatsa) longicornis Dall. 

Plate XV. Fig. 7. Plate XXXVIII. Fig. 5. 

Typhis longicornis Dall, Agassiz, Three Cruises of the Blake, II. p. 70, fig. 294, 1888. 

Shell translucent white when young, waxen with areas of pale rosy brown 
between the varices in the adult ; varices four, ascending the spire nearly in a 
straight line; tubes tapering, recurved, usually broken off short, but originally 
long; nucleus subglobular, glassy, followed by seven gradually increasing 
whorls, obscured by the varices, but somewhat scalar behind; surface with 
extremely fine spiral striation, stronger lines of growth, and on the tips of 
the tubes and canals when fresh a glassy polish; varices not fimbriated, with 
rounded edges, strongly arched forward, subconcave behind; aperture small, 
subcircular, margin detached from the body, elevated, not sharp; with simple 
edge and smooth interior; canal long, slender, nearly straight, but bent back as 
a whole, with three antecedent canals surrounding a sort of umbilical chink. 
Operculum muricoid. Max. Ion. of shell, 23.0; of last whorl, 19.0; of aper- 
ture, 4.0; of canal before the aperture, 11.5; max. lat. of aperture, 3.0; of 
shell, 10.0 mm. 

Habitat. Off Havana, Sigsbee, in 127-400 fins., mud, bottom temperature 
49°.5 to 55°.5 F. 

This species is allied to T.fistulosus Brocchi, T. arcuatus Hinds, and the 
related forms above mentioned. It has wider varices than the former, and a 
proportionally smaller aperture; T. fistulosus appears to be destitute of the fine 
spiral striation, has a more distorted appearance, and does not reach so large 
a size. T. longicornis is much more fusiform, attenuated, and has longer tubes 
and canal than T. arcuatus. By the distribution of the species, the forms 
belonging to this section of the genus Typhis are found in all the northern 
oceans, apparently one species each in the Mediterranean, North Atlantic, 
Antilles, North Pacific, and China Sea. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 217 

Subfamily PURPURIN.E. 

The species of Purpura inhabiting the region under consideration are P. pa- 
tula Linne, P. deltoidea Lamarck, and P. hcemastoma L., varieties undata Lam., 
floridana Conrad, and trinidadensis Gupp} r . They are all littoral species. 
There are, of the Ricinula group, Sistrum nodulosum C. B. Adams, S. ferrugi- 
neum Reeve, a beautiful variety of which has the spiral nodules small, elon- 
gated, and scarlet, while the rest of the surface is of a dark vernicose brown. 
The columella in this form is also of a fine red color, and it seems worthy of 
separation as a variety rubidum. S. roseum Reeve appears to derive its color 
from a crimson hydrozoon so common on West Indian shells. I should not 
refer it, if H. Cuming's identification be correct, to Engina, as Tryon does, 
though from the shell alone it is impossible to be certain. None of these 
forms were collected by the Blake. 

Subfamily CORALLIOPHILINiE. 
Genus CORALLIOPHILA H. & A. Adams. 

Coralliophila H. & A. Adams, Gen. Rec. Moll., I. p. 135, 1853. 

Pseudomurex Monterosato, Conch. Medit, p. 48, 1872 (name only) ; type, Murex 

laceratus Deshayes. 
? Latiaxis Svvainson, Man., p. 206, 1840. (L. Mawece Gray.) 

This genus should probably be called Latiaxis, as the type of Swainson is 
with little doubt only a specimen abnormally loosely coiled. It was regarded 
as abnormal by Gray, who described it. But I have not examined a specimen 
of Latiaxis Mawece, and hence refrain from taking a step with regard to which 
there is still some doubt, though fortified by the opinion of Sowerby, Deshayes, 
Jeffreys, and Tryon. 

The name of Coralliophila was illustrated by a large number of examples by 
the brothers Adams, but they selected no type. 

However, as the C. madreporarum of Sowerby was not included in this list, 
and differs somewhat from the genuine typical species, it should not be taken 
as an example of the genus, as has been done bj' some excellent authorities. 
From this error probably has arisen the complication that the true Corallio- 
phila has been renamed Pseudomurex, while a form which probably does not 
differ from Rhizocheilus except in living upon corals with large stems instead 
of gorgonians with small stems has been, in the latest manuals, cited as an 
example of Coralliophora. A good many species which have no natural rela- 
tion to Coralliophila have been included with it in the monographs. This has 
added to the confusion. 

There can be no doubt whatever, in the mind of any one who has examined 
a proper series of specimens with unprejudiced judgment, of the specific iden- 
tity of certain typical Pseudomurices with certain typical Coralliophilas. The 


2-18 BULLETIN OF THE 

operculum is identical, the shell characters shade indefinitely into one another 
from one specimen to another, the soft parts differ in nothing, the texture, 
character, color, and habitat of the shells are the same. 

In considering such animals as are given to parasitism or commensalism, it 
is a truism that we must expect great variations of parts which in non-parasitic 
species would be of high systematic importance, and, secondly, great variation 
as between individual specimens of the species. Furthermore, if we have 
certain individuals of the species which take on a parasitic habit, and others 
which, whether voluntarily or perforce, do not, we shall find the nearest 
approach to the perfect norm of the species in the non-parasitic specimens. 

Now, it is the writer's opinion that such forms as have been figured and 
described as Latiaxis elegans, cariniferus, and Deburghiie in Sowerby's Thesau- 
rus are merely the most perfect and luxuriant development of a species which, 
in its parasitic individuals, presents us with forms superficially very different, 
stunted, modified, or deteriorated. The operculum of Coralliophila galea of 
authors is precisely that of Latiaxis Dcburghice, and of Rhizocheilus madrepora- 
rum of Sowerby. The loss of the operculum and other modifications exhibited 
by the type species of Rhizocheilus are exactly what we might expect in a 
species in which degeneration and specialization have proceeded very far from 
long continued parasitism. Still, I should expect to find an operculum in the 
free young of R. antipathicus. The form of the Antipathes upon which it 
lives is so slender that the shell must submit to greater changes in form than 
a species like Coralliophila madreporarum, which habitually rests upon a broad 
pillar of coral, or like Coralliophila bracteata (Brocchi) Tryon, which rarely does 
so, but is genei'ally found free. Owing to these modifications, we may retain 
Steenstrup's name in a sectional sense, as it cannot (though of earlier date) 
be fairly applied to typical Coralliophila. In so variable a group, it goes with- 
out saying that the specific determinations are very difficult to make with 
confidence, and are here made with all reserves. 

Coralliophila Deburghise Keeve. 

Plate XVI. Fig. 5. 

Latiaxis Deburghia: Reeve, P. Z. S. 1857, pi. xxxviii. figs. 3, 6 ; Sby., Tlies. Conch. 
Latiaxis, No. 2, fig. 5, 1882. 

Habitat. Sigsbee, off Havana, in 80-119 fms. ; Barbados, 100 fms.; Stations 
164 and 166, off Guadelupe, in 150 fms., hard bottom, temperature 59°. 75; 
Station 134, off Santa Cruz, in 248 fms., sand, bottom temperature 54°. 5; Sta- 
tion 174, off Guadelupe (living), in 878 fms., bottom temperature 39°. 75; 
Station 262, off Grenada, in 92 fms., sand, bottom temperature 62°; Station 
292, off Barbados, in 56 fms., sand, bottom temperature 74°. 5 F. Northward 
to Hatteras, U. S. Fish Commission. 

The extraordinary range in depth and temperature which this animal sustains 
will be remarked. The largest and most foliaceous specimens are from the 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 219 

greatest depth. The specimen figured (max. Ion. 20.0 mm.) is young, and has 
the expansions of the periphery much turned up. The older ones, which reach 
a length twice as great, or more, have the flat spines nearly horizontal. There 
may he ten or twelve of them on the last whorl. After careful comparisons, I 
conclude that, though it passes through a series of variations parallel to those 
of 0. bracteata, it is sufficiently distinct from it to be easily recognized as differ- 
ent, when in good condition. It has the typical or spiny form, with flat ex- 
pansions; another (var. spinosa) in which the spines are thorn-like and slender; 
a form (var. fusiformis) in which there are no spines, yet there are no trans- 
verse ribs; and finally a form (var. Lintoni Verrill) in which numerous rounded 
transverse ribs of greater or less strength appear under the limose spiral ridges. 
The last was very naturally described as a Trophon. There may be between 
the above-mentioned varieties almost any graduation or interchange of charac- 
ters, but usually the vigor which in one case expends itself in the formation of 
flat spines, in their absence is more or less devoted to the formation of trans- 
verse ribs. 

Coralliophila bracteata Beocchi. 
C. bracteata Tryon, Man., II. p. 210, pi. lxvi. figs. 378-380, 384, 386, 1880. 

A specimen which seems to belong to this species as existing in the Jeffreys 
collection, and to be distinct from the preceding, was collected by the U. S. 
Fish Commission, in 17 fms., near Cape Fear, North Carolina; another at Key 
West, in 45 fms. The first belonged to the variety C. lamellosa Jan, the 
second to the variety C. lacerata Deshayes. The former was adult, the latter 
quite young. 

Coralliophila galea Chemnitz. 

Coralliophila galea Tryon, Man., p. 207, pi. Ixv. figs. 362, 363, 364, 1880. 
C. abbieviata ~La.m.,Jide Tryon. 

Lamarck's name should probably take precedence, but I have not had time 
to devote to the synonymy. 

This species has a nearly world-wide distribution in the tropics, and in our 
region extends throughout the Antilles and northward along the coast from 
Florida to Cape Hatteras. It is generally white, but specimens with a purple 
mouth are not rare in the Windward Islands. The young are known under 
many names, and generally are sharply keeled at the shoulder and shortly 
acutely conical at both ends, having a very different aspect from the rounded 
adults. The Fish Commission has dredged this species in 15-100 fms., living 
among coral. The shore specimens are carried there by Paguri; I do not know 
of a single specimen ever collected above low- water mark in a living state. 


220 BULLETIN OF THE 

Coralliophila lactuca Dall. 

Plate XVI. Fig. 6. 

Shell white or grayish, short conic above, widely fasciolated at the anteriorly 
pointed base. Nucleus small, white, smooth; whorls eight, rather inflated, 
transverse sculpture of fine lines of growth, and nine or ten thin sharp-edged 
varices crisped by the spiral sculpture; the surface is generally shelly like that 
of Iioreotrophon, but if the shell be absolutely perfect there is an external finely 
shagreehed thin calcareous layer of an opaque creamy white, which is almost 
always eroded except in protected spots ; spiral sculpture of six or more strong 
revolving primary ridges; other secondary ones to an irregular extent are found 
between the primaries ; the posterior primary spiral forms a sort of shoulder 
to the whorl; suture undulating with the sculpture, obscure; base subconic, 
the young with a small, the adult with a large umbilical funnel, bounded by 
the prominent siphonal fasciole; aperture within white, smooth, rounded and 
continuous behind, acute in front, the anterior end being more like an angular 
gutter than a canal; margins irregular, corresponding probably with the asperi- 
ties of its station on some coral. Max. Ion. of shell, 21.0; of last whorl, 16.3; 
of aperture, 13.0; max. lat. of shell, 14.6 mm. The figured specimen is young, 
and measures 11.0 mm. in length. 

Habitat. Station 5, Gulf of Mexico, off the shore of Cuba, in 152-229 fms., 
coral ooze, bottom temperature 49°. 5 ; off Fernandina, Florida, at U. S. Fish 
Commission Station 2669, in 352 fms., sand, bottom temperature 43°.7 F. 

This species differs by its surface from any of the previously mentioned 
species, or any others of the genus which I have examined. Its sculpture is 
more like that of the young Magilus than that of the other species. The fig- 
ured specimen shows best the fresh sculpture and form of the young; an adult 
afterward received from the Fish Commission enables me to describe the 
mature shell. The soft parts were not obtained, but the specimens were per- 
fectly fresh, and probably lived at the depth from which they were obtained. 

I may add, on the authority of H. Cuming, that Iihizocheilus madreporarum 
Sby. is found in the West Indies. 

Super-Family T^ENIOGLOSSA. 
Family TRITONIID^E. 

Genus DISTORTRIX Link. 

Distortrix Link, Beschr. Rostock Samml., p. 122, May, 1807. 
Persona Montfort, Conchyl., II. p. 603, 1810; type, P. anus L. 
Distorta Perry, Conchology, pi. x., and expl. fig. 1, 2, 1811. 

Distorsio Bolten, Cat. Con., p. 133, 1798, pro parte; ed. 1819, p. 94. (No descrip- 
tions or figures.) 

This genus was first eliminated from all the other Linnean Murices by Link. 
Bolten's Distorsio was a pure catalogue name, and the species cited under it 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 221 

comprised Nassas, a Tritonium, etc., neither the genus nor the species being 
described or figured. 

Link gives a proper diagnosis for the group, and cites, with references to fig- 
ures, the two species, and only the two species, of which it is composed, even 
at the present day. 

Distortrix reticulata Link. 

Cassis vera, Distorsio reticulata, alba. Martini, II. p. 85, figs. 405, 406, 1771. 
Buccinum reticulatum Humphrey, Mus. Calonnianum, p. 34, No. 620, 1797. 
Murex anus L., Gmelin, Auctorum, pro parte. 
Distorsio reticulata Bolter), op. cit., p. 133, No. 1674. No description or figure. Ed. 

ii. p. 94, No. 1689, 1819. 
Distorsio clatrata Bolten, op. cit., No. 1675. 
Distorta acuta Perry, Conch. Expl., pi. x. fig. 1, 1811. 
Distortrix reticulata Link, op. cit., p. 123, 1807. 
Murex mulus Dillwyn, Cat. Sh., II. p. 704, No. 45, 1817. 
Triton clathratum Lamarck, Enc. Meth., t. 413, fig. 4; An. s. Vert., IX. p. 186, 1822; 

ed. Deshayes, IX. p. 637, 1843. 
Triton cancellinus Deshayes (non Roissy) in Lam., IX. p. 637, note, 1843; Reeve, 

Conch. Icon. Triton, pi. xii. fig. 45, 1844. 
Distorsio cancellinus Tryon, Man., p. 35, III., 1881. 
>Distorsio clathrata (Lam.) Morch, Malak. Blatt, XXIV. p. 34. 
<Distorsio acuta Perry (var.) occidentalis Morch, op. cit., 1877. 

The name of this species has suffered from a slip of the memory by Deshayes, 
who stated in the note on p. 637, above referred to, that Roissy had named 
this species cancellinus. A glance at Roissy's work (Sonnini, Suites de Buf- 
fon, Hist. Nat. Moll., VI. p. 56, 1805) will show that this is an error. He de- 
scribes his Murex cancellinus, and then goes on to say that it is " found fossil at 
Grignon," and that "according to M. Lamarck this Murex is the very remark- 
able analogue of the grimace blanche (our present species) which has been re- 
garded as forming a variety of the Murex anus of Linnasus, but which forms a 
very distinct species, now living in the Southern Ocean." He gives a reference 
to Lamarck's figure of the Grignon fossil, and also a reference to Martini's 
figure of the recent shell, but, as the citation shows, did not confound them or 
name the latter. Reeve and others have followed this note of M. Deshayes, 
without referring to Roissy, and so this error has been perpetuated for nearly 
half a century ! 

Link merely followed Humphreys and Bolten in adopting the specific 
name of reticulata, suggested by Martini's phrase many years before. As 
both appropriate and ancient, it seems to have preponderating claims to 
be adopted. 

The Cassis or Cassida penita of Meuschen in the Museum Gerversia- 
nium, which I have not been able to consult, is probably the oldest bino- 


222 BULLETIN OF THE 

mial* name for this species, if it really belongs to it. The doubtful citations 
of different authors would indicate, however, that Meuschen's name is not dis- 
tinctive, and that he, like others before and since, confounded the two species 
of Distortrix with each other. 

The specimens of Distortrix which I have seen from the West Indies, etc., 
when young, are clearly divisible into two series. The first form or variety, 
clathrata, is wider in tbe last whorl, more distorted, more pointed at the spire, 
with fewer transverse riblets, a decidedly longer and more oblique canal, and 
generally some brown or orange on the callus, which is more developed at the 
varical periods. 

The second form, which may be named variety reticulata, is evenly can- 
cellated, more regular in its shape, with a larger mouth, a smaller and always 
white callus, a shorter and straighter canal, and a more densely hispid epider- 
mis. I have seen no adults that I could positively refer to this variety. 
Mdrch separates two forms, but without explanation, and his synonymy does 
not bear him out. Still, it is possible that the forms he had in view were 
those I have discriminated. 

The variety reticulata was dredged by the Blake at Station 157, in 120 fms., 
off Montserrat; Station 164, in 150 fms., hard bottom, near Guadelupe ; Sta- 
tion 177, in 118 fms., sand, off Dominica; Station 262, in 92 fms., sand, off 
Grenada; and Station 282, in 154 fms., sand, near Barbados; bottom tempera- 
tures ranging from 56° to 65° F. 

The variety clathrata seems to be more common, and was found at Station 
164, above mentioned; at Station 247, in 170 fms., ooze, off Grenada; at Sta- 
tions 273 and 300, near Barbados, in from 82 to 103 fms.; and by the U. S. 
Fish Commission at many stations off Hatteras, in 22 to 124 fms., in the Gulf 
of Mexico about Key West, and elsewhere, in water varying from 52° to 80° F. 
It has also been found and sent to the Museum from Tortola. 

The nucleus is low and trochiform compared with that of many related 
forms. It is smooth and of rather horny consistency, and comprises about 
three turns. It might readily be taken for a little Vitrinella or Adeorbis, if 
detached. 

Genus GYRINEUM Link. 

Rana Humphrey, Cat. Calonn., p. 33, 1797, not of Linne'. (No description or figure. ) 

No type mentioned. 
Bursa Bolten, Mus. Bolt., p. 128, 1798. (No description or figure.) Ed. ii. p. 91, 

1819. No type mentioned. 
Gyrineum Link, Beschr. Rostock Samml., p. 123, 1807. First species, Murex rana 

Linne (spinosa Reeve). 

* Since this was written I have seen a copy of the Museum Gerversianum at 
the British Museum, and to my astonishment find that it has no claims to be con- 
sidered binomial, though it has often been cited for specific names. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 223 

Buffo Montfort, Concliyl., II. p. 575, 1810. (? Err. pro Bufo? Non Bufo Daud.) 

Type, Ranella crumena Lam. ? 
Biplex Perry, Conch., Expl. pis. iv. and v., 1811. First species, Biplex rosa Perry 

(= Ranella siphonata Reeve). ' 

Ranella Lamarck, Extrait d'un Cours, etc., 1812. Type, Mnrex gyrinus L. 

Rejecting the nomina nuda of Humphrey and Bolten, as required by the 
rules of nomenclature, the first name applied to this group was that of Link, 
who gave a proper diagnosis, and included in his genus only species of Ranella, 
as they have been more commonly called. Buffo Montfort, Biplex Perry, and 
Ranella Lamarck, were subsequent, and synonymous. Perry's ill-constructed 
name has been retained in a sectional sense for the singular B. perca, which he 
included in his genus and was the first to describe. According to the rules of 
nomenclature, Lamarck's name must be entirely suppressed if the genus be 
regarded in the old sense. The species cited by him in his Extrait d'un Cours 
(p. 118, 1812) is, according to Gray, Murex gyrinus Linne. But the older 
authors confounded under this name half a dozen entirely distinct shells, and 
it is impossible to know which of them he had in view. If the Ranellas with- 
out a sutural canal be transferred, as has been done by Dr. Paul Fischer, to 
Tritonium as a subgenus, the Ranella of Lamarck would simply be a synonym 
of it. For this subgenus, in violation of all rules, Argobuccinum Klein has 
been widely adopted, though Apollon Montfort, recognized by Cuvier, will 
probably have to be accepted. It must be borne in mind, that Montfort's 
synonymy is not to be accepted without strict confirmation and comparison 
with his figures. His identification with Linnean names of the shells he figures 
is frequently wrong. What is certain is, that in 1810 he divided these shells 
(afterward combined under the name of Ranella by Lamarck) into two genera, 
Buffo comprising those with a sutural canal, and Apollon those without it. 
This amounted to a division of Gyrineum Link into two groups. But the 
name Gyrineum must be retained for one of these, as prior. Buffo is probably 
only a lapsus for Bufo, already in use for Batrachians at that date, so that, two 
groups being admitted, they would necessarily be Gyrineum and Apollon, both 
of which have numerous subsequent synonyms, including Ranella Lamarck, 
Biplex Perry, Bufonaria Schumacher, etc. 

We are so destitute of exact information as to the soft parts, dentition, etc. 
of these animals, that it is not possible at present to arrive at a permanent 
settlement of the recognizable subdivisions. 

I cannot help feeling that the wholesale transfer of the Apollon group to 
Tritonium is hardly justified as yet. There are, doubtless, some species which 
should be so eliminated ; others will be associated with the Muricidce, but the 
absolute identity in the opercula of numerous canaliferous and non-canaliferous 
species, the close similarity of sculpture, habit, and conchological characters, 
except the sutural canal, between various species of Apollon and Gyrineum, 
and the very slight difference which exists between a shallow sutural canal 
and the ordinary groove between the outer lip and the labial tubercle on the 


224 BULLETIN OF THE 

body whorl, as exemplified in various gradations by the several species, — all 
these reasons call lor more thorough determination of all the facts to be con- 
sidered for each species, before the transfer is fully adopted. 

Tryon states, in his monograph of Ranella, that Apollon gyrinus Montfort is 
Ranella gigantea Linne, which is, of course, entirely inaccurate, as a glance at 
Montfort's figure is sufficient to prove. 

The number of species actually inhabiting the Antillean region is disputed, 
and I have not the material to determine it. The sculpture and size are ex- 
tremely variable. 

Gyrineum affine Broderip var. cubanianum Orbignt. 
Ranella affinis Broderip, P. Z. S. 1832, p. 179. 

Habitat. Off Havana, Sigsbee, in 80-100 fms. (dead shells of the very 
young). Cuba, Arango, Orbigny. Arrowsmith Bank, Yucatan, and off Key 
West in 50 fms., coral, U. S. Fish Commission. 

All the shells I have seen from the Antilles under the names of Ranella 
cubaniana Orb., ponderosa Reeve, (homos. Orb., crassa Desh., granulata Lam., 
gram/era Lam., Grayana Dkr., livida Reeve, and rhodostoma Beck, have been 
referable to varieties, more or less pronounced, of Gyrineum affine, and are en- 
tirely indistinguishable from similar varieties brought from the Indo-Pacific 
region. I would not be understood as asserting that but one species is found 
in the West Indies, but, so far, I have seen no conchological evidence for more 
than one. 

The larval shell of this species is extremely pretty, and worthy of description, 
since it is usually lost or eroded at an early period. It consists of a narrowly 
umbilicated naticoid shell of three and a half whorls. The nucleus is very 
small, smooth, and formed of half a whorl abruptly differentiated from the 
next stage, which has three spiral keels with the interstices beautifully decus- 
sated by elevated sharp oblique transverse lines. The keels gradually fade 
out, and the last whorl and a half are polished, with traces of the transverse 
sculpture. The whole is of a fine warm brown color, lighter toward the apex. 

The numerous whorls and the indications of a regular growth in this larval 
shell, continued for the greater part of its coil, show that the larval period is 
prolonged. The well known ability of the floating larvae to sustain themselves, 
like Pteropods, near the surface, and the. length of time during which this may 
continue, afford a sufficient explanation of the world-wide distribution, in warm 
latitudes, of the species of this family. The young may easily be taken for 
adult shells, and the genus Brugnonia of Jeffreys, among others, has been 
referred to the larva of a mollnsk of this sort. 

The Ranella anceps, hastula, and their allies, do not belong in this genus. 

March 18, 1889. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 225 


Genus TRITONIUM Link. 

Tritonium Bolten, Mus. Bolt., p. 125, 1798; ed. ii. p. 88, 1819. (No descr.) 
Tritonium Link, Beschr. Rostock Samml., p. 121, May, 1807. First species, Murex 

tritonis Linne. 
Tritonium Cuvier, Regne Anim., II. p. 440, 1817. First species, Murex tritonis Linne'. 
Triton Montfort, Concliyl., II. p. 487, 1810; not of Linne, 1768 (Crust.), nor of 

Laurenti, 1768 (Batrachia). 
Not Tritonium O. F. Miiller, Prodr. Zool. Dan., p. 243, 1776. 

The genus Tritonium of 0. F. Miiller was not a separation of incongruous 
material from a heterogeneous assembly and its discrimination apart, but the 
compounding out of genera already existing of a new heterogeneous combina- 
tion about equivalent to the Pectinibrancldata as now understood. It fell 
deservedly, and the name was left unemployed. Though the second use of such 
names is not to be commended, and is by common consent at present aban- 
doned, it would create immense confusion and difficulty if one were to apply 
such an ex post facto law impartially to the older writers. There is no good 
reason why we should not adopt the name proposed by Bolten, given a scien- 
tific standing by Link, and adopted by Cuvier. 

The original group has been considerably divided; in fact, Bolten, Mont- 
fort, and others began the work of division. The whole matter is worth an 
exhaustive discussion for which the present paper does not afford the most 
appropriate opportunity. 

Tritonium tritonis L. var. nobilis Conrad is found in this region, but was 
not collected by the Blake. 


Subgenus COLUBRARIA Schumacher. 

Colubraria Schurn., Essai, p. 251, 1817. Fischer, Man., p. 654. Type, Tritonium 

maculosum Gmel. 
Epidromus Morch, Cat. Yoldi, p. 107, 1852. 
Cumia Bivona-Bernardi, Nuovo Gen., 1838. Type, Tritonium lanceolatum Menke. 

Colubraria lanceolata Menke. 

Ranella lanceolata Menke, Synopsis, ed. i., p. 87, 1828 (excl. syn.). Morch, Malak. 
Blatt., XXIV. p. 25, 1877. 

Habitat. Off Sombrero, in 54 fms. Station 2596, of the TJ. S. Fish Com- 
mission, 17 miles E. S. E. from Cape Hatteras, N. C, in 49 fms., sand, bottom 
temperature 75°.0 F. Bahamas, Rawson; Antilles, Morch ; Vera Cruz, Mexico, 
Strebel. 

VOL. xviii. 15 


226 BULLETIN OF THE 

Colubraria Swiftii Teton. 
Triton (Epidromus) Swiftii Tryon, Man., III. p. 31, pi. xvi. fig. 168, 1881. 

Habitat. Station 272, in 76 fms., Barbados; also in 100 i'ms., off Barbados 
(fragment). Antigua, Swift; Samana Bay, Santo Domingo, Couthouy; Ba- 
hamas, Rawson; Bermuda, Goode. 

There are also known from this region Colubraria testacea Morch (obscurus 
Tryon pars); and C. reticulatus Blainville. Specimens of C. eximius Reeve, 
a Pacific species, have been distributed under the name of Triton parvus 0. B. 
Adams, which is a Phos, so that Tryon has been led into the error of regarding 
Adams's species as a synonym of Reeve's, and assigning the latter to the West 
Indies, a habitat as yet not confirmed. It is not unlikely that Triton lineolatus 
Conrad (Phila. Proc, 1846, p. 26, pi. i. fig. 18) may have been a young speci- 
men of T. parvus, but Conrad's figure and description are alike totally in- 
sufficient and unrecognizable, the type being lost, and the species should be 
dropped from the lists. 

Subgenus RANULARIA Schumacher. 


o 


Ot tnis group T. cynocephalus Lamarck and T. olearium L., the latter reach- 
ing nearly to Hatteras, are known from the region, together with the following 
species. 

Ranularia tuberosa Lamarck. 

Triton tuberosum Lam., An. s. Vert., VII. p. 185, 1822. 
Triton antillarum Orbigny, Moll. Cuba, II. p. 161, pi. xxiii. fig. 20, 1847. 
1 Triton pyr if or mis Conrad, Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 2d ser., 1849. 
Triton nodulus Morch, Cat. Yoldi, p. 109, 1854. 

Habitat. Florida, at Key West and Tortugas, Hemphill. Bermuda, Goode. 
Antilles, Orbigny. Vera Cruz, Strebel. 

This, like several others, is found in the East Indies, and in spite of the efforts 
of various naturalists to separate it, I am quite in harmony with Mr. Tryon in 
his consolidation of the various synonyms. The several varieties are not geo- 
graphically limited, and therefore cannot be regarded as anything more than 
varieties. 

Subgenus LAMPUSIA Schumacher. 

Lampusia chlorostoma Lamarck. 

Triton chlorostomum Lam., An. s. Vert., VII. p. 185, 1822. 

Triton pulchellus C. B. Adams, Centr. Conch., p. 60, 1850 (testa jun.). 

Habitat. Off Sombrero, in 54 fms.; Station 142, Flannegan Passage, in 27 
fms.; Stations 272 and 287, in 50-76 fms., Barbados. (Mostly young speci- 
mens.) Bermuda, Goode. Antilles and Mexican coast generally, Morch. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 227 

Lampusia pileare Lamarck. 

Triton pileare Lamarck, An. s. Vert, VII. p. 182, 1822 (syn. excl.). 
Murex costatus Born, fide Morcli, Malak. Blatt., XXIV. p. 28, 1877. 
Triton americanum Orbigny, Moll. Cuba, II. p. 163, pi. xxiii. fig. 22, 1846. 
Triton brasilianum Gould, Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., III. p. 142, 1849. 
Triton Martinianum Orbigny, Moll. Cuba, II. p. 162, 1847. 

Triton Vetiei Calkins, Proc. Davenport Acad. Sci., II. p. 235, pi. viii. figs. 1, 2, 1878 
(ex typ.). 

Habitat. Florida, Velie, Calkins. Antilles, Mexican coast, Bahamas, vari- 
ous collectors. Bermuda, Goode. 

The Murex pileare of Linne was insufficiently described, and illustrated by 
erroneous references, as shown by Hanley. Consequently the name should 
stand as of Lamarck. Born's name is involved in doubt. The later synonyms 
are not doubtful. It is a very variable species, and suffers from wear on the 
beaches so as materially to change its appearance. Hence the numerous re- 
descriptions under new names. 

Lampusia gracile Reeve. 

Plate XXIX Fig. 2. 

Triton gracile Reeve, Conch. Icon. Triton, fig. 58, 1845. 

Habitat. Barbados, 100 fms. Cape Catoche, Yucatan, in 24 fms., U. S. Fish 
Commission. Aspinwall, Dall. St. Thomas, Riis. 

I cannot agree with Mr. Tryon in referring this rather rare and elegant form 
to T. vcspaceus Lamarck as a synonym. 

Lampusia? pharcida Dall. 

PI ate XXXVI. Fig. 2. 

Shell yellowish white touched or tinted with brown, aperture pure white; 
spire roughly three-sided, with four whorls and a four-whorled subcylindrical 
nucleus; nucleus smooth with rounded subequal whorls and a rather blunt 
apex; spiral sculpture of eight to ten subequal flattened riblets, with wider 
channelled interspaces and a larger thread on the periphery, five or six moderate 
threads on the canal, and occasional intercalary finer threads ; four of the rib- 
lets are above the periphery; transverse sculpture of faint lines of growth, and 
stronger impressed lines which indent the spirals and give their own interspaces 
the effect of obscure ribs; beside these there are about three lumpy elevations 
between each pair of varices, the middle one largest; and every two thirds of a 
whorl a prominent rather flattened rounded varix, sculptured by the spirals 
and incremental lines, only moderately concave behind; aperture relatively 
small, ovate, Urate, and thickened all round; the outer lip with about six lira 1 . 


228 BULLETIN OF THE 

the largest posterior ; suture deep, distinct ; canal broad and hardly recurved, 
rather short; operculum? Epidermis polished, close fitting, and not hispid. 
Max. Ion. of shell, 23.6; of nucleus, 2.7; of last whorl, 15.5; of aperture, 7.0; 
max. lat. of shell, 11.5; of aperture, 3.8 mm. 

Habitat. Station 293, in 82 fms., sand, Barbados, bottom temperature 
64°.5 P. 

A shell with somewhat the general form of T. gcmmatum Eeeve, and a mouth 
and terminal varix recalling that of T. Lcebbeckii Lischke. It is less broad 
and short than the latter, and not nearly related to the former. I am unable to 
find in Tryon or elsewhere any closely related species described, and so am 
obliged to treat it as new. 

Of other species of Triton iidce, T. labiosus Wood (+ Loroisii Petit) extends 
its range to within a few miles of Cape Hatteras. T. vespaceris Lam. and 
T. rubecula L. are more or less positively reported from the Antilles, while 
T. (Lotorium) fcmorale L. is found in Florida and southward. The presence 
of several other species is surmised. 


Family OOCORITIDiE. 

Genus OOCORYS Fischer. 

Oocorys Fischer. Journ. de Conchyl., XXXI. p. 392, Oct., 1883. 
Benthodolium Verrill, Trans. Conn. Acad., VI. p. 177, May, 1884. 

? Section OOCORYS s. s. 
Columella simple, twisted, shell imperforate. 

Oocorys sulcata Fischer. 

0. sulcata Fischer, Journ. de Conchyl., XXXI. p. 392, Oct., 1883 ; Watson, Chall. Rep. 
Gast, p. 412, pi. xvii. figs. 11 a-c; Fischer, Man., p. 769, fig. 536, 1884. 

Habitat. Station 173, off Guadelupe, in 734 fms., ooze, bottom temperature 
40°.0; Station 227, off St. Vincent, in 573 fms., sand, bottom temperature 
40°.5; Station 268, off Grenada, in 955 fms. ooze, bottom temperature 39°. 5 F. 
Atlantic Ocean at great depths, Fischer, and Challenger Expedition. 

In this singular mollusk we have another instance of the comparatively 
limited value of the form of the operculum, or even its presence. Tritonium, 
Cassis, Dolium, Oocorys, are all nearly related, yet the operculum is absent in 
one group and in the others assumes most varied forms. By its dentition, its 
nucleus, and its thickened reflected lip and body callus, as well as its (occa- 
sional?) repetition of the varices, it approaches Cassis more nearly than Dolium, 
and perhaps such species as Tritonium (Linatella) Poulsenii Morch, of which 
the operculum is unknown, more nearly than either. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 229 

In one of the Blake specimens there are two distinct varices ahont a quarter 
of a whorl apart. The lip and body are pretty well thickened, and the faint 
reflection of the outer sculpture in the callus within the outer lip is perceptible. 
There is a presutural band caused by the failure of one or two spiral ridges in 
that region, leaving a flattish space. There is no umbilicus nor fasciole in any 
sense. The nucleus is very minute, and does not differ in texture from the 
succeeding whorls. Our shells agree well with Fischer's figure and that given 
by Watson, but are evidently older and have a more prominent reflected lip and 
callous surface around the mouth. They have six whorls, and are 37-38.5 mm. 
long, and 28.0 wide, of which 31.5 to 32.5 mm. are comprised in the length of 
the last whorl. None retained the soft parts, but larger specimens were ob- 
tained of this or the next form by Prof. Verrill. 

I have not seen the Anura Craveni referred to in this connection by Fischer, 
but the name Anura has long been in use in another sense among Vertcbrata 
and cannot be properly used at all in the nomenclature of Mollusks. I doubt 
very much if the genus Anura has any relation to the present form. 

? Section BENTHODOLIUM. 

Columella with a groove behind it, forming, with the callus, a narrow but 
deep and pervious umbilicus, and distinct siphonal fasciole. 

Oocorys abyssorum (V. & S.?) Dall. 

Benthodollum abyssorum Verrill & Smith, Trans. Conn. Acad., VI. p. 177 (pro parte ? 
excl. figures), 1884. 

Habitat. U. S. Fish Commission Stations 2400, in 169 fms., mud, in the 
northern part of the Gulf of Mexico; and 2676, 2677, and 2678, in 407-731 fms., 
mud and ooze, off the Carolina coast, bottom temperature 38° to 46° F. 

This shell is amazingly like 0. sulcata, except that the spire tends to be a 
little more elevated, the callus of the lips and the shell in general seem heavier, 
and behind the columella is a well-marked groove about a millimeter wide 
bounded externally by a siphonal fasciole, very distinct in the young and 
partly obscured by callus upon it in the adult. The umbilicus is about the 
size of the " lead" of a pencil, a bristle will penetrate nearly to the apex of 
the shell. It is possible that the callus on the columella may in some ex- 
tremely old specimens extend over and close this umbilicus, but in 0. sulcata 
there is absolutely nothing of the kind in old or young. I can hardly conceive 
that a single species can vary to the extent of having such differences as sepa- 
rate this from the latter. Although in his description of Benthodolium Prof. 
Verrill says, " not umbilicated," yet in his specific description, speaking of the 
callus on the columella, he says, " turning outward so as to nearly conceal a 
narrow umbilical chink." This leads me to think that both species may have 
been represented in his material, and while he figured one he described the 


230 BULLETIN OF THE 

other. At all events, it can do no harm to retain the name in the manner I 
have done until more extensive material can be studied, and in this way pre- 
vent the distinction from being lost sight of. 

One young specimen measures 39 by 25.5 mm., but the outer lip is not perfect. 
An adult measures 37.5 by 27.0 mm., the last whorl being 30.0 mm. long. The 
soft parts were lost from all the specimens. The nucleus was as in 0. sulcata, 
and there were six whorls. In all respects not noted, the shell was extremely 
like 0. sulcata. The outer lip was obscurely lirate, or rippled, within. 

I am uncertain whether the following group should be referred to this 
family, or to the vicinity of Liomesus. 

DALIUM n. g. 

Shell solid, spirally sculptured, short-fusiform, with an unexpanded aperture, 
outer lip thickened, simple ; body whorl smooth with a well marked smooth 
callus; nucleus not differentiated; pillar twisted, simple, shorter than the 
aperture; canal short, obliquely truncate, nearly straight, not deeply notched. 

This shell recalls Doliurn or Sconsia in its sculpture and texture, but is 
heavy and solid, has a much more produced spire, and a different outer lip and 
columella; it is perhaps most like Lagena, but without plaits on the pillar, lirse, 
or teeth on the outer lip; its relations are probably in this direction, or with 
Liomesus. It bears some resemblance to Liomesus, especially to such forms as 
L. canaliculars Dall, but the unexpanded aperture, the marginated suture, 
the facies of the shell, and its habitat are rather against this allocation. In the 
absence of the soft parts and operculum its systematic position cannot be 
determined. The type is 

Dalium solidum n. s. 

Plate XIX. Fig. 10 d. 

Shell heavy, solid, porcellanous, six-whorled, with a rather obtusely pointed 
spire ; suture inconspicuous, njarginated by the sculpture, slightly channelled; 
nucleus minute, smooth; shell sculpture consisting, first, of transverse ruga?, 
due almost wholly to irregularities of growth and evanescent or absent on the 
nucleus; secondly, of spiral ridges with channelled interspaces, of which four 
narrow ridges with about equal interspaces are found immediately in front of 
the sutural margin; these are separated from a single narrow thread in front of 
them by a broad shallow channel about equal in width to two of the preceding 
narrow ridges and their attendant interspaces; before these again lie (on the 
last whorl) about twenty-five broad flat-topped ridges separated by channels 
of less than half their width, the whole very uniform, though as usual a little 
coarser near and on the pillar; aperture rather small, attenuated anteriorly, 
pointed behind, with a short, wide, nearly straight canal in front; outer lip 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 231 

slightly thickened inside, smooth, simple except for vague indications of the 
external sculpture in the less mature state; body with a smooth evenly spread 
callus extending considerably in advance of the aperture and over the inner 
half of the pillar; the latter perfectly smooth, evenly twisted (the siphonal 
fasciole distinct, not prominent), with the anterior end obliquely truncate or 
falling away roundly into the short canal. The nucleus is filled in the speci- 
mens examined with a solid mass of shelly matter, the epidermis, if any, is 
extremely thin, and there seems to be a tendency to erosion of the thin outer 
more calcareous layer, as in Buccinum. Lon. of shell, 41.25; of aperture, 25.00; 
max. lat. of shell, 23.00; of aperture, 10.00 mm. 

Habitat. Off Grenada, Station 265, in 576 fins., bottom temperature 39°. 7 F. 
Bottom of graj' ooze. 

The specimens of this singular shell were fresh, but without the soft parts. 
The ante-sutural band at first sight suggests a pleurotomoid notch, but a careful 
inspection shows that there are no grounds for this suspicion, as the lines of 
growth cross the band without the slightest sinuosity. 

The habit of the shell is very different from that of Oocorys, which in outline 
and spiral sculpture somewhat resembles Valium, and the present species can 
best be compared to a compact, solid, simple Sconsia (Gray), with a plain 
unsculptured columella, unrefiexed lip, and elevated spire without varices. 


Family CASSIDID^E. 

Genus CASSIS Lamarck. 

Without going into the synonymy of those shells ordinarily referred to this 
genus, C. cameo Stimpson and tuberosa Linne reach the southern coast of the 
United States, and perhaps as far north as Beaufort, N. C. ; C. fiammea L. 
reaches the Florida Keys; G. testiculus L., and C. inflata Shaw (with many 
synonyms) and its very distinct-looking smooth variety, are found on the 
Florida coast; the variety and both the typical forms go northward to within 
a few miles of Hatteras, in 15-125 fms. The young of G. inflata, which is a 
remarkably pretty little shell, was dredged by the Blake in 54 fms., near Som- 
brero, W. I. Lastly, Galeodea Coronadoi Crosse, of which a single specimen 
has hitherto been known, from Matanzas, Cuba, has been dredged by the U. S. 
Fish Commission at Station 2603, in 124 fms., sand and gravel, forty miles 
from Cape Fear, N. C. Oniscia, or, more properly, Lambidium oniscus L., 
has not yet turned up from north of the West Indies. L. strombiformis Reeve 
I have never seen, but the beautiful Oniscidia Dcnnisoni of Reeve was dredged 
in 130 fins., coral, on the Arrowsmith Bank, Yucatan, by the U. S. Fish 
Commission. 

I am quite convinced that some startling modifications of nomenclature and 
ideas respecting what constitutes a species of Cassis will follow a study of a 
sufficient number of specimens of the three larger species above mentioned. 


232 BULLETIN OF THE 

Finally, what appears to be an undoubted specimen of Sconsia striata La- 
marck has been dredged by the U. S. Fish Commission at Station 2646, in 
85 fms., sand, off Cape Florida. I have exactly the same shell from the East 
Indies, where it was collected by the Wilkes Exploring Expedition, and it is 
very doubtful if there is more than one species yet known, those which have 
been named seeming to differ but varietally. Like other shells of this family, 
the adults differ very widely in their size at maturity, having a range in this 
respect fully equal to that of the various species of Cyprcea. 


Family DOLIID^E. 

It is probable that this should form only a subfamily under Cassididce, but 
is bet 
action. 


it is better to await fuller knowledge of all the forms before taking decisive 


Genus DOLIUM Lamarck. 

Doliiim galea L. and D. perdix L. extend their range northward to Florida, 
and the former has even been reported from Beaufort, N. C. It has several 
synonyms, especially D. antillarum Morch, which does not differ from the type. 
I), perdix is widely known under the names oipennatum Martini and phimatum 
Green, while its greenish yellow horny larval shell was described as Helix 
sulfurea by Prof. C. B. Adams. 

Subgenus EUDOLIUM Dall. 

Doliopsis Monterosato, non Conrad. 

Eudolium Crosseanum Monterosato. 
Plate XV. Fig. 5. 

D. Crosseanum Allery de Monterosato, Journ. de Conchyl., XVII. p. 228, pi. xii. 

fig. 1, 1869. 
D. Bairdii Verrill & Smith, Am. Journ. Sci., XXII. p. 296, Oct. 1881. Trans. Conn. 

Acad., V. p. 515, VI. p. 253, pi. xxix. figs. 2 a-b, 1884. 

Habitat. Station 192, off Dominica, in 138 fms., sand. Station 291, off 
Barbados, in 200 fms., stony bottom, temperature 49°. 7 F. Off Havana, in 
292 fms. Northward to Martha's Vineyard, in 89-234 fms., Verrill. Deep 
water off Palermo, Italy, Monterosato. 

A living specimen taken off Delaware Bay by Captain Tanner might have 
served as a model for the figure in the Journal de Conchyliologie. But most 
of the specimens I have seen from the Antilles, dredged by the Fish Commis- 
sion, are smaller, though adult. There is a tendency for the primary spirals to 
be darker brown, and even articulated with dark and light brown. The nucleus 
is very large, olive greenish, but in the adult lined with white shelly matter, 
which, when the horny larval shell is peeled off, as often happens, reproduces 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 233 

it in polished white shell substance. The spirals are usually prettily crenu- 
lated by lines of growth. They vary in number and relative size. The suture 
is sometimes more, sometimes less clearly defined by the meeting of the whorls. 
It is not channelled. The callus of the outer lip varies from pure white to 
livid rose-color. It is strongly lirate, reflected, and thickened. The canal is 
very shallow. In the adult a more or less thickened callus extends from the 
posterior commissure to the canal, somewhat irregularly distributed, and except 
on the keel of the pillar (where it is a little tubercular) reproduces in its ele- 
vated ridges the sculpture of the surface under it. This callus on the body 
agrees with the notches on the rhachidian tooth in indicating a relationship 
with Cassis nearer than that exhibited by most of the genus. For it Montero- 
sato proposed a section Doliopsis, a name preoccupied by Conrad, but there 
would seem to be good grounds here for a sectional or subgeneric subdivision. 

Eudolium Verrillii n. s. 

Plate XXXV. Fig. 12. 

Shell resembling D. Crosseanum, and best described by comparison with a 
specimen of the latter of equal size. 

D. Verrillii is sculptured with strong revolving ribs without the finer inter- 
calary thread of D. Crosseanum. At the beginning of the last whorl there are 
five ribs between the sutures in D. Verrillii, and eight primary ribs in the same 
place in D. Crosseanum. The nucleus in D. Verrillii has no trace of the horny 
larval shell characteristic of the genus, but it may have been decorticated after 
having been filled with shelly matter. The spire ascends more evenly in 
D. Verrillii, and the suture is deeply channelled. There are nineteen ribs at 
the end of the last whorl, of which five are above the periphery. The ribs are 
coarsest near the suture and decrease gradually forward. Behind the very 
broad thick and strong lip is a deep sulcation. Inside, the outer lip is much 
reflected and has about sixteen coarse crenulations. On the body and pillar 
is a thick callus deeply grooved and much thickened on the body, and almost 
making tubular the posterior commissure. On the pillar the callus is ver- 
miculate. The pillar is formed like that of D. Crosseanum, but shorter and with 
the callus arched like Odcorys. The outer surface of the specimen has the 
grayish white of a " dead" shell, and the surface has lost its polish. It has, 
however, a transverse sculpture granulating the spirals and reticulating the 
channels, like the sculpture on the shoulder of specimens of Cassis inflata 
Shaw. It has five whorls, the last being rounder than in D. Crosseanum, and 
all very thick and solid. Max. alt. of the shell, 32.0; of last whorl, 27.0; of 
aperture, 22.0; max. lat. of shell, 24.3 mm. 

Habitat. U. S. Fish Commission Station 2120, in 73 fms., mud, near 
Grenada, bottom temperature 67°.0 F. 

This shell is easily distinguished from Oo-orys by its callus and broad lirate 
outer lip with a sulcation behind it, as well as by its coarser more Cassis-like 
sculpture. Only one dead specimen was obtained. 


23-4 BULLETIN OF THE 

Family AMPHIPEKASID^. 
Genus AMPHIPERAS Gronovius. 
Subgenus SIMNIA Risso. 
Simnia Risso (Leach MS.), Hist. Nat., IV. p. 235, 1826. 

This genus was not proposed on the character of a sharp outer lip, as stated 
by Tryon and others. In fact Risso's figure of his type species shows the 
smooth narrow thickening of the lip exactly as it occurs. It was rather the 
general form of the shell, elongate and without the thick and dentate peritreme 
characteristic of Ovula carnea Risso and related species. 

In a valuable paper in the American Journal of Conchology (VI. p. 183) 
Prof. Theodore Gill has treated of the relations of Amphiperasidce. Here he 
characterizes the group as having a shell simply rolled upon itself and thus not 
spiral ; and in this respect he associates with them the genus Pedicularia. Now 
I have already shown, and elsewhere figured in this paper, the young spiral 
shell of Pedicularia, and a happy accident has enabled me to discover that the 
young (not embryonic) shell of Si?nnia (Neosimnia) uniplicata Sby. is also 
spiral, and so continues for some four whorls before putting on the involved 
roll of the adult. Of course Prof. Gill's merit in discriminating the distinction 
between the enrolment of the adult Amphiperas and Cypr&a, which had been 
overlooked by conchologists, is not affected by this discovery, and he expressly 
excluded the embryonic shells from his generalization, as they were at that 
time unknown. 

I suspect that the type, of Radius Montfort will be found to differ from the 
Simnia group, otherwise the name Radius has priority. Neosimnia Fischer 
forms a convenient section of Simnia, but the distinction between the two is 
very slight in some species, and it sometimes happens that one might easily 
assign the same species to one or the other according to the stage of growth 
which it has attained. 

There is no reason to think that the genus Rhizorus Montfort has anything 
to do with Simnia, as claimed by Mbrch. 

Simnia acicularis Lamarck. 

Ovma acicularis Lam., Ann. du Mus., XVI. p. 112, No. 9; Anim. s. Vert, VII. 

p. 369, 1822; ed. Desh., X. p. 472. 
Ovulum aciculare Sowerby, Thes. Conch. Ovulum, No. 31, p. 477, pi. c. figs. 43-46, 

1848; Reeve, Conch. Icon. Ovulum, pi. xii. figs. 53 a, 53 b, May, 1865. 

Habitat. Brazil and South Carolina, Sby. Florida, Hemphill. North and 
South Carolina, Kurtz & Stimpson. Sigsbee, off Havana, in 80 fms., and 
off Sombrero, in 70 fms. Twenty-five miles off Cape Fear, North Carolina, 
U. S. Fish Commission, at Station 2619, in 15 fms., sand. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 235 

Simnia piragua n. s. 

Shell remarkably slender, narrow and long, tapering regularly toward the 
posterior end from a point about one third of (he whole, length behind the an- 
terior end. Viewed from above the left profile is gently arched like a bow, on 
the right there is a shallow emargination behind the end of the canal, and the 
rest of the right-hand profile is almost in a straight line. The back is pale 
coffee-brown, the tips and slightly thickened margin white. Below, the aper- 
ture is seen to be very narrow except for a short space anteriorly, behind the 
above mentioned emargination. There is a slight callus on the body; the colu- 
mella, if it may be so called, is tinged with rose-pink. Both ends of the shell 
are slightly recurved; the surface is marked only by lines of growth and a very 
few faint spiral striae toward the ends. The extreme anterior end of the canal 
is sharp-edged, the rest is thickened but not reflected. Max. Ion. of shell, 
23.0; max. lat. of shell (7.0 mm. back from anterior end of canal), 3.0; max. 
lat. of body, 2.6; of aperture, 1.6 mm. 

Habitat. Living on Gorgonian coral, in 23 fins, water, at U. S. Fish Com- 
mission Station 2138, between Jamaica and Hayti. 

The soft parts appear in the dried animal to have been nearly black. 

This is the most slender and evenly tapered species known, though not very 
large. The nearest to it is S. lanceolata Sowerby, from Luzon, and S. piragua 
is much more slender, especially toward the extremities, which are also much 
longer in proportion to the enrolled portion of the shell. 

Section NEOSIMNIA Fischer. 

Simnia (Neosimnia) intermedia Sowerby. 

Ovulum intermedium Sby., Spec. Conch., No. 1, p. 9, figs. 32, 33; Tlies. Conch. Ovu- 
lum, No. 40, p. 479, pi. c. figs. 61, G2, 1848. Reeve, Conch. Icon. Ovuium, pi. 
vii. figs. 33 a, 33 b, March, 1865. 

Habitat. Station 247, off Grenada, in 170 fms. Honduras Bay (Sowerby). 
Vera Cruz, Mexico (Strebel). Off Hatteras, in 50-65 fms., sand, U. S. Fish 
Commission Stations 2595 and 2596. 

This species is reasonably constant in form, but varies very much in size and 
in the acuteness of the extremities of the shell. Older specimens have these 
more blunt. The largest and smallest adult shells I have examined measured 
27.0 and 15.0 mm. in length respectively. Tryon refers 0. obionga of Martini 
and 0. spelta Dillwyn, non Linne, to this species as synonyms. 

Simnia (Neosimnia) uniplicata Sowerby. 

Ovulum uniplicatum Sowerby, Thes. Conch., p. 478, pi. c. figs. 30, 31, 32, 1848 ; P. Z. S. 

1848, p. 135. Reeve, Conch. Icon. Ovulum, pi. ix, figs. 51 a, 51 b, May, 1865. 
Amphiperas canadinensis " Morch," Weinkauff, Jalirb. Mai. Ges., IX. p. 178, 1882, 

= err. typog. for carolinensis. 


236 BULLETIN OF THE 

Ovulum antillarum Reeve, Conch. Icon. Ovula, fig. 64, 1865. 
Ovula carolinensis Murch, Malak. Blatt., XXIV. p. 54, 1877. 
Ovulum subrostratum Sowerby, P. Z. S. 1848, p. 136 ; Tlies. Conch., p. 477, pi. c. 

figs. 39, 40, 1848. 
Ovulum arcuatum Reeve, Conch. Icon. Ovulum, fig. 58, 1865. 

Habitat. Dead at Station 2, in 805 fms. Living in 2-20 fms., dead in 
12-100 fms., from the Antilles northward to within twenty miles of Cape 
Hatteras, North Carolina. 

The adolescent shell is beautifully spirally wavy-striate ; in the adult the 
stria) are near the ends only, or wholly absent. It varies from fine deep plum- 
color or sulphur-yellow to white. The yellow ones are found on the yellow, 
and the purple ones on the purple Gorgonias or sea-fans, respectively. The 
larval shell has four whorls, while one or two more turns may be made by the 
adolescent shell (about 3.5 mm. long) before the former is entirely hidden. 
The apex of the nucleus is blunt and of a reddish color, while the surface of the 
rest is paler and covered with sharp lirae, close set and parallel with the lines 
of growth. The sutures are evident but not pronounced. The adolescent 
shell, exclusive of that which is truly larval, is of a whitish color in the speci- 
men examined, and has only fine spiral Cylichna-\ike striation. It has a dis- 
tinct columella, sharply truncate in front, and a wide canal, while at the apex 
the shell is wound obliquely back over the nucleus, hiding about one half of it, 
and is produced in a short canal beyond the extreme tip. There appears to be 
a little over a whorl and a half subsequent to the original larval shell, and it 
would require just about one whorl more wholly to enclose it. The larval 
shell would seem to have been about a millimeter long, or perhaps somewhat 
less, before the adolescent part was begun. 


Simnia (Neosimnia) aureocincta n. s. 

This shell is the Antillean analogue of S. spelta (Linn.) Tryon, and is best 
described by comparison with it. 

Its surface is almost entirely destitute of the fine spiral striations of S. spelta; 
its base is much more arched, the canals at either end are broad, blunt, and re- 
curved, instead of pointed and straight; the color is pure white with a golden 
yellow band winding round the shell just behind the periphery, and a yellow 
brown line bordering the outer edge of the callus on each side. S. spelta varies 
from waxy white to purple, without bands or margination. On the base in the 
present species the body is more symmetrically fusiform, the body callus more 
diffused, the aperture narrower, especially in front, and the posterior fold 
stronger and larger. The back of spelta from end to end forms a low nearly 
uniform arch, in aureocincta the ends are abruptly turned up and heavily 
thickened with callus. Max. Ion. of shell, 18.5; max. lat. of shell, 8.0 mm. 

Habitat. Living on Gorgonia, off Sombrero, in 70 fms. Also at U. S. Fish 
Commission Station 2334, near Havana, Cuba, on white coral, in 67 fms. 


MUSEUM OF COMPAEATIVE ZOOLOGY. 237 

In this connection it may be observed that S. spelta, which is the common 
Mediterranean form, when young does not appear to resemble the shell figured 
by Risso, which has by many naturalists been taken to be the young of it. 
His <S. niceensis seems to me to be a species more like S. lanceolata. His 
S. purpurea also, as represented in the Weinkauff collection, contained in that 
of Jeffreys now in the National Museum, is a distinct and different shell from 
the young of the purple variety of S. spelta L. (not Reeve & Sby.) which has 
commonly been so referred. I do not find the genuine S. purpurea of Risso 
figured in the monographs, or at least the shell so identified by Weinkauff and 
which is a native of the Mediterranean. 

The only other member of this family from this region so far known is 
the Amphiperas (Ultimas) gibbosus Linne, which is common. The animal has 
the sides of the mantle enveloping the shell and is very gaudy, being of a sal- 
mon or golden yellow with large black circles and fine black dots scattered 
over it. It is found on corals and Gorgonias from Florida to Jamaica, and prob- 
ably throughout the Antilles. It varies much in size, relative proportions, 
and brilliancy of color. The color of the brightest specimens will fade very 
much in a few years, even when kept in the dark. Fresh specimens are of a 
charming orange-color. 

A specimen of Amphiperas aperta Sby. is in the collection of the National 
Museum from Barbados, and A. birostris Linne, which Tryon regards as the 
adult form of aperta, was recorded from Cuba, in 1840, by Pfeiffer. I feel 
some doubt as to these specimens, and suspect they may be imported, but it is 
possible this shell does exist in the Antilles. 

The British species, Ovula patula of authors, has a larval shell similar to the 
one described under Simnia uniplicata, but it is smaller and shorter, with a 
smooth whitish globular nucleus. 


Genus PEDICULARIA Swainson. 
Pedicularia decussata Gould. 

Plate XIX. Figs. 9 a-b. 

Pedicularia albida Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 39, 1881. 

Pedicularia decussata Gould, Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., V. p. 127, 1855; Otia, 
p. 215, 1862. 

Habitat. Barbados, Hassler Exp., 100 fms. Off Havana, Sigsbee, 450 
fins., on Solenosmilia variabilis Duin. fide Pourtales. Yucatan Strait, 640 fms. 
U. S. Fish Commission Stations 2342, off Havana, Cuba, in 201 fms., coral, 
and 2416, off the coast of Georgia, in 27 fms., coral, bottom temperature 
53°.8 F. Off Georgia and Florida in 400 fms., Gould. 

When I described this species its characters did not seem in accord with the 


238 BULLETIN OF THE 

brief diagnosis of Dr. Gould's unfigured species. Since then I have visited 
Albany, and examined Dr. Gould's type, which leaves no doubt of their iden- 
tity. The reception of more material from the Fish Commission and from the 
Mediterranean enables me to enlarge my description of this species, and to 
compare it with P. sicula. 

In regard to the shell, it is noteworthy that the spiral nucleus, which, as 
Gould observed, is always visible, is practically identical in form and sculp- 
ture with that of Simnia, just described. In fact, Pedicularia would seem to 
be a form of Amphiperas, modified for the habitat upon a coral, and made 
irregular by its habitat, as in the case of Ehizocheilus, etc. From Simnia, 
living on Gorgonians, to Pedicularia, living on stony corals, is a very short 
step. The dentition is not dissimilar, and I see no reason for separating 
Pedicularia from the Amphiperasidoe. 

The decussated sculpture is characteristic of the young, and of the period 
before the animal has permanently settled down to one roost. At the end of 
this period the margin is usually reflected, thickened, and internally lirate. 
After this the spiral (or, as the shell stands, vertical) sculpture becomes 
stronger, the transverse fainter, and the former has a wavy irregularity, while 
the surface takes on a peculiar faint sagrination, recalling the surface of the 
coral on which it lives. The largest specimen I have seen — which is 13.0 mm. 
long by 8.5 from back to base, and 6.0 mm. in maximum width — is suffused 
toward the aperture with a delicate rosy blush. The sculpture is constantlv 
different from that of P. sicula, which has the revolving threads in the young 
alternately faint and very strong instead of regularly decussated, has not nearly 
as many whorls, and has its nucleus always wholly concealed except in the 
very youngest specimens. The young shell has not the form of Trivia, nor 
is the columella plicate, as stated by Tryon (Man., VII. 241). 

In the very large specimen referred to, the mantle margin was thickened 
and papillose, notched in the middle line behind; the foot oval, rounded be- 
hind, more pointed in front ; the head small, the tentacles narrow, short, and 
without eyes or eye pedicels. The cavity of the mantle is very large and deep; 
there is the ordinary pectinibranch gill stretching across the dome of this cav- 
ity, with the anal papilla at its distal extreme on the left side of the head. 
What would seem to be the sexual papilla, large, prominent, globulose, is situ- 
ated at the other extreme on the right, almost as far back as the posterior end 
of the foot. The soft parts make a coil of two whorls. The space, upon the 
bi\anch of coral (generally a Madrepore) where the animal roosts, and the edge 
of which the aperture of the shell exactly fits, is smoothed away and marginated, 
looking as if the animal had secreted a pavement, like Capulus, with a centrally 
situated rougher area. This, however, is not really the case, but the coral has 
been so eroded as to present much the same appearance, at least with P. sicula., 
as I have not yet received P. decussata in situ. 

The eggs are very numerous and small. They are impregnated within the 
ovisac, which, when ready to discharge, seems to comprise a very large per- 
centage of the total mass of the viscera. In the specimen examined, the young 


MUSEUM OF COMPAEATIVE ZOOLOGY. 239 

shells within the mother had about three quarters of a whorl formed, were of 
a brownish color, and covered by a thin smooth pellucid membrane. They 
seemed to be massed in the ovisac with no regularity or attachment, but like a 
lot of peas in a bag, and could be distinctly observed through the transparent 
integument. 


Family CYPR^EIDiE. 

Genus CYPR^EA Linne. 

Cypraea cinerea Gmelin. 
Cyprcea cinerea Gmelin, Roberts in Tryon, VII. p. 166, pi. ii. figs. 15, 16, 1885. 

Habitat. Station 2, 805 fms. Sigsbee, off Havana, Lat. 22° 9' and Lon. 
82° 2", in 177 fathoms. Station 278, in 69 fathoms, Barbados, all young dead 
specimens. 

This species extends from the vicinity of Cape Hatteras to and throughout 
the Antilles, and the adjacent continental shores, in suitable localities. It was 
found living among the corals, at low water, on the reefs about Key West, by 
Hemphill. 

It varies very much in size. One adult specimen from near Havana meas- 
ures 17.5 by 11.0 mm. Others from the Arrowsmith Bank, near Yucatan, 38.5 
by 24.0 mm. It changes color a good deal by exposure, and varies among 
individuals. 

Among the other Cyprseas, C. mus L. and C. lurida L. are certainly West 
Indian, although Mr. Roberts does not mention it in his latest monograph. 
C. cervus L. reaches South Florida, and is more or less spread among the 
Antilles. It is undoubtably synonymous with C. exanthema, and, curiously 
enough, of a very large and fine East American series, chiefly from Florida, 
nearly all are typical cervus, which is supposed to be the West American form, 
while the typical exanthema supposed to be the Antillean type is much less 
abundant. As a rule, however, the West American specimens of cervus are a 
little paler and thinner than the eastern ones. 

C. spurca L. and its variety flaveola are common in the West Indies, and 
extend northward to the Florida Keys. The bright-colored, white-based, few- 
toothed variety is more common, especially northward, than the typical form 
characteristic of the Mediterranean. Some of the specimens from Florida and 
the Swan Islands are wider and more lozenge-shaped than any I find figured. 
Cyprasa bicallosa Gray and Aubryana Jouss. appear to be Antillean. 0. nebulosa 
Kiener (Cape of Good Hope), 0. stercoraria L. (probably mxis, junior, was 
mistaken for it), and G. picta Gray (Cape Verde Isl.) are exotic, and have 
been wrongly credited to this region, like C. moneta, etc. 


240 BULLETIN OF THE 

Genus TRIVIA Gray. 

Trivia pediculus Linne. 

This species was not obtained by tbe Blake, but ranges from St. Augustine 
southward to and among the Antilles, varying greatly in size and brilliancy 
of coloration. It is fossil in the pliocene clays of Costa Rica and the Caloosa- 
hatchie pliocene of South Florida. T. labiusa Gaskoin and 21 cimex H. Owen 
are synonyms. 

Trivia suffusa Gray. 
Trivia suffusa Gray, Roberts in Tryon, Man., p. 201, pi. xxi. figs. 1, 2, 100, 1885. 

Habitat. Off Havana in 80 fins, (dead), Sigsbee. Cedar Keys, Florida, 
living on the reefs in 1-3 fins., and southward to and among the Antilles at 
moderate depths. Fossil in the Caloosahatchie pliocene. 

This species is sometimes deep rose with blackish mottlings, varying from 
rosy or madder brown without black markings to nearly totally blackish 
brown. On the mainland it has been received from Vera Cruz and the coast 
of Yucatan. T. armandina Duclos is synonymous according to Roberts, and 
the dark variety mentioned above is on the same authority the same as 
T. pullata H. Owen. 

Trivia subrostrata Gray. 

Trivia subrostrata Gray, Roberts, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 137, 1881. Tryon, Man., 
VII. p. 203, pi. xxii. figs. 38, 39, 1885. 

Habitat. Sigsbee, off Havana, 80 and 175 fms. Station 12, 177 fms.; Sta- 
tion 2, 805 fms. (dead). Southeastward to Barbados, living at moderate depths. 

Trivia nivea Gray. 

Trivia oryza Roberts, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 137, 1881, non Lam. 

Trivia nivea Gray, Roberts, Tryon, Man., VII. p. 199, pi. xxi. figs. 80, 81, 1885. 

Habitat. Station 2, in 805 fms. Station 272, at Barbados, in 76 fms., 
dead. South Florida reefs, Greegor, living. 

Trivia candidula Gaskoin. 

Trivia candidula Gaskoin, Roberts, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 137, 1881. Tryon, Man., 
VII. p. 203, pi. xxii. figs. 33, 34, 1885. 

Habitat. Yucatan Strait, 640 fms.; Station 21, 287 fms.; Barbados, 100 
fms.; Sigsbee, off Havana, 119 fms.; Station 177, living, in 18 fms., at Domin- 
March 23, 1889. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 241 

ica; Station 272, in 76 fms., near Barbados; also in 94-140 fras., at Barbados, 
all dead. Near Cape Hatteras, in 25-50 fins., U. S. Fish Commission. Co- 
runna, Spain, McAndrew. 

This species ranges farther north than any other yet known, on the eastern 
coast of the United States. It is easily recognized by the continuous trans- 
verse lines, uninterrupted by any dorsal groove, and its white color. It is 
T. olorina Duclos and T. approximans Beck. 

Trivia globosa Gray. 

Trivia globosa Gray, Roberts, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 137, 1881. 
T. pilula Kiener, and T. sphwrula Mighels,^We Roberts, 1885. 

Habitat. Station 2, 805 fms.; Station 247, near Grenada, in 170 fms.; Sta- 
tion 276, near Barbados, in 94 fms. All dead. U. S. Fish Commission Sta- 
tion 2373, in 23 fms , coral bottom, in the Gulf of Mexico, living. Station 
2330, dead, in 121 fms., at Key West. Fossil in the Caloosahatchie pliocene. 

Roberts thinks that Krebs's Trivia subrostrata var. alba is referable to this 
species. 

Trivia quadripunctata Gray, var. rotunda Kiener. 

Trivia quadripunctata Gray, Roberts, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 137, 1881. Tryon, Man., 
VII. p. 201, pi. xxii. figs. 5, 6. 

Habitat. Yucatan Strait, 1 living, 640 fms.; Station 2, 805 fms.; Station 
12, 177 fms.; Barbados, living, 100 fms.; Sigsbee, off Havana, 80 fms. Flor- 
ida Keys, in 2-4 fms., living, and abundant in the Antilles, in similar 
situations. 

I do not understand how living specimens found their way into jars labelled 
100 and 640 fms. I do not believe the shells lived at that depth, and suspect 
they may have remained in the dredge or sieve, unseen, from a previous dredg- 
ing in shallow water. The specimens, except the two living ones, are all of 
the variety rotunda Kiener, which differs from the type in being shorter, 
rounder, paler, and with the spots obsolete. As with the other species, the 
identifications have been confirmed by Mr. S. R. Roberts, who has made a 
special study of the Cyprceidce. 

Genus ERATO Risso. 
Erato Maugeriee Gray. 

This species extends from Cape Hatteras to Jamaica, and from Florida to 
Vera Cruz and Aspinwall. It is the only species known from the region. It 
is fossil in the pliocene of the Caloosahatchie River, Florida. Erato cypraoides 
C. B. Adams is not in the least like it, being white, cyprseiform, with an im- 

VOL. xvin. 16 


242 BULLETIN OF THE 

mersed spire and both lips transversely grooved. It is probably not an Erato 
at all, and is perhaps an Ovulactceon. The Erato vitellina cited by Marrat in 
his list of shells collected by the party on board the Argo, undoubtedly came 
from California, and it should have been so stated, as, placed as it was without 
comment in a paper treating otherwise only of Antillean shells, it was certain to 
lead to misconception. Although Mr. Marrat says it was a gift from Mr. Red- 
field at Philadelphia, it follows the Abaco list without sufficient discrimination. 


Family TRIFORID^E. 
Genus TRIFORIS Deshates. 

The character of the openings in this group seem to have been misunderstood 
by Mr. Tryon in his recent monograph. He referred (Man., IX. p, 121) to 
the " occasional preservation of a second canal upon the back of the body whorl, 
showing the termination of a former aperture." I have never seen anything of 
the kind in this genus, nor does Mr. Tryon figure any such formation. The 
case of Triforis is not unlike that of Pleurotoma, except that in the latter group 
the seclusion of the individual foramina is, so far as I know, never carried 
quite so far as in typical Triforis. In both there is an aperture with a canal 
and a presutural (doubtless anal) notch in the adult. In some forms of 
Drillia, when fully mature, the notch becomes nearly tubular, but the siphonal 
canal is not closed and seldom if ever has a tubular appearance. In Triforis, 
however, the canal and anal opening, in certain species, become completely 
tubular, and the last whorl after they are closed is continued for a quarter of 
a turn more before the final adult aperture is completed. Between this state 
of things and that in which the canal remains permanently open and the anal 
notch becomes obsolete, there are all varieties of gradation, many of which 
represent stages of growth in the most specialized forms. There are probably 
some dextral forms, though such are apt to be referred to Cerithiopsis ; and 
probably son^e of those referred to this group would, if we knew all the charac- 
ters of the soft parts, operculum, etc., be naturally placed with Cerithiopsis, as 
reversed species of that genus. 

I have felt that the differences of the soft parts, dentition, and operculum 
were sufficient to authorize the use of the family name for this group, as has 
been proposed by other naturalists. A great number of sectional names have 
been proposed in this group. Most of them are without sufficient reason for 
existence. We may conveniently recognize India Bayle (+ Ino Hinds, thrice 
preoccupied), for the elongated species with flattened whorls, open anal aper- 
ture, and sharp apex ; Sychar Hinds, for similar shells having a swollen nucleus 
and more rounded whorls; Mastonia Hinds, for the short, swollen fusiform 
species* with the same character of aperture; and Triforis s. s., for those in which 
the anal sinus is closed, and all the foramina have a more or less tubular form, 
when completely adult. These shells are so frequently decollate, rubbed, or 


MUSEUM OF COMPAEATIVE ZOOLOGY. 242 

not perfectly adult, that the proper section to which they are to be referred, 
except in the case of species collected alive and in large quantities, will neces- 
sarily often remain doubtful. 

The variety in the sculpturing is very remarkable, and the range of varia- 
tion in this direction is as yet but little understood. 

Section TRIFORIS s. s. 

The only species definitely referable to this section within our limits is the 
Triforis mirabilis C. B. Adams, which extends southward from the Carolina 
coast to the Antilles, apparently not abundant anywhere. It has been errone- 
ously confounded with T. turris-thomce Orbigny. 

Trnoris lilacina Dall. 

Shell corpulent, acutely pointed, characterized by two spiral rows of round, 
pointed, large elevated tubercles, about twenty-five on the last whorl; there 
they are separated by a fine undulated line, while on the earlier whorls this is 
obsolete or absent; there is a very fine post-sutural thread; whorls about 18, 
of a rich pink lilac color, the tubercles a little lighter; base protuberant, with 
four or five regularly beaded spiral threads; canal closed, much recurved, short; 
anal notch deep, probably eventually tubular; mouth contracted, anterior edge 
produced, aperture sharp-edged, simple. Max. Ion. of shell, 9.0; max. lat. of 
shell, 2.9 mm. (Nucleus lost, probably pointed.) 

Habitat. Turtle Harbor, Florida, in 6 fms., Dr. Rush. 

This beautiful shell is nearest to ruber Hinds, which has smaller tubercles 
and proportionally larger aperture. This and violacea Quoy (with five rows 
of tubercles) are Indo-Pacific species. 

Section MASTONIA Hinds. 

A. Apex acute, trocnoid. 

Triforis perversa Linn£, var. nigrocincta Adams. 

Trochus perversus Linne', S. N., ed. xii. p. 1231. 
Cerithium perversum Jeffreys, Brit. Conch., IV. p. 261, 1867. 
Cerithium adcersum Forbes & Hanley, Brit. Moll., p. 195, pi. xci. figs. 5, 6. 
Triforis perversa Jeffreys, P. Z. S. 1885, p. 67. 

Cerithium nigrocindum C. B. Adams, Boston Journ. Nat. Hist., H. p. 286, pi. iv. fig 
11, 1839. 

Habitat. Barbados, 100 fms. Northward to Massachusetts. British Isles 
to the Mediterranean. California 1 

After a careful study of specimens from both sides of the Atlantic, i con- 
clude that the differences which exist are far less than those which Beparate 


244 BULLETIN OF THE 

the large pale-tubercled Mediterranean variety from the small British variety 
adversa Montagu, and cannot be claimed as of more than varietal importance. 

The British shell is usually more solid and uniformly dark, but there are 
paler individuals with dark base, differing from typical nigrocincta only in be- 
ing a little heavier. But nearly all British individuals are heavier than those 
of the same species from the American shores. The sculpture of many of the 
British individuals is a little coarser, and they probably average a little bigger 
than American specimens. 

The variety nigrocincta is usually brown with a dark brown base ; this shin- 
ing through the sides of the shell below the suture gives the effect of a brown 
presutural band. Individuals in which the base is no darker than the sides 
do not show it. T. modesta C. B. Adams is a small uniformly dark specimen, 
and his T. intermedia is (from a typical specimen) a form in which the middle 
spiral has its nodules paler colored than the rest of the shell. 

Two or three genera or subgenera have been founded on this species, as hav- 
ing the canal open and the whorls flattened, but the canal is often closed in 
both foreign and American specimens, and the form is precisely that of Masto- 
nia, sometimes flattish, but most generally moderately inflated and fusiform. 

Triforis decorata C. B. Adams var. olivacea Dall. 
Cerithium decoratum Adams, Contributions to Conch., p. 177, 1850. 

Habitat. Gulf of Mexico, west of Florida, in 50 fms. Key West, Hemp- 
hill. Antilles, Adams. 

This species does not show the anal notch tubular when perfectly adult, con- 
sequently it should not be placed in the typical section of Triforis, as has been 
done in Mr. Tryon's Manual. It is closely related to T. ornata of Deshayes. 

The Floridian specimens are of a more olive and brown tendency, and are 
also larger and have a greater proportional diameter than the types of Adams 
or any of the Antillean specimens I have seen. The latter all tend to a macu- 
lation of blackish brown and white, are smaller, and more slender. The dis- 
tinction seems of varietal importance, though it would, doubtless shade off 
imperceptibly in a full geographical series. 

B. Apical nucleus swollen, mammillary . 
Triforis turris-thomas Orbignt. 

Triforis turris-thomoz (Chemnitz) Orb., Moll. Cub., II. p. 155 (pi. xxiii. figs. 10-12 f), 

1842. Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 81, 1881. 
Triforis intermedins Tryon, Man., p. 188, 1887, not of C. B. Adams, 1850. 

Hab'itat. Station 2, 805 fms., one dead specimen, probably drifted from 
ehoaler water. Reported by Orbigny in shell sand from Cuba and Guadelupe 
Island. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 245 

This species is not distinguishable from Chemnitz's figures, and his work is 
only accidentally now and then binomial. Its name rests upon Orbigny's 
figure and description. Doubtless he would have confounded it with T. mira- 
bilis, but his figure identifies the species sufficiently. Adams may have con- 
founded it with his own intermedins, and so named it, but his type specimens of 
the latter are of a not rare variety of perversa. His description is eight years 
later than the publication of Orbigny's Atlas, and his name would in any case 
be out of court on that account, if they were identical. 

Section INELLA Bayle. 

Nucleus acute, conical, trochoid ; whorls flattened. 

The following schema of the species of this section may serve to assist the 
student in identifying material which may come into his hands. In case of 
any discrepancy between the figure and the diagnosis, the latter is always, in 
this Report, to be regarded as the more correct. 

A. With three principal spirals. 

T. longissima Dall. Three spiral rows of very prominent tubercles; middle 
tubercles opposite interspaces of the two outer rows; anterior row most promi- 
nent of the three; a fine thread behind the suture; no transverse ribs. 

T. triserialis Dall. Three spiral tuberculated threads; tubercles axially 
parallel; posterior row strongest; a fine thread behind suture; no ribs; shell 
somewhat short and swollen. 

T. triserialis var. aspera Jeffreys. Last whorl but one of adult with 20 
broadish, rather straight transverse ribs, overrun by two sharp not nodulated 
threads with their posterior slope shortest; the ribs nodulous under the threads; 
a nodulous smaller thread in front of the suture, a still smaller simple thread 
behind the suture; whorls flat, shell elongate. The Antillean specimens have 
more convex whorls. A specimen from the quaternary of Messina shows no 
post-sutural thread. 

T. triserialis var. intermedia Dall. Two rows of not prominent apically 
inclined nodules, a smaller undulated thread between them, a still smaller one 
behind the suture; undulations of the medial thread opposite the interspaces 
between the nodules; no ribs: young with proportionally stronger nodules; 
shell rather elongated. 

T. sarissa Dall. Three rows of strong tubercles, with their longest slope 
toward the middle of the whorl, posterior row largest, anterior next in size, the 
third close to the posterior row and smallest; suture not bordered by threads 
and nearly invisible. 

B. With two principal spirals. 

T. colon Dall. Two spiral rows of equal nodules overrun and connected by a 
sharp line; a very fine undulate line on each side the suture; no ribs, whorls 
very short and flat; base flatfish; shell slender and small. 


246 BULLETIN OF THE 

C. With one principal spiral. 

T. Eushii Dall. An anterior row of 16 very large and pointed (almost 
spinous) tubercles next the suture; behind this three much finer and lower 
undulated equal threads; no ribs; whorls flat except for the garland of tuber- 
cles; shell milk-white, small. 

The last mentioned, though only a fragment of four and a half whorls, pre- 
sents such a remarkable and peculiar sculpture that I have no hesitation in 
applying a name to it. The length along the axis from the garland of tuber- 
cles on one whorl to its fourth return, thus including three whorls, is 2.6 mm.; 
the width over the tubercles at the apical end (decollate) was 1.5 mm., and at 
the other end (of four whorls) it was 1.75 mm. The turns are rather oblique, 
and the undulations of the fine threads form oblique transverse series. It was 
collected by Dr. W. H. Rush, in 200 fms., west of North Bernini Island, 
Bahamas, and kindly donated by him to the National Museum. 

Triforis (Inella) longissima Dall. 

Plate XX Fig. 10. 

Triforis (Ino) longissimus Dall, Bull. M. C. Z. ( IX. p. 80, 1881. Agassiz, Three 
Cruises of the Blake, II. p. 71, fig. 295, 18S8. 

Habitat. Sigsbee, off Havana, in 175-450 fms. 

In this and several other cases I was led, by the careless practice of authors 
who have erroneously treated the name Triforis as masculine, to give the spe- 
cific names in my Preliminary Report a masculine termination. 

Triforis (Inella) triserialis Dall. 

Plate XX. Figs. 5 a, 6 a. 

Triforis triserialis Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 84, 1881. 

Habitat. Yucatan Strait, 640 fms. Off Cape San Antonio, 640 fms. Sta- 
tion 2, in 805: fms. Station 282, near Barbados, in 154 fms., sand, bottom tem- 
perature 56°. F. 

Triforis (IneLla) triserialis var. aspera Jeffreys. 

Triforis aspera Jeffreys, P. Z. S. 1885, p. 58, pi. vi. figs. 7, 7 a. 

Habitat. North Atlantic, Porcupine Expedition. Mediterranean, Jeffreys. 
Florida Straits, off the Samboes, Pourtales, in 125 to 731 fms. Off Georgia 
in 440 fms., sand, U. S. Fish Commission. I have compared Jeffreys's types 
with the type of T. triserialis, and consider the differences varietal. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 247 

Triforis (Inella) triserialis var. intermedia Dall. 

Plate XX. Fig. 8. 

Triforis intermedins Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 85, 1881. 
Not T. intermedins C. B. Adams, 1850. 

Habitat. Station 2, in 805 fms. Barbados, in 100 fms. 

Triforis (Inella) sarissa Dall. 

Shell glossy white, elongated, subcylindrical, with about twenty-four pecu- 
liarly sharp-pointed tubercles on the last whorl; whorls about 24, sculpture 
(see schema, p. 245) sharp, clear-cut, and limose; base flattish with a strong keel, 
two less strong spiral threads, and one or two fainter ones on the canal; canal 
rather long, moderately recurved; anal notch marked, but probably not tubular; 
aperture subrectangular, modified by the spirals; inner lip thickened, project- 
ing. Lon. of shell, 15.5 ; of last whorl, 3.0; max. lat. of shell, 2.5 mm. 

Habitat. Station 290, near Barbados, in 73 fms., coral, bottom temperature 
71°.0F. 

This shell recalls T. (Si/char) inflata Watson, in its general appearance," but 
the details of the sculpture are quite different, and the shell is more cylindrical. 
Its differential characters in its own section are referred to in the schema. 

A notable peculiarity is the way in which a large part of the tubercular 
sculpture seems to incline toward the apex. 

Triforis (Inella) colon Dall. 

Plate XX. Fig. 12. 

Triforis colon Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 86, 1881. 

Habitat. Off Havana, in 450 fms., Sigsbee. Off Cape San Antonio, in 
640-1002 fms. 

Section SYCHAR Hinds. 

Nucleus mammillary, swollen, whorls convex. 

The following schema may be useful for the species referred to. 

A. With three strong spirals. 

T. samanaz Dall. Spirals crowded, with crowded tubercles, rope-like; an- 
terior largest, posterior smallest, so that each whorl at the suture overhangs 
the succeeding whorl; base flattish, with three tuberculate cords; shell white, 
strong. 

B. With tivo strong spirals. 

T. bigemma "Watson. Two strong spirals nodulating over transverse hardly 
rib-like waves; a fine undulated thread in front of the suture; both lips of the 
suture appressed, often thread-like; base and sutures brownish, shell otherwise 
white ; subcylindrical, elongated. 


248 BULLETIN OF THE 

T. (bigemma var. ?) hircus Dall. Two sharp peripheral threads reticulating 
short peripheral transverse ribs, nodose at the intersections; the space between 
the anterior spiral of one whorl, and the posterior one of the next whorl ex- 
cavated, smooth, with the sutural lips appressed, but no pre-sutural thread; 
eubconic; otherwise like bigemma. 

T. abrupta Dall. Sculpture similar to bigemma, but shell smaller, shorter, 
more inflated and Mastonia-like; with a well marked thread behind the suture, 
and the transverse waves obsolete. 

T. torticula Dall. Two strong not nodulous spirals undulated by numerous 
shallow transverse sulci; a line post-sutural thread; in front of the suture, 
between it and the posterior primary spiral, one or two fine strongly undulate 
or subtuberculate threads, the anterior one fainter; base convex with three 
threads in the young; base smooth, flat and keeled in large not quite adult 
individuals; shell large, subcylindric, white. 

T. inflata Watson. Two spiral rows of equal tubercles on flat whorls with- 
out ribs or waves; a marked, hardly undulate thread behind, and a still smaller 
one before the suture ; shell white, elongated. 

T. inflata var. ibex Dall. Like the last, but tubercles more sparse and 
obliquely set, anterior sutural thread obsolete. 

T. inflata var. filata Dall. Like ibex, but with three fine threads at the 
suture; shell less cylindrical and proportionally wider. 

C. Without primary spirals. 
T. cylindrellus Dall. One small post-sutural thread; two or three shallow 
spiral grooves, cutting numerous oblique transverse sulci; whorls swollen, 
constricted behind; base very convex; shell small, slender, white. 

Triforis (Sychar) samanse Dall. 

Shell white, opaque, solid, of 12-14 whorls; main body of the shell subcylin- 
drical, but the apex more rapidly tapered. Sculpture of (on the last whorl) 
three coarse cJose-set spirals, covering the whole whorl, each with about thirty 
closely packed tubercles, like buns strung on a cord, longer axially than in the 
other direction ; base similarly tubercularly corded with three cords, the inter- 
spaces deep; canal very short, aperture short, squarish, modified by the sculp- 
ture. Max. Ion. of shell, 10.0 ; of last whorl, 2.7; max. lat. of shell, 2.8 mm. 

Habitat. Samana Bay, Santo Domingo, in dredgings from about 16 fms. 

This recalls T. decorata C. B. Adams, but in that species the sculpture is not 
crowded, the tubercles are strictly intersectional, and the whorls do not over- 
hang each other. 


■a 


Triforis (Sychar) bigemma Watson. 

Triforis bigemma Watson, Journ. Lin. Soc, XV. p. 101, 1880 ; Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., 
IX. p. 81, 1881 ; Watson, Chall. Gastropods, p. 5G2, pi. xliii. fig. 6, 1885. 

Habitat. Yucatan Strait, in 640 fms. Near St. Thomas, in 390 fms., Chal- 
lenger Expedition. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 249 

Triforis (bigemma var.?) hircus Dall. 

Plate XX. Fig. 11. 
Triforis hircus Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 83, 1881. 

Habitat. Yucatan Strait, 640 fms. 

Triforis (Sychar) abrupta Dall. 

Plate XX. Fig. 9. 

Triforis (bigemma Watson var.?) abruptus Dall, Bull. M. C. Z , IX. p. 84, 1881. 
Habitat. Cape San Antonio, 640 fms. ; Yucatan Strait, 640 fms. 

Triforis (Sychar) torticula Dall. 

Plate XX. Fig. lib. 
Triforis torticulus Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 82, 1881. 
Habitat. Yucatan Strait, 640 fms. 

Triforis (Sychar) inflata Watson. 

Cerithium (Triforis) infatum Watson, Journ. Lin. Soc, XV. p. 101, 1880; Dall, Bull. 
M. C. Z., IX. p. 81, 1881 ; Watson, Chall. Gastropods, p. 564, pi. xl. fig. 1, 
1885. 

Habitat. Yucatan Strait, 640 fms. Off Culebra Island, in 390 fms., Chal- 
lenger Expedition. Off Georgia, in 440 fms., sand, bottom temperature 45°. 6 F., 
at Station 2414; and at Station 2662, in 434 fms., sand, off St. Augustine, 
Florida, bottom temperature 43°.7 F., U. S. Fisb Commission. 

Triforis (Sychar) inflata var. ibex Dall. 

Plate XX. Fig. 12 b. 
Triforis ibex Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 86, 1881. 

Habitat. Yucatan Strait, off Cape San Antonio, in 640 fms. Off Havana, in 
450 fms., Sigsbee. 

Triforis (Sychar) inflata var. filata Dall. 

Habitat. Station 136, near Santa Cruz, in 508 fms., soft ooze, bottom tem- 
perature 42°. 5 F. 


250 BULLETIN OF THE 

Triforis (Sychar) cylindrella Dal^ 

Plate XX. Fig. 6. 

Triforis cylindrellus Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 83, 1881. 
Habitat. Cape San Antonio, 640 fms. 

Family CERITHIOPSID^E. 

The existence of a retractile proboscis in Cerithiopsis and Seila is quite 
ground enough, were there no other characters, for separating this group as a 
family from the Cerithiidaz. 

Genus SEILA A. Adams. 

Seila A. Adams, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., VH. p. 130, 1861 ; type 5. dextroversus Ad. & 

Reeve. (China Seas.) 
Viriola Jousseaume, 1884, not of Tryon, 1887. 
Cinctella Monterosato, Nom. Conch. Medit., p. 123, 1884; type C. trilineatum Phi- 

lippi. (Mediterranean.) 

The close resemblance of S. dextroversa to the C. terebralis C. B. Adams, so 
far as shell characters are concerned, is warrant in default of negative evidence 
for combining the two forms in one group. The characters of C. terebralis, as 
worked out by Stimpson and independently by myself, are sufficient to elevate 
Seila to the rank of a genus, and separate it entirely from Cerithiopsis, of which 
it has been regarded as a synonym. Jousseaume, whose work on Triforis I 
have been unable to consult, would apparently, judging from Tryon 's remarks, 
regard Seila as a dextral Triforis, but this is an erroneous assumption, as I 
shall proceed to show, and the peculiar dentition and shell characters of Trifo- 
ris are in my opinion a justification for according to it family rank by itself. 

Seila terebralis C. B. Adams. 

Cerithium terebrale C. B. Adams, Bost. Journ. Nat. Hist., III. p. 320, pi. iii. fig. 7, 
1840. 

C. terebellum C. B. Adams, Cat. Coll., p. 19, note, 1847. 

Cerithiopsis terebellum Stimpson, N. Engl. Shells, p. 45, 1851. 

Cerithiopsis terebralis H. & A. Adams, Gen., I. p. 241, 1853. 

1 Cerithium trilineatum Pliilippi, En. Moll. Sicil., I. p. 195, pi. xi. fig. 13, 1836; Jef- 
freys, P. Z. S. 1885, p. 61. 

Habitat in America. Massachusetts, southward to Florida and the Antilles. 
? Europe, in the Mediterranean, extremely rare. 

I have carefully examined Dr. Jeffreys's series of trilineatum, recent and fossil, 
and do not feel that it justifies the consolidation. The fossil is a much more 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 251 

slender cylindrical and less conical shell with shorter whorls than S. terebralis, 
and so far as the specimens indicate never attains the size which adult tere- 
bralis commonly exhibits. Otherwise the sculpture is very similar. The 
recent Sicilian shell is extremely rare and much more like terebralis, which 
Philippi, who had received the American shell from Pfeiffer, identified with it. 
The recent and fossil forms seem to differ from each other in a sufficiently 
marked way to render it most desirable to limit trilineatum to the fossil to 
which it was originally given, and retain Adams's name for the recent shell. 

The characters of the animal of Sella terebralis are such as definitely to sepa- 
rate it from Cerithiopsis. 

The tentacles are short and stout; the eyes are situated on their outer bases. 
The foot is very short, Indented in the median line in front, bluntly rounded 
behind, and hardly more than one half longer than its own breadth. There is 
a narrow mentum and the animal possesses a retractile proboscis. The oper- 
culum is very peculiar, being subtriangular, its front edge arched, the lateral 
margins thin, the posterior angle free, stout, hard, not spiral, but its tip curved 
to the left. It is a little longer than wide, and when retracted the little hook 
at the apex is caught under the twisted pillar. The opercular lobe is simple. 
There are stout jaws composed of numerous scale-like pieces. The rhachidian 
tooth is sub-rectangular, tridentate, the median denticle of the cusp much 
smaller and shorter than the others; there is a squarish median boss on the 
base below the cusp. The major lateral is broad and rather high, with a wide 
and very short cusp, bidentate near its inner extreme. The two minor laterals 
are narrow, long, wider at the base and bidentate at the narrow tip. 

In a general way the radula is more like that of Cerithiella metula Loven, as 
figured by Sars (Moll. Arct. Norv., pi. vii. figs. 4 a, 4 b), than any other species 
of the Cerithiacea whose dentition I have seen figured. The details above 
given show it to be quite different even from that form. 

Genus CERITHIOPSIS Forbes & Hanlet. 

The type of this group is C. tubercularis Montagu, with which our most 
common species, ft Greenii Adams, agrees in the superficial characters of its 
soft parts. I have, however, not been able to distinguish in our species any 
such median pore and subsequent groove as is figured by Jeffreys for C. tuber- 
cularis (Brit. Conch., IV., pi. iv. fig. 5). The foot of the American species 
seems longer and narrower, as do the tentacles. 

Cerithiopsis Greenii C. B. Adams has been referred to C. tubercularis Mon- 
tagu, and to C. minima Brusina. It has a nucleus which, allowing for all 
variation, is larger and less styliform than that of C. tubercularis, while the 
aperture of ft minima is contracted in .a way different from that of any speci- 
mens of C. Greenii I have ever examined. It would seem preferable to keep 
them distinct, though the sculpture and its range of variation in tubercularis 
and Greenii are very similar. The name of C. Greenii is much older than that 


252 BULLETIN OF THE 

of C. minima, and if they were identical would take precedence of it. Further- 
more, from Florida I have received specimens collected by H. Hemphill at 
Key West, which seem to be the same as the British tubercularis except that the 
tubercles form spiral bands of pale medium and dark brown color. These 
differ from the G. Gh-eenii collected in the same region just as the British and 
Mediterranean specimens do. The range of C. Greenii extends from Massa- 
chusetts Bay to Florida, Bermuda, and Santo Domingo. Cerithium iota C. B. 
Adams is, from typical specimens, merely a rather small variety of G. Greenii. 

The operculum of Cerithiopsis is paucispiral, somewhat concave, with three 
or four whorls, rather translucent and smooth outside. I have not seen any 
figure of the dentition of C tubercularis, but gather from the statements of Gray, 
Tryon, and Jeffreys that the central or rhachidian tooth is large and bifid, the 
major laterals with bidentate cusps, and the other laterals elongate, simple, and 
smooth, without denticles. 


Subgenus? EUMETA (Morch) Fischer. 

Eumeta Morch, Faunula Moll. Islandia?, Vid. Medd., p. 208, 1868; Fischer, Man., 
p. 684, 1883; Jeffreys, P. Z. S. 1885, p. 61 (ex parte). 

The name of Morch was simply inserted without any comment. Dr. Fischer, 
I believe, first gave it a definition, basing this on the dentition. Dr. Jeffreys 
united Metaxia with it, and used Eumeta to designate the blunt-tipped as dis- 
tinguished from the typical acute Cerithiopsides. 


Cerithiopsis (Eumeta ?) subulata Montagu. 

Plate XX. Fig. 4. 

?? Trochus punctatus Linne, Syst. Nat., ed. xii., p. 1231, No. 603, 1766. Hanley, 

Test. Lin., pp. 324, 52D, 1855. 
Cerithium punctatum (L.) Philippi, Zeitschr. fur Mai, V. p. 23, 1848 ; not of Brugiere, 

Enc. Meth., p. 463, 1789. 
Murex subulaius Montagu, Test. Brit. Suppl., p. 115, pi. xxx. fig. 6, 1808. Turton, 

Conch. Diet., p. 96, 1819. Dillwyn, Cat., II. p. 759, 1817. 
Cerithium subulatum Jeffreys, Brit. Conch., IV. p. 264, 1867 ; not of Potiez and 

Michaud, Gal. Douai, 1838. 
Cerithium metula Dan. (no'n Loven) in Jeffreys, Brit. Conch., IV. p. 257, 1867. 
Cerithium Emersnnii C. B. Adams, Bost. Journ. Nat. Hist., II. p 284, pi. iv. fig. 10, 

1838. Gould, Inv. Mass., p. 275, fig. 180, 1841. 
Cerithium punctatum Philippi, Abbild. und Reschr., III. p. 99 (Cerithium, p. 6, pi. i.), 

pi. xx. 4, figs. 16, 18, 1849. Sowerby, Thes. Conch. Cerith., p. 880, pi. 

clxxxiv. fig. 240, 1855. 
Cerithiopsis punctatum Tryon, Man., IX. p. 170, pi. xxxv. fig. 34, 1887. 
Cerithium elegans Blainville, Faune Franc^ Moll., p. 159, pi. lxii. fig. 9, 1827 (fide 

Tryon) ; not of Petit, 1853. 


MUSEUM OF COMPAKATTVE ZOOLOGY. 253 

Cerithiopsis Emersonii H. & A. Adams, Gen. Rec. Moll., I. p. 240, 1858. Binney's 
Gould's Inv., p. 387, fig. 649. Verrill, Rep. Inv. Vineyard Sound, p. 648, 
pi. xxiv. fig. 151, 1873. 

Habitat. Cape Cod southward to the Antilles. Station 247, off Grenada, 
dead, in 170 fms. 

The Trochus punctatus of Linne is admitted by Hanley and Deshayes to be 
unrecognizable. Philippi thought he recognized it in our American shell. 
Others have followed him, including Tryon. If there were nothing else in the 
way, we might recognize the name as of Philippi, objectionable and wholly 
inapplicable as it is if the meaning of the word be considered. But Linne 
stated that his shell came from South Europe ; Hanley intimates that it was 
a variety of C. tubercularis, and Brugiere described an identifiable Cerithium 
punctatum long before the publication of Philippi. 

The first name recognizable as belonging to our species was given by Mon- 
tagu, under the supposition that the shell was British. In this way a number 
of Antillean species were first described. Since we have to give up the famil- 
iar name of Emersonii, it is fortunate that the new name is appropriate, and 
there is no necessity for resorting to guesswork in order to fix an unsuitable 
name upon our shell. 

The southern specimens are lighter colored, except the base, which is visible 
in the purple brown line which distinguishes the suture in fresh specimens. 
As we go northward, the specimens are ruder and more olivaceous. By a 
study of the nuclei I have become convinced that they are little, if at all, less 
variable than the rest of the shell. Considerable variations do occur in the 
sculpture, size, and prominence of the nuclear whorls. The reliance of some 
authors on the nuclear characters, as something fundamentally constant, is 
certainly ill founded. 

I have figured the specimens from Grenada as an example of the elegance 
of tropical individuals of this species, and the contrast of its tints is not less 
attractive than its sculpture. 

The soft parts and dentition of this species have been examined by Stimpson, 
whose drawings and notes are in my hands. They indicate that the external 
appearance of the animal is much like that of Cerithiopsis tubercularis given 
by Jeffreys, previously cited, except that the foot is broader and shorter, and 
the tentacles more slender and acutely pointed. The operculum of C. subulata 
is paucispiral, of three whorls, thin, horny, and externally concave. The ele- 
ments of the jaw are partly scale-like, and partly raised and pointed. But the 
dentition is quite peculiar. The median tooth is wide, with a narrow five- 
toothed cusp, and a cuspdike projection from the middle line of the base. The 
major lateral is extremely wide and short, its outer portion slightly curved and 
simple, the inner part with eight or nine small denticles; subequal, like those 
on the median tooth. The outer laterals, two in number, are long and narrow, 
the base notched, the cusp suddenly narrowed like a claw, and the inner edge 
of the claw with five or six fine denticulations. 


254 BULLETIN OF THE 

It is entirely evident that this does not agree with the accounts given us 
of the radula of C. tubercularis. On the other hand, Stimpson's drawing does 
agree in the main with the dentition of Eumeta costulata Moller (C. arctica 
Mdrch) as figured by Sars (Moll. Arct. Nov., pi. vii. fig. 5 b). The details 
differ, but the main features of the radulae must be much alike. 

In the absence of better data as to the teeth of C. tubercularis, I prefer to let 
the species remain in the genus, merely calling attention to the fact that this 
species must be removed from Cerithiopsis, and united with its congeners in a 
distinct group, if the differences of dentition above signalized are confirmed. 

Section CERITHIOPSIS s. s. 
Cerithiopsis crystallina Dall. 

Plate XX. Flff. 3. 

Cerithiopsis 1 crystallina Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 89, 1881. 

Habitat. West of Florida in 50 fms. ; off Havana in 450 fms., Sigsbee ; 
Barbados, in 100-103 fms. ; Station 2, in 805 fms. ; Station 20, off Bahia Honda, 
in 220 fms.; Station 36, in 84 fms. ; Station 128, near Santa Cruz, in 180 fms., 
sand; Stations 132 and 134, off Frederikstadt, Santa Cruz, in 115-248 fms., 
sand; Station 176, off Dominica, in 391 fms.; Station 192, off Dominica, in 
138 fms.; Station 210, near Martinique, in 191 fms.; Station 220, off Santa 
Lucia, in 116 fms., rocky bottom; Station 290, near Barbados, in 73 fms., 
coral. Bottom temperatures ranging from 43°.5 to 71°.0 F. Gulf of Mexico, 
Stations 2400 and 2403; south of Cuba, at Stations 2131 and 2135; Little 
Bahama Bank, at Station 2655, in 88-250 fms., U. S. Fish Commission. Cedar 
Keys, Florida, washed on the beach, dead, Hemphill. 

This very abundant shell is remarkably uniform in its characters; the only 
difference I have observed in examining several hundred specimens, from dif- 
ferent places, is that some are a little more slender and cylindrical than others. 
The tip of the larval nucleus is invariably lost, though a good part of the 
larval shell is usually preserved 

The animal is pale brown (in alcohol), with large long tentacles, very black 
well developed eyes, a broad short head, short rounded foot, and an externally 
concave, red-brown, few-whorled circular operculum. The opercular lobe 
appears to have several short processes on each side. 

Cerithiopsis Sigsoeana Dall. 

Plate XX. Fig. 1. 
Cerithiopsis 1 Sigsbeana Dall, Bull. M. C. Z , IX. p. 87, 1881. 

Habitat. Station 5, 229 fms. ; Station 20, 220 fms. 

This is nearest C. Martensii, but the whorls do not overhang, and the arched 
lamellae or incremental lines so prominent on the latter have no parallel in 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 255 

C. Sigsbeana. It is smaller and more cylindrical also, and the whorls are 
much less marked off by the sutures. 

Neither for this nor for the preceding species, C. crystallina, are the details 
of sculpture satisfactorily rendered on the figures. But the difficulty of getting 
a characteristic drawing of so minute an object from an unscientific artist is 
very great. 

Cerithiopsis matara n. s. 

Shell pale brown, straight-sided, conical, with sixteen compact whorls. 
Nucleus, beginning glassy, smooth, and saccular, in the second whorl becomes 
strongly transversely ribbed and swollen; the next whorl is a little smaller 
than the second, and takes on the normal characters of the shell; sculpture 
consisting of two principal nodulated spirals with a smaller undulated thread 
between them, and a still smaller waved thread in front of and marking the 
suture ; the transverse sculpture consists of concave waves (20-23) under 
the spirals, which cross the whorls but are not conspicuous; base smooth 
or radiately striate, somewhat concave, bounded by a small double keel of 
two threads which are covered up in the suture; canal strong, short, wide, 
twisted; aperture squarish, small; sides of the shell flattened, the sutures not 
conspicuous. Max. Ion. of shell, 9.75; of last whorl, 2.5; max. lat. of shell, 
2.25 mm. 

Habitat. Barbados, 100 fms. 

This shell was found mixed with C. crystallina, from which it was easily 
picked out, owing to its straighter sides, brown color, less rounded base, and 
turban-like nucleus. 

Cerithiopsis Martensii n. s. 

Plate XX. Fig. 3. 

Shell slender, thin, whitish, elongated, truncated, sharply but not strongly 
sculptured; remaining whorls about thirteen in number; transverse sculpture 
of well marked lines of growth curved backward, toward the middle of the 
whorl, most strongly in the later whorls; also of (on the last whorl about 
twenty-four) ill defined riblets extending across the whorl; spiral sculpture 
composed of the usual anterior marginal thread, and two others of which the 
anterior is the strongest; these rather poorly defined threads rise over the 
transverse sculpture, but are rarely nodulous, though raised at the intersec- 
tions; suture moderately distinct; base hardly flattened, with well marked 
striae of growth, but no spiral ridges; canal short; aperture more rounded than 
in the last species. Lon. of shell, 11.25; of last whorl, 3.0; lat. of last whorl, 
2.75; of spire at truncation, 1.0 mm. 

Habitat. Station 5, lat. 24° 15' N., lon. 82° 13' W., in 229 fms., bottom 
temperature 49°.5. Gulf of Mexico, in 1181 fins., mud, a worn specimen, 
IT. S. Fish Commission. 


256 BULLETIN OF THE 

I take much pleasure in dedicating this neat little species, agreeing with no 
other in the collection, to Dr. E. von Martens, the distinguished and erudite 
conchologist of Berlin. 

The character of the sculpture of this species is quite close to that of Cerithi- 
ella melula, hut that shell is proportionally less cylindrical, much wider, larger, 
and stronger. Whether the more slender species will agree with Loven's type 
in their dentition remains to he seen. There is nothing in the shell of any of 
them to separate them from Cerilkiopsis. 

Cerithiopsis acontium n. s. 

Shell small, dark brown, columnar, with sixteen whorls beside the nucleus. 
Whorls flattened, with three nodulous spirals, of which the middle one is most 
prominent, crossing about twenty narrow straight transverse riblets, extending 
from suture to suture ; base marked by an untubercled keel which is buried iu 
the suture, remainder flattened-concave with radiating striae; canal short, re- 
curved; aperture small, squarish, simple. Lon. of shell, 8.0 ; max. lat of shell, 
1.4 mm. 

Habitat. Barbados, 100 fms. 

The specimen has lost the nucleus, which appears to have been styliform or 
elongated. It recalls C. abrupta in the general features of color and sculpture, 
but is immediately differentiable by its straight-sidedness, particular sculpture, 
and different nucleus and base. The interstices and sutures are deep, the 
base concave, and the canal very short but distinctly twisted. It would not be 
a Metaxia. 

Section METAXIA Monterosato. 
Cerithiopsis metaxse Della Chiaje. 

Murex metaxa Della Chiaje, Mem., III. p. 222, pi. xlix. figs. 29-31, 1829. 
Cerithiopsis melaxce Jeffreys, Brit. Conch., IV. p. 271 ; V. p. 217, pi. lxxxi. fig. 4 

(P. Z. S. 1885, p. 61, ex parte). Watson, Linn. Soc. Journ., XIX p. 94, pi. 

iv. figs. 10, 10 a, 1885. 

This species, which inhabits the British Isles and extends thence to the Ca- 
naries and the Mediterranean, was found by the Blake at Station 20, in 220 
fms., and has recently been collected by the U. S. Fish Commission on the 
coast of North Carolina, and by Hemphill at Key West in Florida. 

Cerithiopsis metaxse var. taeniolata Dall. 

A very beautiful variety, if indeed it be not a distinct species, was obtained 
at Stations 2612, 2615, and 2619 by the U. S. Fish Commission, off the Caro- 
lina coast, in 15-52 fms. 

In general it resembles the C. metaxce, but the longitudinal ribs are stronger 
than the spirals, — there are about a dozen of them as against twenty-five in 
March 28, 1889. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 257 

metaxce, — the shell is translucent white with a single narrow brown band appear- 
ing in the interspaces between the ribs just in front of the suture; the whorls 
are shorter, rounder, and less scalar than in C. metaxce, and the four nuclear 
whorls are dark brown, forming a styliform dark tip to the shell, with a sudden 
change to the normal color at the junction. The sculpture of the nucleus is 
composed of concave transverse narrow ripples regularly and closely set, and 
one or two peripheral fine lines, all of which it requires a good glass to observe. 
In C. metaxce I find the elongated nucleus white and merging insensibly into 
the rest of the shell, while in the present variety, which I propose to name 
tceniolata, the nucleus "appears to be composed of a totally different sort of 
shelly matter from the adult portion. The specimens average smaller and 
more slender than C. metaxce of the same number of whorls, and the spirals 
are rounder and the interspaces less channelled than in most specimens of that 
shell. 

In examining the specimen referred to by Dr. Jeffreys as presented to him 
by De Stefanis from the Bay of Naples (P. Z. S. 1885, p. 61, line 18), I find 
that it is an individual of the form called Bittium abruptum by Mr. Watson, 
and another tip referred in the Jeffreys collection to " C. angustissimwn Forbes, 
Jr.," shows the characteristic apex of C. abruptum. It is from Tunis, and was 
dredged by Captain Nares, in 50-100 fms. 

Cerithiopsis abrupta Watson. 

Plate XX. Fig. 5. 

Bittium abruptum Watson, Linn. Soc. Journ., XV. p. 119, 1880; Rep. Chall. Gastr., 
p. 551, pi. xli. fig. 4, 1885. 

Habitat. Barbados, 100 fms. Gulf of Tunis, 50-100 fms., Nares. Gulf of 
Naples (Stefanis), Jeffreys. 

This closely resembles C. metaxce, and is distinguishable by having a low 
rather large nucleus of two whorls, which has at first a decollate appear- 
ance. The shell is on the whole smaller and more slender than the genuine 
C. metaxce, and has, in the specimens I have seen, one less spiral thread than 
C. metaxce of the same size. 

It seems to me, in the absence of any data as to the soft parts, that this 
species is better placed next to C. metaxce than anywhere else. 


Family CERITHIIDJE. 

The genus Bittium was mentioned in my Preliminary Report, but further 
study and better material show that the supposed Bittium yucatecanum belongs 
to Semper's genus Mathilda. Of genuine Bittium within our region, Bittium 
altcrnatum Say (as Turritella) is better known as B. nigrum Totten or Ce- 
rithium Sayi Menke. This creature has a short contractile muzzle, and a 
narrow, medially grooved, anteriorly truncate foot, like the true Cerithia to 

VOL. XVIII. 17 


258 BULLETIN OF THE 

whose family it belongs. I have been somewhat surprised to find that all the 
specimens in the National Museum belonging to this species come from be- 
tween Cape Cod and Sandy Hook. All the specimens marked B. nigrum from 
south of the harbor of New York, beginning with those from Crisfield, Md., 
are of another species, B. varium Pfr. The latter, rather small at the north, 
southward grows larger as the climate becomes more congenial, and its variety 
pallidum of Pfeiffer includes several later synonyms. It has been rather widely 
distributed as B: gibberulum C. B. Adams, and belongs to the section Diastoma 
of Deshayes.* Closely related to these shallow-notched Bittiums are the 
Rissoa tervarico'sa and (its variety) melanura of C. B. Adams, which have been 
referred to Alaba. Whether congeneric with the original Alaba A. Adams,, 
I have not the material for determining; but they differ from Bittium in 
having the notch nearly or quite obsolete, move delicate sculpture, and the 
nucleus more slender and with more whorls. A. tervaricosa C. B. Adams is 
found in South Florida and the Antilles. A typical specimen of A. melanura 
differs only in having the nucleus dark colored, a variable character. 

A. Adamsi Dall is a smaller species, opaque white with usually a brown tint 
on the early whorls; an anteriorly rounded aperture; about nine rounded 
whorls ; an acute nucleus and subfeticulate sculpture, the spirals being stronger 
than the transverse waves or threads. It is found from Hatteras southward; it 
has few varices, an imperforate base, and not a trace of a notch or truncation 
anteriorly. A still smaller form, A. cerithidioides Dall, is distributed through 
abont the same range. It is much more elegant in appearance than the others, 
though only three millimeters long and one and a quarter in diameter. The 
shell has an acute nucleus of three and a body of seven whorls, which are trans- 
lucent with delicate brown painting. The nucleus is pale and glassy; the early 
whorls have one or two well marked peripheral threads, the later ones have 
spiral threads in front of the periphery and on the base. The transverse sculp- 
ture which crosses the whorls is composed of fine regular even elegantly con- 
cavely arched riblets, to the number of at least thirty; these become obsolete 
on the rounded base, and there is a minute chink or even a perforation behind 
the pillar, and a patulous suggestion of a notch at the anterior margin of the 
aperture. The shell suggests a minute Cerilhidea which has not begun to form 
its lip, and is one of the most elegant of our minute species. It has only one 
faint varix. 

The genus Mathilda, which might be placed in a variety of situations sys- 
tematically, and which is to some extent recalled by these little shells, I have 
placed provisionally next to the Turri/ellida;. 

A list of the species of Cerithium, positively identified as from this region, 
from the collection of the National Museum, may be useful, omitting reference 
to subdivisions and most of the synonyms. 

We have our largest and most distinct American species in the C. floridanwm 

* Diastoma was considered a Rissoid by Deshayes. I cannot doubt its pertinence 
to this group of Bittium, which can hardly be separated by the shell from Alaba. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 259 

of Morch, which extends its range from Cape Fear, North Carolina, to Cuba; 
C. algicola C. B. Adams, is found from South Florida to Jamaica; C. uncinatum 
Gmelin {fide Tryon), from the Florida Keys to the Bahamas and Eastern An- 
tilles ; it is frequently called atratum Born, and antillarum Dkr. C. eburneum 
Brugiere extends throughout the Bahamas and Antilles; C. literatum Born, and 
its variety semiferrugineum Lamarck, from Florida southward. C. muscarum 
Say, inhabits the north shores of the Gulf of Mexico, West Florida, and south- 
eastward to Jamaica; C. var labile C. B. Adams (+ C ferrugineum Say, non 
Brugiere, C. versicolor C. B. Adams, non Philippi, etc.), Florida and the An- 
tilles. C. minimum Gmelin (+ C. nlgrescens, septemstriatum, etc.) I have not 
seen from north of Florida, but it is common in the Antilles and on the Ba- 
hamas. It has been reported from Georgia, but this remains unconfirmed, 
though it reaches Venezuela. There is a species of Vertagus, like V. Kochii, in 
the National collection, which was collected at Barbados in 1864 by Lieut. Fitz- 
gerald. C. Rawsoni Krebs is a peculiar, nearly smooth, variegated species, 
which looks remarkably like a small Buccinum hydrophanum. It is found in 
the salt lagoons of the Bahamas. There are a number of other species, like 
C. Sagrce Orbigny, which are known to inhabit the Antilles, and a vast num- 
ber of synonyms for the species I have already cited, but I refer only to species 
which I have confirmed by satisfactory series of specimens to have come from 
the region. 

In Ceritlddea there are five or six well marked species known from this re- 
gion, and several doubtful species. C. costata Wood extends from West Flor- 
ida to the island of Jamaica; C. scalar ij arm is Say, from Georgia to Key West; 
C. varicosa Sowerby has been received from Texas, Cuba, and Jamaica; 
C. lurrila Stearns, from West Florida and the Bahamas; C. tenuis Pfr., or 
ambigua C. B. Adams, is a common species in the Bahamas lagoons, and has 
been received from Jamaica. C. scalata Heilprin has been collected at Egmont 
Key and Stump Pass, on the west coast of Florida, but it is not certain that 
the specimens were recent. It was described as a Pliocene fossil from South 
Florida. 

Family VERMETID^E. 

Genus SILIQUAItIA (Brugiere) Lamarck. 
Tenagodes Fischer, Tenagodus Guettard, etc. 

As Guettard did not adopt the Linnean nomenclature, there is no occasion 
for uprooting a name, like Siliquaria, which has been familiar to naturalists 
for a century. 

There are two species of this genus in the Antilles, which come from deep 
water, and one, S. ruber Schumacher, which appears to inhabit the shores, near 
or not far from low-water mark. The latter species was not collected by the 
Blake, but may be recognized by its slit, largely undulated so as to present the 
appearance of a chain. 


260 BULLETIN OF THE 


Siliquaria squamata Blainvillb. 

Siliquaria squamata Blainv., Diet. Sci. Nat., XLIX. p. 213; Morch, Malak. Blatt., 
XXIV. p. 110, 1877. 

Habitat. Off Havana, in 80-163 fms.; Barbados, 100 fms.; Stations 72 and 
292, at Barbados, in 76 and 56 fms. ; Station 127, off Santa Cruz, in 38 fms.; 
and Station 203, near Martinique, in 76 fms. 

These mollusks are said to live in sponges, but those above noted certainly 
showed no signs of such a habitat. Only one specimen showed any signs of an- 
nulation along the slit, and in that the appearance was confined to the part of 
the slit near the apex, which had long been closed. The shell in perfect con- 
dition should have nine squamous carina?, the scales being vaulted or folded 
into tubes. The most perfect spires I have seen showed no sign of a regularly 
spiral nucleus. Some of the deep-water specimens are white and striated, the 
6cales nearly obsolete, and the shell extremely thin ; but the ordinary form is 
pale brown, darker along the edges of the slit, which always opens downward. 
The soft parts had disappeared from all the specimens I have seen. 

Siliquaria modesta Dall. 

Plate XXVI. Fig. 4. 

Siliquaria modesta Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 39, 1881. Agassiz, Three Cruises 
of the Blake, II. p. 71, fig. 296, 1888. 

Habitat. Off Havana, 80-150 fms.; Station 2, 805 fms.; Station 9, 125 
fms.; Station 20, 220 fms. ; Stations 132 and 136, near Santa Cruz, 115 to 508 
fms.; Station 177, off Dominica, in 118 fms.; Station 206, near Martinique, in 
170 fms.; Station 231, off St. Vincent, in 95 fms.; Station 241, in 163 fms., 
near Curacoa; Station 248, off Grenada, in 161 fms. ; Station 276, at Barbados, 
94-100 fms. ; Gulf of Mexico, in 163-169 fms., mud, U. S. Fish Commission. 
Total range, 94-805 fms., mud, sand, or coral bottom, with a bottom tempera- 
ture of 40° to 65° F. 

This species is always small and white, has only incremental sculpture, has 
the slit usually annulated except at the anterior extremity, and shows no sign 
of a regularly formed spiral nucleus. 


Genus VERMICULARIA Lamarck. 

Vermicularia Lam., Prodr., p. 78, 1799 ; Systeme des An. s. Vert., p. 97, 1801. 

The genus Vermetus of Adanson, not being proposed in Linnean nomencla- 
ture, would have no claims to be retained had it not been emended and adopted 
by other naturalists. If we are to adopt names proposed by naturalists who 
did not use binomial nomenclature, there are other names for these shells pro- 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 261 

posed by Grew, Lister, Klein, Browne, and others, anterior to that of Adanson. 
However, not to go into the briery nomenclature of this group, it is sufficient 
to say that the first scientifically to name the genus, and a type for it, wa3 
Lamarck, in 1799. The Vermetus of early authors is generally an absolute 
synonym of Lamarck's Vermicularia, but more lately the name has been re- 
tained to contain those Vermettdce which have internal laminae projecting from 
the sides of their tube. 

The most common species of our coast belongs to the original group, for 
which it served as a type. 

Vermicularia lumbricalis Linne. 

Serpula lumbricalis Linn., S. N , p. 1266. 

Vermicularia lumbricalis Lamarck, Prodr., p. 78, 1799; Syst., p. 97. 

Vermetus lumbricalis Lamarck, An. s. Vert., VI. Part II. p. 225, 1822. 

Habitat. Station 10, in 37 fins.; off Havana, in 175 fms., Sigsbee; Station 
127, near Santa Cruz, in 38 fms.; Station 36, in 84 fms., Gulf of Mexico. 
Northward to New England. 

The turritelliform young of this species are distinguished by their peripheral 
keel and brown color. The length of the regular part of the coil varies in 
different individuals. The deep-water specimens are paler and less sculptured 
than those from shallow water. 

Vermicularia ? nigricans Dall. 

Vermetus lumbricalis var. nigricans Dall, Hemphill's Shells, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus , 

VI. p. 334, 1883. 
1 Vermetus irregularis var. Tryon, non Orbigny, Moll. Cuba, I. p. 235, pi. xvii. figs. 

16, 18, 1842 ; nee Mbrch, P. Z. S. 1861. 
■? Vermetus varians var. Tryon, Man., VIII. p. 170, not of Orbigny. 

Shell, when young, loosely and laxly coiled, except at the extreme tip; lon- 
gitudinally irregularly ridged, circularly roughened with strong irregular incre- 
mental lines. The young are often irregularly reticulated from the two series 
of lines. The older shell is nearly destitute of the longitudinal lines. The 
aperture is smooth, sharp-edged, and circular. The interior is of a chestnut 
or blackish brown brilliantly polished. The exterior is rude, contorted, dark 
or even reddish brown. The animal is of a dark purple brown, almost black, 
with reddish dots. It is much like that of V. lumbricalis L. in general fea- 
tures, but smaller in proportion to the smaller size of the shell. The operculum 
is concave, externally smooth and smooth-edged, translucent, and of numerous 
turns. Average length of adults, the contortions not included, about 100.0 
mm.; average diameter of aperture in the adult, 2.0 mm. The operculum is 
about 1.0 mm. in diameter. 

Habitat. West Florida, 2-14 fms. 


262 BULLETIN OF THE 

This is the species forming the so-called " worrnrock " of West Florida, or at 
least all of the " worrnrock " which I actually examined. It would seem to 
belong in the same group with V. lumbricalis, but forms much more compact 
masses, with the upper portions of the tubes parallel to each other and erect, 
close together, recalling Tubulipora. It forms masses which are really as dan- 
gerous as coral reefs to boats navigating the shallow water in which they flour- 
ish. I observed patches of twenty or thirty feet radius, with the top nearly 
level and barely dry at ordinary low water. The same species is found in 
deeper water, but there it is not combined in large colonies, but is clustered in 
small bunches on stones and shells. The young is sculptured in a way very 
similar to the two species of Orbiguy above cited, and with which it has been 
erroneously combined. Both these belong to the group with strong internal 
laminae; on the other hand, the present species is apparently without laminae. 

I have Petaloconchus irregularis Orbigny, from 27 i'ms., sand, between the Mis- 
sissippi delta and Cedar Keys, Florida. It is more prone than our species, the 
laminae are extremely prominent except near the aperture, and there are three 
of them. I do not believe it ever stands erect in large masses so as to form 
" rock " comparable to that of V. tiigricans, but I have found specimens en- 
tangled with the V. nigricans in the small scattered bunches. The variations 
in this group are immense. Many hundred specimens of V. nigricans which 
I have examined are totally devoid of laminae; in a few, which in their en- 
tanglement I cannot distinguish from the others (though they may be distinct), 
I have thought I saw traces, near the apex, of a faint median ridge. However 
this may be, it is just as well to have a specific name undeniably applicable 
to our Floridian shell, and the others are in such a confused state that they 
cannot be safely used. Of course, if it should prove that the faint lamina 
mentioned is normally present in this species, and is of systematic importance, 
V. nigricans would have to be referred to Vermelus proper, as used by Tryon 
and Fischer. 


Genus VERMETUS (Adanson) MSrch. 

Subgenus PETALOCONCHUS Lea. 

Vermetus (Petaloconchus) erectus Dall. 

Plate XXXVIII. Fig. 4. 

Vermetus erectus Dall, in Agassiz, Three Cruises of the Blake, II. p. 71, fig. 297, 

1888. 

Nucleus smooth, milk-white, polished, bulimoid, two-whorled ; when the 
irregular growth commences the nucleus may be turned upside down or take 
almost any other position, most appear to lie on their sides. Early part of the 
shell prone, irregularly contorted; as the whorls lie, the normal sculpture 
appears to be a single minutely undulated longitudinal ridge on the middle of 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 263 

the back with a space either side, then four or five similar ridges, parallel, 
close-set, and becoming obsolete as the tube begins to be erect. Between the 
longitudinal ridges are, in fine, specimens, fine elevated transverse lirse. The 
sculpture is very variable in strength and often more or less obsolete. When 
the tube begins to rise vertically it loses all its sculpture except irregular incre- 
mental lines, and its calibre perceptibly diminishes. The color is yellowish or 
grayish white. The height of the erect part is usually about an inch, and the 
diameter of the aperture 1.75 mm. The greatest diameter of the same tube 
(distortions apart) would be about 2.0 mm. 

Internally, very near the apex, are two laminae. The right one is large, 
arched over with a thickened edge, the left one lower, thinner, and over- 
shadowed by the other. Both are subtransparent, with opatpue whitish streaks. 
These laminae are however very irregular; they seem to be altogether absent 
in some individuals, and are perhaps sexual. They are obsolete or nearly so 
in most specimens, and I have had to break many before finding a single per- 
fect example of these appendages. The animal is soft and whitish. I could 
see no eyes or tentacles. The operculum was translucent, spiral, as large as 
the aperture, with a smooth flexible edge, the outside concave and polished. 
Owing to the fact that the last whorl of the operculum seems to cover up the 
others with its inner edge except toward the centre, it is difficult to ascertain 
the number of turns. Very few of the numerous specimens contained the 
animals, many were occupied by parasitic sipunculoids, chaetopods of several 
species, and even Crustacea. 

This species is usually nearly solitary, or but few individuals are associated 
in the clusters obtained by the Blake. 

Habitat. The Antilles, at Stations 2, 11, 32, 45, 139, 206, 208, 220, 247, 
290, and 300, in 37 to 805 fins., on small solid objects, bottom temperature 
from 40° to 71° F. 

The species has not been found northward on the coast of the United 
States. 


Genus BIVONIA Gray. 

This group is characterized, according to Tryon and other authors, by a 
rudimentary operculum, an interior free from laminae, and a dorsal carina on 
the shell. It much resembles the cases of some Annulosa, from which it is 
distinguishable by its less calcareous more porcellanous shell, and usually by 
its larger size. 

In the absence of the soft parts, and with the nucleus lost from the speci- 
mens in hand, I refer the following species to this group with some uncer- 
tainty, and chiefly on account of the shell structure, which is certainly more 
like that of Vermetus than any of the worm-shells known to me. 


264 BULLETIN OF THE 

Bivonia ? exserta Dall. 

Plate XXVI. Fig 6. 

Bivonia exserta Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 39, 1881. 

Habitat. Station 20, 220 fms. Off Cape San Antonio, in 1002 fins. Bar- 
bados, 100 fms. Off Cape Lookout, N. C, in 31 fms., sand, U. S. Fish 
Commission. 

The figured type is young. The Fish Commission specimen shows that, 
after the portion annulated like the figure is complete, the sculpture changes; 
the dorsal carina becomes prominent and notched Hke the upper edge of an 
alligator's tail, and projects forward like a spine over the aperture. The rest 
of the shell loses its sculpture, except incremental lines, the lateral carina 
disappear, but are represented by short spines at the aperture. The shell is 
of a greenish white. 

Family TURRITELLID^E. 
Genus TURKITELLA Lamarck. 

Section TORCULA Gray. 

This group is composed of species which have the appearance of the tips of 
Vermicularia before the latter begins to go astray. But the more timid Tor- 
cula never gets its courage up to the point of departure into devious ways. 
They are readily distinguished by the excavated appearance of the base and 
the sinuous outer lip. There are three species on the southern coast of the 
United States. One is very slender, nearly smooth, and much drawn out. I 
have never seen more than fragments of it, which came from the coast of Texas 
and of North Carolina, in 40-50 fms. The others follow in their order. 

Turritella (Torcula) exoleta Linne. 
Turriteila exoleta Linne, Syst. Nat., ed. x., No. 561. Tryon, Man., VIII. p. 205, 1886. 

Habitat. "West of Florida, in 50 fms. ; off Havana, in SO fms. ; off Sombrero, 
in 54 fms.; Station 152, in 122 fms., off St. Kitts; Station 247, in 170 fms., 
near Grenada. Coast of Texas and the Florida Keys, 45-80 fms., U. S. Nat. 
Museum. 

This pretty species is rather variable in sculpture at different ages and in 
different individuals. The apical angle varies slightly, some specimens being 
more slender than others. The nucleus is dextral and sculptured. 

Turritella (Torcula) acropora n. s. 

Nucleus white, polished, loosely coiled, small, with about two very rounded 
whorls. Shell whitish, violet, or pale rose-color, with longitudinal fiammules 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 265 

of darkreddish brown, and light colored primary spiral threads articulated with 
elongated distant brown spots. Whorls about fifteen, those after the nucleus 
with a distinct median keel and obscure suture, the later ones with less promi- 
nent median or perhaps several indistinct keels; the last two whorls less closely 
coiled in the adult, showing the posterior edge overhung by the preceding 
whorl at the suture. Sculpture of primary and secondary spirals very close 
set, the primaries flatter and polished above; the finer or secondary spirals very 
fine; both have a tendency to articulation, and the epidermis in the interspaces 
bridges over fine sharp incremental lines. Irregularities of growth sometimes 
simulate faint longitudinal waves. Base similarly sculptured, slightly exca- 
vated, bordered by a rounded not carinated edge; columella thin, arched; 
outer lip thin, sinuous, subangulate anteriorly; aperture subquadrate, varying 
with the sculpture and individual. Max. Ion. of shell, 31.0; max. lat., 8.0 mm. 

Habitat. West of Florida, 14-50 fms. ; off Cape San Antonio, 413 fms. ; 
off Sombrero, in 54 fms. Coast of North Carolina, near Hatteras, to the Gulf 
of Mexico, Texas, and Yucatan, and the Antilles, in 3-73 fms., not living 
deeper than 25 fms., U. S. Fish Commission. Fossil in Florida Pliocene. 

This interesting species is variable in color, and also in the form of the 
whorls. Sometimes the latter are perfectly flat, at other times rounded. The 
brown flammulse are occasionally absent. The striation appears very fine to 
the naked eye. It is only under a magnifier that the separation into primary 
and secondary spirals becomes evident. This fine striation will enable the 
species to be recognized, whatever its color or form, which last, though variable, 
is not remarkably so. This shell is sometimes bleached pure white, but I 
have seen no white specimens which were fresh. It is, not rarely, of a delicate 
rose or violet tint. That what appears to be so common a shell should have 
gone unnamed until now would be singular, but it has probably been taken 
by those who have collected it for the tip of a Vermicularia, or the young of 
T. imbricata L. Complete and adult specimens are rare, fragments common. 
I find nothing like it in the monographs. 

Section HAUSTATOR Montfort. 
Turriteiia (Haustator) yucatecana Dall 

Plate XXVI. Fig. 3. 
Turriteiia yucatecanum Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 93, 1881. 

Habitat. Yucatan Strait, 640 fms. 

No other specimens of this interesting species nave been received. Its 
nearest relative would be T. pagoda Reeve, from New Zealand. 

The only other species of this group, which is known from this region is 
T. (Haustator) variegata Linne, of which the T. imbricata is generally regarded 
as merely a variety. It has been collected in Texas and the Antilles. 

Mesalia caribea Orbigny is reported from the Antilles, and has been united 
with M. varia Kiener, of West Africa. I have never seen a specimen. 


266 BULLETIN OF THE 

Family MATHILDIID^E. 
Genus MATHILDA Semper. 

In form these shells recall Bittium and Turritella ; they have a blunt apex 
upon which the little heterostrophe Adeorbis-shaped nucleus is set on its edge, 
and often on one side of the axis. The operculum is said to be multispiral and 
externally concave, the soft parts are externally not unlike those of Turritella, 
the dentition is unknown. 

This group is represented abundantly in the Eocene Tertiary of the Paris 
Basin. There are a few recent species widely distributed, of which two or 
three are Mediterranean, and one has been described from the West Indies, by 
Morch, under the name of M. trochlea. This is bicarinate, and measures only 
2.0 mm. long by 0.5 mm. wide. 

In the subgenus Gegania Jeffreys the shell is more trochoid in form, and the 
heterostrophe nucleus is sunken, showing only a small part of one of its whorls. 
His supposition that it is dextral is erroneous, as his typical specimens show 
plainly. 

Mathilda yucatecana Dall. 

Plate XX. Fig. 7. 
Bittium ? yucatecanum Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 90, 1881. 

Habitat. Yucatan Strait, 640 fms. Also at U. S. Fish Commission Stations 
2415, in 440 fms., sand, off the coast of Georgia, bottom temperature 45°. 6 ; 
and 2668, in 294 fms., gray sand, off Fernandina, Florida, temperature 46°. 2 F. 

Nearly all the species of this genus have a patulous extension of the anterior 
part of the peristome resembling the obsolete notch of Bittium. The absence 
of varices, and, when not decollate, the heterostrophe nucleus asymmetrically 
set on edge, are distinctive characters. There are some features strongly sug- 
gesting relations with Triptychus. 

Mathilda (elegantissima var.?) barbadense Dall. 

Plate XXVI. Fig. 10. 

Shell resembling M. elegantissima Costa, but proportionally more elongated, 
with a nucleus only about one fourth as large as that of the Mediterranean 
species; with the peripheral spiral so large and sharp compared with the others 
as to carinate the whorls; and with the disk of the base covered with small 
spirals and proportionally smaller. Shell brownish with seven whorls, exclu- 
sive of the nucleus, the anterior edge of the peristome somewhat produced, 
columella simple without any chink behind it. Max. Ion. of shell, 6.2; of 
last whorl, 2.7 ; max. lat. of shell, 2.5 mm. 

Habitat. Barbados, 100 fms. 

This is perhaps a variety of elegantissima, but I doubt their identity. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 2G7 

Mathilda Rushii Dall. 

Shell white, seven-whorled, with the transverse sculpture stronger and 
sharper than the spirals ; consisting of elevated thickish sharp-edged lamellae 
like those of some Scalce, the edges of which rise above the whorl, and cross 
it from the suture to the margin of the basal disk, the surface of which is 
nearly smooth. The whorls are somewhat shouldered by an obscure spiral, in 
front of which are three others; the space between the first and second is 
slightly greater than that which separates the others. The spirals are indicated 
rather by nodulation of the edges of the lamellae than by any positively raised 
thread under them, except on the last whorl. Columella thin, arched, mouth 
rounded, base flattened on the disk, imperforate, nucleus small, lucid. Max. 
Ion. of shell, 5.0; max. lat. of shell, 2.0 mm. 

Habitat. Bed of the Gulf Stream, in 351-465 fms., Florida Straits, Dr. 
W. H. Rush, U. S. N. Also off Fernandina, in 294 fms., sand, temperature 
46°.3, U. S. Fish Commission. 

This pretty little species has a particularly sharp-edged surface, recalling the 
laminae on the surface of a file. It looks very much like an Acrilla, except 
for the nucleus and the subangular aperture. Some specimens show one or 
two old apertures, like varices, projecting above the other sculpture. 

Mathilda scitula Dall. 

Shell light brown, eight-whorled, beside the nucleus, which is large, helicoid, 
and of two or three whorls; including the carina of the basal disk there are 
five spirals; counting forward from the suture on the last whorl, No. 1 is of 
moderate size and nodulous; No. 2, very fine and undulated; No. 3, strongest 
of all, and evenly nodulous; Nos. 4 and 5 are smaller, subequal, and nearer 
each other than No. 4 is to No. 3; the basal disk is flattened-concave, with 
curved radiating incremental lines, and fine spiral threads, of which one near 
the pillar and one near the carina are larger than the others; the carina is 
buried in the suture as the shell grows, above it the surface of the whorls 
under the spirals is crossed by numerous strong narrow elevated lamellae, the 
interstices of the reticulation thus formed being deep and squarely cut. The 
aperture is nearly square, except as modified by the sculpture; the peristome 
is thin, the pillar thin, simple, and somewhat reflected. Max. Ion. of shell, 
5.25; of last whorl, 1.8; max. lat. of shell, 1.7 mm. 

Habitat. Off Cape Hatteras, in 49-63 fms., sand, at U. S. Fish Commission 
Stations 2595 and 2596, bottom temperature 75°. F. 

This is more slender and elongated than either of the other species, and its 
sculpture is different. It has a larger and more globular nucleus than M. bar- 
badense or M. yucatecana, though both of these are larger shells. It is per- 
haps most nearly related to M. sinensis Fischer, which it resembles in general 
form though not in the minor details of sculpture. In M. scitula, sculpture 
aside, the whorls are rounded and the sutures distinct; there is no trace of any 
umbilicus. 


268 BULLETIN OF THE 


Subgenus GEGANIA Jeffreys. 
Gegania Jeflreysi Dall. 

Shell white, four-whorled, with the nucleus immersed in the coil of the first 
dextral whorl ; sculpture like that of G. pinguis Jeffreys, reticulate, with three 
or four strong spirals, as many finer intercalary ones, and numerous fine trans- 
verse threads, strongest behind the periphery. Whorls full and rounded, suture 
distinct; base a little flattened, with six or seven primary spirals; perforate; 
the aperture rounded, effuse at the end of the straight thin slightly reflected 
pillar; outer lip thin. Alt. of shell, 5.0 ; max. lat. of shell, 3.0 mm. 

Habitat. U. S. Fish Commissi on Station 2668, off Fernandina, Florida, in 
294 fms., sand, temperature 46°. 3 F. 

This is proportionally more elevated and slender than G. pinguis, which 
also has the umbilicus open when young. It is probably closed in both when 
adult, the present specimen being not fully grown. G. pinguis also has the 
whorls more angulate, the aperture more effuse in front, and is a larger and 
frailer shell. Both suggest Trichotropis by the shell characters, except as to 
the nucleus. 


Family SEGUENZIIDJE. 

Genus SEGUENZIA Jeffreys. 

Seguenzia Jeffreys, Proc. Roy. Soc. p. 200, 1876. 

Seguenzia ionica Watsox. 

Seguenzia ionica Watson, Lin. Soc. Journ., XIV. p. 589, 1879; Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., 
IX. p. 48, 1881 ; Watson, Chad. Rep. Gastr., p. 107, pi. vii. fig. 3. 

Habitat. Station 33, in 1568 fms. 

Of the fragments referred to this species in 1881, one proves to belong to 
B. alta Watson, and the other went to powder while being transferred from 
one tube to another. There can be no doubt, however, as to the correct 
identification of the last mentioned. 

A specimen of S. trispinosa Watson was dredged by the U. S. Fish Commis- 
sion in deep water off the east coast of the United States, south of Hatteras ; 
but the label showing the exact locality was unfortunately lost before the 
bottle containing it reached my hands. 

Seguenzia monocingulata Seguenza. 

Seguenzia monocingulata Seguenza, Bol. Com. Geol., VII. p. 188, May, 1876 ; Watson, 

Chall. Rep. Gastr., p. 105, 1886. 
Seguenzia formosa Jeffreys, Rep. Valorous Cruise, June 15, 1876, p. 200; Dall, Bull. 

M.C. Z., IX. p. 47, 1881. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 2G9 

Seguenzia formosa and var. nitida Verrill, Conn. Acad. Trans., VI. p. 186, pi. xxxi. 

figs. 14, 14 a, 14 b, May, 1884. 
t Seguenzia eritima Verrill, loc. cit., VI. p. 189, pi. xxxi. fig. 15. 

Habitat. Station 16, 292 fms.; Station 20, 220 fras.; Barbados, 100 fms. 
Off the Florida coast, in 205 fins., Dr. Rush. 

In examining the specimens of Seguenzia in the Jeffreys collection, including 
types of Seguenza's " Trochocochlea monocingulata," as well as specimens ob- 
tained by the Blake and the U. S. Fish Commission at various points, I find 
myself in a dilemma. Either each separate individual is to be regarded as a 
species, or the variability of the shells is very great. Persistent study of the 
specimens has convinced me that the latter is the true solution, and that the 
most evident characters, such as the umbilicus (in some adult specimens) may 
be present or absent; that the number of spiral threads, their strength and 
sharpness on the basal disk, are entirely inconstant, and, while in the typical 
formosa the ridge next to the suture is waved or granulate, in many it is per- 
fectly plain. 

It is for this reason, and having several specimens apparently intermediate 
between the type and the form named eritima by Prof. Verrill, that I have 
been led to suggest their identity, though I have not seen Prof. Verrill's types. 
In any case, his name would hold for a well marked variety. 


Family TRICHOTROPIDJE. 

Genus TRICHOTROPIS Sowerbt. 

None of the typical forms of the genus are found in the tropics. The de- 
gree of affinity which Mcsostoma, Dolophanes, etc. bear to the original type of 
the family yet remains to be determined. 

Subgenus MESOSTOMA Deshates. 

Mesostona Desh., An. s. Vert. Bas. Paris, II. p. 416; 1st sp. M. pulchra Desh., loc. 
cit., pi. xxviii. figs. 13-16, 1864. Eocene, Paris Basin. 

ICerithioderma Conrad, Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 2d ser., IV. p. 295; sole ex- 
ample, C. prima Con., loc. cit., p. 295, pi. xlvii. fig. 30, Feb., 1860. Eocene, 
Alabama. 

It is impossible to say from Conrad's figure whether his Cerithioderma is 
identical with Mesostoma Deshayes, or not. There is nothing to separate the 
two shells as far as the figures go, but Conrad in his diagnosis says of the canal, 
" beak very short, narrow, recurved." The last epithet will in no wise apply 
to our shell, nor to Deshayes's Mesostoma. I suspect it to be an error, notwith- 
standing which I prefer not to adopt Conrad's name, which has priority, with- 
out inspecting his type if it be accessible. 


270 BULLETIN OF THE 

I have no doubt that the shell about to be described, and most if not all 
of Deshayes's Mcsostoma species, belong to the family Trichotropidce, though 
hitherto placed elsewhere. 

Mesostoma migrans Dall. 

Plate XXIX. Fig. 8. 
Trichotropis migrans Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 71, 1881. 

Habitat. Station 36, near Havana, 80 fins., Sigsbee. 

So far only the original specimen has turned up, and that does not retain its 
epidermis. 

Genus? DOLOPHAXES Gabb. 

Dolophanes Gabb, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phil., 1872, p. 273 ; Trans. Am. Phil. Soc, 
XV., Geol. St. Domingo, p. 234, 1873. 

This genus was referred to the Struthiolariidce by its author, a reference 
which has been questioned by all those who have had occasion to refer to it 
since. The occurrence of a specimen in the Blake dredgings, which, if not 
identical with Gabb's type is evidently closely related to it, enables me to 
state that its proper position is probably in this family. Unhappily the oper- 
culum and soft parts are wanting, so that I cannot confirm my opinion by ref- 
erence to the details of its organization. I am inclined to believe that another 
form, also represented in the Blake dredgings, is a representative of a shell 
described as a Melanopsis by Guppy, which Gabb himself suspected to be 
closely related to his Dolophanes melanioides. All these specimens are fresh, 
but the slight traces of epidermis which they retain are not of the character of 
the northern species of Trichotropis. Their variations are such that I am led 
to believe all three may be merely mutations of one specific form. If this be 
confirmed, the specific name of cupula, given by Guppy, is the oldest. Whether 
the differences are sufficient to constitute for Dolophanes a rank higher than 
that of a mere section of the genus Trichotropis, a more thorough knowledge of 
its characters is needed to determine. 

Dolophanes (melanoides Gabb var.?) Gabbi Dall. 

Plate XXIX. Fig. 7. 

? Dolophanes melanoides Gabb, Proc. Phil. Acad. Sci. 1872, p. 273, pi. xi. fig. 7 ; Geol. 
St. Domingo, p. 235, 1873. 

Shell small, thin, white, (epidermis lost,) with rather acute turrited spire 
and eight whorls; nucleus smooth, polished, somewhat inflated and turned a 
little to one side; second turn also smooth, all the others strongly sculptured; 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 271 

transverse sculpture of (on the sixth whorl twenty-six) uniform rounded riblets 
which fail about the middle of the whorl, but appear from suture to suture 
across the visible part of the earlier whorls; tabulated posteriorly, showing a 
small nodule at the angle, slightly waved and oblique; lines of growth obso- 
lete on the base but appearing as ruga? on the siphonal fasciole; spiral sculp- 
ture of very fine rounded raised threads, uniform and continuous over the 
whole surface; aperture simple, slightly channelled in front; outer lip rounded, 
thin, slightly produced in the middle; inner lip reflected, nearly covering the 
umbilical chink, polished; a few particles of light yellow fugacious epidermis 
visible in the chink. Lon. of shell, 9.0; of aperture, 3.75; max. lat. of shell, 
4.0 mm. 

Station 228, off St. Vincent, in 785 1ms., sand and ooze, bottom temperature 
39°.0 F. 1 Miocene of Santo Domingo, Gabb. 

This pretty and peculiar form is named in honor of the late W. M. Gabb, to 
whom the generic name is due. I cannot be certain without a comparison of 
specimens whether the present shell is the same as that described by Prof. 
Gabb, or not. But the figure is so much like our shell tht.t I can hardly doubt 
they are very closely related, if not the same. 


Dolophanes (melanoides var.?) columbella Pall. 

Pleurotoma (Mangilia) columbella Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 60, 1881. 
? Melanopsis capula Guppy, Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, XXII. p. 580, pi. xxvi. fig. 14, 
1866. Gabb, St. Domingo, p. 235, 1873. 

Habitat. Station 20, 220 fms.; off Havana, Sigsbee, 158 fms. ? Upper 
Miocene, Cumana, Guppy. 

Two specimens of this form are in the collection. Guppy's specimen, from 
the figure, was evidently deformed. These differ from it, due allowances being 
made for deformity, in being narrower and in the narrow shoulder in front of 
the suture. 

The specimen originally serving as type of M. columbella is the roundest, and 
the groove behind the siphonal fasciole is reduced to a mere chink. In the 
Havana specimen the chink is considerably larger and the shoulder more prom- 
inent. It seems to stand about one third of the way from D. columbella to 
D. Gabbi. I cannot be sure, with so little material, but I suspect this gap 
might be filled up by a graduated series of specimens if we had material 
enough. 

Still, as the forms are not yet connected, and have already been named, it 
seems best to leave them separate for the present. 


272 BULLETIN OF THE 

Family FOSSARID.E. 

Genus FOSSARUS Philippi. 

The name Maravignia given by Aradas and Maggiore has been preferred by 
some naturalists to that of Philippi, proposed in the same year. I have not 
yet seen any evidence of priority of actual publication which should oblige us 
to make this substitution. A name so universally adopted should not be 
changed without absolutely conclusive evidence. 

Of Fossarus properly speaking, two species, F. Orbignyi Fischer (F. sulcatus 
Orbigny, non S. Wood) and F. elcgans Verrill (F. latcriceus Verrill olim) are 
known from the Antilles and the Eastern United States. 

Isapis anomala C. B. Adams, was described from Jamaica. "We have now 
to add two small species, which seem to range from Florida to Cape Hatteras, 
having been obtained off the coast of North Carolina, in less than 100 fms., by 
the U. S Fish Commission. They appear to belong to the subgenus Gottoina 
of A. Adams, which is described as imperforate, solid, and ornamented with 
spiral sculpture. I have not seen a typical specimen of Gottoina, which, more- 
over, has not been figured, so I refer these species to it on account of their ap- 
parent relation to Fossarus and the description of Gottoina aforesaid. 

Subgenus GOTTOINA Adams. 
Gottoina bella n. s. 

Plate XXVIII. Fig. 10. 

Shell small, white, solid, shaped much like Litorina litorea, having four und 
a half whorls and a minute glassy rounded nucleus. Radiating sculpture con- 
sisting of fine incremental striae and occasional irregularities of growth. Spiral 
sculpture of two sorts; — 1st, fine spiral grooving covering the whole shell 
evenly and always present; 2d, strong spiral ridges, generally nine or ten on 
the last whorl, but sometimes smaller and more numerous, sometimes partly 
absent, sometimes so arranged as to tabulate the part of the whorl next the 
suture, and almost invariably smaller and weaker as they approach the base 
and the centre of the base. Suture distinct, not channelled; aperture simple, 
nearly circular, but the outer margin of its thickened edge angulated at the 
junction with the body; callus continuous; columella arched, with a small 
chink, but no umbilicus behind it; this chink varies in size with different 
specimens. Aperture oblique, its upper margin a little depressed. Alt. 3.5 
mm. ; max. diam. 3.5 mm. 

Habitat. Sand Key, 15 fms. 

This pretty little shell sometimes has the raised riblets reddish brown against 
the waxen white of the rest. The nucleus is smaller and less elevated than in 
Fossarus ambiguus, from which, by the way, Gould's F. pusillus does not ap- 
pear to differ specifically. 
March 30, 1889. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 273 

I hesitated for some time as to whether this species should he described 
where I have placed it, or under Cyclostrema. In the absence of the operculum 
and of the soft parts, it is evident that the question as to its proper classifica- 
tion can only be decided provisionally, and with due reserve. 

Gottoina compacta n. s. 

Plate XXVIII. Fig. 6. 

Shell small, white, compact, elevated, spirally sculptured, of about four and 
a half whorls including the nucleus ; outline of the spire convex with hardly 
any rounding in of the whorls toward the suture, which is nevertheless distinct 
and finely channelled. Radiating sculpture none, lines of growth not visible; 
spiral sculpture of fine, close, even, rounded threads, growing gradually smaller 
from the suture forward ; there is no secondary grooving ; there are about 
twenty-five threads on the last whorl, but they vary in number and strength 
with the individual specimen; base full and rounded, imperforate; aperture 
rounded, pointed behind, and the angle filled with callus; callus continuous, 
thinnest on the columella. Alt. 2.3 mm.; max. diam. 2.0 mm. 

Habitat. Off Havana, in 84 fms., Sigsbee. Off the coast of North Carolina, 
U. S. Fish Commission, at Stations 2595, 2596, and 2612. 


Family SOL ARUM}. 

Genus FLUXINA Dall. 

Fluxina Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 51, 1881. 

Fluxina brunnea Dall. 

Plate XXII. Figs. 6,6a. 
Fluxina brunnea Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 52, 1881. 

Habitat. Station 2, in 805 fms. ; Sigsbee, off Havana, in 80 fms. ; both dead 
specimens. 

A careful examination of the nucleus in these specimens indicates that it is 
sinistral and immersed as in other Solariidce. 

An examination of the data relating to the section Episcynia Morch, which 
has a dextral nucleus, leads to the impression that it does not belong in this 
family, but perhaps near Adeorbis, or a Vitrinella like multicarinata; at least I 
can discover no Solariid characters in figure or description. 

Fluxina discula n. s. 

Plate XXIII. Figs. 5, 6. 

Shell small, whitish, polished, of about five whorls, the base of the immersed 
nucleus looking exactly like a dextral nucleus; surface marked by the fine 
VOL. xviii. 18 


274 BULLETIN OF THE 

flexuous incremental lines, which do not interrupt the polish, and by faint oc- 
casional indications of spirals; upper surface of the whorls concave near the 
sutures, elsewhere flattened, so that the sutural junction is slightly elevated; 
periphery sharply carinated, base moderately rounded, not impressed near the 
carina; umbilicus moderate, scalar, its walls smooth and vertical; umbilical 
margin carinate, an impressed line just outside the carina; aperture wide, mar- 
gins thin, columella straight, a little thickened, a wash of callus on the body; 
apparently little if any notch at the end of the umbilical carina. Max. diam. 
6.5; min. diam. 5.5; alt. 3.0 mm. 

Habitat. Off Dominica, at Station 180, in 982 fms., fine brown ooze, bottom 
temperature 39°. 7 F. 

This little shell differs from the type of the genus in its want of color, and its 
scalar instead of funicular umbilicus. It resembles a smooth depressed Basi- 
lissa in its general aspect, but is not nacreous, and the flexuosity of the margin 
of the mouth is that of Fluxina rather than of Basilissa. 

Dr. Paul Fischer has placed the Solariidce in the Tsenioglossate division of 
the Gastropods, rather than with the Ptenoglossa. This arrangement seems 
more satisfactory than. the old one on several accounts, though the question is 
beset with difficulties, chief among which is our ignorance of the real characters 
of the great majority of mollusks, a fact which most systematists are only too 
ready to overlook. In revealing the Tsenioglossate character of Seguenzia, 
Prof. VerriH' has done excellent service, though I should be disposed to approx- 
imate the family to which Seguenzia belongs to the Turritellidce, rather than to 
forms like Aporrhais. A short-conic partly nacreous Turritella would be very 
close to Seguenzia, many species exhibiting similar fiexuosities about the mar- 
gin, while others, like Tachyrynchus, show traces of a canal, and still others 
marginal sulci. There is no assemblage of species, however, if we include the 
small trochiform tropical species which have been referred to so many groups 
and mostly are not known positively to belong to any, which will better repay 
thorough investigation than those forms which have been referred to the Sola- 
riidce. Until they have been so investigated, all our classification of them is 
and will remain unsatisfactory and provisional. 

Genus SOLARIUM Lamarck. 

Solarium granulatum Lamarck. 

Solarium granulatum Lam., An. s. Vert. (ed. Desh.), IX. p. 98. Sby., Thes. Solarium, 

No. 8, figs. 1, 2. 
Solarium nobile (Bolter.) Hanley, Sby., Thes. Solarium, fig. 36, p. 230, No. 7, 1866. 
Solarium verrucosum Philippi, Zeitschr. Malak., 1848, p. 72. Sby., Thes. Solarium, 

fig. 35. 

A single broken specimen was dredged off Sombrero, in 54 fms. 

The East and West American forms differ very slightly. If the specimens 
were found in the same waters, no one would think of distinguishing them by 
different names. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY 275 

Solarium peracutum n. s. 

Plate XXXIII. Figs. 2, 5. 

Shell whitish or yellowish, thin, very depressed, conic, extremely sharply 
keeled at the periphery; sculpture faint, base rounded, excavated just within 
the periphery; umbilicus large, scalar, the walls in each whorl deeply concave, 
bordered below by a very strong nodulous rib, terminating in a sulcus at the 
base of the columella. Nucleus sinistral, immersed, whorls six or seven without 
the nucleus; sculpture above consisting of numerous radiating somewhat flexu- 
ous fine incremental lines crossed at the periphery by one strong flattened spiral 
thread, nodulous on the earlier whorls and articulated faintly with yellowish 
brown. Inside this is a much finer simple spiral, and within this again another 
large one, also nodulous on the early whorls. Hence to the suture are four or 
five smaller flattened spirals, uniform, but fainter on the later whorls and sepa- 
rated by somewhat wider faintly but distinctly channelled interspaces. Periph- 
ery of the shell brought to a thin but rounded carinal edge, which is however 
about the sharpest of any known in the genus. Base sculptured by numerous 
fine spirals, by strong but irregular radiations from the umbilical margin, which 
is marked on its edg% vith about 22 strong nodules, and bordered by two grooves 
enclosing a wider subnodulous spiral space, becoming less marked with age. 
Columella short, thickened, with a sulcus at its base; basal margin thickened 
near the sulcus ; the remainder of the apertural margin thin and sharp, the 
aperture itself almost triangular. Max. diameter of shell, 17.5; min. diam., 
15.0; altitude, 6.0 mm. 

Habitat. Barbados, 100 fms.; Station 290, off Barbados, in 73 fms., coral 
and shell, bottom temperature about 71°.0 F. ; Station 128, off Frederikstadt, 
in 180 fms., gray ooze, bottom temperature about 60°.0 F. 

This species does not much resemble any of the living forms. It is most 
like S. hcmisphericuvi Seguenza, a fossil from the Tertiaries of Messina. This 
has the same form, except that it is sub-excavated above near the periphery as 
well as below. The details of sculpture differ considerably, but the incon- 
spicuous character and slight prominence of the sculpture is much the same in 
both. The fossil has a much smaller umbilicus, and the rib about it is feebly 
marked, though the edge is nodulous. 

Solarium Sigsbeei n. s. 

Plate XXIII. Figs. 3, 3 a. 

This shell was supposed at first to be the young of S. peracutum; further 
study and comparison with young specimens of the same size show that, though 
related, they are not identical. The sculpture is much more prominent and 
granular, the whorls are more elevated and much less discoid. The details of 
sculpture are also quite different, as will be seen by the figure. The color is 
pale yellowish or waxen. Max. diameter of the shell figured, 5.5 mm.; alti- 
tude, 2.3 mm. 


276 BULLETIN OF THE 

Habitat. Off Bahia Honda, Cuba, at Station 19, in 310 fms., one specimen. 

The other recent species most like this is the S. borealis of Verrill, in which 
the sculpture of the umbilical margin is -wholly dissimilar, and quite faint in 
comparison. 

Genus OMALAXIS Deshates. 

Omalaxis Deshayes, Encyc. Me'th., Tabl., 1830. (Solarium bifrons Lamarck.) 

Omaloxon (Desh. em. !) Agassiz, Nomenclator Zobl., 1846. 

Omalaxon (Agassiz em.) Herrmannsen, Ind. Gen., II. n. l /l 4. 

Omalalaxis (Desh.?) Herrmannsen, loc. cit., p. 144. 

Bifrontia Deshayes, Encyc. Me'th. TTI. D . 659, 1832. Lam., Hist. An. s. Vert., IX. 

p. 103. 
Orbis Lea, Contr. to Geol., p. 123, 1833. (0. rotella, pi. iv. fig. 112.) 
Discohelix Dunker, Pal., p. 132, 1849; Handb. Conch., p. 500. 
Homalaxis (Desh. em.), Fischer, Manual, p. 715, 1885. 
Homolaxon (as of Agassiz) Watson, Chall. Rep. Gastr., p. 137. 
Not Omalaxis Tryon, Syst. Conch., II. p. 219 (?= Adeorbis). 

The above partial list of synonymy gives a pretty fair idea of what happens 
when authors take it upon themselves to modify generic names in the supposed 
interest of grammatical accuracy. Unless there is a palpable typographical 
error, or the form of the word is essentially incompatible (apart from its mean- 
ing) with a Latiniform nomenclature, there is no sufficient reason for reforming 
it. It is of no consequence whatever, that Omalaxis is erroneously constructed. 
It is of serious consequence that the nomenclature of biology should not be 
burdened with eight or ten unnecessary synonyms. 

Omalaxis is divided by Dr. Fischer. 0. zanclea Philippi, which has a 
Torinia-like operculum, is placed under Torinia with the name of Pseudo- 
malaxis (possibly identical with Ilaira H. & A. Adams), while the original 
name is kept for those having a simple thin operculum of many whorls. To 
the latter group belongs the following species. 

Omalaxis nobilis Verrill. 

Omalaxis nobilis Verrill, Third Cat. Moll., Trans. Conn. Acad., VI. p. 423, pi. xliv. 
fig. 12, 1885. 

Habitat. Off Chesapeake Bay, v errill, in 70 fms. Off Cuba, near Morro 
Light, in 119-292 fms., Sigsbee; off Sand Key, in 128 fms.; at. Barbados, in 
103 fms.; and at Station 45, in 101 fms., Lat. 25° 33' N., Lon. 84° 21' W., 
bottom temperature about 62°.0 F. 

This species should be compared with Bifrontia rochettina Michelotti of the 
Italian Tertiaries, and with B. (Orbis) Pingdii Morch (Forst Tert. i Dan., 
p. 24, 1874) from the older sands of Copenhagen, but I have not the specimens 
accessible for this purpose. The nucleus in 0. nobilis is sinistral, as in other 
members of the family, though some care is necessary to observe this, the plane 
of the shell being verv uniform. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 277 

Family? ADEORBID^. 

Genus SEPARATISTA Gray. 

Section HALOCERAS Dall. 

Separatista (Haloceras) cingulata (Verrill) Dall. 
Cithna cingulata Verrill, Trans. Conn. Acad., VI. p. 184, pi. xxxii. fig. 7, May, 1884. 

Habitat. Off Nantucket Shoals and George's Bank, on the coast of New 
England, and 120 miles S. E. from Delaware Bay, in 906 to 1497 fins., sand 
and mud, at U. S. Fish Commission Stations 2043, 2076, 2084, and 2733, 
temperature 38°.0 F. 

Cithna cingulata Verrill was described and figured from an immature 
specimen. The adult shell has the form of Separatista, is flattened on the 
upper surface of the whorls, aixl has a strongly bicarinate periphery, so 
that the spire is scalar, ending in a dark brown dextral larval shell originally 
furnished with a spirally fringed epidermis-. This nucleus is smooth, but the 
rest of the shell is strongly spirally grooved, and covered with a light rather 
fugacious epidermis.' 

I was unable to extract the animal without destroying the only perfect speci- 
men, but it was of a dark reddish color, and bore a very remarkable operculum 
of a subtriangular shape not unlike that of Xenophora, but laterally elongated, 
and at the small end of the triangle, which, in the retracted state, is close to 
the columella, there is a small spiral portion of about 2^ whorls. The general 
outline is that of a half-open fan rising from a small circle. The exterior of 
the operculum is roughly lamellose and of a dull brown, like the operculum 
of Buccinum, but less horny and thinner. The only operculum at all similar 
which I remember is that of Atlanta, which, however, is ovate, smooth, pellifcid, 
and dextral. There are certain points about the shell and opercle which recall 
Dolium and Persona. The shell is holostomate with the base prolonged at its 
inner lower angle. The whorls are coiled almost as in Scala. The umbilicus 
is small but deep. An examination of the type of Separatista in the British 
Museum shows that, so far as the shell is concerned, its earlier whorls are not 
dissimilar to our shell. The latter has the last whorl not separated from its 
predecessor, but I doubt if this character is of generic value. Delphinula laxa 
Say, referred by Adams to this genus, is doubtless, as suggested by Say, a de- 
formed Lunatia. In view of the conchological differences and our ignorance 
of the operculum and soft parts of the original Separatista, I feel justified in 
proposing a new sectional name for it, as it has nothing to do with Cithna 
properly so called. For the future, then, it may be termed Separatista 
(Haloceras) cingulata (Verr.) Dall. 


278 BULLETIN OF THE 

Genus ADEORBIS Wood. 
Adeorbis supranitidus Wood. 

Adeorbis supranitidus Wood, Cat. 1842 ; Crag. Moll., p. 137, pi. xv. figs. 5 a, 5 b, 1848. 
Skenea trilix Bush, Trans. Conn. Acad., VI. p. 464, pi. xiv. figs. 7, 7 a, 1885. 

Adeorbis supranitidus var. Orbignyi Fischer. 

Adeorbis Orbignyi Fischer, Journ. de Conchyl., VI. pp. 173, 286, 1857. 
Omalaxisl lirata Verrill, Trans. Conn. Acad., V. p. 529, 1882. 
Skenea lirata Verrill, he. cit., VI. p. 452 ; Bush, VI. p. 464, 1885. 

Habitat. Station 23, off Bahia Honda, Cuba, in 193 fms. Eastern coast of 
the United States from Florida to Cape Cod, U. S. Fish Commission. Crag of 
Britain, Wood. Norway, Lofoten Isl., G. 0. Sars. Tangier Bay, Porcupine 
Expedition. Cedar Keys, Florida, Hemphill. 

This is a very interesting and variable little shell. The normal form figured 
by Wood and Bush may be taken as the type, from which we have the follow- 
ing divergent varieties: 1. With one or more of the carinse missing, some- 
times all. When the latter is the case, some fine spiral striae remain, and we 
have A. striatus Wood. 2. The carina? maybe indefinitely multiplied; those 
with numerous cinguli on the upper surface and the base normal are A . lirata 
Verrill. Those where the base is also invaded are A. Orbignyi. A. Beaui 
Fischer,* which is found in Florida, is a gigantic repetition of A. lirata, but they 
can hardly be united. 

Subgenus CLATHRELLA Recluz. 


- o 


Clathrella Recluz, Journ. de Conchyl., 1864, p. 251. 

The difference between the animals described by Recluz shows that Cla- 
thrella cannot belong to the same group as Fossarus, and a careful study of 
F. depressus Seguenza, fragilis O. Sars, reticulata S. Wood, and naticoides n. s., 
has nearly converted me to Dr. Jeffreys's opinion that they are related to 
Adeorbis, being elevated and turbinate forms of that group. Whether Phasi- 
anema S. Wood is identical with Clathrella, or Fossarus, or Isapis, I do not 
feel ready to decide, and leave that question open. 

Clathrella naticoides n. s. 

Shell minute, white, naticoid, recalling Lunatia heros in shape, but with 
rounder whorls and deeper sutures; whorls four, the nucleus minute, inflated 
and obliquely set, polished and glassy; remainder of the whorls of a greenish 

* This is also named Cyclostrema bicarinatum by Guppy, Geol. Journ., XXII. 291, 
1866. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 279 

opalescent white, with an unpolished surface; the earlier whorls show minute 
Scala-\ike transverse ribbing, the later ones are smooth except for silky incre- 
mental lines; last whorl much the largest; aperture rounded ovate, margin 
simple, sharp; columella straight, forming the front edge of a very deep nar- 
row vertically striated umbilicus; umbilicus with a strong serrate carina 
which does not angulate the margin of the aperture. Alt. 2.75 ; max. diam. 
2.50 mm. 

Habitat. U. S. Fish Commission Station 2610, off the North Carolina 
coast, in 22 fins., gravel, bottom temperature 79°. F. 

This species is related to A. (C.) depressus Seguenza, but has not the beau- 
tiful surface shagreening of that species and is rounder, fuller, and generally 
more compact and naticiform. 


Family RISSOID^E. 

Genus RISSOA Freminviixe. 

A vast number of small shells are included under this genus. Without 
doubt a reasonable classification of them will render a separation into sub- 
genera and sections advisable and convenient. But many of the attempts to do 
this have been so bungling, and the naming of subordinate groups has been 
carried to such an excess, as practically to oblige one who has not especially 
studied the family either to select unguided from a chaos of names or to fall 
back upon the original generic name. As I have only two species from the 
Blake collection to consider, I prefer the latter course. The arrangement 
adopted by Mr. Watson in the Challenger Report is clear and rational; it is to 
be hoped that the subject will be taken up by some conservative person, not 
afraid of drudgery, and permanent order brought out of the present chaos. 

Rissoa precipitata n. s. 

Plate XIX. Fig. 1. 

Shell conical, blunt, thin, translucent or milky-white, with four and a half 
whorls; nuclear whorl and a half depressed, large, opaque white, smooth, 
polished; remainder polished, transversely sculptured with about twenty-two 
close-set well-defined ribs, extending from suture to suture, and on the last 
whorl to the periphery, beyond which they become obsolete or merge into the 
lines of growth; just before the suture is an impressed line or constriction, be- 
hind which on the later whorls the ribs are nodulous; near the periphery the 
shell is marked by more or less distinct grooves, and where the intercalary 
ridges are intersected by the ribs there is often a slight nodulation; these 
grooves and approximately equal ridges between them are evident over most of 
the rounded base; aperture rounded in front, angulated behind; pillar with a 
slight callus and an (accidental?) minute perforation behind it; outer lip thin, 


280 BULLETIN OF THE 

simple; suture distinct, not deep. Lon. of shell, 4.0; of last whorl, 3.0; of 
aperture, 1.8; max. lat. of shell, 2.5 mm. 

Habitat. Yucatan Strait, 670 fms. , one dead specimen. 

This form is related to R. xanthias and pyrrhias of Watson, from both of 
which it differs in its white and unsculptured depressed nucleus, as well as in 
the fine and close character of its sculpture, its larger size, and relatively 
thinner shell. 

The shell is not umbilicated when adult, but either the young shell differs 
in this character, or there is a variety of the species which has a well marked 
umbilical furrow behind the outer lip, and wants the spiral grooving on the 
base, though agreeing with the type in other respects. A not quite mature 
shell of this description was dredged by Dr. Rush in 498 fms., off Gun Cay, in 
the path of the Gulf Stream. 

Rissoa (xanthias Watson va. ?) acuticostata Dall. 

Plate XIX. Fig. 10. 

Rissoa xanthias Watson, Challenger Gastr., p. 588, pi. xliv. fig. 5, 1885. 

This form has a yellow nucleus of three whorls regularly conical, and with 
the last whorl finely spirally grooved and crossed by fine elevated incremental 
lines. The adult has strong sculpture, fourteen very sharp suturally tuber- 
culated ribs; the whorls spirally minutely striate, with three to five or more 
stronger threads before the periphery, no umbilicus, and a strong varical rib. 
Alt. 3.7; lat. 2.0 mm. 

Habitat. Off Cape San Antonio, in 640 fms.; Barbados, 100 fms.; Station 
20, Gulf of Mexico, in 220 fms. Also at U. S. Fish Commission Station 2117, 
off Hatteras, N. C, in 683 fms., mud; and Station 2387, in 32 fms., sand, Gulf 
of Mexico, between the Mississippi delta and Cedar Keys. 

Were I convinced that the characters of the nucleus are invariable in this 
group, I should not hesitate to regard this as a new species. As I strongly sus- 
pect they vary, as do the characters of the adult shell, and I have not sufficient 
material to decide that point, I prefer for the present to regard this as a variety 
of Mr. Watson's species, from which its apical portion differs in a marked 
manner. 

Among the other species of this genus which have been found in deep water 
off our coast are R. pelagica Stm. (carinata Mighels non Da Costa nee Phi- 
lippi) ; a form not named, extremely like R. (Setia) australis Watson ; another, 
R. arenaria Mighels, extremely close to R. castanea M oiler; R. tenuisculpta 
Wats.; R. deliciosa Jeffreys; R. pyrrhias and xanthias Watson; R. Jan-mayeni 
Friele, and its smooth variety R. brychia Verrill; R. synyenes, leptalea, apicina, 
Sandersoni, and harpa of Verrill ; R. areolata Stm. ; R. turyida ? Jeffreys, and 
R. (Cingula) aculeus Gould. 

The proper classification and confirmation of these species must await a larger 
supply of fresh material, and a thorough revision of the whole group. 


MUSEUM OF COMPAKATIVE ZOOLOGY. 2S1 


Genus RISSOINA Oebignt. 

Of this group, so abundant in moderate depths in the West Indies, only a 
few were collected by the Blake, and these were doubtless adventitious, and 
were never found living in the region of deep water below the zone of corals. 


Rissoina laevigata C. B. Adams. 

Rissoina laevigata C. B. Adams, Contr. Conch., p. 114, 1850. 

Habitat. Barbados, 100 fras. Northward to the Carolina coast, iu. 15-22 
fms., U. S. Fish Commission. 

Rissoina albida C. B. Adams. 
Rissoina albida C. B. Adams, Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., 1845, p. 6. 
Habitat. Barbados, 100 fins. Utilla Island, Honduras, Simpson. 

Rissoina decussata Montagu. 
Turbo decussatus Montagu, Test. Brit., p. 399, 1803. 

Habitat. Florida, Hemphill. Near Cape Fear, N. C, in 17 fms., sand, at 
Station 2617, U. S. Fish Commission. 

Not obtained by the Blake. This is R. striosa C. B. Adams, and R. striato- 
costata Orbigny. 

Rissoina Chesnelii Michaud. 
Rissoa Chesnelii Mich., Descr. Gen. Rissoa, p. 15, figs. 23, 24. 

Habitat. Barbados, 100 fms. Florida (Rush and Hemphill) northward to 
North Carolina, U. S. Fish Commission. 

This is R. Catesbyana Orbigny, and R. scalarella C. B. Adams. 

Other species reaching the coast of the United States are R. bryerea Montagu 
(+ scalaroides Ad.); R. multicostata C. B. Adams; and R. cancellata Philippi 
(4- pulchra Ad., and Philippiana Pfr.); all of which reach the Florida Keys, 
while R. Sagraiana Orbigny will probably be added to the list, as it is known 
from Cuba and is in the National Museum from Vera Cruz, Mexico. 

Genus BENTHONELLA Dall. 

Shell shaped like Niso, but without peripheral or umbilical keels; umbil- 
icated ; with a regular dextral nucleus of several whorls, of a different color 
and texture from the succeeding growth; early whorls often slightly trans- 


282 BULLETIN OF THE 

versely ribbed, but, in general, there is no sculpture or but little; peristome 
slightly reflexed, rounded in front, simple, sharp, not continuous over the 
body. Surface brilliantly polished and apparently without epidermis. 

This group is instituted to contain a few species which I cannot find any 
place for in existing groups. The soft parts are unfortunately unknown. If 
Verrill's Cingula apicina should belong here, as seems possible, the animal 
would be blind and the operculum paucispiral ; but the nucleus of that species 
is styliform while in all ours it is trochiform, and I do not feel confident that 
they belong together. There are several of the deep-water Rissom which have 
a small brown trochiform nucleus, somewhat like the present group ; but there 
is little which cari be depended upon in the general character of the larval 
shell to determine generic or even specific affinities, in' the absence of other 
confirmatory evidence, as a student soon finds out who examines into the mat- 
ter thoroughly. But neither in Aclis, nor in any of the Eulirnidce, have I so 
far discovered any such discrepancy between the material and color of the nu- 
cleus and the rest of the shell as is here presented. All the species are very 
thin. 

Benthonella gaza n. s. 

Shell elongated, glistening opaque white, extremely thin, with two and a 
half larval and five later whorls. Nucleus trochiform, brown, polished, with a 
single carina above the periphery; other whorls full, rounded, the earlier ones 
marked with a few faint flexuous transverse waves, the rest with only lines of 
growth. The whorls are full and rounded, the .suture distinct; base full, 
rounded, with a small umbilicus, in front of which is reflected the thin inner 
lip; aperture rounded, lip slightly reflected, not thickened. Lon. of shell, 6.5; 
of last whorl, 3.6; max. lat. of shell, 3.5 mm. 

Habitat. Station 2352, west of Cuba, in 463 fms., coral, U. S. Fish Com- 
mission. 

This species may be regarded as the type. Its polished white rounded 
simple whorls and brown tip present an elegant appearance. 

Benthonella Fischeri n. s. 

Shell resembling the last, but shorter and more trochiform and with a smaller 
umbilicus. Nucleus of three brown polished whorls, rather flattened on the 
apex, and smooth or with two faint carina?, the lower one against the suture, 
the other behind the periphery ; subsequent whorls four or five, rapidly enlar- 
ging, smooth, polished, inflated, with a few small transverse waves behind the 
suture in some specimens ; in the early whorls these waves do not extend back 
from the suture more than half the width of the whorl, and in other specimens 
are absent; incremental lines which do not affect the polish of the surface are 
the only other sculpture; base full and rounded; umbilicus minute, partly 
but not wholly covered by the reflected inner lip ; peristome thin, sharp, broken 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 283 

in all the specimens. Max. Ion. of shell, 5.3; of last whorl, 3.2; max. lat. of 
shell, 3.25 mm. 

Habitat. Gulf of Mexico, in 940 fms., mud, bottom temperature 39°.6 F., 
at U. S. Fish Commission Station 23S4, between the delta of the Mississippi 
and Cedar Keys, Florida. 

This shell, though shorter and wider, evidently belongs with the last. It is 
named in honor of Dr. Paul Fischer, whose admirable Manual is so useful, and 
in fact indispensable, to all students of mollusks. 

Benthonella nisonis n. 8. 

Shell waxen white, with a (slightly damaged) brown nucleus of (more than 
two) dark polished whorls and eight adult whorls succeeding the larval ones. 
The shell is almost exactly the shape of a Niso, and if the nucleus were gone 
would seem to need only the keels to make it one. The whorls are less rounded 
than in the preceding species, the suture is distinct and slightly appressed. 
There is no sculpture except that occasionally an emphatic incremental incised 
line indicates a previous resting stage. Base full and rounded; umbilicus 
small; aperture beautifully rounded in front, peristome thin, discontinuous, 
slightly reflected, especially at the inner lip, which is arcuated. Max. Ion. of 
shell, 9.0; of last whorl, 4.6; max. lat., 4.0 mm. 

Habitat. With the last, in 940 fms. muddy bottom. 

This shell remarkably resembles a Niso without keels, and I should not 
hesitate so to refer it were it not for the nucleus. The figure of Aclis lata 
(Plate XVIII. Fig. 8), if the differences of dimension be taken into account, 
would pretty fairly represent this shell. 


Family CALYPTR^EIDiE. 

Genus MITRULARIA Schumacher. 

Mitrularia Schumacher, Essai, pp. 56, 183, 1817. 
Calyptrcea Lamarck, 1801 ; not of Lamarck, 1799. 

Mitrularia equestris Linne. 
Mitrularia Neptuni Schumacher, loc. cit. 

Habitat. Station 2, in 805 fms, Gulf of Mexico; Station 32, in 95 fms.; 
Station 155, near Montserrat, in 88 fms.; and Station 273, near Barbados, 103 
fms. Northward to Cape Hatteras, in 15-34 fms., U. S. Fish Commission. 

This group seems to me decidedly nearer Crucibulum, etc., than to Avial- 
thea, notwithstanding it occasionally secretes a shelly pedestal. 


284 BULLETIN OF THE 

Genus CRIJCIBULUM Schumacher. 

Crucibulum auricula Gmelin. 

Patella auricula Gmelin, Dillwyn's Cat., II. p. 1017, 1817. 
Crucibulum planatum Schumacher, Essai, p. 182, 1817. 

Habitat. Off Sombrero, in 54 fms. Gulf of Mexico, U. S. Fish Commission. 

The above is the first specific name in binomial form, and it was applied 
to the West Indian shell. It should, therefore, take precedence of all others, 
including that of Gray adopted by Tryon. 

Section DISPOT^A Sat. 

Crucibulum striatum Sat. 

Habitat. Northward from Vera Cruz, Mexico, and the Antilles, to Grand 
Manan Island, Bay of Fundy. Off Sand Key, Florida, in 128 fms. 

Genus CALYPTR.EA Lamarck. 

Calyptrcea Lamarck, Essai, p. 78, 1799 (not of Syst, 1801). 
Galerus Humphrey, Mus. Calonnianum, p. 6, 1797 (undescribed). 

Calyptraea Candeana Orbignt. 

Infundibulum Candeanum Orbigny, Moll. Cuba, II. p. 190, pi. xxiv. figs. 28, 29, 1842. 
Galerus Candeanus Dall, Hemphill's Shells, p. 335, 1883. 
Galerus parvulus Dunker, Jahrb. Deutsch. Mai. Ges., 1875, p. 244. 

Habitat. Yucatan Strait, dead, in 640 fms. Province of St. Catherine, 
Brazil, northward to the Antilles, Florida, and the coast of North Carolina, 
living, in 12-50 fms. 

This species appears never to attain a greatest diameter of over 12.0 mm.; 
most of the specimens I have seen are less than half this diameter. It is more 
elevated than C. chinensis and the spirality is more conspicuous, while there 
are numerous strong incremental lines, and an absence of the pustules charac- 
teristic of the European species. 

Genus CREPIDULA Lamarck. 

Crepidula Lam., Essai, p. 78, 1799. 

Proscenula Perry, Conch., pi. liii. and expl. text, 1811. 

In most manuals and books of reference the animals of this family are said 
to protect their eggs "under the foot" while developing. I have examined 
Crucibulum imbricatum and Calyptrcea conica Broderip, as well as Crepidula 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 285 

(Sandalium) aculeata Gmelin and C. adunca Sowerby, all of which agree very 
fairly in general characters. The foot is rather small, with a thin front edge ; 
the neck and muzzle are long, thin, narrow, and vertically compressed, with 
short stout tentacles, with the eyes about midway from their outer bases 
toward the tips ; behind the right tentacle, and just above the epipodial line, 
is the slender cylindrical verge, in the male ; this organ is sometimes as long 
as the tentacle, sometimes only half as long, but always more slender. On each 
side of the neck is a broad thin lamina, extending back to the junction of the 
neck and foot. This is epipodial in origin, and usually flat or slightly puck- 
ered by the alcohol. When the eggs are deposited, tbey appear in irregular 
groups, enclosed in pedunculated gelatinous masses (Crepidula adunca), or in 
a single large gelatinous mass. At this time the epipodial lamina on each side 
becomes enlarged, puffed up like a hood or dome, between its outer margin 
and the neck, while the corners of the foot project, each in a large thin lingui- 
form flat process. The inner edges of these processes overlap, and form a floor, 
which is roofed in by the neck with its exaggerated lateral pouches on each 
side. In this shelter the egg masses are protected (C. adunca) until the young 
are hatched. There is some variation of details in different species, but in 
general the process is about the same, at least in all I have examined. 

The gills in this family are much more like Pelecypod gills than are those 
of most Gastropods. The lamina? are long, almost filamentous, and sustained 
by chitinous rods. Their tips are slightly enlarged and opaque whitish, while 
the rest is translucent. The osphradium, like small short-laminated gill, is 
situated by the side of the ctenidium. 

Section JANACUS Morch. 
Crepidula protea Orbigny. 

Crepidula protea Orbigny, Moll. Cuba, II. 192, pi. xxiv. figs. 30-33, 1842 ; Dall, 
Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 80, 1881. 

Habitat. Off Havana, at several stations, varying in depth from 80 to 450 
fathoms. 

This is probably identical with C. unguiformis Lam. 

Section SANDALIUM Schumacher. 

In adopting the name Crepidula of Lamarck, Schumacher divided the group 
into two genera, each of which contains two sections, in this manner : — 
Genus X. Sandalium Schumacher. 

Section a, type Patella porcellana Lin. (= Crepidula s. s.) 

Section /3, type Patella aculeata Chemn. 
Genus XL Trochita Schumacher. 

Section a, type Patella chinensis Lin. (= Cahjptrcea Lam., 1799). 

Section /3, type Patella trochiformis Gmel. 


286 BULLETIN OF THE 

It i9 evident from the above table that the two previously unnamed sections 
6hould bear the names applied by Schumacher, instead of those given to the 
same things at a later time. Thus the section of Crepidula, called Crypta 
(Gray) by Dr. Fischer in his Manual, should take the name of Sandalium 
if the section is to be retained; and the Trochatella of Lesson (1830, not of 
Swainson, 1840) must give way to Trochita of Schumacher. In this way only 
can the rules of nomenclature be satisfied, even if it were not due to the very 
remarkable ability shown in his system by Schumacher. He was by far the 
most clear-headed of the early conchological systematists except Lamarck. The 
reference of this group to the Infundibulum of Montfort by several naturalists 
is an error. Montfort would doubtless have referred a Trochita to his genus 
Infundibulum ; but his type, distinctly figured and unmistakable, is no Trochita, 
as he recognizes in his remarks, but the shell called Carinidea by Swainson, 
as Dr. Fischer has correctly stated (Manual, p. 817). 

Crepidula (Sandalium) aculeata Gmelin. 
C. aculeata Gmelin, Tryon, Man., VIII. p. 129, pi. xxxix. figs. 61-65, 1886. 

Habitat. Gulf of Mexico, near the Tortugas, at Station 44, in 539 fms., 
bottom temperature 39°.5 F. 

One living but dwarfed and white specimen was found at the above depth. 
The species extends to Cape Hatteras in a northerly direction, and is abundant 
below tides on the Florida Keys. It is common in the Southern Pliocene. 

Beside the above, Crepidula convexa Say and C. fornicata Linne enter this 
region from the north; though I have seen no typical fornicata except from 
the mainland, the variety C. navicula Dunker replacing it among the islands. 
C. glauca Say i» only a particular form of juvenile C. fornicata. There are 
innumerable synonyms. 

Family CAPULID^. 
Genus CAPULUS Montfort. 

An investigation of the literature in regard to this genus shows how little is 
known in regard to some of the commonest mollusks, and how necessary to 
a proper understanding of their relations is a reliable account of their most 
prominent anatomical features. 

In nearly all manuals or works relating to this genus we find the type spe- 
cies C. hungaricus Linn4 represented as having the " rostrum lengthened " 
(Tryon), "mufle allonge" (Fischer), "head broad and thick with produced 
lips so as to make the extremity of the muzzle appear cloven " (Jeffreys), and 
"head snout-like" or with "extensile snout" (Jeffreys). In 1858 Bretherton 
stated in the Zoologist, that " the proboscis or rostrum (like that of Cyproza it 
appears to be of an intermediate character) is capable of extension, and can be 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 287 

produced beyond the shell." Troschel states (Gehiss der Sehnecken, I. p. 1G1, 
1863) that the external mouth parts exhibit "ein vorstehender nissellbrmiger 
Theil " which cannot be retracted and extended, and is not a true proboscis. 
He compares it to an elongated lower lip, and states that it is fissured on the 
upper side lengthways with a deep incision. Lastly, Gray, in Mrs. Gray's Fig- 
ures of Molluscous Animals (Vol. III. pi. cclxviii. figs. 12 a, 12 b, from a manu- 
script sketch by Curtis, cf. Vol. IV. p. 83, 1859), shows a long slender pointed 
proboscis or tubular unforked organ, protruding from between the tentacles to 
a distance equal to the whole length of the animal behind the head. Troschel 
could find no jaws; another authority states that the jaws are rudimentary. 

A small specimen of C. hunyaricus, taken by the Fish Commission off 
Martha's Vineyard in 458 fms., has a bilobed muzzle so short and retracted 
by the alcohol as to be hardly more than a gash in the median line between 
the tentacles. The figures given by Jeffreys, Forbes and Hanley, etc., which 
have been copied by Tryon and others, show a moderately extended bilobed 
muzzle, in no respect resembling Curtis's sketch. What is the explanation of 
these discrepancies 1 Simply that, in opposition to the old statements, by 
whomsoever made, this animal has a long retractile proboscis, which can be 
completely exserted so that it shows no line of division between it and the 
head; this is pulled in by the tip, and when nearly retracted its sides near the 
base resemble a muzzle vertically cleft, as there is on each side under the skin 
a sort of nearly cartilaginous buttress more solid than the proboscis, and which 
projects when the latter is withdrawn. These buttresses, however, contract 
strongly in alcohol, and then of the oral aperture only a vertical slit is visible 
between the tentacles. In the Rhacbiglossa the proboscis is pulled in by the 
base, in this group retracted by the tip; in Cyprcea it is usually rather short, 
in Capulus it is very long, its distal half split on the upper side, so that it can 
be expanded into a sort of plaque, which, I imagine, in life could envelop any 
Bmall soft thing, so that the Capulus could smother it and suck up its juices at 
leisure, much as a starfish envelops a young oyster by projecting the mem- 
branes of its stomach out of its mouth and about the victim. 

I regard the group as forming a family with the following characters: — 

Shell patelliform, without internal processes ; the nucleus spiral, posteriorly 
directed; the muscular impression horseshoe-shaped; the mentum prolonged 
for use as an oviphorus; the gill composed of laminae, each basally attached to 
the under side of the dome of the mantle over the head and proceeding from 
left to right; the proboscis long, retractile from the tip, split above and ex- 
panded at the distal extremity; foot not secreting any shelly base; young 
undergoing all larval changes within the ovioapsule. 

In regard to the species mentioned in Tryon's Monograph of the group, it 
may be added that Hipponyx Danieli Crosse is almost certainly Patella calyptra 
of Martyn, described in the last century. A magnificent specimen from the 
Fiji Islands is in the National Museum. It is a Capulus, and not a Hipponyx. 
Hipponyx crystallinus (Gould) Tryon is a Thyca, and should be transferred to 
Capulus, where Gould originally placed it. It lives parasitic on starfishes. 


288 BULLETIN OF THE 

Section KREBSIA Morch. 

Capulus illtortus Lamarck. 

Capulus intortus Lamarck, Orb., Moll. Cuba, I. p. 186, pi. xxiv. figs. 22, 23, 1842. 

This species was dredged by the Blake at Station 5, in the Gulf of Mexico, 
in 229 fms. The Fish Commission has obtained it off Hatteras, in 63-107 
fms., sand, at Stations 2595 and 2601 ; and it was collected by Hemphill on 
the reefs at Key West. It is also in the Museum from the Bahamas Banks 
and Barbados. The deep-water specimens were all dead. 

Section HYALORISIA Dall. 
Capulus galea n. s. 

Plate XIV. Fig. 3. 

Shell thin, white, ovate , depressed, with a fine thin nearly smooth yellowish 
epidermis which projects beyond the margin. The apex is nearly medially 
placed, and extends but little behind the margin. The whole shell comprises 
about two whorls, of which the nucleus comprises one and a half; it is very 
small, dextral, and obliquely set; the exterior of the shell is smooth, almost 
polished, with fine concentric little-elevated lines and faint radiating stria?; 
margin thin, aperture ovate ; interior polished, white; the muscular impression 
faint, extending well forward ; in front of the nucleus and nearly on a level 
with it is a narrow arched lamina, horizontal, its greatest width about 1.0 mm. 
in the median line; the distance in a straight line between the ends of the arc 
is about 8.0 mm. ; the cavity of the shell extends above this lamina and behind 
it into the narrower part of the spire. Max. Ion. of shell, 18.5 ; max. lat., 15.5; 
alt., 5.5 mm. 

Habitat. Station 275, near Barbados, in 218 fms., sand, bottom temperature 
52°.5 F. 

Soft parts: foot originally rounded and somewhat pointed behind, squared 
off and narrower in front; mentum large, thin, smooth-edged, extending be- 
yond the foot; head large, swollen; tentacles subulate, eye pedicels present 
but destitute of pigment or eyes; excretory papillae in the sinus over the 
head, on the right side; gill laminae numerous, large; proboscis long, slender, 
split above and expanded near the tip; mantle edge smooth or not papillose; 
no epipodial filaments behind the foot; body conical, the upper part crammed 
with unextruded ova of a yellowish buff color. Not wishing to destroy the 
beautiful exhibition of its proboscis made by this specimen, I have refrained 
from dissecting it. 

The lamina above described is not an independent formation, like the deck 
of a Crepidula, which to some extent it recalls at first sight, but rather a sort 
of fold of the shell under the apex, the like of which I have observed in 
April 10, 1889. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 289 

C. hungaricus on some occasions, and sometimes in specimens of Hipponyx. 
It may be a purely individual character, but is very regular, and therefore has 
been fully described. 

This species recalls the C. obliquus of the Crag, and some of the species called 
Brocchia from the Italian Tertiaries. Brocchia is always stated to be sinistral, 
and the spire viewed from behind is certainly twisted to the left of a vertical 
plane more than usual ; but I have yet to see a single specimen in which there 
is a sinistral nucleus, or any genuine sinistrorsity of the ,rest of the shell. 
Possibly such may exist, but I doubt it. 


Family AMALTHEID.E. 

Genus AMALTHEA Schumacher. 

Amalthea Schum., Essai, pp. 56, 181, pi. xxi. fig. 4, 1817. 
Hipponyx Defrance, Bull, des Sciences, p. 9, 1819. 

Amalthea benthophila n. s. 

Plate XIV. Fig. 1 a-b. 

Shell stout, white, smooth, with a smooth straw-colored epidermis and a 
coil of about two whorls; apex elevated, nucleus glassy, rather large, of about 
one whorl ; surface smooth, often polished, showing only irregularities due to 
growth and a few microscopic spiral scratches ; aperture subcircular, interior 
white, glossy ; basal plate sometimes quite thin, as when the mollusk is seated 
on a fiat stone or another Amalthea, or quite thick, as when it roosts on a 
Cidaris spine. It is marked with two diverging impressions corresponding to 
the position of the adductors. Lat. of aperture, 8.0; Ion. of aperture, 8.0; 
alt., 6.0 mm. 

Habitat. Off Sand Key, dead, in 50 fms.; Station 146, off St. Kitts, in 245 
fins., on flat stone; Station 150, near Nevis, in 373 fms., on shells; Station 
167, near Guadelupe, in 175 fms., on spines of Echini; Station 206, off Mar- 
tinique, in 170 fms., on Echinus spines; Station 223, off St. Vincent, 146 fms., 
on shells. Bottom temperatures 45° to 55° F. 

This species by its smooth surface is easily distinguished from any other. 
The irregularities of the Echinus spines are not reproduced on the surface of 
the shell, as its pedestal, secreted by the foot, covers all such inequalities. I 
cannot help doubting if there is any such connection between the base and the 
adductors as exists between the latter and the shell. The irregularities of the 
specimens living on a smooth surface indicate that they are not absolutely 
fixed to one spot, at least not more than Gadinia or Crepidula when young. 
If the adductors were organically attached to the base, of course it would be 
death to the animal to move. 

The young shells, to the number of twenty or so, are protected by the 
mother, and attain a size of more than one whorl before leaving their capsules. 

VOL. XVIII. 19 


290 BULLETIN OF THE 

The other species of this group which belong to the fauna under consider- 
ation are Amalthea antiquata Linne, which occurs in South Florida and so 
southward; Amalthea effodiens Cpr., which from a typical specimen in the 
Museum looks distinct from any of the others, and seems to be confined to the 
Lesser Antilles ; and Amalthea barbata, vars. tuberculata Cpr. and costellata Cpr., 
found with the last species, certainly varieties of each other, and probably both 
bearing a varietal relation to A. barbata. They are, however, much coarser 
and stronger than any genuine, barbata I have seen, are brown instead of white, 
and less elevated in habit than barbata, so they may well be distinct, in which 
case the name of costellata would better be retained for the species. Lastly, 
there is Amalthea subrufa Lamarck, which I have from Key West in 50 fms., 
sand and coral, living on dead shells and corals. It extends from this point 
southward. The Piliscus (Allerya) Krebsii Morch is a Williamia, closely 
related to W. Gussoni Costa, and belongs to the family Siphonariidce. It is 
probably widely distributed on floating objects. 


Family XENOPHORID^. 

Genus XENOPHORA G. Fischer. 

Xenophora G. Fischer, Tableau Synopt. de Zoognosie, p. 113, Moscow, 1808. Type 
X. conchylioplmra Born. 

Section XENOPHORA s. s. 

Xenophora conchyliophora Born. 

Trochus conc/tyliophorus Born, Index Mus. Cass., p 333. 
Xenophora laevigata G. Fischer, op. at , p. 113, 1808. 

Habitat. West Indies generally, and northward to the vicinity of Cape 
Hatteras, where it is found in 30-40 fms. The Blake obtained it at Stations 
5, 10, and 12, in the southern part of the Gulf of Mexico, in 36-229 fms., ooze, 
bottom temperature about 50°. F. The Fish Commission has dredged it, 
living, in from 14 to 111 fms., mud, in the Gulf of Mexico and the Antilles, 
as well as along the Carolina coast. 

This is the only identifiable species among those cited and described by 
Fischer. Therefore, the typical section of the genus must be composed of 
those species agreeing with it. Phorus Montfort is precisely synonymous. 

This species is easily recognized by its brown base, not umbilicated, or with 
a mere chink in occasional young specimens, and the margin of the base not 
produced into a thin lamina. It does not reach as deep water as X caribaa, 
and generally carries a much heavier load. Stones, corals (sometimes even 
alive), oysters, chamas, and worn remains of heavy gastropod shells, cover and 
conceal its surface. This species reachea back to the Eocene, under various 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 291 

names, but the shells show no differential characters. A fine specimen in the 
Museum, from the Miocene silex-beds of Tampa, Florida, was carefully cleaned 
of all its load by a youthful assistant, under the impression that he was 
relieving the fossil from extraneous matter ! 

Section TUGURIUM P. Fischer. 

Xenophora caribeea Petit. 

Xenophora caribcea Petit, Journ. de Conchy liologie, V. p. 248, pi. x. figs. 1, 2, 1856. 

Habitat. Stations 12, 32, and 36, in the Gulf of Mexico, in 36-95 fms.; 
Station 156, off Montserrat, in 88 fms.; Station 174, off Guadelupe, dead, in 
878 fms. ; Station 300, near Barbados, in 82 and 100 fms.; bottom temperatures 
60°-69° F. U. S. Fish Commission in the Gulf of Mexico and Antilles, in 
14-274 fms., living, and northward to the vicinity of Cape Hatteras, in 30-40 
fms., usually on a muddy bottom. 

This species arranges small shells, usually bivalves, in a fringe around the 
marginal lamina. One specimen from very deep water had appropriated several 
small pieces of coal thrown overboard with ashes by some steamship. The 
open umbilicus is frequently occupied by a tubicolous annelid, which lives 
in good fellowship with its involuntary host. In this species the habit of 
cementing shells to its margin is evidently merely a habit, as the projecting 
shells must be inconvenient in moving about, and have no protective value. 
The practice is a reminiscence of a time when it was really useful, and Ave can 
assume with confidence that this species is of later development and origin 
than the preceding one. 

The separate objects appear to be selected with a certain taste and care, as 
they are usually of nearly the same size, separated from one another by about 
the same space, and the convex side of the object is always downward. 

The soft parts are small in proportion to the shell, whitish, with large eye8 
and long tentacles. In alcohol the opercular lobe is larger than the foot. The 
operculum is more lozenge-shaped than that of A', caperata as figured by Petit, 
and the nucleus is less central. The operculum is smooth outside, with an 
obscure central rib on the base, and striated both ways on that side. 

It is worthy of note that the operculum of A', caperata Phil, resembles that 
of X. conchy! iophora in being subsymmetrical and subtriangular, while that of 
the present species is asymmetrical. If this feature holds good, it would add 
another to the characters by which the two sections of the genus may be 
separaLcd. 

From the appearance of a number of specimens of this species, I have been 
led to suspect that, when young, the animal may have the power of extruding 
a purplish fluid, not unlike that of Trophon and some other gastropods. 

On dead fragments of this species were found nearly all the specimens of 
Dimya dredged by the Blake, and they afford an excellent perch for the ser- 
pulse, sertularians, and polyzoa which inhabit the depths. 


292 BULLETIN OF THE 

Family NATICID^. 
Genus NATICA Lamarck. 
Section COCHLIS Morch. 
Operculum shelly, with a single marginal rib. 

Natica maroccana (Chemnitz) Dillwyn. 

Nerita maroccana Chemn., Conch. Cab., V. p. 270, pi. clxxxviii. figs. 1905-1910 ex 
parte. Ulysses' Travels, p. 474. Dillwyn, Cat. Kec. Shells, II. p. 983, No. 13, 
1817. (West Indies, W. Africa, Mediterranean.) 

Natica Dillwynii Payr., Moll. Corse, p. 120, pi. v. figs. 27, 28, 1826. 

Natica proxima C. B. Adams, Contr. Conch., p. Ill, 1850. Reeve, Conch. Icon. 
Natica, fig. 126. (West Indies.) 

Habitat. Mediterranean, West Africa, West Indies, and northward to Cape 
Hatteras, N. C. 

This species, as eliminated from the mixture of species called maroccana and 
marochiensis by Dillwyn, should stand as the genuine maroccana. That the 
N. proxima Adams is identical with authentic N. Dillwynii Payr., I have deter- 
mined by the comparison of types. The West American maroccana is a differ- 
ent species, and has a different operculum. N. proxima has an entirely different 
operculum from N. canrena, with which Tryon unites it (as the young), and 
belongs to a different section of the genus, as already pointed out by Morch. 
On the. other hand, N. Dillwynii and avellana Philippi, which are identical 
with N. proxima, are regarded by Tryon as distinct. He refuses the name 
maroccana or marochiensis to the Mediterranean form, which is really identical 
with that of the West Indies, and unites with the latter the West American 
species, which is perfectly distinct. This group, in fact, is in great need of 
thorough study by some one who will treat the subject with care, and work 
from the specimens, and not jump to conclusions from the inspection of more 
or less inaccurate figures. This group and that of N. canrena are particularly 
muddled, and inconsiderate wholesale lumping of species can in the present 
state of our knowledge do nothing but harm. I have not pretended to give 
even a small proportion of the synonymy. The operculum of this species has 
a double marginal rib, the outer half higher than the inner, and the whole, in 
adult specimens, separated from the central area by a rather broad flat-bottomed 
channel. The nucleus of the operculum is usually overlaid by a thin irregular 
callus, often of a dark color. 

Natica livida Pfeiffer. 

Natica livida Pfr., Wiegm. Arch., VI. p. 254, 1840. Morch, Malak. Blatt., XXIV. 

p. 64, 1877. 
Natica jamaicensis C. B. Adams, Contr. Conch., p. Ill, 1850. 


•1 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 29 

Natica proximo, Sowerby, Thesaurus, Nalica, pi. viii. fig. Ill, not of C. B. Adams. 
'( Nalica rujilabris Reeve, Conch. Icon. Natica, fig. 103, 1855. 

Habitat. Barbados, 100 fms. Key West, »Pickering. Gulf of Mexico, be- 
tween Mississippi delta and Cedar Keys, in 20 fins., U. S. Fish Commission. 

This form is generally more elevated than maroccana, and its coloring more 
like Lunatia triseriata. The nucleus is always minute, and generally dark 
brown. It is related to N. maroccana, but its operculum has only a single 
narrow undivided marginal rib separated by a narrow groove from the inner 
area, so that I can assert that the name is not a synonym. It will probably 
include N. Hmacina Jousseaume, but of that, again, I have seen no authentic 
specimen, while rujilabris is in the same category. N. lacemula Orbigny is 
doubtless synonymous w T ith livida, and probably N. pulchdla Pfr. also belongs 
here. 

Section NATICA s. 8. 
Operculum shelly, externally multisulcate. 

Natica canrena Lamarck. 

This well known and characteristic species was not obtained by the Blake, 
but is known from authentic sources to extend from Rio Janeiro to the An- 
tilles, and from the Antilles to Cape Hatteras. It has a large and pellucid 
nucleus, which will always serve to distinguish it from species of the maroccana 
group in the absence of the very characteristic operculum. 

Natica castrensis n. s. 

Shell four-whorled, thin, light, white painted with yellow brown. Nucleus 
large, lucid ; an opaque white band in front of the suture with irregular, brown 
flammules; a peripheral series of distant small obscure brown spots ; base, 
callus, umbilicus, and aperture opaque spotless white, remainder translucent 
white with a network of extremely fine lines and spaces, so disposed as to form 
spirally directed " tent " shaped white markings on a brownish ground, re- 
calling the pattern of Conus gloria-maris, the apices of the little white triangles 
all pointing toward the aperture; whorls extremely round, the suture conse- 
quently well marked, and almost channelled; general form about like that of 
N. canrena ; umbilicus with a single moderate funicular cord, with subequal 
grooves above and below it, ending in a small callus with a notch behind it, 
and a bigger body callus behind that. Alt. 12.5, lat. 12.5 mm. 

Habitat. Barbados, 100 fms. Off Sombrero, in 54 fms. Station 152, Flan- 
negan's Passage, in 27 fms. Key West, U. S. Nat. Mus. Coll. 

The painting of this species recalls that of N. vittata Gmelin (which is a Lu- 
natia'), but is much more delicate and elegant. The netted painting can only 
be seen by close inspection. The umbilical region differs from that of N. can- 


294 BULLETIN OF THE 

rena, the callus especially being much less conspicuous; the whorls are less 
flattened above than in canrena, while the present species probably never 
attains anything like the size of the adult N. canrena. The radiating wrinkles 
are finer and closer, as well as less evident before the suture, than in N. canrena, 
and often almost obsolete. 

Natica (?castrensis var.) perlineata Dall. 

Shell in form, size, and nucleus resembling closely N. castrensis, but the 
coloration consists of very fine slightly waved transverse brown lines. The 
white band near the suture is obsolete, the brown lines cross it almost to the 
suture, there are no spots or flammules. The base is white, the lines ceasing 
abruptly. In the largest specimen there is a white band, extending from the 
suture over the periphery to the base, as if the color glands had taken a resting 
spell for a short time. Alt. 18.5, lat. 19.5 mm. 

Habitat. Sigsbee, off Havana, in 119 fms. Barbados, in 70-140 fms. Sta- 
tion 5, in 229 fms. 

This species is less elevated, and the lineation is much finer and closer than 
in N. lineata Lam., in which the basal white area is proportionally smaller, and 
the umbilical callus proportionally much larger. It differs greatly from the 
"West American lineated species N. elence Recluz, and if not a variety of the 
preceding, from which its system of coloration totally differs, must be regarded 
as distinct. I have not seen the operculum. 

Subgenus NEVERITA Risso. 
Section PAYRAUDEAUTIA Bccq., Dautz., & Dollf. 
Neverita nubila n. s. 

Shell small, polished, grayish white, with transverse narrow streaks of very 
pale brown, five-whorled, with radiating grooves and wrinkles in front of the 
suture as in N. livida. Apex acute, nucleus rather large, lucid ; whorls very 
round, flatfish in front of the suture, which, near the aperture only, is a little 
appressed. Surface pretty well covered with very fine spiral markings, too 
fine and faint to be called striae. Aperture semilunar, with a thick white callus 
on the body. Umbilical opening bearing about the same proportion to the 
size of the shell as in N. intricata, but the respective components dissimilar; 
in N. intricata the margin of the umbilicus is bounded by a rounded rib, sepa- 
rated from another similar rib above by a deep channel. Above these two is 
a wider and deeper furrow, above which is the larger umbilical rib, which lies 
very close to the preceding whorl. In iV. nubila the umbilicus is bordered by 
a sharp groove, within which is a broad nearly flat band corresponding to the 
two lower ribs of intricata, above which are the larger furrow and rib, which 
last is not so close to the preceding whorl as in intricata. The umbilical region 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 295 

is entirely white. The operculum has not been seen, but is doubtless horny. 
Max. alt. of shell, 13.0; of aperture, 9.0; max. lat. of shell, 12.3 mm. 

Habitat. Station 23, Gulf of Mexico, in 190 fms. Station 299, near Bar- 
bados, in 140 fms. 

In one of the specimens the cloudy brown color was diffused, and most evi- 
dent above the periphery. In the other it was more in the form of faint 
transverse streaks. The shell is especially different from N. intricata in its 
turrited spire and rounded whorls with radiating grooves above, and in the 
peculiarities of the umbilical region below. 

Subgenus LUNATIA Gray. 

Lunatia tenuis Recluz. 
Natica tenuis Recluz, Journ. de Conchyl., I. p. 388, pi. xii. fig. 7, 1850. 

Habitat. Off Cape San Antonio, in 640 fms. Off Cape Florida, in 84 fms., 
green mud, U. S. Fish Commission, at Station 2648; also at Station 2626, 
eighty-seven miles S. by E. ^ E. from Cape Fear, N. O, in 353 fms., sand, 
bottom temperature 40°. F. Valparaiso, Recluz. 

The specimens agree admirably with Recluz's figure and description, but 
are smaller than the dimensions he gives. There may have been an error or 
misprint in those figures. 

Lunatia leptalea Watson. 

Natica leptalea Watson, Journ. Linn. Soc., XV. p. 261, March, 1880 ; Dall, Bull. 
M. C. Z., IX. p. 93, 1881; Watson, Chall. Rep. Gastr., p. 441, pi. xxvii. 
fig. 7, 1885. 

Habitat. Yucatan Strait, 640 fms. Sombrero Island, W. I., 450 fms., 
Challenger Exp. Bed of the Gulf Stream, off Gun Cay, in 500 fms., Dr. Rush. 

A comparison of specimens leads me to believe that this species is identical 
with one named by Dr. Jeffreys N. spliceroid.es, in his Report on the Valorous 
Mollusca (Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., April, 1876, p. 319). But Dr. Jeffreys did not 
describe his shell sufficiently, or figure it, and subsequently doubted whether 
it was not the young of a species he described in 1885 as N. operculata (P. Z. S. 
1885, p. 35). His name has therefore no claim to be adopted. 

Lunatia fringilla Dall. 

Plate XXI. Fig. 12. 

Natica fringilla Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 93, Sept., 1881. 

1 Natica radiata Watson, Prel. Rep. Chall. Moll., Pt. VII. p. 258, March, 1881. 

Habitat. Yucatan Strait, 640 fms. ; off Cape San Antonio, 640 fms. ; near 
Old Providence, at Station 2150, in 382 fms., ooze, bottom temperature 46°. F., 
U. S. Fish Commission. 


296 BULLETIN OF THE 

Natica fringilla var. perla Dall. 

Plate XXI. Fig. 11. 

Differs from the type of the species in the absence of the radiating wrinkles 
in front of the suture, and in having somewhat rounder whorls and a decidedly 
smaller umbilicus. Alt. 6.5 mm. 

Habitat. Station 226, in 424 fms., sand and ooze, near St. Vincent, bottom 
temperature 42°. 5 F. 

The Lunatia subplicata Jeffreys is less elevated, has merely faint irregular 
wrinkles instead- of the strong, regularly spaced, spoke-like radiations of this 
species, and is a much lighter shell. It recalls L. gronlandica Beck, of which 
it might be. a small deep-water race. If identical with fringilla it would be a 
synonym of it. 

The N. radiata Watson, from 435 fms., near Bermuda, recalls, by the de- 
scription, our species. The figure, however, has a more pointed apex and 
rounder whorls. This plate, how r ever, is less well executed than most of the 
Challenger plates, and may not be reliable. In case, on comparison of speci- 
mens, they should prove to be the same, Mr. Watson's name has priority. 

Subgenus POLINICES Montfort. 

Polinices uberina Orbignt. 

Natica uberina Orbigny, Moll. Cub., II. p. 31, pi. xvii. fig. 19, 1842. Miircli, Malak- 
Blatt., XXIV. p. 60, 1877. 

Habitat. Off Sombrero, in 54-70 fms. Gulf of Mexico and on the west 
coast of Florida, 14-40 fms., living, U. S. Fish Commission. 

This may be only a small race of N. lactea Guilding. I have not the 
material to determine the matter positively, and prefer to refer to a name 
which exactly applies to our specimens. 

When fresh they are covered with a rather dark yellow epidermis, which is 
thickened to a reddish brown in the furrow of the umbilicus. N. caribcca 
Phil., N. Pfeifferi Phil., N. porcellana (Orb.) Morch, and N. ochrostoma Recluz, 
are probably synonymous. 

Judging by the specimens dredged by the U. S. Fish Commission, • this 
species is rather common in moderate depths of water off the Carolina coast. 

Among the Naticidce characteristic of the Antillean region, but not above 
referred to, are N. (Lunatia) semisulcata Gray (recently named iV Fordiana 
by an inadvertence), which was collected at Sarasota Bay, West Florida, by 
Mr. C. T. Simpson, living, between tides on a sand-bar; N. (Stigmaidax) sulcata 
Born; and N. (Polinices) brunnea Link (+ mamillaris Lam.), N. (Neverita) 
duplicata Say (+ campechiensis Recluz, -\-fossata Gould, + texasiana Edmer) 
and A r . (Cochlis) pusilla Say are more northern in their distribution ; the latter 
may not pass south of the Florida Keys. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 297 

Genus SIGARETUS Lamarck. 

Sigaretus maculatus Say (+ S. zonatus Orb., 1842, -+- 5. martinianus PhiL 
1844) and S. perspectivus Say (4- S. depresshs Phil., 1844, + S. haliotoideus 
Reel., Orb., non Linne, +S. antillarum Reel., 1851) are the two large well 
known species of this region. In the latter, which I have seen alive, and in 
alcohol, a good many times, I have never been able to observe any operculum. 
It is probable that it is generally lost at an early age. 

Sigaretus minor n. s. 

Shell small, moderately inflated, white, three or four whorled, spirally striate. 
Nucleus small, dark brown, and glassy for one whorl, very finely striate spi- 
rally and white for another whorl, when the normal adult sculpture begins 
abruptly. Epidermis extremely thin, nearly transparent, colorless; spiral 
sculpture alternately of a large and a small thread, separated by a distinct, 
sharp, but very narrow groove ; on the base the threads are less crowded and 
more uniform, but not flattened; shell perforate, little callus on the body, the 
pillar barely reflected at its junction with the body; aperture, regarded in its 
own plane, nearly circular. Max. alt. of shell, 4.0; max. diam. of shell, 6.0; 
of aperture, 3.5 mm. 

Habitat. Off Sombrero, in 54 fms. ; Station 36, in 84 fms. ; U. S. Fish Com- 
mission Station 2648, in 84 fms., mud, off Cape Florida. 

This shell differs from the two other species in sculpture. The young of 
S. maculatus is brown, and has a much larger umbilicus and nearly smooth base, 
with a sculpture of uniform, round, widely separated threads on a flat ground. 
The young of S. perspectivus is flatter, has a thick epidermis, and has broad 
flat spirals separated by broad shallow channels. 

The soft parts of S. minor have not been observed, but it is a genuine 
Sigaretus though of small size. 

Subgenus EUNATICINA Fischer. 

Eunaticina carolinensis n. s. 

Shell naticiform, small, white, spirally striate, with an ample but not flaring 
umbilicus; four-whorled. Nucleus brown at the apex, then glassy, of two 
whorls. Remainder of the shell white, with a polished straw-colored epider- 
mis; spire moderately elevated, suture channelled; spiral sculpture of fine 
sharp grooves, more distant toward the periphery, about nine between the 
periphery and suture on the last whorl; base full and rounded, rounding into 
the umbilicus without any keel; transverse sculpture of incremental lines, 
weaker and stronger irregularly, reticulating the earlier whorls in a faint 
manner and crenulating finely the margin of the sutural channel; these lines 
are fainter on the last whorl and on the periphery; aperture somewhat oblique, 


298 BULLETIN OF THE 

semilunar, entire, not reflected, the pillar connected with the outer lip by a 
white callus over the body, with its boundaries sharply defined. Alt. of shell, 
5.5; of aperture, 4.5; max. lat. of shell, 5.75 mm. 

Habitat. U. S. Fish Commission Stations 2595 and 2602, off the coast of 
North Carolina, in 63-124 fms., sand, bottom temperature 61° to 75° P. 

This pretty little shell has a deep-water aspect, and is not sufficiently like 
the shallow-water species to need comparison with them. According to the 
latest catalogue of the subgenus, there is no other species known from this 


Genus GYRODES Conrad. 

Gyrodes Conrad, Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., IV. p. 289, 1860. Stoliczka, Pal. 
Indica, II. p. 297, 1868. Type Gyrodes crenata Conrad. 


Gyrodes depressa (Seguenza) Dall. 

Fossarus depressus Seguenza, Bull. Real. Com. Geol. I tab, 1874, fasc. ii. p. 382. 

Fossarus Crossei Weinkauff (in coll.) non Kleciak. 

Adeorbis depressus Jeffreys, P. Z. S. 1885, p. 41, pi. iv. figs. 8, 8 a. 

Habitat. Pliocene of Messina, Seguenza. Mediterranean, Jeffreys. North 
Atlantic, 100-1360 fms., Porcupine Expedition. Off Cape Lookout, at U. S. 
Fish Commission Stations 2612 and 2619, in 15-52 fms., sand, bottom temper- 
ature 67°.0 F. 

This little shell is the same as that figured by Jeffreys under the name of 
Adeorbis depressus. It has an operculum like that of Sigaretus (Fischer, Man., 
fig. 535, p. 768). The A. fragilis of Sars has a multispiral operculum, and 
belongs to a different family, though the shells have several features in com- 
mon. The Fossarus Crossei Kleciak, the F. Petitiana of Tiberi, and the Sto- 
matia azonea of Brasilia, from authentic specimens in the Jeffreys collection, 
appear to belong to a different group and certainly to a different species. These 
shells have every feature of Conrad's Gyrodes, except that they are smaller 
than his type. The ridge near the suture in the type is very inconstant, and 
often entirely absent. These shells are also somewhat variable in the com- 
pactness with which they are wound. The nucleus is glassy, minute, globu- 
lar, and stands up from the apex with great prominence. The shell is 
remarkably elegant, and the largest American specimen has fully twice the 
diameter of any of the Mediterranean specimens I have seen, though otherwise 
indistinguishable from them. Sigaretus problematicus Deshayes (An. s. Vert. 
Bas. Paris, III. p. 90, pi. lxiv. figs. 7-9) is doubtless a young Gyrodes, which 
thus is carried back in Europe to the Eocene. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 299 


Family LAMELLARIID^. 

In this group Lamellaria Rangii Bergh and Marsenina ompla Verrill are 
known from the region under consideration, but neither of them is included in 
the Blake collection. 


Super-Family PTENOGLOSSA. 

Family SCALID^E. 

Genus SCALA (Humphrey) Auctorum. 

Le scalata Auct. (Favart d'Herbigny, Diet. d'Hist. Nat. Test., III. p. 296, 1775). 

Turbona Browne, Hist. Jamaica, p. 403, 1756 (not binomial). 

— Scala Klein, Meth. Test. Ostracol., p. 52, 1753 (not binomial). 

= Scala Humphrey (apud Hvass), Mus. Calonnianum, p. 23, 1797 (anonymous and 

undescribed). 
= Epitonium Sect. I. Bolten, Mus. Bolt., ed. i., pars 2 a, p. 91, 1798; ed. ii., p. 64, 

1819 (undescribed). 
= Cyclostoma Lamarck, Prodrome, Mem. Soc. d'Hist. Nat. de Paris, No. 32, p. 74, 

1799. Type and sole example Turbo scalaris L. "Le scalata," Cuvier, Anat. 

Comp., 1800. 
= Cyclostoma Bosc, Hist. Nat. des Coquilles, IV. p. 84, 1802. Type Turbo scalaris L. 

> Cyclostoma Schumacher, Essai, p. 196, 1817. Type Turbo clathrus L. 

Not Cyclostoma Lam., Syst. des An. s. Vert., p. 87, 1801, = Defphinula Lam., 1804, 

nor Cyclostoma Lam., 1804 = various Pulmonates and Valvata. 
= Scalaria Lamarck, Syst. des. An. s. Vert., p. 88, 1801. Type Turbo scalaris L. 

Fossiles des Env. de Paris, in An. du Museum, IV. p. 212, 1804. Roissy, Hist. 

Nat, Gen. Moll., V. p. 390, 1805. Froriep, Lam. Neues Syst. Conch., p. 17, 

1808. Type T scalaris L. 
= Scalatarius Dumeril, Zool. Analyt, p. 164, 1806. 
= Scalaria Link, Beschr. Rostock Samml., III. p. 131, May, 1807; Fischer, Tabl, 

p. 119, 1808. Blainville, Mai., p. 431, 1825. Type Turbo scalaris L. 
= Sealants Montfort, Conch. Syst., p. 295, 1810. 
= Scalaria Perry, Conchology, expl. pi. xxvi., 1810; not Trigona Perry = Cancel- 

laria sp. 

> Scalaria Leach, Zool. Miscel., II. p. 79, 1815 (Turbo clathrus L.). Bowdich, 

Conch., I. p. 33, pi. ix. fig. 6, 1822. 

> Aciona Leach, /. c, II. p. 79, 1815 (Turbo scalaris L.). Bowdich, Conch., I. p. 33, 

pi. ix. fig. 5, 1822. Morch, Cat. Yoldi, p. 48, 1852. 
>< Clathrus Oken, Lehrb. Zool., p. 256, 1815 (Turbo clathrus L.). 
= Scalaria Lamarck, Hist. An. sans Vert., VI. Pt. II. p. 225, 1817 (S. pretiosa). 

> Clathrus Agassiz, in German edition Sowerby's Min. Conch., pp. 35, 413, 1840 

(Turbo clathrus L.). 

> Acyonee Blainville, Malac, p. 431, 1825 ; example Scalaria communis (vernacular 

for Aciona Leach). 
Acyoncea Deshayes, Encycl. Meth., II. p. 6, 1830 (error for Aciona Leach). 


300 BULLETIN OF THE 

> Clathrus Gray, Syn. Brit. Mus., 1840; type Scalaria australis Lam. (?no descrip- 

tion). 

> Cirsotrema Morch, Cat. Yoldi, p. 49, 1852 (S. varicosa Lam.). 

> Scala H. & A. Adams, Gen. Rec. Moll., I., Nov., 1853, p. 220 (5. scalaris L.), with 

subgenera Clathrus, p. 222 (S. clathrus L.) ; Opalia, p. 222 (S. australis Lam.) ; 
Amaia, p. 223 (S. mngnijica Sby.) ; and 

> Cirsotrema (Morch) H. & A. Adams, /. c, II. p. 223, Nov., 1853 (S. varicosa Lam.). 
= Scalaria Woodward, Man. Ree. & Foss. Shells, 1854 (S. petiosa). 

>Acirsa Morch, -Prodr. Moll. Gronl., 1857; H. & A. Adams, Gen. Rec. Moll., II. 
p. 621, Nov., 1858 (S. Eschrichtii Holb.). 

= Scalaria Chenu, Manual de Conchyl., 1. p. 217, 1859 (S. pretiosa Lam.), with sec- 
tions Clathrus (S. communis Lam.) ; Opalia, p. 218 (S. australis Lam.) ; A?neea, 
p. 218 (S. mngnijica Sby.) ; and Cirsotrema, p. 218 (S. i-aricostata Lam.). 

1 Constantia A. Adams, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., 3d ser., VI. p. 120, 1860 ( C. elegans Ad.). 

> Acrilla H. & A. Adams, P. Z. S. 1800, p. 241 (S. acuminata Sby.). 

<><Sca/a A. Adams, Sculidai of Japan, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., 3d ser., VIII., 1861, 
p. 479; with Amaia, p. 482 ; Clathrus, p. 482 ; Cirsotrema, p. 482; Constantia 
(elegans), p. 483 ; and Scaliola (bella), p. 484 * 

> Sthenorytis (Conrad) Meek, S. I. Check List Miocene Foss., p. 18, 1864. Conrad, 

S. I. Check List Eocene Inv. Foss., p. 15, No. 200, 1866; also in Am. Journ. 
Conch., III. p. 259, pi. xxi. fig. 4, Jan., 1868. (.S - . pachgpleura Conrad, = Scala- 
ria pachypleura Conr., Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, VIII. p. 565, 1862.) 

> Opalia H. & A. Adams (emend.), in Carpenter, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., 3d ser., 

XIV. p. 31, Jan., 1865 (S. australis Lam.). 

> Scalina Conrad, Am. Journ. Conch., I. p. 27, 1865; S. I. Check List Eocene Iny. 

Foss., pp. 14, 29, 1866. (S. triquintinaria Conr. = Scalaria triquintinaria Conr., 
Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 2d ser., I. p. 114, pi. xi. fig. 14, 1848.) 
Not Compsopleura Conrad, S. I. Cheek List Eocene Inv. Foss. p. 15, 1866. (C. trino- 
dusa Conr. = Scalaria trinodosa Conr., Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 
2d ser , IV. p. 288, pi. xlvii. fig. 43. This shell belongs to the Melaniidaz 
probably.) 

> Cirostrema Tate, App. Woodward, Man., 1870, p. 26, = Cirsotrema Morch- 
= Scalaria Nyst, Tabl. Synopt, p. 12 (1871), 1873. 

> Scala Morch, Vidensk. Medd. Nat. Foren. Kjobenhavn, 1874, p. 252 ; with sec- 

tions Aciona, p. 252 (S. scalaris L.) ; Scala, p. 252 (S. clathrus L.); T'urbona 
"Browne," p. 259 (S. unifasciata Sby.); Amaa, p. 262; Opalia, p. 266; 
Cirsotrema, p. 268 (S. cochlea Sby.). 
Scala Morch, Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 2d ser., VIII. p. 192, 1876 ; with 
sections Aciona, -p. 192; Turbona, p. 198; Amaa, p. 200 ; Ianthoscala, p. 190 
(Scalaria inconspicua Sby. = Janthoscala, p. 203) ; Opalia, p. 203 ; Cirsotrema, 
p. 205. 

> Psychrosoma Tap. Canefri, Journ. de Conchyl., XXIV. p. 154, April, 1870 

(= Opalia H. & A. Adams). 
XScalidaz Stoliczka, Pal. Indica, Cret. Gastropoda, p. 229, 1868, with the follow- 
ing "genera": Funis (Seeley), p. 229; Crossea (Adams), p. 229; Amcoia 
(= lapsus pro Amaia Adams), p. 229 ; Acirsa, p. 229 ; Acrilla, p. 229; Cirsotrema, 

* Referred in 1862 to the Rissoidaz by Adams, from an examination of the soft 
parts. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 301 

p. 229; Scala, p. 230; Eglisia (Gray, 1840, not of Desliayes whose Eglisias 
are stated to = Mathilda Semper, while his Pyrgiscus are true Eglisia;), 
p. 230; Chilocyclus (Bronn), p. 230; Scoliostoma Bronn, p. 230; Constantia 
(A. Ad.), p. 230; Compsopleura and Sva/ina, p. 230. 
= Scala De Boury, Monographie des Scalidae, Ft. I., Paris, 1886. 

Insertce sedis. 
Scoliostoma Braun, Leonli. & Bronn, Jahrb., p. 291, 1838, Jide Herrmannsen. 
Constantia A. Adams, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., 3d ser., VI. p. 120, 1800 ( C. elegans 

Adams, /. c). 
Eglisia Gray, Syn. Brit. Mus., 1840: H. & A. Ad., Gen. Rec. Moll., I. p. 354. 
Pyrgiscus Desliayes, An. s. Vert. Bassin de Paris, II., 2me e'd., p. 330, 1 not of Phi- 

lippi, Wiegm. Arch., I. p. 50, 1840. 
Cochleana Minister, Beitr. zur Petr., IV. p. 104, 1841 (C. carinata Braun, I. c, pi. x. 

fig. 27). Syn. Chilocyclus Bronn, Lethea, c. i. 75, 1851. 
Crossea A. Adams, Ann. Mag. Nat Hist., XV. p. 323, 1865 ( C. miranda Ad., /. c). 
Funis Seeley, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., 3d ser., VII. p. 285, 1861 {F. elongatus Seeley, 

I. c, pi. xi. fig. 7). Cretaceous. 
Holopella McCoy, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist, VII. p. 47, 1851. Brit. Pal. Foss., II. p. 303, 

1855. (Type Turritella gregaria, Sil. Syst., pi. iii. fig. 1.) 
Hoplopteron Fischer, Journ. de Conchyl., XXIV. p. 232, 1876. (H. Terquemi F., 

p. 234, pi. ix. figs. 1-8.) 

The determination of the proper name to be adopted for this well known 
genus is beset with difficulties for the conscientious systematise It is one of 
the few cases where a faithful adherence to the rules recommended by the 
British Association would result in several very annoying changes in the names 
of well known and accepted genera. 

The precious "ladder shell," " wentle-trap," or "scalata" was known to 
early English, Dutch, and Italian naturalists chiefly as le scalata, a name 
attributed to the Italians. It is the Turbo scalaris of Linne, and the Sca- 
laria pretiosa of authors. The common Mediterranean form (S. clathrus) was, 
from its abundance, small size, and inferior beauty, known as le fausse sca- 
lata, or false wentle-trap. Early authors even considered them as varieties 
of one kind of shell, and as late as 1817 discussed gravely whether the precious 
sort really came from the Indies, as the Dutch dealers and naturalists had 
always claimed. 

Among the authors who antedated binominal nomenclature, Browne named a 
West Indian species Turbona, in his Natural History of Jamaica, and Klein 
called the group Scala, or staircase shell, from the vernacular scalata. Some 
conchological authors, disregarding the usual limitations of nomenclature, have 
imposed some of Klein's names on modern genera, and this among them. 

Linne included the wentle-trap among his species of Turbo. The first 
binominal author to distinguish the group by name was Hvass, a noted con- 
chologist residing in Paris, from whose manuscripts (by the aid of E. M. 
Da Costa, an English writer on shells) an anonymous catalogue was compiled 
for George Humphrey, an auctioneer of London, who was intrusted with the 


302 BULLETIN OF THE 

sale of the magnificent collection of M. de Calonne, The catalogue was printed 
in May, 1797. A few copies were sent by Hvass to his correspondents,* and 
others were distributed or sold by Humphrey. It is one of the rarest of con- 
chological books, among those which have influenced nomenclature.! In the 
present case there can be no possible doubt whatever as to the group intended. 
It is placed between Phasianella and Turritella (Eutropia and Terebra of 
Humphrey), and divided into two sections with three species each. The first 
species (Scala maculata) is stated to come from Normandy, and Turbo clathrus 
L. is given as a synonym. The second (S. notha) is the "Bastard Wentle- 
trap," from the~West Indies (Scalaria lamellosa L.?); the third is not identifia- 
ble. The second section is stated to be "umbilicated," an approach toward a 
diagnosis. Two of the species cannot be determined, the last (5. grandis) is 
the " Great or true Wentle-trap," from " Japan ? " 

The next discrimination of the group, as such, appears in a posthumous pub- 
lication, also for an auctioneer's purposes, — a catalogue,^ supposed to be by 
Dr. J. F. Bolten of Hamburg, of the collection of shells belonging to him which 
his family desired to dispose of after his death, but which at that time (1798) 
was not sold. This catalogue, of which only three or four copies are known 
to exist, was reprinted in 1819,§ when the collection was again offered for sale. 

* The copy in my possession was sent to Spengler, and given by one of his heirs 
to Beck, and from him, through other hands, to the late 0. A. L. Morch. By a con- 
temporary note of Beck, it appears not to have existed in the public libraries of 
either London or Paris, in 1835-36. The genera are not characterized, nor is any 
6pecies mentioned as type, but some Linnean names without references are intro- 
duced as synonyms of the names of the author. 

t As a bibliographical curiosity the collation may be of interest : — 

Museum Calonnianum. | Specification | of the I various articles | which 
compose the | Magnificent Museum | of | Natural History | collected by | M. De 
Calonne in Frar.ce, | and lately his property : | consisting of an assemblage | of the 
most | beautiful and rare subjects' | in | entomology, conchology, ornithology, | min- 
eralogy, &c. | Among which are | [etc., 10 lines] | all of which are now exhibiting 
at Saville House on the north side of | Leicester Square, previous to the sale 
thereof. | London, May 1, 1797. | 8vo, pp. viii, 84. At end of last page, " End of 
the first part." The generic and specific names in Latin, French, and English ; re- 
marks in English only. There is a copy with annotations in Humphrey's own 
writing in the Smithsonian Library, deposited in the Library of Congress. 

X The first part I have never seen, and it related to the anatomical and alco- 
holic collection ; the remainder is entitled : Museum Boltenianum | sive | 
Catalogus cimeliorum | e tribua regnis natura | quae | olim collegerat | Joa. Fried. 
Bolten, M. D. p. d. | per XL. annos protophysicus Hamburgensis. | Pars secunda | 
continens | Conchylia sive Testacea univalvia, | bivalvia & multivalvia. | Ham- 
burg*', | Typis Johan. Christi. Trappii. | Sm. 8vo, n. d., pp. viii, 199. The Preface 
is dated September, 1798. 

§ Museum Boltenianum. | Verzeichniss | der | von dem verstorbenen | 
Herrn Joachim Friedrich Bolten | M. D. und physicus in Hamburg | hinterlassenen I 
vortrefflichen Sammlung | Conchylien, Mineralien | und | Kunstsachen | die | am 


MUSEUM OF COMPAEATIVE ZOOLOGY. 303 

This edition is also extremely rare. Its contents (excepting the prefatory re- 
marks) are the same in both editions, and have a more scientific appearance 
than those of the catalogue of Humphrey, as characters corresponding to the 
divisions adopted, are mentioned in a number of places, though there are no 
diagnoses, properly speaking, or special types selected. The references for 
6ynonyms of the author's species are to page, plate, and figure, in many cases, 
instead of bare names, as in the Museum Calonnianum. The divisions are 
often rational and satisfactory, though frequently much the reverse if judged 
by modern standards. The author seems to have had no hesitation in changing 
names which he did not like, even when his substitute was in our sense an 
absolute synonym. In regard to the present genus his course was retrograde 
compared with Humphrey, for he makes Scdla (Humphrey) merely the first 
section of his genus Epitonium, which contained Scalaria (Lam., 1801), Turri- 
tella (Lam.), and Terebra (Lam.). The first species is Turbo scalaris L. 

By the strict construction of the rules of nomenclature, none of the names 
yet mentioned should be adopted, for they all fail to meet the requirements of 
a binominal appellation and a diagnosis or a figure. 

The epoch-making work for malacology, after Linne", is without doubt the 
" Prodrome d'une nouvelle Classification des Coquilles" of Lamarck (1799), in 
which a large number of genera were proposed, appropriately characterized, 
and a single species in each case mentioned as an example or type. It would 
seem unquestionable that, for genera first proposed in it, the name should 
follow the fortune of the particular type mentioned. On page 68 the author 
states that he has adopted the names cydostoma and pleurotoma, composed by 
citizen Richard, for two of his genera to which he had intended to give other 
names. This statement, which had reference merely to the formation of the 
words, and not of the genera they were intended to denominate, has been mis- 
understood to indicate Richard as the author of the two genera mentioned. 
On page 74 the genus Cyclostoma* is proposed, and placed between Monodonta 
and Turritella. This genus was adopted the following year by Cuvier (Anat. 
Comp.), and by Bosc in his " Histoire Naturelle des Coquilles," published in 
1802.f Bosc remarks: "One of the shells which forms this genus is very 
celebrated under the name of scalala, on account of its rarity and high price. 
Naturalists have differed much on the place in the conchological order which 
it should have (on account of the absence of a columella). . . . Lamarck at last 
has just made a particular genus of it, into which the question of the presence 

26. April d. J., Morgens um 10 Uhr | offentlich verkauft werden sollen | durch den 
Makler | Johs. Noodt. | Hiixter No. 68 | Cat. XXXIII. | mit vier auf stein gezeich- 
neten Flatten seltener Conchylien | Hamburgischen Steindrucks. | Hamburg 1819.) 
Gedruckt bei Conrad Muller, Bolinenstrasse No. 151. | 8vo, 4 1. unp., 156 pp., 4 
plates. Preface dated January, 1819. 

* " 32. Coquille de diverse forme, l'ouverture ronde ou presque ronde : les deux 
bords reunis circulairement. Turbo scalaris Lin. Le scalata." 

t Vol. IV. p. 84, 1802. Another identical edition (from unsold sheets?) with a 
new title page appeared in 1830. 


304 BULLETIN OF THE 

or absence of a columella does not enter. The cyclostoma is a very elegant 
shell, of seven whorls, elongated, and separated by a distinct interval from one 
another, with ten or twelve longitudinal elevated costae which unite them- 
selves to form a reflected margin around the lip. It has no columella, the 
costse take the place of one externally." Following this is a list, with descrip- 
tions and references, of four well known species of Scalaria, two species of 
Turbonilla, and two unidentifiable new species, of which one (probably a Val- 
vata) is from the warm springs of Pisa. The type, Turbo scalaris L., is figured, 
pi. xxxii. fig. 3. Had matters stopped here, all would have been well. But 
in 1801 Draparnaud in his "Tableau des Moll, de la France" (p. 40) assigns 
a large number of land and fresh-water shells to Cyclostoma, at the instance, 
according to Cuvier, of Lamarck, who in that year published his " Systeme des 
Animaux sans Vertebres," in which several arbitrary and unexplained changes 
are made. The name Cyclostoma is applied (p. 87) to a new genus, of which 
the sole example offered is the Turbo delphinus of Linne, and a new name, 
Scaluria, is proposed (p. 88) for the group typified by Turbo scalaris L. As 
if this were not enough, two years later, in a memoir on the fossil shells of the 
environs of Paris (An. du Museum, IV. p. 108, 1804), after saying that in the 
" Systeme" there were still marine and terrestrial shells in his Cyclostoma, La- 
marck proposes to eliminate the marine ones, and takes the Turbo delphinus L. 
as the type of a new genus, Delphinida. The Cyclostoma then remaining is 
a heterogeneous collection of Vicipara, Valvata, Cyclostoma (elegans), Cyclo- 
phorus, etc., a number of which do not agree with the original diagnosis of 
1799. Draparnaud adopted this classification in his " Terrestrial and Fluvia- 
tile Mollusks of France" (p. 25), in 1805, and Roissy in his "History of 
Moilusca" (V. p. 300), in the same year. Dumeril also adopted it, changing 
the orthography and making it masculine in termination, as it was his hobby 
to do with all generic names. 

Scalaria for the Turbo scalaris group was adopted by Link in 1807,* Fischer 

* Beschreibung | der | Naturalien-Sammlung | der | TJniversitat zu Rostock. | 
Erste Abtheilung. | Von | D. H. F. Link, | Professor der Naturgeschicbte, Chemic 
und Botanik und verschiedener | Gelehrten-Gesellschaften Mitgliede. | Zugleich | 
empfiehlt derselbe als jetziger Rector der Universitat | die j wiirdige Feyer des 
Weihnachtsfesies. | Rostock den 25sten December, 1806. | Gedruekt bey Adlers 
Erben. | 8vo. 1 pr. 1., pp. 1-50. (Covers Mammals and Birds.) 

Zweyte Abtheilung : Rostock den 20sten Marz, 1807. 1 pr. 1., pp. 51-100. (Cov- 
ers Amphibians, Snakes, Fishes, Crustacea, Insects, and part of the Moilusca.) 

Dritte Abtheilung: Rostock den 17ten May, 1807. 1 pr. 1., pp. 101-165. (Re- 
mainder of Mollusks, with Echinoderms and Corals.) 

Vierte Abtheilung: Rostock den 25sten December, 1807. 1 pr. 1., pp. 1-30. 
(Fossils of all sorts.) 

Fiinfte Abtheilung : Rostock den 17ten April, 1808. 1 pr. 1., pp. 1-38. (Min- 
eralogie.) 

Sechste und letzte Abtheilung : Rostock den 5ten Junius, 1808. 1 pr. ]., pp 
1-38. (Metals and Ores, together with Errata, etc.) 

No apology is needed for giving the collation of this rare work, of which only 
April 12, 1889. 


MUSEUM OF COMPAKATIVE ZOOLOGY. 305 

in 1808, and Montfort in 1810 (under the masculine form). The last very 
justly observes (Vol. II. p. 287), that Cyclostoma elegans (which seemed to have 
become generally accepted as the type of the genus) is always without the re- 
flected lip called for by the diagnosis; still he preserves the name and separates 
under the name of Cyclophorus the forms with the broadly reflected border to 
the aperture. 

Scientific news did not travel rapidly in those days, and we find the careful 
Schumacher, evidently puzzled by Lamarck's different values for Cyclostoma, 
trying to reconcile them by retaining Cyclostoma for the Turbo clathrus sort, 
and Scalaria for Turbo scalaris, etc. This distinction, more apparent than 
real, had previously been recognized by Leach, who in 1815 proposed the 
name Aciona for the umbilicated kinds like T. scalaris, and retained the name 
Scalaria for the clathrus group. Both sections have since received quite a 
number of names. 

It is evident that on the face of the record, and from the action of various 
naturalists at the time, the name Cyclostoma, if retained at all, should be 
used for Scalaria Lam., as commonly understood. Pfeiffer, in rejecting it al- 
together from the nomenclature of Pulmonata, has, it seems to . us, taken the 
proper course, so far as that group is concerned. We can fairly claim that the 
record should decide these matters, and that possible mental reservations and 
traditions must be excluded from consideration. But the old naturalists 
were very loose in their treatment of nomenclature, as may be inferred from 
the remarks of Cuvier as late as 1817 (Mem. sur la Vivipare, p. 3): " Dra- 
parnaud in accordance with the indication of Lamarck ranges it {Vivipara) 
among the Cyclostomas. . . . Nothing doubtless prevents us from taking the 
vivipara for the type of the genus cyclostoma, but it is probable that then we 
should be obliged to exclude several species which have so far remained there, 
and notably all the terrestrials." The fact that Vivipara does not agree with 
the original diagnosis and type of Cyclostoma, does not seem to have occurred 
to him. Deshayes, in his edition of Lamarck's " Histoire des Animaux sans 
Vertebres " (1836), tries to justify the process by which Cyclostoma has come 
to represent something quite different from its original type ; but I do not con- 
sider that his remarks give a fair statement of the history of the case as it ap- 
pears in the printed record, though they may correctly convey traditions with 
which those who desire impartially to apply the rules of nomenclature cannot 
legitimately concern themselves. 

The question then remains what name to adopt, and it is evident that Sca- 
laria is out of the question. Klein can by no stretch of courtesy in which the 

two or three copies are known, most of the edition, according to Herrmannsen, hav- 
ing been destroyed by fire. The genera proposed in it are often well conceived 
and properly characterized, with references to the place of description, etc. of the 
species included under them. If the work is to be considered as published, there is 
no doubt that the new genera proposed in it, other things being equal, must be 
admitted to nomenclature. 

VOL. xviii. 20 


306 BULLETIN OF THE 

truth abides be considered as a binomial author. His names, when adopted by 
some one who recognizes the Linnean nomenclature, may stand, but not as of 
Klein, w*ho opposed Linnaeus and all his works. Humphrey is the first to 
adopt the Kleinian Scala for the genus, and, though he gave no definition, yet 
in this case there is no doubt as to the species referred to. It would seem, there- 
fore, as if the interests of science would be better served by adopting the name 
of Humphrey, than by stickling for the exact letter of the law. This is the 
course I have decided to follow. 

The dentition of the Scalidse is little known, only a few species having been 
examined. It varies from a series of perfectly simple, rather short, arcuate 
la ,erals, to those in which the tip of the tooth is denticulated, and the shaft 
is long, slender, and nearly straight, except at the base and tip. These differ- 
ences do not march with the conchological characters, S. communis Lamarck 
having simple teeth (Troschel), and S. Sayana Dall (S. clathrus Say pro parte), 
so similar as to shell that Say united it with communis under the name of 
clathrus, having denticulate teeth. The foot in some species is bifid and doubly 
carinate behind the operculum, as in S. Sayana, but this is also the case in 
species like S. Trevelyana with a widely different shell. On the other hand, 
S. communis has the foot tapering to a point behind (Jeffreys), and S. lineata 
Say has it rounded (Stimpson). The operculum may be either stout and black, 
or pellucid horny. The animal has a gizzard provided with horny plates having 
a reticulated grinding surface. The Scalidce are carnivorous, and have separate 
sexes. 

The soft parts of but few species are known, and the fact that their differ- 
ences as far as observed do not correspond to differences of the shell as between 
one species and another, renders the task of assorting the very numerous forms 
into an orderly and natural arrangement still more difficult. The number of 
subgenera or sections which have been proposed, in the light of present knowl- 
edge, seems extraordinary, in so compact a group. Several of them, as those 
of Conrad, seem to have been offered in the absence of any differential charac- 
ters, and for that reason without a diagnosis, while on the other hand some 
minute forms," at first referred to this family, such as Scaliola A. Adams, have 
proved, on investigation of the soft parts, to belong to a totally different family. 
In regard to some of the fossil forms, such as Funis Seeley, Holopella McCoy, 
and Cochlearia Munster, all of which have been referred to this family, the 
decision in any case must be hypothetical and unsatisfactory. Hoplopteron 
Fischer, at first sight most extraordinary, seems on further investigation to be 
related rather to the Eulimidat. Opalia anomala Stearns has, however, a 
similar lateral arrangement of the varices, which in form are paralleled in sev- 
eral species of Scala provided with a larger number than is the type of Hoplo- 
pteron. Other species of Scala have quite as compact a spire. Still it may 
prove eventually, as Scaliola did, to belong to quite an unexpected group when 
the soft parts are known, a contingency which is rendered more probable by 
its minute size (1.15 mm.). This, is also the opinion of Dr. Fischer, who, in 
his latest work, has referred Hoplopteron to the Eulimidoz. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 307 

Since the above was written M. E. de Boury has undertaken the laudable 
project of monographing the Scalidce on a scale and in a manner which leave 
nothing but the speedy completion of the work to be desired. I therefore re- 
sign with pleasure the discussion of the various groups into which the family 
may be divided, and which I had partially carried out before M. de Boury's 
project was made known to me. I do this the more readily, as I am convinced 
the task is one of no little difficulty, and well worthy of special research. 

The Antillean species of Scala number some forty or fifty, of which, so far 
as known, but few ascend the eastern coast of the United States northward 
from the Floridian peninsula except in deep water. In working up the Blake 
species, notes were made in regard to several points connected with the littoral 
fauna, some of which seem worthy of record. 

Scala lineata Sat. 

Scala lineata, Say, Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., II. p. 242, 1822. Not of Binney's 
Gould, p. 312, fig. 580, = S. Sayana Dall. 

It appears that Kiener has fallen into some confusion in regard to this very 
characteristic species; but as I have no means of referring to Kiener's work, 
I am unable to clear it up. A sketch by Lieut. Kurtz, among Stimpson's 
MSS., shows that the animal has a short foot, rounded, like the small end of 
an egg, behind; its anterior edge strongly convexly arcuated forward, with the 
anterior angles projecting in an auriculate manner. The tentacles are two 
thirds as long as the foot, and very slender, while the median line of the head 
is not indented. 

This species is found in the Caloosahatchie Pliocene of Florida. A curious 
error is contained in Mr. Binney's edition of Dr. Gould's Report on the Inver- 
tebrata of Massachusetts, p. 312, where what appears to be Say's S. clathrus 
(= Sayana Dall) is figured for S. lineata Say, a totally .different species with 
irregular varices, some much larger than others, and a very sharply cut basal 
disk bordered by a purple line referred to by Say in his description. The 
description in Binney refers to the genuine S. lineata; it was written by 
Dr. Gould, but the figure does not represent that species. This error has been 
copied with the figure into the Fish Commission Report for 1871-72, in Prof. 
Verrill's article on the Invertebrates of Vineyard Sound (p. 660, pi. xxi. 
fig. 123). 

Scala (Acirsa) costulata Migfiels. 

Turritella costulata Mighels, Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., I. p. 50, Nov., 1841. 

This species has been generally known as Acirsa borealis Beck, but, as 
Prof. Verrill has already indicated (Proc U. S. Nat. Mus. 1882, p. 332, Sept., 


308 BULLETIN OF THE 

1882), the earliest name for it is that of Mighels, who not unnaturally de- 
scribed it as a Turritella. 

The history of the name borealis for this species is somewhat curious. In 
1835 Sir Charles Lyell figured this species in a paper on " The Rising of 
Sweden," (Phil. Trans., 1835, pi. ii. figs. 11, 12,) but applied no specific name 
to it, and referred to it as " ? Scalaria." It seems that Dr. Beck, who was in 
correspondence with Sir Charles at the time, in regard to the stratigraphical 
classification of the later tertiaries, must have applied a manuscript name to this 
figure, though there i6 no published evidence of this until long afterward. In 
the proceedings of the Geological Society of London (Vol. III. p. 120), Lyell 
mentions, among other shells identified for him by Dr. Beck, from the St. Law- 
rence tertiaries near Quebec, Scalaria borealis and Erycina labradorica. No 
author is mentioned foT either, nor is there any reference to a description oi 
figure, even to Lyell's figure above cited. Upon these circumstances is founded 
the claim of Beck to be considered the first describer of the species, which has 
also Been assigned by Bronn (Index Pal., III. p. 1114, 1848) and others to 
Lyell. All this gave no one any claim to the name as established. In fact, 
Beck never described or figured the species, and the only means by which his 
name became connected with it is by the citation of his manuscript name by 
Lyell, in a paper on Captain Bayfield's fossils from the Gulf and River of St. 
Lawrence (Geol. Trans., 2d ser., VI. p. 136), and a suggestion of its identity 
with the figure referred to, as published in the Philosophical Transactions. 
The part of the Transactions containing the reference was published in the 
winter of 1841-42, the exact date being inaccessible, but the matter is of little 
importance. The only description of the species published (with the exception 
about to be noted) until many years afterward, so far as I have been able to 
find out, was that of Dr. Mighels, which should therefore take precedence. 

In 1842, Moller, working at the Copenhagen Museum in cooperation with 
Beck, a number of whose MS. species he published in his Index to the Mollusca 
of Greenland, publishes this species as named in MS. by Holboll S. Eschrichtii. 
But Mighels's specific name antedates that of Holboll, and the S. costnlata 
of Kiener (according to Nyst a synonym of S. tenuis) only dates from 
1842. Consequently, the species must retain the name -given by Mighels. 
There are some further consequences connected with the establishment of 
Mighels's name. On the ground that Beck's name was valid, and that Opalia 
Adams (1853) is synonymous with Acirsa Mbrch (1857), Mbrch in 1874 re- 
named Opalia borealis Gould 0. Wroblewskyi ; and, in ignorance of this, two 
years later Tapparone-Canefri gave it the specific name of Gouldii on the same 
grounds, and even went further and renamed Opalia, the ranking generic or 
subgeneric name, Psychrosoma, on account of some confusion of ideas on his 
own part in relation to the revision (in a paper of Carpenter's) by the Messrs. 
Adams of their subgenus Opalia: a revision which they thought necessary on 
account of the establishment of the subgenus Acirsa by Mbrch subsequent to 
the institution of Opalia, which wpuld have included both. As a result, Dr. 
Gould's subgeneric name will stand, and the others fall into synonymy. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 309 

Scala multistriata Sat. 
Hicularia multistriata Say, Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., V. p. 208, 1826. 

In regard to this species, also, some confusion has prevailed. An authentic 
specimen preserved by Stimpson enables us to differentiate the shell. It is 
especially characterized by the pointed apex, with a pale glassy few-whorled 
nucleus, followed by a few faintly sculptured turns, the varices becoming close, 
uniform, small, and flattish over strong spiral sculpture. About the fifth whorl 
the varices become less crowded, gradually sparser though still regular, and on 
the last whorl one or two may be distinctly larger than the others. With 
these changes the spiral sculpture, pari passu, has become finer and fainter, 
at last nearly obsolete. Kiener, according to Stimpson's notes, has confounded 
this species with S. clathratula, a specimen of which he may have received 
under this name. 

Specimens received from the U. S. Fish Commission under the name of 
S. leptalea Bush are young specimens of this species. According to Stimpson, 
who collected it at Beaufort, N. C, the animal is of pure hyaline bluish white, 
spotted with opaque, white on the front of the head and foot. The tentacles 
are very slender, the evertible proboscis, which pulls in from the tip, is very 
large and oval when protruded. The front edge of the foot is double and 
rectilinear from side to side, not perceptibly auriculate. 

Scaia Sayana Dall. 
S. clathrus Say pro parte, non Auct. or Linne. 

Say described in 1831, supposing it to be the European clathrus (S. communis 
Lam.), a shell from which he separated as a variety angulata, the well known 
species afterward named S. Humphreysii by Kiener and S. turbinata by Conrad. 
The typical clathrus of Say, however, has never been elucidated or named. 
It is a white shell with nine well marked varices continuous to the apex, which 
has a smooth translucent pale brown nucleus of about three whorls. It has 
none of the coloration of S. communis, from pale specimens of which it differs 
by its greater slenderness and delicacy, by the deeper notch where the varices 
of one whorl join those of the preceding whorl, by the longer curve which the 
combined varices describe around the spire in the same length, and by the ab- 
sence of the prolongation of the anterior margin of the lip, which is so marked 
a feature of S. communis. In S. Sayana the interstices are polished, smooth, 
with occasional faint microscopic spiral striae. It never attains the size of 
S. communis; the largest specimen I have seen has nine whorls, and measures 
18 by 7 mm. 

The National Museum has specimens from Virginia to Key West, and also 
from Corpus Christi, Texas. 

In a male specimen there were six slender nearly straight teeth on each side 


310 BULLETIN OF THE 

of the edentate rhachis, the tip of the largest tooth showing two deep notches, 
separating two very sharp curved denticles from three much smaller denticles 
below the lower notch. The foot is nearly five times as long as wide, grooved 
below in its posterior half, bifid behind, double and nearly straight across the 
front edge, which is a little wider than the sole behind it. The tentacles are 
long and slender. The crop is armed on each side by a coriaceous plate, 
opaque white inside, black outside, backed by a thin subovate horny plate, 
having a minutely cellular or reticulated surface. 

Scala scipio n. s. 

Shell livid flesh-color, brilliantly polished, smooth, with nine to fifteen 
whiter thin low varices, curved and appressed at the suture, where they are 
slightly expanded; here and there one is of double size. The varices are often 
but not always continuous; the whorls are rounded, ten or fifteen in number, 
of which three, hardly distinguishable from the rest except 'by their paleness, 
are nuclear ; mouth ovate, lip thin, narrow, reflected ; base rounded without a 
disk or cordon ; suture distinct but partly filled by the expanded tips of the 
appressed varices. Lon. 16.0, max. lat. 4.0 mm. 

A specimen of eleven whorls, without the nucleus and with the aperture 
broken, was collected by Strebel at Vera Cruz, in 1866. A tip with the nucleus 
from Station 2597, in fifteen fathoms, twenty miles S. W. by S. from Cape 
Hatteras, N. C, was sent in by the U. S. Fish Commission, and one from 
12 fms., near Frying Pan Shoals, by Dr. Rush,'U. S. N., both of which are in 
the U. S. National Museum. This is the most slender recent species I have 
seen, and is readily recognized by its livid pink color, glassy polish and thin 
varices, compactly rolled spire, and absence of umbilicus, fasciole, or disk on 
the base. It is nearest to S. aciculina Hinds, but still more slender and drawn 
out. 

Scala apiculata n. s. 

Shell white, with three smooth nuclear whorls, then three whorls each with 
15-20 close low even varices, then two whorls with about ten strong high 
hardly reflected varices; interspaces on the early three whorls strongly, after- 
ward less strongly spirally grooved, the interspaces on the last two whorls 
quite smooth; shell imperforate, lip broad, not dentate behind, obsolete on the 
body whorl, and produced and somewhat scooped out anteriorly, the inner 
angle of this edge making a narrow fasciole around the axis. Lon. 5.0, lat. 
2.5 mm. 

Habitat. Off the coast of North Carolina, Stations 2596 and 2616 of the 
U. S. Fish Commission, in 17-50 fms., sand. 

This interesting little shell presents certain analogies with S. multistriata Say. 
It is much smaller and more turbinate, the spiral sculpture and the numerous 
varices exist on fewer whorls, the spiral sculpture fails entirely on the later 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 311 

whorls, and the varices are more erect and lamellar, and the suture less dis- 
tinct than in S. multistriata of the same length. The fasciole is quite absent 
in the last mentioned form, but they both agree in having more varices and 
stronger striae on the early whorls than on later ones. 

Scala modesta Adams. 
Scala modesta C. B. Adams, Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., II. p. 7, 1845. 

The shell described by Morch (Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci., VIII. p. 203, 1876) 
under this name, and serving as the type of his subgenus Ianthoscala, is not 
the shell described by Prof. Adams, as a comparison of diagnoses shows at 
once. S. modesta, from the author's types, is solid, white, with eleven continu- 
ous varices, and is engraved all over with fine sharp spiral striae, which even 
ascend the varices. Moreh's shell is smooth and has twenty-one varices, and, 
as I do not find any name for it, may be called S. permodesta. S. modesta is 
well distinguished from S. centiquadra Morch by the absence of decussation in 
the fine sculpture, and by its much stouter build and stronger varices of trian- 
gular rather than lamellar section. It has no resemblance to S. venosa Sby., 
but S. undecimcostata Morch is very likely a synonym of modesta. 

Scala clathrus Linne. 

Scala clathrus Linne', Syst. Nat., ed. xii., p. 1237. (S. lamellosa Lam. pro parte, Morch, 
Scalida, loc. cit., p. 109.) 

I am entirely in accord with Morch as to the propriety of separating the 
West Indian shell from S. lamellosa (= S. commutata Mts.) of the Mediterra- 
nean. With a fine series of both before me, I can find no approach to the 
transition spoken of by Mr. Tryon in his Manual. The two forms are as dis- 
tinguishable as the vast majority of species, and would very likely be put in 
two " genera " by the so called " new school " conchologists ; not that this, 
however, would form much of an argument. 

As the. only clathrus of Linne which can be identified is the present species, 
it would seem as if his name should be retained for it, otherwise it must have 
a new one, the available synonyms all referring to the Mediterranean form. 

Scala babylonia n. s. 

Shell thin, white, elongate, with fifteen rounded whorls (nucleus lost) each 
ornamented with about twenty-five thin sharp varices each of which has a 
small triangular sharp point half-way from the suture to the periphery; behind 
these the interspaces are smooth to the suture; in front of the varical points 
the surface is sculptured with raised flat-topped threads with wider intervals 
between them and numerous still finer spiral strias; the spiral sculpture does 


312 BULLETIN OF THE 

not crenulate the varices; shell imperforate, without basal disk or cordon; 
aperture small, lip thin, narrow, hardly reflected, tortuous and a little patulous 
at the anterior end of the axis; suture very deep. Lon. 30.0, max. lat. 
6.5 mm. 

Habitat. U. S. Fish Commission Station 2678, in 731 fms., light gray ooze, 
bottom temperature 38°.7 F. 

The specimen procured was fresh, but without the soft parts. This beautiful 
species somewhat resembles Verrill's figure of S. Dalliana, but is longer, much 
more cylindrical, and has strong spiral sculpture which is wanting in that 
species. The upper fourth of S. babylonia, which would about correspond in 
size to S. Dalliana, has the costa? more sparse, thin and erect, the whorls much 
rounder, and the suture much deeper than in that species. None of the other 
species described from deep water are much like it. 

Scala (Acrilla) retifera n. s. 

Shell small, thin, yellowish or grayish, with ten ordinary and three pol- 
ished dark brown smooth nuclear whorls; apex acute, whorls well rounded, 
suture distinct; whorls closely reticulated by (on the last about twenty-five) 
little-elevated thin transverse lamella?, and five strong, even, regular revolving 
or spiral ribs over which the lamella? are fluted and frilled with great regularitj'. 
The lamella? pass from the suture to the margin of the very large basal disk, 
over the edge of which they pass as slightly raised lines centring at the axis of 
the shell, and giving a wheel-like appearance to the disk, which is also sculp- 
tured by fine radiating and stronger revolving threads; the disk is a little con- 
cave, and like the rest of the shell tinged with brownish yellow, but the 
columella or axis is pure white, polished, and shows a single strong spiral fas- 
ciole; the lip is thin, hardly at all reflected, the margin is angulated by the 
carina of the disk and at the somewhat projecting columella so that the aper- 
ture has a squarish appearance. The whole base from the suture down is 
occupied by the disk. Lon. 12.5, max. lat. 4.3 mm., of the largest specimen. 

Habitat. "Seventeen to twenty-five miles off the coast of North Carolina, at 
U. S. Fish Commission Stations 2595 and 2596, in 49 to 63 fms., sand, bottom 
temperature 75°.0 F. 

This very pretty species is related to Acrilla decussata of Lamarck as iden- 
tified by M. de Boury. This differs from S. retifera in its smaller and less 
emphasized basal disk, its much more numerous and less regular spiral stria?, 
and raised threads which do not flute the transverse lamella?. S. decussata 
appears also to reach a much larger size. There is no other recent species 
which is at all like S. retifera, so far as I have been able to discover. Sowerby's 
figure of decussata is not unlike S. retifera, but it does not represent the origi- 
nal decussata of Lamarck, which is a fossil species. 


MUSEUM OF COMPAKATIVE ZOOLOGY. 313 

Scala Frielei n. B . 

Shell small, thin, whitish, acute at the apex, rapidly enlarging, perforate; 
spirally sculptured with distinct regularly evenly disposed raised threads 
without interstitial striae ; these are crossed by close-set fine incremental lines, 
and by (in the last whorl about twenty-two) hardly raised, sharp, very thin, 
irregularly disposed lamella?, which are highest near the suture but not ap- 
pressed or continuous over it, and are weakest on the periphery ; there are 
three pale smooth polished nuclear, and four ordinary well infiated whorls 
with a deep but not channelled suture; the base is rounded, the perforation 
small and oblique ; there is no basal disk or cordon ; the mouth is rounded 
oval, with a thin sharp edge; the lamella? are not crenulated by the spiral 
lines. Lon. 4.75, lat. 2.5 mm. 

Habitat. Off Hatteras, at Station 2595 in 63 fins., sand, U. S. Fish 
Commission. 

This pretty species has a good deal the aspect of S. dubia, as figured by 
Sowerby (Thes., pi. xxxiii. fig. 41), but has a more acute apex and unobstructed 
suture. It is named in honor of Mr. Herman Friele of Bergen, distinguished 
for his excellent researches on the Mollusks of the Norwegian North Atlantic 
Expedition. The varices hardly rise above the surface, and are extremely thin 
and sharp. 

Scala Rushii n. s. 

Shell resembling in details of sculpture the preceding species, but yellowish 
or livid with a pale peripheral zone; shell much more elongated and slender, 
with three nuclear and six ordinary well rounded whorls ; the twenty-five 
lamellae on the last whorl a little more elevated and more regularly dispose-. , 
and with a tendency to cross the suture; the base is rounded and imperforate, 
the mouth rounded oval, the columellar part of the lip alone thickened, the 
rest sharp, hardly reflected; the sutures are deep and the spiral sculpture very 
regularly disposed. Lon. 6.25, max. lat. 2.5 mm. 

Habitat. Off Hatteras, U. S. Fish Commission Stations 2595 and 2596, in 
49 to 63 fms., sand ; and at Samana Bay, St. Domingo, a white, rather more 
slender variety, stylina. 

This elegant little species is not unlike a S. decussata in miniature, with 
fainter varices or lamella?, smoother surface, and no basal disk. It is dedicated 
to Dr. W. H. Rush, U. S. N. 

In the U. S. National Museum there are two species of Scala of this general 
character, which appear to be undescribed, but which I reserve for more ma- 
terial if possible, as they are quite small, and represented bj r one or two 
specimens each. 

Scala sericifila n. s. 

Shell slender, solid, pure white, with three translucent apical and six opaque 
whorls, obtusely angulated at and a little concave behind the periphery. 


314 BULLETIN OF THE 

Nuclear turns glassy, smooth, the others engraved throughout with extremely 
fine, sharp, well marked spiral striae crossed by about (on the last whorl 
twenty-five) rounded smooth moderately elevated strong transverse ribs, very 
obliquely set, appressed a little at the suture, but with no sharp angles, spines, 
or irregularities. These ribs are separated by interspaces no wider than the 
ribs themselves, nearly hiding the spiral sculpture ; base handsomely rounded, 
without disk or cordon, imperforate; aperture subcircular, lip thickened but 
not varicose. Lon. 5.1, max. lat. 2.0 mm. 

Habitat. Coast of Honduras, Simpson. 

The appearance of this little shell is extremely elegant, owing to the com- 
pact, neat, clean-cut sculpture, and the peculiar manner in which the side of 
the whorl next the suture is flattened away from the periphery. I have been 
unable to find any figure resembling it. The upper figure of Jeffreys's S. semi- 
disjuncta (P. Z. S. 1884, pi. x. fig. V), if the whorls were closer together and 
the varices solid and smooth instead of lamellar and angulate, would look a 
little like it. It recalls a piece of " stranded " cable in which the separate 
twines stand out clearly. 

Scala nitidella n. s. 

Shell thin, delicate, with nine well rounded and four nuclear whorls, hav- 
ing the most brilliant polish; shell white or more generally liberally blotched 
with cloudy spots of light brown disposed in an irregularly spiral manner 
along the whorl. Varices nine, frequently continuous, low, narrow, smooth, 
white, recurved, the tip appressed at the suture on to the preceding whorl. 
Base rounded, umbilicate, with no spiral sculpture, cordon, or disk; whorls in 
contact at the suture, which is deep and distinct ; on each whorl, or nearly 
every one, one of the varices is markedly larger than the others; aperture 
egg-oval, lip moderately reflected, a little expanded toward the axis anteriorly. 
Apex acute, whitish, glassy. Lon. 13.5, max. lat. 5.0 mm. 

Habitat. Fifteen to thirty miles off the North Carolina coast, in about 50 
fins., sandy bottom, U. S. Fish Commission. 

This pretty species recalls S. lineolata Kiener, from which, however, it is 
more than sufficiently separated by the great difference in the number of ribs, 
the form of the lip, etc. It is remarkable for the brilliant polish of its surface, 
and is separated from the whole clathrus group by the absence of any basal 
cordon. 

Scala muscapedia n. s. 

Shell thin, elongated, eight-whorled (without the nucleus) with deep sutures, 
inflated whorls, and imperforate base; color white with three rows of brown 
spots, about one spot to a varix, those on the base roundish, those on the periph- 
ery elongate pyriform, and laid on obliquely frontwise and to the right, the 
posterior series between the last and the suture resembling a faint band; 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 315 

surface spirally sculptured with numerous strong raised lines between which 
are 2-4 much finer ones, all reticulated by well marked elevated incremental 
lines, and crossed by (on the last whorl thirteen) solid smooth white recurved 
varices, mostly continuous over the spire, though descending deeply into the 
suture and not appressed to the preceding whorl. Close to the suture is a 
notch in each varix, over which is recurved a very short sharp spine (usually 
broken off) ; base sculptured like the rest, with no cordon or disk, imperforate 
with a very narrow axial fasciole; aperture roUnded ovate; lip reflected, rounded, 
not very wide, slightly anteriorly expanded but not patulous. On the last 
whorl one or two varices are larger than the rest. Lon. 17.5, max. lat. 5.5 mm. 

Habitat. U. S. Fish Commission Station 2619, twenty-five miles off Cape 
Fear, N. C, in 15 fms. 

This beautiful species is nearest to S. centiquadra Morch, from which it 
differs by its more numerous, smaller, and differently shaped varices, which 
are compact and rounded, while in centiquadra they are sharp and blade-like ; 
by its color, the last mentioned being white ; and lastly by the different char- 
acter of the reticulation, which is much more even in both directions in centi- 
quadra than in the present species, resulting in a finer and more square network 
in the former, which when worn remains in the shape of punctures. 

Scala eburnea Potiez & Michaud, is among the species dredged south of Hat- 
teras by the U. S. Fish Commission. It is said to be the S. fragilis of Gray. 

Scala Dalliana Verrill & Smith. 

Scalaria Dalliana Verrill & Smith, Am. Journ. Sci., XX. pp. 391, 395, Nov., 1880; 

Trans. Conn. Acad., V. p. 527, pi. lvii. fig. 33, 1882. 
Scalaria clathratula Jeffreys, P. Z. S. 1884, p. 136, not of Adams. 

Off Martha's Vineyard, in 100-200 fms. ; off the coast of North Carolina at 
Stations 2592, 2595, and 2614, in 63-168 fms., U. S. Fish Commission. 

This species was referred by Dr. Jeffreys to S. clathratula, from which it is 
perfectly distinct. In examining the Scalidm of the Jeffreys collection, I came 
upon the specimen received by Dr. Jeffreys from Prof. Verrill, and still retain- 
ing his label, upon which the erroneous opinion was based. To my surprise 
it proved to be a specimen of clathratula, quite as different from the genuine 
Dalliana as any of the European specimens. I mention this here, because, if no 
accidental substitution has taken place, it adds one species to our fauna, and 
explains what would otherwise seem an extraordinary blunder to those who 
are acquainted with the two species. 

Scala (Cycloscala) Dunkeriana Dall. 

Scalaria soluta Dunker, Morch, Malak. Bliitt., XXII , 1874, p. 145; Cat. W. I. Sca- 
lida, No. 10, p. 195, pi. xxix. fig. 5, 1876. Not S. soluta A. Adams, 1862, nor 
S. soluta Tiberi, 1863. 

Habitat. St. Thomas, W. I. Krebs; Garden Key, Tortugas, Simpson; No 


316 BULLETIN OF THE 

Name Key, Florida, in grass below low water, Hemphill; Turtle Harbor, 
Florida, in 6 fms., Dr. Rush; Samana Bay, Santo Domingo, Couthouy. 

This remarkable and beautiful little species, now first announced as a mem- 
ber of the fauna of the Southern United States, requires a new name, as that 
given to it by Dunker and Mdrch was already preoccupied both by Adams 
and Tiberi. 

These cycloid Scalidce, with the later whorls disjoined and the varices scal- 
loped, like S. hyalina, Dunkeriana, etc., will probably require a section to 
themselves, which might well be called Cycloscala. 

Scala (Sthenorhytis) pernobilis Fischer & Bernardi. 

Scalaria pernobilis Fischer & Bernardi, Journ. de Conchyl., V. p. 293, pi. viii. figs. 2 

3, 1856. 
Scala pernobilis Morch, Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., new ser., VIII. p. 196, 1876. 

Habitat. Islet of Marie Galante, near Guadelupe, with a hermit crab, taken 
in a fisherman's net, Beau; four miles off Morro Light, Havana, Cuba, at 
Station No. 2, in 805 fms., Blake Expedition; at Station 2601 of the U. S. Fish 
Commission, thirty-six miles S. \ W. from Cape Hatteras, in 107 fms., gray 
sand with pebbles, bottom temperature 67°. 4 F. 

This is the finest known species of the group. The only specimen taken 
alive and perfect is that of the U. S. Fish Commission, which measures 28 by 
38 mm. The operculum is black, five or six whorled, concave, with a slightly 
ragged margin, dull outside, polished, with a small central prominence on the 
inside. The animal exuded a vast quantity of dark purple fluid, and was white 
in color. 

Scala (Sthenorhytis) belaurita n s. 

Plate XVIII. Fig. lib. 

Shell solid, white, smooth, with a short and sharply pointed spire of ten or 
eleven rounded whorls and widely expanded pointed varices; the last whorl 
forming more than half the length of the shell; nucleus glassy, thin, smooth; 
whorls closely adjacent, axis imperforate; spiral sculpture consisting of a single 
elevated thread passing from the posterior end of the aperture around the base; 
whorls smooth and shining, their surface overshadowed by the expanded vari- 
ces, of which there are thirteen on the last whorl, which seem to be continu- 
ously joined to those of the preceding whorls; varices thin, broad, oblique, 
sharp, concave behind, extending directly outward from their attachment lie- 
hind near the suture to a linguiform point, from which they round to the base 
of the aperture, and passing that are welded together in a semilunate twisted 
callus en the axial side of the aperture ; the basal area would be well marked 
were not the varices continued over it in such a way as to screen it; the aper- 
ture is entire and almost circular, its margin even with the anterior plane of 
the varix, which, though polished, is irregularly lightly dimpled or malleated ; 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 317 

interior white, polished. Lon. of shell, 8.3; of last whorl, 4.4; of last varix, 
3.1; of aperture, 2.5; max. lat. of last whorl, 6.75; of varix, aperture, and 
callus taken together, 4.75; of aperture, 2.3 mm. 

Station 290, off Barbados, in 73 fms., sand and shell, bottom temperature 
71°.0 F. 

This very lovely species does not resemble closely any of those described in 
the monographs. The form of the varices recalls those of Hoplopteron. In its 
turbiniform shape it resembles S. pernobilis, the young of which, judging from 
the apex of the beautifully preserved Fish Commission specimen, have much 
more solid, hardly alate varices. It most resembles S. Diana Hinds, as figured 
by Reeve, but in this species, which comes from the Philippines, the alee are 
situated on a different part of the varix, and are of a distinctly different shape. 

One would think the sharp close-set varices an excellent defence, but the 
specimen described has been drilled by a carnivorous gastropod. 

Scala centiquadra Murch. 

S. centiquadra Morch, Cat. Scalidas, he. cit., p. 195, pi. xxix. fig. 4, 1876 (ref. excl.), 
non Malak. Blatt, XXII. p. 145, 1874. 

Habitat. Station 2, in 805 fins., one dead specimen; Bahamas, Rawson; off 
Hatteras, in 49 fms., U. S. Fish Commission. 

There is no doubt that the species which Mbrch described in 1876, and fig- 
ured as <S. centiquadra is entirely distinct from the shell figured by Sowerby 
under the name denticulata. Why Morch should have confounded them does 
not seem plain, nor why he should have referred to the name denticulata as 
preoccupied by Montagu, when Montagu's species is a well known West In- 
dian Rissoina. S. denticulata Sowerby is a good species, and has been obtained 
at U. S. Fish Commission Stations 2595 and 2596, in 49-63 fms., about twenty 
miles off the coast of North Carolina. It is striated spirally, but not decussated 
like & centiquadra. A variety (?) sent by Governor Rawson from the Bahamas 
shows great irregularity in the varices, of which there are six on the last whorl, 
two or three of which on each whorl are much stouter than the rest, and 
rounder than in the typical dentiadata. The others are fainter than the nor- 
mal, and the sutures are deeper than in the type, which has about twice as many 
varices. This variety I have named S. bahamensis, but I am not confident that 
a larger series would not establish it as a good species. 

Scala Pourtalesii Vebeill & Smith. 

Scalaria fourtalesii V. & S., Am. Journ. of Science, pp. 391, 395, Nov., 1880 ; Trans. 
Conn. Acad., V. p. 527, pi. lvii. fig. 32, 1882. 

Habitat. Off Martha's Vineyard, in 85-115 fms., Verrill; fourteen miles 
west of Gun Cay, Bahamas, in 351 fms., Dr. Rush: off Sombrero, West In- 
dies, in 72 fms., Blake Expedition. 


318 BULLETIN OF THE 

This pretty species is very near S. centiquadra, but is more turbiniform, has 
a looser coil and a perceptible umbilicus, and is distinctly striated only in a 
spiral direction. 

Scala Krebsii Morch. 

Scala Krebsii Morch, Malak. Blatt., XXII. p. 142, 1875 ; Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 
new ser., VIII. p. 192, pi. xxix. figs. 1, 2, 1876. 

Habitat. St. Martin and St. Thomas, in 60 fins., mud, Krebs; off Sombre- 
ros, in 54 fms., Blake Expedition. 

The single specimen obtained is rather young. 

Scala contorquata n. s. 

Plate XVIII. Fig. 9. 

Shell small, short, broad, acute, umbilicate, with rotund whorls loosely coiled, 
the later ones only joined by the fused varices; pure white, nucleus of four 
and a half translucent, flattened, smooth, shining whorls; the first extremely 
minute, the whole (in the type) set on obliquely to the axis of the adult, which 
has four and a half whorls, apparently smooth between the varices, but with ex- 
tremely fine sharp spiral striae scattered here and there sparsely; aperture very 
slightly longer than wide, rounded; peristome slightly cancellately rugose on 
its anterior face ; varices on the last whorl twelve, attached to the front edges of 
those on the next above, thin, sharp, not wide, edge (when not chipped) simple, 
slightly produced behind near the sutures; base without rib or carina, with a 
narrow but deep umbilicus, around which the edges of the varices are not fused 
with one another. Lon. of shell, 4.7; of last whorl, 3.2; lat. 3.5; max. diam. 
of aperture, 1.6 mm. 

Habitat. Station 248, off Grenada, in 161 fms., fine gray ooze, bottom tem- 
perature 53°. 5. 

This shell is shorter and more, pointed than any of the species described in 
Morch's Monpgraph of West Indian Scalidce. Its nearest described relative is 
S. Swiftii Morch, which is much more elongate, with the peristome anteriorly 
effuse, an almost closed axis, broader varices, and a shorter, stouter, and larger 
nucleus. A large series might indicate a relatiou closer than can be assumed 
from the few specimens in hand. 

Scala uncinaticosta Orbigny. 

Scalaria uncinaticosta Orb., Moll. Cuba, p. 19, IT. pi. xi. figs. 25-27, 1842. 
Scala uncinaticosta Morch, Cat. W. I. Scalidaz, Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 2d s-er., 
VIII. p. 201, 1876. 

Habitat. St. Thomas, Krebs; Guadelupe, Cande; Barbados, in 100 fms., 
Hassler Expedition. 

This little species is like a diminutive S. turricida, with proportionally strong 
varices and finer spiral lirae. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 319 

Scala polacia n. s. 

Plate XVIII. Fig. 10. 

Shell grayish white, thin, cylindrical with abruptly sharpened apex, twelve 
rounded whorls and numerous slightly elevated thin sharp varices; nucleus 
translucent, white, polished, three-whorled ; subsequent whorls spirally sculp- 
tured with ten to twenty slightly raised extremely fine flattened threads about 
half as wide as their interspaces, uniformly distributed over the surface and of 
uniform size; transverse sculpture composed by the fine sharp thin reflected 
and anteriorly convex varices, numbering about twenty-eight on the last whorl 
and slightly marked on their concave posterior faces by the extension of the 
spiral sculpture; whorls and base beautifully rounded ; suture distinct but not 
deep; lip not continuous over the body; line of the varices from one whorl to 
another in most cases continuous, over the whorl arched forward a little; aper- 
ture nearly circular, pillar very thin and not differentiated from the rest of 
the margin. Lon., 7.25; of last whorl, 2.5; max. lat., 2.5 mm. 

Habitat. Lat. 24° 15' K, Lon. 82° 13' W., Station 5, off Cuba, in 229 fms., 
soft ooze, bottom temperature 49°.5 F. 

But for the regularity of the varices and the fact that they are not crenulated, 
this lovely little species might be referred to Cirsotrema. 

Scala formosissima Jeffrets. 

Plate XVIII. Fig. 11. 

? Scalaria formosissima Jeffreys, P. Z. S. 1884, p. 140, pi. x. fig. 10. 

Shell small, thin, elongated, with a brown opaque sculptured nucleus of 
three and a half whorls and five and a half (or more) white normal whorls; 
imperforate, but with a chink behind the inner reflection of the peristome; the 
later whorls rounded, but with the periphery slightly flattened, giving a faint 
angulation to the base and posterior aspect of the whorl; the earlier turns do 
not show this; spiral sculpture between the sutures of some 8-12 flattened 
strong riblets, with channelled interspaces which grow wider toward the aper- 
ture but in general are narrower than the riblets; there are also some faint 
spiral lines; the apical turn of the nucleus is smooth and slightly asymmetri- 
cal, proportionally rather large and inflated, the remainder of the nucleus is 
strongly marked with flexuous riblets extending from suture to suture; the 
later whorls are marked with very fine transverse threads, hardly visible, and 
with thin, short, sharp, somewhat oblique, numerous crenulated or finely 
fluted varices, partly continuous with those of the preceding whorl and partly 
intercalary; the margins of the varices, though nowhere spinous, are slightly 
angulated in harmony with the above mentioned faint angulation of the last 
whorl or two ; they become obsolete on the somewhat flattened base, which is 
marginated by a slender elevated thread proceeding from the suture; the peri- 


320 BULLETIN OF THE 

stome is (in the type) not more reflected than the other varices, hut may be so 
in older specimens; the aperture is somewhat oblique and nearly circular. 
Lon. of shell, 8.05; of nucleus, 0.5; of last whorl, 2.75; of aperture, 1.87; 
max. lat. of shell, 2.75; of aperture, 1.87 mm. 

Habitat. Station 43, Lat. 24° 8' N., Lon. 82° 51' W., in 339 fms., off Tor- 
tugas Keys, bottom temperature 45°. 0. 

The nucleus in this species is markedly different from that of any of the 
other forms I have examined, not only in its relatively strong and peculiar 
sculpture, but in its solid and opaque consistency and deep color. I have re- 
ferred this shell to Jeffreys's species with some doubt. The fragments which 
represent his shell in the Jeffreys collection are much more drawn out, and 
can hardly be the same thing; but the figure in the P. Z. S., though still some- 
what, more slender than the Blake shell, is intermediate, and I do not feel justi- 
fied under the circumstances in proposing a new specific name for the latter. 
I retain, however, the diagnosis and figure, which were prepared before the 
publication of Dr. Jeffreys's paper, as perhaps serving to throw a little addi- 
tional light on the subject. 


Scala (Dentiscala) hellenica Forbes. 

Scalaria hellenica Fbs., Rep. iEgean Moll., pp 137, 189, 1843. 

Rissoa? coronata Scacchi, Phil. Moll. Sicil., II. p. 127, pi. xxiii. fig. 7, 1844. 

Scalaria crassilabrum Sowerby, Thes. Conch. Scalaria, p. 105, pi. xxxv. figs. 115, 116, 

1847. Tryon, Man., IX. p. 82, pi. xvii. fig. 32, 1887. 
Scalaria Scaccltii Homes, Moll. Wienerbeck., I. p. 479, pi. xlvi. fig. 12, 1856. Jef- 
freys, P. Z. S. 1884, p. 140, No. 20. 
Scala (Ojialia) sceeva Morch, Cat. W. I. Scalidce, Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila , 

VIII. Part II., 1876, p. 204, No. 38. 
Scala (Opalia) suhvaricosa Dunker, in Morch, /oe. cit., p. 204, No. 39; var. pumilio 

Morch, he. cit., p. 205. Not S. suhvaricosa Cantraine, 1842. 
Scalaria " crassilabris Sowerby," Morch, loc. cit., p. 205. 
Scularia hellenica Watson, Chall. Gastrop., p. 143, 1886. Tryon, Man., IX. p. 73, 

pi. xv. fig. 71, 1887. 
« Scalaria Leeana Verrill, Trans. Conn. Acad., V. p. 526, pi. lvii. fig. 34, 1882. Tryon, 

Man., IX. p. 82, pi. xvii. fig. 31, 1887. 
1 Scalaria hic.arinata Sby., P. Z. S. 1844, p. 30; Thes. Conch. Scalaria, p. 104, pi. 

xxxv. figs. 113, 114, 1847. 

Habitat. iEgean Sea, Forbes; Mediterranean, Philippi and Jeffreys; Ma- 
deira, AVatson ; Canary Islands, 40-1260 fms., Jeffreys, MacAndrew; Fernando 
Noronha, 7-25 fms., Challenger Expedition; Central America, Sowerby; West 
Indies, St. Thomas, Anguilla, Bahamas, Morch; Philippines, Cuming; 1 Sand- 
wich Islands, Pease; off Havana, in 80 and 119 fms., Sigsbee; 8 fms., in Strait 
of Florida, Dr. Rush; off Frying Pan Shoals, N. C, in 12 fms., Dr. Rush; 
Samana Bay, Couthouy; off coast of North Carolina, 40-168 fms., U. S. Fish 
Commission; Vienna Miocene and Pliocene of Piedmont, Homes and Nyst. 
April 16, 1889. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 321 

This interesting species should be studied with a large series, for individual 
specimens of the varieties above referred to it would seem sufficiently distinct 
for specific rank, in the absence of the connecting links. The shell, as originally 
described by Forbes, Philippi, &c, is small, slender, and very obliquely twisted. 
It is characterized by a spiral sculpture of flattened delicately vesicular threads, 
by two revolving ridges, and by ix-xv transverse ribs. In the typical hel- 
lenica the ridges are obsolete, the ribs rather strong, weakest on the periphery, 
with pits between their extremities at the suture. There are usually a few 
ribs, irregularly distributed, which are larger and more varicose than the 
others. 

In the variety pumilio (subvaricosa Dkr., non Cantraine), the anterior re- 
volving ridge is basal, the posterior forms a peripheral carina; the ribs have 
disappeared, leaving only nodules on the two ridges and at the suture; there 
is at most one extra varix, and usually none. 

The variety scceva Mbrch differs from the typical hellenica in its larger size, 
the more oblique ribs, strongest on the periphery, the absence of the revolving 
ridges, especially the anterior one, and the greater prominence of the extra 
varices. It is proportionately stouter, and the sutural pits are smaller and 
more numerous, even nearly obsolete at times. 

In the variety nodosocarinata the ridges are strong, as in var. pumilio, but 
both are more posterior, and the ribs in the intervening space are strong, regu- 
lar, and oblique. In size this variety is between pumilio and scceva. There 
are usually no extra varices. 

In what I suppose to be variety Lccana of Verrill, but of which I have not 
seen adult and perfect examples, the ridges are obsolete, the ribs more nearly 
axial in direction and rather irregular in breadth, stronger on the periphery 
in the last whorl only ; the sutural line irregular and not foveolate, the extra 
varices numerous, sometimes one to each whorl, the spiral threads rather finer 
than in var. scceva. The shell is somewhat larger, and, as might be expected 
from its northern habitat, less porcellanous and more earthly in color than 
southern varieties. All the varieties have a smooth shining subcylindric 
nucleus, which is generally brownish, or if light colored has a brownish line 
near the suture. 

In the variety Morchiana the shell is more slender; the ribs are fewer, stronger 
at the periphery, obsolete at the sutures, which are regular, and form an even 
spiral without pits, the whorl in front of them being evenly marginated; there 
are no revolving ridges nor basal carina; the spiral sculpture is as in var. 
•pumilio. 

In the variety bicarinata the carina; are present and very strong, but not 
nodose on the last whorl ; from the figure the ribs would seem to be wholly 
absent, but the suture is conspicuously punctate. Reeve's figure in the Iconica 
looks as if the type was a worn or beach specimen. 

VOL. XVIII. 21 


o 


22 BULLETIN OF THE 

Scala hellenica var. Morchiana Dall. 

Plate XVIII. Fig. 1. 

Shell small, slender, acute, solid, finely reticulate, imperforate, with seven 
and a half normal and three and a half thin, translucent, smooth, shining, nu- 
clear whorls; spiral sculpture of twelve to fifteen flattened crowded threads, 
a broader one marginating the anterior edge of the suture to which it is closely 
appressed; these cross (on the last whorl 9-10) rather angular transverse ribs, 
which on the last whorl are a little elbowed on the periphery, but in general 
are pretty even, becoming obsolete toward the sutures. The spiral threads are 
crossed by a multitude of extremely fine, rather even sharply defined lira?, 
which extend from suture to suture, neatly reticulating the spiral sculpture, 
and giving to the extremely narrow interspaces a punctate aspect; there are 
very few varices on the shell ; in the type the last whorl begins and ends with 
one; the aperture is nearly circular, with a groove around its inner margin, 
outside of which is the cancellated anterior face of the very thick varix, which 
is somewhat excavated behind; base rounded without carina or special sculp- 
ture. Lon. of shell, 6.87; of last whorl, 2.5; of aperture, 1.25; max. lat. of 
last whorl, 2.0 mm. 

Habitat. Barbados, 100 fms. 


j > 


Scala (Dentiscala) aurifila n. s. 

Plate XVIII. Fig. 4. 

Shell slender, solid, white, evenly tapered, with about thirteen moderately 
rounded, rather strongly sculptured whorls. Nucleus ? (missing in the type) ; 
longitudinal sculpture consisting, first, of five or six uniform strong rounded 
threads having a light yellowish color, which, when the shell is fresh, contrasts 
distinctly with the opaque whiteness of the rest of the surface; these threads 
pass over the transverse sculpture without Modulation, and are at a nearly 
uniform distance from each other, but the space between the posterior thread 
and the suture behind it is nearly twice as wide as the others; the remaining 
spiral sculpture is composed of very much finer, even, uniform rounded threads, 
four to six between each two large ones, and (on the last whorl) ten or eleven 
between the posterior strong thread and the suture; these are on the later 
whorls reticulated by similar but transverse threads, which pass over the whole 
sculpture from suture to suture, but which are obsolete or absent on the 
smaller whorls; in addition to these there are on each whorl about twelve 
strong rounded costse or elevated waves, extending backward from the pe- 
riphery of the base to the suture, which is coronated by their stout rounded 
terminations with the appearance of pits between them; these ribs have a 
slightly fiexuous outline, and upon nearly every whorl there is one or more of 
them stouter, more elevated, and more oblique than the others, having the 
character of a varix; the base is rounded, the basal area is small, margined by 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 323 

a strong rounded elevated thread under which the anterior ends of the trans- 
verse costae appear to be inserted, forming pits between them and rendering the 
outline of the basal surface somewhat stellate; within the margin there are one 
or two strong and numerous fine spiral threads, but the transverse sculpture 
seems obsolete; the aperture is rounded to the right, slightly flattened on the 
basal side, and narrowed behind; inside white and polished and with a slightly 
projecting margin behind which is the broad face of the thickened .varix, over 
which the sculpture of the whorl is continued to meet the aforesaid margin; 
the aperture is entire, but the axis is imperforate and the whorls closely adja- 
cent; the operculum is pale translucent yellow, of about three turns. Lon. of 
shell, 11.0; of last whorl, 3.6; of aperture, 1.5; max. lat. of last whorl, 2.75; 
of the basal area, 1.5 mm. 

Habitat. Station 206. off Martinique, in 270 fins., fine sand and mud, bot- 
tom temperature 49°.() F. 

This beautiful little species has quite a different aspect from the S. crcnalata 
group, to which it is most nearly allied. The yellowish color, which was quite 
marked when fresh, has in a year faded considerably, though the shell has not 
been exposed to the light. The operculum differs from that of the northern 
and extreme southern Opalire in being thin, yellow, and translucent, instead of 
opaque and black. 

Scala (Opalia) concava n. s. 

Shell dead and brown, with the nucleus and basal whorl imperfect ; the color 
is probably grayish or brownish white when in good condition; whorls 12-14, 
excluding the nuclear whorls; transverse sculpture of about eleven strong, nar- 
row, elevated, round-topped ribs extending across the whorls, which last, in the 
young stages, are somewhat rounded, but near maturity are quite flattened; 
the ribs are not continuous nor exactly alternate from whorl to whorl, but fall 
in with some irregularity; beside the ribs there are many close, fine, even, 
slightly elevated threads covering the whole surface and corresponding appar- 
ently to the incremental lines; longitudinal sculpture consisting of similar but 
less uniform revolving threads which cover the whole surface, but which a 
short distance before the suture are for a little space more distant, coarser, and 
more prominent than elsewhere; the intersection of these with the transverse 
threads gives the surface a decayed or porous appearance under strong magni- 
fication; beside this there is a single strong not much elevated carinal rib 
which revolves at the periphery of the base, and between the whorls forms a 
cord-like ridge separating the transverse ribs on one whorl from the same on 
the next whorl; the anterior margin of the suture is appressed toward this 
carina very closely; the base of the shell is smooth, and in the type quite con- 
cave from the carina to the pillar, but in the last adult whorl when perfect it 
is probably nearly flat; aperture rather small, angulated by the end of the 
carina, squarish. Lon. of shell, 14.0; max. lat., 4.0 mm. 

Habitat. Sand Key, 15 fins., with Pagurus. 


32-i BULLETIN OF THE 

This shell had been occupied by a minute hermit crab, and had the aspect 
of belonging in deeper water than that from which it was dredged. Notwith- 
standing its imperfect state, its characters are sufficiently distinct from any 
described species belonging to the region to identify it under any circumstances. 
Its superficial aspect is not unlike a small slender brown Opalia Wroblewskyi 
(= 0. borealis Gould, non Beck), though the ribs are more regular and more 
elevated, but placed under a strong lens the minute sculpture comes out with 
distinctness, and the resemblance to 0. Wroblewskyi is lost. It is related to 
0. longissiina Seguenza, of the Italian Tertiary, but is more cylindrical and 
slender, with fewer more pronounced and straighter transverse ribs. 

Scala (Opalia) discobolaria n. a. 

Plate XVIII. Fig. 3. 

Shell with six or more stout rounded whorls, rather rapidly enlarging; 
sculpture, in a transverse sense, consisting of (on the sixth whorl sixteen) 
stout rounded ribs, with interspaces not channelled, and extending from suture 
to suture ; surface granulose or porous, with, in the (somewhat worn) type, 
no indication of distinct spiral or reticulate sculpture; base solid, thickened, 
flattish or slightly convex, with a distinct margin, diskdike, granulose like the 
rest; the margin is buried in the suture so that it is invisible except on the 
last whorl ; aperture rounded, small ; color whitish externally, brownish be- 
neath the white layer. Lon., 6.5; max. lat., 3.0; Ion. of last whorl, 3.0 mm. 

Habitat. Station 20, off Bahia Honda, in 220 fms., bottom temperature 
62°.0 F. Lat. 23° 2'.5, Lon. 83° 10'.5 W. 

The type is considerably worn and has lost its nuclear whorls, but is per- 
fectly distinct from any of the species hitherto described from the region. Its 
strong numerous rounded costal, disk-like base, rounded whorls, granular sur- 
face, and unniarginated suture will suffice to distinguish it whenever perfect 
specimens may be obtained. 

Genus ACLIS Lov£n. 

The position of this group does not seem very well established. I have 
serious doubts as to whether it should be placed in the Seal idee, or referred to 
the Pyramidellidce, as Jeffreys would have it. The nucleus looks as if it might 
be in reality sinistral, but turned over so completely and at such an early date 
as to appear dextral. Observations on the extreme young are necessary to 
settle tin' question. All that is at present known leaves the matter doubtful. 

Aclis (supranitida Wood var. ?) lata Dall. 

Plate XVIII. Fig. 8. 

Shell like A. supranitida but proportionally wider and with a wider umbili- 
cus, with the suture less distinct and the whorls less incurved ; color greenish 
white; whorls, 13. Max. lon. of shell, 5.5; max. lat., 2.25 mm. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 325 

Habitat. Barbados, in 100 fms. 

This shell has a different aspect from the European species, but when the 
differences are formulated, as above, they do not sound very important. I 
presume it to be distinct. 

Aclis egregia n. s. 

Plate XVIII. Fig. 18. 

Shell thin, not polished, whitish, rather acute, eleven- whorled ; whorls 
neatly rounded, with distinct but not open or channelled sutures; nucleus 
smooth, translucent, a little pinched or turned up; the first three or four whorls 
nearly smooth, the next two or three with about twenty somewhat irregular 
costse which are more prominent posteriorly ; the subsequent whorls are nearly 
smooth, except for rather coarse lines of growth, with occasional faint indica- 
tions of costse; spiral sculpture none or very little; aperture pointed behind, 
somewhat produced in front, completed by a thin callus on the body; margins 
hardly thickened, that of the columella slightly reflected, forming a deep chink 
but no umbilicus; without teeth, plaits, or folds of any kind. Operculum and 
soft parts unknown. Lon. of shell, 13.0; of aperture, 4.0; max. hit. of shell, 
4.7 mm. 

Habitat. Station 228, off St. Vincent, in 785 fms., fine gray sand and ooze, 
bottom temperature 39°. 5 F. Station 163, off Guadeloupe, in 769 fms., fine 
sand, bottom temperature 39°.75. 

This species is very large for a true Aclis, and may possibly belong to another 
group, but agrees in all particulars with the European A. supranitida and 
others of the group, with which I have compared it. In the absence of the 
soft parts, some doubt must remain on the subject. 

Aclis nucleata n. s. 

Plate XVIII. Fig. 7. 

Shell white, polished, shining, elongated, with a blunt apex and minutely 
perforate base; whorls eleven and a half, less inflated and more uniform in size 
than in A . egregia ; nucleus immersed, oblique, much larger than in the last 
species ; sculpture indistinct, consisting of irregular indefinite transverse very 
slightly elevated ridges crossed here and there by obscure spiral lines, the 
whole only visible under a lens and giving the surface a slightly malleated as- 
pect; suture slightly appressed, distinct, not deep; aperture much as in the 
last species but not quite so much produced anteriorly ; pillar thin, lightly re- 
flected part way over a very minute axial perforation; outer lip thin, sharp, 
very little callus on the body between the posterior corners of the aperture. 
Lon. of shell, 9.3; of aperture, 2.25; max. lat. of shell, 3.0 mm. 

Habitat. Station 230, off St. Vincent, in 464 fms., gray ooze, bottom tem- 
perature 41°. 5 F. 


326 BULLETIN OF THE 

This little shell has a general resemblance to A. egregia except in the par- 
ticulars noted, is about one third less in length and two fifths less in maximum 
diameter. The nucleus is nevertheless about four times larger than that part 
in A. egregia. In both it is partially turned up, and more or less immersed 
in the first normal whorl, like the European species, with which I have com- 
pared it. 

Super-Family GYMNOGLOSSA. 

Family EULIMIDJE. 

Genus EULIMA Kisso. 

Eulima Risso, Hist. Eur. Merid. Moll., IV. p. 123, 1826. First species, E. polita 
Limie. 

The first discrimination of any part of this genus was the separation by 
Bowdich, in 1822 (Elem. of Conchology, p. 27), of the genus Melania, as then 
understood, into six groups, one of which, Melanella, was described as " semi- 
transparent, mouth invaded by the last whorl, white, turrited, spire curved, 
marine." The type, M. Dufresnei (pi. vi. fig. 17), is fairly well figured, and 
is probably the shell generally known as Eulima major Sowerby, noted for its 
distorted spire. The genus is assigned to M. Dufresne, but this is evidently a 
mere compliment, as Bowdich in his foot-note says, " I have ventured to sepa- 
rate the marine Melaniee, under the name of Melantho, the Melanella (in the 
cabinet of M. Dufresne)," etc. 

In addition to the disagreeableness of doing away with a name so universally 
adopted and appropriate as Eulima after sixty-two years of almost undisputed 
use, it is particularly annoying to be called upon to apply to a genus remarka- 
ble for the snowy whiteness of its species a name which implies that they are 
black. There is, however, a way out of the difficulty, though not strictly reg- 
ular, which the circumstances seem to justify. The principal character of 
Melanella Bowdich is that the spire is curved. Risso's species, on the other 
hand, are those with straight spires ; the only one he figures is a Liostraca, and 
his first species is E. polita. We may then retain the objectionable name of 
Melanella for the humpbacked Eulimas, and Risso's name for the more normal 
and elegant species. In this way the laws of nomenclature will not be in- 
fringed, and our feelings will be less outraged.* 

Melanella was indicated by Blainville in 1825 as Subdivision C of his genus 
Phasianella, ami, he figures the same species as the type (Manual, pi. xxxv. 
fig. 5) under the name of Phasianella inflexa. 

There are many species in the West Indies, but only a few were collected by 
the Blake. Beside those herein enumerated, the following species are known 

* Since the above was written, the subject has been discussed by Dr. Paul Fis- 
cher in the Journal de Conchyliologie, Vol. XXVII. p. 192. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 327 

from the southern and eastern coasts of the United States: Eulima conoidea 
Kurtz & Stimpson (Carolina coast to the Florida Keys and fossil in the 
Pliocene of South Carolina) ; Eulima gracilis C. B. Adams (Antilles and Yu- 
catan to Cape Fear, N". C.) ; Eulima subcarinata Orbigny (18-12, + E. oleacea, 
Tryon, Man., VIII. pi. lxix. fig. 36, non Kurtz & Stimpson, Antilles to Flor- 
ida and Hatteras); Eulima Varolii Dull (E. affinis C. B. Adams, 1850, non 
Philippi, 1841, Jamaica, Florida to North Carolina, in 8-63 this., sand); and 
Eulima (Melanella) gibba De Folin (63 fras., sand, off Cape Hatteras), origi- 
nally from West America. 

The " Odostomia" alba of Calkins (Davenport, Iowa, Acad. Sci., p. 239, 
pi. viii. fig. 3, 1878; non Jeffreys, 1857); described from Florida, on a compari- 
son of the original type kindly lent me by Mr. T. H. Aldrich of Cincinnati, 
proves to be Eulima conoidea Kurtz & Stimpson. Both the original figure 
and Tryon's copy of it look very little like the specimen itself. 

Section EULIMA s. s. 
Eulima intermedia Cantraine. 

Eulima oleacea Kurtz & Stimpson, Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., IV. p. 115, 1851. 
Eulima intermedia Cantraine, Bull. Acad. Bruxelles, p. 14, 1835. Jeffreys, P. Z. S. 
1884, p. 366 ; Brit. Conch., IV. p. 503, V. p. 214, pi. lxxvii. fig. 4. 

Habitat. Barbados, in 100 fms. Northward to New England. Mediterra- 
nean, British Seas, etc. 

It is probable that the name of intermedia ought not to stand, as the original 
description would have applied to any Eulima and many other shells. It 
would have been impossible to identify Cantraine's shell except with his speci- 
mens. On the other hand, the name has come into use, and the shell has been 
identified, while the American name and species are little known. I have 
compared authentic specimens of both species, and have no doubt of their 
identity. 

Eulima jamaicensis C. B. Adams. 
Eulima jamaicensis C. B. Adams, Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., II. p. 6, 1845. 

Habitat. Gulf of Mexico, Station 20, in 220 fms.; also Barbados, in 100 
fms. Florida, Hemphill and Jewett. 

For some time Mr. Tryon identified this species with Eulima pusilla Sow- 
erby. In his Manual he does not unite them, but unites two equally dis- 
similar species under that name (cf. figs. 6, 7, pi. lxviii., Man., Vol. VIII.). He 
also identified for the Museum Eulima gracilis C. B. Adams as E. pusilla Sby., 
but gracilis is very easily distinguishable from jamaicensis. These errors are 
not repeated in the Manual, but are worth mentioning, for the sake of numer- 
ous collectors, for whom the above identifications were made, and who may 
not be aware that Mr. Tryon finally came to a different opinion. The speci- 
mens in the National Museum were received from Prof. Adams, and have 
lately been compared with his original type. 


328 BULLETIN OF THE 

Section MELANELLA Bowdich. 
Eulima arcuata C. B. Adams. 

Plate XIX. Fig. 11. 

Eulima arcuata C. B. Adams, Contr. Concli., p. 110, 1850. 

Eulima curva (Jeffr. MS.) Monterosato, Journ. de Concliyl., XXII. p. 269, 1874. 
Not described. Tryon, Man., VIII. pi. lxix. fig. 49. 

Habitat. Barbados, 100 fms. Jamaica, C. B. Adams. Mediterranean, Ara- 
das, Monterosato. 

The types of Jeffreys and C. B. Adams have been compared, and are iden- 
tical. E. arcuata Sovverby (in Reeve, 1866) is a synonym of E. major Sow- 
erby (1834), which in turn is a synonym of Melanella Dufresnei Bowdich 
(1822) and Phasianella inflexa Blainville (1825). It is a totally distinct and 
very much larger species. 

Eulima elongata (Dautzenberg) Dall. 

Eulima curva var. elongata Bucquoy, Dollfuss, and Dautzenberg, Moll. Mar. de 

Roussillon, I. p. 21, pi. xxi. fig. 15. 
Eulima distorla Verrill, Trans. Conn. Acad., V. p. 526, not of Philippi. 

Habitat. Barbados, 100 fms. Key Largo, Florida, in fine mossy alga? at 
low water, rare, Hemphill. Off the Carolina coast, 22-63 fms., sand, bottom 
temperature 73°. 5 to 75°. F., U. S. Fish Commission. Norway (Sars) to 
the Mediterranean and Canary Islands. 

This form seems to retain its characters so faithfully, that I can see no 
reason why it should not be considered as good a species as most others in the 
genus. 

Subgenus LEIOSTRACA H. & A. Adams. 

I can see no reason why Leiostraca and Leiostracus should not exist simul- 
taneously in nomenclature, any more than Cyprina and Cyprinus. To reject 
these established names in favor of Subularia and Venilia, as has been pro- 
posed, is contrary to the spirit of scientific nomenclature, and serves to retard 
rather than advance science. If it be thought impracticable to adopt for 
Melanella the arrangement above suggested, the name of Eulima must be 
conserved for this group, and Leiostraca be abandoned. 

Eulima (Leiostraca) acuta Sowerby. 

Eulima acuta Sowerby, P. Z. S. 1834, p. 8. Tryon, Man., VIII. p. 280, pi. Ixx. 

fig. 82, 1886. 
Eulima bifasciata Orbigny, Moll. Cuba, I. p. 216, pi. xvi. figs. 1-3, 1842. 
1 Eulima stenostoma Verrill (Jeffreys), Trans. Conn. Acad., V. p. 536, 1882. 

Habitat. Barbados, 100 fms. Samana Bay, St. Domingo, Dall. Off Frying 
Pan Shoals, in 12 fms., Dr. Rush. Off Cape Lookout, North Carolina, in 22 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 329 

fms., sand, bottom temperature 78°. 2, U. S. Fish Commission. ? Gulf of 
St. Lawrence (fide Jeffreys). West coast of Central America, Sowerby. 

This species when in fine condition sometimes shows a pale yellow spiral 
line or two, on the last whorl, but it is usually white or translucent. 

The other species of the subgenus known from our southern coast are 
E. (L.) Hemphillii Dall, from the Florida Keys, and E. (L.) b'dineata Alder 
(1848, + fulvocincta C. B. Adams, 1850), which extends from Jamaica and 
St. Domingo to Florida, North Carolina, the Mediterranean, British Isles, and 
Norway. There is also a species with brown varices and a brown peripheral 
line, which I have only fragments insufficient fully to characterize. 

Eulima (Leiostraca) fusus n. s. 

Plate XIX. Fig. 11 b. 

Shell very acute at hoth extremities, smooth, polished, white, without sculp- 
ture except the trifling inequalities due to growth; whorls (tip of two or three 
whorls gone) about ten, slightly angulated at the periphery, flattened behind, 
anteriorly subcorneal; suture distinct but shallow ; aperture narrow, before and 
behind rather acute, almost canaliculate in front; the pillar straight, slightly 
callous; outer lip thin, simple. Lon. of shell, 13.3; of last whorl, 6.0; of 
aperture, 3.8; max. lat. of shell, 3.0 mm. 

Habitat. Station 100, off Morro Light, Havana, Cuba, in 400 fms., bottom 
temperature 39°. 75. Yucatan Strait, 640 fms. 

A remarkably spindle-shaped shell, with the aperture almost channelled in 
front. 


Genus NISO Risso. 

NisO splendidula Sowerby. 

Niso splendidula A. Adams, Tlies. Conch. Niso, p. 801, No. 4, pi. clxx. fig. 8, 1854. 
Eulima splendidula Sowerby, P. Z. S. 1834. 

Habitat. U. S. Fish Commission Station 2619, off the coast of North Caro- 
lina, 25 miles S. E. from Cape Fear, in 15 fms., sand. Station 2402, in 111 
fms., mud, between the delta of the Mississippi and Cedar Keys, Florida, in 
the Gulf of Mexico. St. Elena, west coast of Central America in 6-8 fms., 
sandy mud, Cuming. Pliocene of Florida. 

This magnificent shell can be identified at once by the chestnut articulations 
of the white bands behind the suture in the young, and on both sides of it in 
the adult. It has an extremely fine brown line at the keel, and at the com- 
pleted margin of each varix. The body color is a handsome yellow brown. 


330 BULLETIN OF THE 

Niso interrupta Sowerby. 

Plate XVIII. Figs. 5, 6. 

Niso interrupta A. Adams, loc. cit., pi. clxx. fig. 9. 
Eulima interrupta Sby., P. Z. S. 1834, fig. 9. 

Niso ceglees Bush, Trans. Conn. Acad. Sci., VI. p. 465, pi. xlv. figs. 10, 10 a, 1885; 
Annual Rep. U. S. Fish Commission for 1883, p. 83, 1885. 

Habitat. Gulf of Mexico at Station 36, in 84 fms. Barbados, 100 fms. 
Station 220, near Santa Lucia, in 116 fms., rocky bottom, temperature 58°.5 F. 
East coast of the United States, south of Hatteras, U. S. Fish Commission. 
West coast of Central America, Cuming. Japan, Dimker. 

All the species of Niso, so far obtained from the east coast of the United 
States and Central America, are probably derivable from one species. They 
differ only by trifling distinctions of form and by their colors. The northern 
specimens, whatever their color, have the whorls slightly flatter than those 
from the Antilles or the Gulf. 

The variations are as follows: — 

White, with traces of color at the varical angles. (Sta. Lucia.) N. interrupta 
var. albida, Dall, PI. XVIII. figs. 5, 6. 

White, with brown keel. (Barbados.) Var. circinata Dall. 

Pale brown, with narrow dark brown keel, no white bands. (Gulf of Mexico 
and West America.) N. interrupta s. s. 

Pale brown, with broad brown band between two white bands at periphery. 
(Hatteras, N. C, 15-107 fms.) N. interrupta var. tricolor Dall. 

Brown, more or less suffused with purple, brown band narrow, no white 
bands, flushes of purple brown on base and behind varices. (Carolina coast, 
7-100 fms.) N. interrupta var. ceglees Bush. 

Umbilical keel with white band on eacli side, other colors like var. tricolor, 
but all the white bands articulated with chestnut spots. N. (var. 1) splen- 
didula Sby. 

All of these forms exhibit transverse evenly distributed sharp straight 
scratches, extending forwajd from the suture. In general, they are difficult to 
see on account of the polish of the surface. The proportions are the same in 
all, but the young are more sharply keeled at the periphery. The keel is 
obsolete in .the adult shell. The length and number of whorls of the largest 
specimen of each variety I have been able to examine are as follows : — 

1. N. splendidula. Lon. 27.0, lat. 10.0 mm., whorls 17. 

2. N. interrupta var. tricolor. Lon. 18.5, lat. 8.0 mm., whorls 14. 

3. N. interrupta var. ceglees. Lon. 12.0, lat. 4.8 mm., whorls 12. 

4. N. interrupta var. albida. Lon. 8.1, lat. 3.5 mm., whorls 11. 

5. N. interrupta var. circinata. Lon. 6.6, lat. 3.0 mm., whorls 9. 

6. N. interrupta s. s. Lon. 14.3, lat. 5.6 mm., whorls 14. 

In the above list the nuclear whorls are not counted in any, since they are 
lost from some of the examples. Only numbers 1 , 2, and 6 were sufficiently 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 331 

adult to have lost the peripheral keel on the last whorl. I have never seen an 
adult of the var. ceglees, though my specimens are much larger than Miss 
Bush's types. The greater size of N. splendidula probably entitles it to spe- 
cific distinction, at least until the adult extreme of N. interrupta is known. 
The transverse engraving is present on all, though varying with individuals as 
to strength; the section Volusia of Adams does not therefore seem required for 
iV. imbricata, which differs only by the extent to which these are emphasized. 

A fine Niso, which seems to differ from N. splendidula only in being slightly 
wider, and in having more numerous whorls near the apex in the length, is 
found in the Caloosahatchie Pliocene of Florida. Without the nuclear whorls, 
and perhaps one or two post-nuclear ones, the fossil has 14 whorls, with a length 
of 31 and a breadth of 13 mm. The markings, so far as visible, indicate a 
pattern like that of splendidula ; the last whorl has no keel on the periphery, 
and the umbilical funnel seems a little wider proportionally than in N. splen- 
didula. This shell, which is doubtless the ancestor of the last mentioned 
species, is not rare in the Caloosahatchie beds, and may be called N. Willcox- 
iana after Mr. Joseph Willeox of Philadelphia, who assisted me in the most 
cordial manner to investigate that fossil fauna. 


Family PYRAMIDELLIDiE. 

Genus PYRAMIDELLA Lamarck. 

Section LONGCH^EUS Morch. 

Shell elongated, with a peripheral sulcus and the umbilicus closed or nearly 
closed, a distinct notch in the aperture anteriorly, which is followed by a well 
marked fasciole bounding the umbilical chink. 

The species of this group have, in my opinion, been inconsiderately lumped 
together by Mr. Tryon in his Manual of 1886. 

Pyramidella crenulata Holmes. 

Obeliscus arenosa Tuoiney & Holmes, Pliocene Foss. S. C, p. 12G, p. p. 1857, not 

of Conrad. 
Obeliscus cremdatus Holmes, Post PI. Foss., p. 88, pi. xiii. figs. 14, 14 a, 1859. 
Pyramidella alveata Conrad, Silliman's Am. Journ. Sci., 2d ser., II. p. 398, 1846. 

(Tampa Bay, not described.) 
Obeliscus floridauus Morch, Malak. Blatt,, 1875, p. 158. 
Syrnola pulchella var. ? Morch, Malak. Blatt., 1875, p. 159, probably. 
Pyramidella tessellata Adams (fide Poey), Arango, Malac. Cubana, p. 161, 1880; 

not of Adams. 
Obeliscus tesselatus Dall, Hemphill's Shells, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 1883, p. 330; not 

of Adams. 
Pyramidella conica Tryon, Man., VIII. p. 302, 1886 ; not of C. B. Adams. 
Pyramidella hastata Tryon, op. cit., p. 302 ; not of A. Adams. 


332 BULLETIN OF THE 

Pyramidella variegata Tryon, op. cit., p. 302; not of Carpenter or A. Adams. 
Pyramidella Candida Tryon, op. cit., pp. 302, 373 ; not of Morch or Meusclien. 

Habitat. Carolina coast southward to Florida and Cuba. St. Thomas, 
Cuming. West Florida, low water, to 2 frus., in the sea-weed or on muddy 
flats, Hemphill. 

The first person to observe this species was Conrad, in 1846, during his visit 
to Tampa, where he found it living, rare, on the shores of the bay. He named, 
but unfortunately did not describe it, though there is no doubt that his obser- 
vations can apply only to this species. Subsequently, after being at first con- 
founded with its precursor, the Pliocene P. arenosa Conrad, it was described 
bv Holmes from the Post Pliocene, its existence in a recent state being also 
referred to. The differences between arenosa and crenulala lie chiefly in the 
more elegant sculpturing and crenulation of arenosa. The differences in the 
teeth and folds alluded to by Holmes are not constant. Subsequently, the living 
shell was dredged by Stimpson, at Beaufort, N. C. 

The west coast representative of this species is P. conica C. B. Adams. A 
pale rosy specimen of this was apparently described a little later by A. Adams 
under the name of Obeliscus hastatus. Another beautiful color variety of this 
species is P. variegatus Cpr. (non A. Adams). These have dark and light 
varieties like the crenulata. All these and the next species have been lumped 
together by Mr. Tryon under the name of P. conica C. B. Adams. They are 
nearly related, but in my opinion distinct species. P. crenulalus has the two 
anterior small plaits dark brown, even in its light colored varieties. In P. con- 
ica they are always white like the large posterior plait, even in the darkest 
specimens. It is possible that the original hastatus A. Adams may be distinct 
from P. conica, but the specimens I have seen labelled hastata seemed to be 
merely a pale pinkish slender variety of conica. The variegatus Cpr. is ele- 
gantly marbled and mottled with brown, white, and pearl gray. There is 
another very delicate Californian species belonging to the typical section of the 
genus which does not seem to have been named. It is about 10.0 mm. long, 
and 4.0 mm. wide; white, with numerous golden brown dotted or hairlike 
spiral lines; a smooth or lightly spirally striate surface; moderately rounded 
whorls, about nine in number, without the usually decollate nucleus; the su- 
ture distinct but not channelled; the umbilicus reduced to a mere puncture or 
even absent; the pillar with one large and two anterior small folds, more trans- 
verse than in P. conica and stronger; fasciole obsolete; the outer lip sharp 
with three or four lirse in the throat. This species, which stands about mid- 
way between the two sections of the genus, was collected near the mouth of 
the Colorado River, at the head of the Gulf of California, by Dr. E. Palmer, 
and may be called P. auricoma. It is like P. monilifera on a much smaller 
scale. 

Stimpson observed, and I have confirmed it, that the operculum of P. crenu- 
lata is thin and corneous, with a reniform outline. It consists of about two 
turns, the spiral part being very minute and within the margin. It has a 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 333 

median spiral double rib, and is often notched by rubbing against the colu- 
mellar plaits. The animal is pale, the tentacles fiat and triangular with the 
black eyes rather close together, between rather than on the bases of the ten- 
tacles. Below, the mentum extends in two triangular flaps, rather smaller than 
the tentacles. The front of the foot is also triangularly auriculate at the 
corners. The animal is sluggish. Stimpson could find no radula. The pale 
variety is probably what Morch has doubtfully referred to " Syrnola" pulchella, 
which is not a Syrnola. 

Pyramidella Candida Morch. 

Obeliscus (Longchceus) Candidas (Meusclien) Morel), Malak. Blatt., 1875, p. 158. 

< Pyramidella conica Tryon, non C. B. Adams. 

? Pyramidella Gundlachi Dunker MS., Arango, Mai. Cuban, p. 161, 1880 (name only). 

Habitat. Barbados, 100 fms., northward to the Carolina coast, in 15-200 
fins., U. S. Fish Commission. Samana Bay, St. Domingo, Dall. Turtle 
Harbor, Florida, in 6 fms., Dr. Rush. 

I have never been able to obtain a copy of Meuschen's work. It is impossible 
to say how much probability there is of an identification of the present shell 
with the poor figures of the last century. The name must stand as of Morch. 
The P. Gundlachi of Dunker does not seem to have been described, but is 
probably this species. P. crenulata is larger, wider, with less sharply cut and less 
distinctly crenulated suture, and is rarely light colored, the brown columella 
and anterior plaits remaining dark even in pale specimens, which, like the 
varieties of conica on the west coast of America, are usually pinkish and deli- 
cately maculated with brown. P. Candida is pure white; it sometimes has an 
opaque white spiral line on the middle of the whorl, and two large and one or 
two small lirse in the throat, usually one less than a P. crenulata of the same 
size. The specimens sent by Dr. Rush show how curiously growth takes 
place in the different parts. Some have a perforate umbilicus, no lirse, and a 
simple columella without a plait or tooth ; a little later in the stage of growth 
the large and then the two small folds are developed on the pillar, and lastly 
the lirse opposite. A person without the intermediate stages would hardly 
dream that the toothless and the toothed shells belonged even to the same 
genus, though of course the folds on the pillar exist behind it and in the 
antecedent whorls. 

Section PHARCIDELLA Dall. 

In Fischer and Tryon's Manuals the section Amoura De Folin is referred to 
as constituted for Pyramidella} with longitudinal spirals on the base and sides 
and faint transverse ribbing. But Amoura is merely a misprint for Amaura 
Mbller, and the type is a shell which should be referred to Syrnola as a section, 
or to Careliopsis, if separated at all. There is really but one columellar fold, 


334 BULLETIN OF THE 


the second is merely the projection of one of the basal spirals, like those of 
Triptychus. If this misprint is to be elevated to the dignity of a section or 
subgenus, it should not be placed with the true Pyramid el las at all, for it evi- 
dently is but distantly related to them. But among the minutiae of the Alba- 
tross dredgings in the Antilles I find a specimen of a genuine Lonrjchceus with 
strong transverse plaits or ribs across the whorls, a peripheral sulcus, and the 
other characters as in Longchceus. If this is worth distinction as a section, it 
may take the name of Pharciddla. 

Pyramidella (Pharcidella) Folinii n. s. 

Shell small, pinkish white, eight-whorled; form much like that of P. Candida, 
with a strong deep peripheral sulcus; the posterior margin of the sulcus with 
a strong keel, the anterior margin lower, with a faint keel ; base rounded, 
finely spirally striate with evident incremental rugosities; space between the 
sutures flattish, with twenty or more strong transverse equal ribs; suture deep, 
channelled, not crenulate; aperture quadrate, the pillar with three folds, the 
outer lip with three internal line; the anterior teeth are oblique; there is a 
chink and a strong fasciole behind the pillar; the nucleus is lost. Max. Ion. 
of shell, 5.0; max. lat. of shell, 2.0 mm. 

Near Barbados, in 98 fins., sand, U. S. Fish Commission. 

? Section TIBERIA Jeffreys. 
Pyramidella nitidula A. Adams. 

Syrnola nitidula A. Adams, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., p. 355, 18G0. 
Pyramidella. (Tiberia) nitidula Jeffreys, P. Z. S. 1884, p. 3u"-j, pi. xxvii. fig. 8. 
Odostomia (Obeliscus) nitidulus Watson, Pep. Chall. Gastr., p. 487, 1885. 
Pyramidella minuscula Monterosato, P. mediterranea Monterosato, Obeliscus sufarci- 
7iatus Watson, and O. tinctus Watson, Jide Jeffreys, luc. cit. 

Habitat. Barbados, 100 fms. Japan, A. Adams. Mediterranean, Jeffreys, 
etc., 25 to 1095 fms. 

This shell may not belong with Pyramidella. It is very near Eulimella 
Smithii except for the plaits on the pillar. I am in doubt whether Mr. Adams's 
first reference was not the most correct. Still, the pillar is very like that of 
Pyramidella. It is very widely distributed, both in area and depth. I cannot 
see sufficient reason for referring it to Odostomia. 

Section PYRAMIDELLA s. s. 

Pyramidella dolabrata Linne. 

This beautiful and well known shell is found in Florida and the Antilles. 
I can see no sufficient reason for separating the Antillean and Indo-Pacific 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 335 

specimens, even as varieties. It is not among the Blake species, but has been 
received from the Bahamas, Key West, Cuba, Guadelupe, St. Thomas, Porto 
Plata, St. Martin's, Anguilla, and other West Indian localities, including the 
Swan Islands off Yucatan. It is the type of the genus and also of Humphrey's 
undescribed genus Obeliscus, which thus becomes an exact synonym of Py- 
ramiddla. 

A species of Syrnola or Styloptigma, under the name of S. turritus A. A. 
Adams, has been received from H. Cuming, as from the West Indies, but this 
locality requires confirmation. The original locality fov.S. turritus was Japan. 

Genus TURBONILLA Risso. 

Turbonilla (Leach MS.) Risso, Hist. Eur. Me'r. Moll., p. 224, 1826. Type, Turbo 

lacteus Linne. 
Chemnitzia Orbigny, 1839, not 1850. 
Turbonella (Leach) Gray, 1857. 

Fortunately for the present completion of this Report, and owing to the use 
of the trawl rather than the dredge, very few of this genus were obtained. I 
have been collecting material for some years, and have most of the described 
American species represented in the collection under my charge, and beside 
those which I can identify there are at least fifteen, and perhaps twenty, 
diagnosable forms which appear to be undescribed. It is impracticable to at- 
tempt, therefore, any revision or review of the species belonging to our region 
in this paper. 

Those who would go further are referred to Prof. Verrill's papers, Mr. 
Tryon's very praiseworthy account in his Manual, and the other literature on 
the subject. Bulletin No. 24 of the U. S. Geological Survey enumerates the 
species which have been mentioned in connection with the area under 
discussion. 

Turbonilla belotheca n. s. 

Plate XXVI. Fig. 7 d. 

Shell white, like polished ivory, with a faint yellowish broad band behind 
the periphery, or all pale yellow brown fading toward the apex; nucleus lost 
but apparently small and smooth; remainder (fifteen) of the whorls solid, 
strong with a slightly malleated aspect; spiral sculpture of the finest and most 
delicate scratches above the periphery, not constant or prominent anywhere, 
entirely absent from the rounded base and obsolete on the ribs; transverse 
sculpture of about twenty broad rounded ribs or waves, which disappear without 
reaching either suture, except on the early whorls; they are nearly straight, 
especially near the apex; incremental lines evident and somewhat irregular; 
aperture longer than wide; pillar incurved to form a single well marked plica- 
tion. Lon. of shell, 14.0; lat. of last whorl, 3.0; Ion. of last whorl, 4.0 mm. 


336 BULLETIN OF THE 

Habitat. West of Florida, in 50 fms. Gulf of Mexico, at Station 32, in 95 
fins. Barbados, in 100 fms. 

This species recalls T. paucistriata Jeffreys, which is smaller, smoother, and 
much less strongly ribbed. It does not resemble any of the northern species 
dredged by the Fish Commission, and it is more solid, and has a sleeker ap- 
pearance than any of the shallow-water species of our coast. 

Turbonilla flavocincta C. B. Adams. 
Chemnitzia jlavocincta Adams, Contr. Conch., p. 74, 1852. 

Habitat. Barbados, 100 fms. Jamaica, C. B. Adams. Samana Bay, Santo 
Domingo, Couthouy. 

This pretty and characteristic species has not yet been collected on the coast 
of the United States. 

Turbonilla interrupta Totten var. fulvocincta Jeffreys. 

Plate XXVI. Figs. 3, 2 b. 

Melanin rufa Philippi, Moll. Sicil, I. p. 156, pi. ix. fig. 7, 1836. 

Odostomia rufa Phil. var. fulvocincta, Jeffreys, P. Z. S. 1884, p. 356. 

Turritella interrupta Totten, Am. Journ. Sci., 1st ser., XXVIII. p. 352, fig. 7, 1835. 

Turbonilla rufa Jeffreys, etc. 

Habitat. Barbados, in 100 fms. Massachusetts, southward on the American 
coast. Shediak Bay, Nova Scotia, Whiteaves. Fossil in the Post Pliocene of 
Wando, South Carolina. 

This species is, as claimed by Jeffreys, identical with Philippi's rufa. The 
specimens pass through the same series of varieties. The form reported under 
this name from Nova Scotia by Whiteaves is remarkably distinct, taken by 
itself, but I suspect a connecting series could be obtained. T. Riisei Morch 
is probably identical. Extremely fine, large, delicately brown banded and 
finely sculptured southern specimens constitute my T. viridaria. The forms 
virga and punieea, described and queried by me as varieties of viridaria, are 
distinct. I have examined many hundred specimens from all parts of the 
coast, and find the modifications brought about by temperature are wider and 
more marked than any that occur among individuals from a single locality, 
and usually of a different kind. The northernmost specimens will always ex- 
hibit a tendency to loss of sharpness in sculpture, a rudeness in the general 
aspect, a thinner shell, and thicker and darker epidermis; sometimes a marked 
decrease in size. Specimens far south from the metropolis of a species are 
apt to be smaller, more sharply sculptured, brighter colored, with a thinner or 
indistinct epidermis, and a tendency to abnormality about the coil of the last 
whorl and the peritreme of the aperture. 

These small shells, when collected from a sufficiently wide geographical 

April 18, 1889. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 337 

range, will tell the story quite as well as the large ones, if not better, as the 
small species, not living too close to the beach, have a wider average geographi- 
cal range than the large ones from any depth of water. The present species 
affords an excellent example of this rule, and a study of its variations is most 
instructive. 

The figure of the soft parts of this species which appears herewith is from 
the unpublished manuscript of Dr. Wm. Stimpson, who observed it at Charles- 
ton, S. C; and collected specimens in Massachusetts Bay. The Chemnitzia 
speira of Eavenel figured by Holmes in his Post Pliocene Fossils of South Car- 
olina (p. 82, pi. xiii. figs. 1, 1 a) is with little doubt a synonym of interrupta. 
The species figured by Holmes as interrupta is, however, probably something 
else. 

Turbonilla curta n. a. 

Plate XXVI. Fig. 7 c 

Shell waxen white, acute, with nine or ten rather inflated whorls ; nucleus 
inflated, globose, sinistral, polished, mostly immersed ; remaining whorls sculp- 
tured with (on the last whorl) about twenty-five close-set rounded ribs, extend- 
ing from suture to suture, and but little % curved; also a few faint lines of 
growth; no spiral sculpture; base smooth, except for a few lines of growth; 
general surface polished; aperture subquadrate; pillar slender with a faint 
spiral ridge; suture very distinct. Lon. of shell, 8.3; of last whorl, 2.9; max. 
lat. of shell, 2.75 mm. 

Habitat. Yucatan Strait, 640 fms. Off Hatteras, in 15-124 fms., sand, 
temperature 61° F.; U. S. Fish Commission. 

This shell may not be perfectly mature, but in any case is unusually short 
for its breadth. The figure appears slightly less acute than the shell itself, 
and the anterior prolongation of the aperture is due to a fracture. It differs 
from all the species figured by Orbigny, Jeffreys, Watson, and Verrill, and I 
cannot identify it with any of the unfigured species of this puzzling group. 

The ridge or plica on the pillar is undoubtedly variable among individuals 
in some, if not all, of the species of this group. When apparently absent near 
the mouth it can usually be found on the pillar of the more apical whorls. 

Turbonilla pusilla C. B. Adams. 
Chemnitzia pusilla Adams, Contr. Conch., p. 74, 1852. 

Habitat. Barbados, in 100 fms. Jamaica, Adams. Northward to the 
vicinity of Cape Hatteras, N. C, in 15-63 fms., sand, U. S. Fish Commission. 

A single well preserved specimen of this species was obtained from the 
Blake collection. It seems to be rather rare everywhere. 

vol. xviii. 22 


338 BULLETIN OF THE 

Subgeims EULIMELLA Forbes. 
Eulimella unifasciata Forbes. 

Plate XIX. Fig. lie. 

Eulima unifasciata Forbes, Rep. JEgean Inv., p. 188, 1843. 
Odostomia unifasciata Jeffreys, P. Z. S. 1884, p. 351, pi. xxvi. fig. 8. 
Eulimella Smithii Verrill, Trans. Conn. Acad., V. p. 538, pi. lviii. fig. 18, 1882. 
Turbonilla Smithii Verrill, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., III. p. 380, 1880. 

Habitat. Barbados, in 100 fms. Northward to the vicinity of Martha's 
Vineyard, in 85-120 fms., living, U. S. Fish Commission. European seas, the 
Mediterranean, ^Egean, the Bay of Biscay, and the Azores, 30-1622 fms., 
Jeffreys. 

Eulimella scMcb Scacchi is found in the Antilles, Florida, and North 
Carolina. 

Section STYLOPSIS A. Adams. 
Eulimella (Stylopsis) resticula n. s. 

Shell extremely small and thin, with a minute upturned sinistral nucleus 
and eight swollen yet laterally flattened whorls. The shell is without lustre, 
of a waxen white, translucent, the gray mottled with black and yellow of the 
dried animal shining through the shell. Sculpture entirely of even fine spiral 
close-set microscopic grooves, covering the entire surface. Coil, as it were, 
pulled out and closely wound like a "stranded" rope; whorls laterally slightly 
compressed, but swollen in front of the suture and so having a turrited look ; 
base elongated; aperture rounded in front, narrow but rounded behind, the 
margins and slightly arched pillar simple and continuous except over the body. 
There is no umbilical chink or depression, nor any plait on the pillar. Lon. of 
shell, 3.5; lat, 0.7 mm. 

Habitat. Rare on the sand flats between tides at Key West, Hemphill. 

A singularly frail and odd-looking little shell. 

Subgenus CARELIOPSIS Morch. 
Careliopsis styliformis Mokch. 

Monoptygma (Careliopsis) styliformis March., Malak. Blitt., XXII. p, 169, 1874. 
Type of the subgenus. 

Habitat. St. Thomas (Riise), Morch. Beach, Sarasota Bay, W. H. Dall. 

This curious little shell is like a minute slender but few-whorled Turbonilla, 
thin, white, with no ribs, spirally closely grooved. Watson's figure of his 
Mucronalia xanthias is a good representation of our shell, except the mouth, 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 339 

which is entirely different. The present species has the mouth of a Turbonilla. 
It is now for the first time reported from the United States. 

This group is related to the ordinary Turbonillae, much as Cingida aculeus 
Gould is to the species of Alvania, or as ^sopus is to Ahachis. 

Amaura (Amoura by ?*■«•. typ.) anguliferens De Folin, probably, and Jaminea 
Duponti De Folin, from -.lauritius, certainly, belong to this section. 

? Genus SYRNOLA A. Adams. 
Subgenus OSCTLLA A. Adams. 

This group was according to Tryon proposed for forms of the Syrnola type, 
with strong spiral sculpture and a single strong spiral parietal plait. I have 
not seen the type, or even a good figure of it, if the above statement be cor- 
rect, for Adams's figure in the Thesaurus (pi. clxxi. fig. 26) shows distinctly 
three plaits, which are even perceptible in Tryon's copy of it (pi. lxxiv. fig. 
28). Then Mdrch in the Malak. Blatter (Vol. XXII. p. 158, 1875) proposes 
a new subgenus Triptychus, which is said to differ from Oscilla by " columella 
triplicata nee uniplicata." I presume that the diagnosis in the Thesaurus 
merely meant that there was one strong plait beside the two fainter ones, and 
the name Oscilla was based rather on the sculpture than the plaits. I have no 
doubt that Oscilla and Triptychus are synonymous, and the 0. annulata and 
Morch's T. nivca (my Pyramidella ? vincta of a later date) are even very simi- 
lar species. 

Oscilla nivca is found in the Florida Keys, in St. Domingo, St. Thomas, St. 
Martin, and Vieque. If this species be a proper representative of the group, 
I should feel disposed to separate it generically from Syrnola, for it certainly 
has quite peculiar characters. The strong parietal spiral thread is really the 
result of the basal sculpture, which enters the aperture and is overlaid with 
callus. The strong plait on the pillar is also coincident with a basal cord, 
which coils around the pillar and is much enlarged by the addition of callus. 
The two fainter anterior plaits are often obsolete, or nearly so. None of them 
have the horizontality and sharpness, like that of a screw-thread, so character- 
istic of Pyramidella proper, and yet they do not turn in with a twist like the 
pillar lip of Syrnola. The outer lip is lirate in the adult. 

? Genus PERISTICHIA Dall. 

Shell elongated, acute, many-whorled, dextral, with a small sinistral nucleus, 
spirally or reticulately sculptured; aperture ovate, lips thickened; columella 
straight, simple, without plaits; a basal cord entering the aperture on the body 
between the pillar and the outer lip ; aperture anteriorly a little effuse, but not 
channelled in front of the pillar; outer lip varicoid in the adult, internally with 
a few very strong lira; soft parts ? 

Type, Peristichia toreta Dall, Florida Keys. 


340 BULLETIN OF THE 

This genus has the spire, sculpture, and nucleus of Mathilda; the basal cord 
is like that of Oscilla nivea; the outer lip, though less patulous and more 
varicose, has something about it which recalls Rissoina. It is like an Oscilla 
without columellar plaits, or like a Mathilda with a thickened and internally 
Urate peritreme and rounded base. As far as one may judge from the charac- 
ters of the shell alone, this genus would indicate the passage between Mathilda 
and Oscilla ; the interrogation mark I have put before it indicates my doubt as 
to where it should be placed. 

Peristichia toreta n. s. 

Shell slender, yellowish white, thirteen-whorled; nucleus minute, glassy, 
set on edge, having about two turbinate whorls; spire with the suture distinct, 
marked by a plain or slightly undulate thread behind it; behind this is a 
strong nodulated spiral, with round nodules, then a little interval and two 
more slightly smaller similarly nodulous spirals, adjacent to each other and 
the suture behind them; the last whorl would show about thirty-four nodules 
in its circuit; transverse sculpture of elevated ridges, visible in the interspaces 
following the line of the nodules across the whorl; on the rounded base they 
appear as strong radii; base with one strong cord with a deep sulcus outside 
of it, and the space between it and the pillar somewhat excavated; aperture 
ovate, pillar straight, forming almost a right angle with the lip in front of it; 
outer lip with three strong internal lirav, body with the basal cord projecting, 
slightly covered with enamel; outer lip swollen, varicose, and whiter than the 
rest of the shell, its margin undulated by the external sculpture; callus joining 
the pillar and outer lips distinct and continuous. Max. Ion. of shell, 10.75; 
of last whorl, 3.0; max. lat. of shell, 3.0 mm. 

Habitat. Coast of North Carolina at U. S. Fish Commission Stations 2607, 
2608, in 18-22 fms., sand, sixteen miles off Cape Lookout, bottom temper- 
ature 73°-78° F. Charlotte Harbor, West Florida, in 2 fms., weedy bottom, 
Dall. Key West, between tides, H. Hemphill. 

This is an extremely elegant shell, in which the relative strength of the 
transverse and the spiral sculpture varies somewhat in different individuals. 
The sides of the spire are straight, but the whorls are distinctly marked. 

The color in very fresh specimens is a milky white, more or less clouded 
with pale yellowish brown on the base or sides. 

Peristichia agria n. s. 

Shell small, conical, white, eight-whorled, beside a minute glassy nucleus ot 
about two whorls; sculpture of, on the last whorl, one moderate spiral in front 
of the suture, three larger ones on the side of the whorl, the most anterior of 
which is covered by the suture as the whorls advance, a strong cord revolving 
on the base and entering the aperture midway between the pillar and outer 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 341 

lip, and a less prominent broad spiral between the last and the columella, 
which does not appear inside the peristome; these are crossed by, on the last 
whorl, about thirty strong narrow equal regularly-spaced cord-like riblets 
which are hardly nodulous at the intersections; the interstices are deep, and 
narrower spirally than they are axially; whorls moderately rounded and 
well marked; aperture rounded, waved externally by the sculpture, internally 
lirate; pillar concave, callous; a callus connecting it with the outer lip; base 
rounded, strongly sculptured, the aperture slightly varicose, but in older speci- 
mens than those before me probably markedly so. Max. Ion. of shell, 6.0; 
of last whorl, 3.0; max. lat. of shell, 2.5 mm. 

Habitat. Off Cape Hatteras, in 63 fms., sand, at U. S. Fish Commission 
Station 2595, bottom temperature 75°. 

Florida, at Marco, No Name Key, and Key West, on grassy bottom, between 
low water and two fathoms, H. Hemphill. 

This very lovely latticed little shell is shorter and more Odostomia-like than 
the preceding species. The sculpture is a good deal like that of Mathilda 
Rushii, but less crowded and less sharp. The specimens were all slightly less 
than adult, and the varicosity of the outer lip would doubtless have increased 
if they had continued to grow. 


Order SCUTIBRANCHIATA. 

Suborder RHIPHIDOGLOSSA. 

Super-Family SCHISMATOBRANCHIA. 

This group, like its compeer, the Dicranobranchia of Gray, to use the oldest 
of their numerous appellations, may be divided into two sections, one contain- 
ing spiral shells, and the other subcorneal or uncoiled species. Two of the 
four sections referred to will possess forms provided with an intromittent male 
organ, and others destitute of such an organ. The spiral Schismatobranchs 
are generally without a verge; Neritina and Helicina were until lately the 
known exceptions. Turcicula Bairdii, Margarita infundibulum, and several 
allied forms, are now added to the list. M. infundibulum has also a remark- 
able tubular modification of the right anterior epipodial lappet, so that it 
serves as a conduit for the seminal product, from the short tubular verge to its 
destination. The conical or limpet-like Dicranobranchs are usually without 
a verge, but it is present in Cranopsis, and probably in other genera. So far, 
no spiral Dicranobranch is known to have a verge, and no limpet-like Schis- 
matobranch to be without one. But our ignorance of the majority of forms is 
so great that no one can say how long the negative evidence will have any 
value. It is only within a few years that the writer has been enabled to deter- 
mine these facts, which seem so opposed to our previous experience and sys- 
tematic definitions. The need of investigation and the field for it, in the 


342 BULLETIN OF THE 

macroscopic anatomy of the mollusca, is so great that it is astonishing that it 
attracts so few students. 

It is probable that Scutellina will prove not to have a verge, but this is 
not yet certain; the other families comprising this section of the super-family, 
Addisoniidce and Cocculinidce, are known to be so provided. 

Family SCUTELLIN1DJE Dall. 
Genus SCUTELLINA Gray. 

Scutella Broderip, P. Z. S. 1834, p. 47. (Not Scutella Lam., 1816.) 

Scutellina Gray, P. Z. S. 1847, p. 168. (S. crenulata Brod.) Dall, Am. Journ. Conch., 

VI. p. 239, 1871. H. & A. Ad., Gen. Kec. Moll., pi. lii. fig. 6 (S.ferruginea). 

Pease, Am. Journ. Conch., IV. 99, pi. xi. figs. 26, 27 (bad). 

The genus Scutellina has long been of doubtful relations. I had endeavored 
in vain for sixteen years to obtain the soft parts in alcohol. Finally, a single 
specimen collected on the reefs near Key West, Florida, was sent by Mr. H. 
Hemphill, to whose admirable abilities as a collector naturalists generally are 
so much indebted. This has enabled me to correct several errors into which 
writers on this genus have been led, and to interpret more accurately what has 
been not altogether clearly written. 

This group has been referred universally to the Docoglossa, to which it does 
not belong. It has a purely rhiphidoglossate dentition, closely related to that 
of Neritina and Helicina. It is set in its shell like the other rhiphidoglossate 
limpets Fissurella, Emarginula, etc. ; that is, with the head turned away from 
the apex of the shell. Its gill is situated, like that of Neritina or Acmcea, on 
the left side above the body, and pointed to the right over the back of the neck. 
The anal papilla and that by which the products of the renal organ are ejected 
are situated exactly as in Acmcea. The tentacles are long and slender, the 
eyes well developed and placed on swellings at the outer posterior part of the 
tentacles. The distal end of the muzzle is expanded, semilunar, smooth, with 
a continuous margin a little produced at the outer corners. The mouth is 
small and situated in about the centre of the disk. The dental formula for 

the right side of the radula is R + (- -+- 2 -+- -)+ - ; x standing for the uncer- 

tain but large number of denticles on the first lateral, or of single uncini in the 
compound series. The central or rhachidian tooth (R) is flat, squarish, and 
edentulous, as in Helicina orbiculata. 

Scutellina antillarum Shuttleworth. 

Plate XXXI. Figs. 10, 11. 

? Scutellina antillarum Shuttleworth, in Poulsen, Cat. of West India Shell9, p. 14, 
No. 930, 1878. 

The shell, the only Scutellina I have seen from the Gulf or Antilles, I sup- 
pose to be Shuttleworth's species. It is a small thin shell, about 8 by 6 mm. 


MUSEUM OF COMPAKATIVE ZOOLOGY. 343 

at the base, and 3.0 mm. high. The apex is situated in the posterior fourth 
of the length, and has a minute dextral half-immersed spiral nucleus, whose 
extent is marked by a slight contraction where the conical shell begins. The 
anterior slope is prettily and evenly arched, the posterior slope steep and con- 
cave beneath the apex. The surface is of a brownish straw-color, the interior 
subtranslucent white of brilliant polish but not nacreous. The sculpture is of 
very numerous, fine, radiating raised lines, with minute spines or vaulted 
scales closely set upon them, giving a rasp-like surface; there are no regular 
concentric lines, but only occasional lines of growth. 

I have described it thus fully as I suspect Shuttleworth's name is a mere 
catalogue name which has never been validated by a description or figure. At 
least, after very full search I have failed to find any description or reference 
to a description. It is not the Patella (Acmcea) antillarum of Sowerby and 
Philippi. 

The chief characteristics of the soft parts are described under the remarks 
relating to the genus. 

There is no relic of an epipodium, nor is there any intromittent organ in 
the (female?) specimen examined. The margin of the mantle has a minute 
frill or fringe of papilla?. The gill is of lamellae, exactly like that of Acmcea, 
attached only at its base. The figure of the gill of a Polynesian species given 
by Pease (in the Am. Journ. Conch., IV. pi. xi. fig. 26) is doubtless erroneous, 
or rather an inaccurate rendering of an organ not observed minutely. It is 
quite possible, as stated by Pease, that the gill may be protruded at will while 
the animal is alive, but it would be interesting to have this observation 
confirmed. 

The figure of Scutellina, given from a sketch by A. Adams in the Genera of 
Recent Mollusca, is correct, but the figures are turned the opposite way from 
the figure of the shell beside them, thus giving the impression that the animal 
heads toward the apex ol - the shell, which is an error. The shell figured as 
Scutellina in Sowerby's Manual, second edition, fig. 509, is a Broderipia, and 
not a Scutellina. 

The final determination of the place which this genus should occupy is full 
of interest, and confirms my reference of Cocculina and Addisonia to the Rhi- 
phidoglossa. There is nothing strange in the fact that the last mentioned order 
should have conical forms as well as spiral ones, since in other groups, such as 
Geophila and Limnophila of the Pulmonata, we find analogous cases. The 
importance of the facts here summarized are my excuse for including them in 
this Report, since the species in question is not included in the Blake 
collections. 


344 BULLETIN OF THE 

Family ADDISONIID^E. 
Genus ADDISONIA Dall. 

Addisonia Dall, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 1881, p. 405, April, 1882. Jeffreys, P. Z. S. 
1882, p. 673 ; lb., 1884, p. 148. Fischer, Man. de Conchyl., p. 757, 1885. 

Addisonia lateralis Requien var. paradoxa Dall. 

Plate XXV. Fijfs. 1 a-e. 

Addisonia paradoxa Dall, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 1881, p. 405, April, 1882. 

Gadinia lateralis Requien, Coq. de Corse, p. 39, 1848. Petit, Cat. Moll., pp. 92, 264, 

1869. 
Gadinia excentrica Tiberi, J. de Conchyl., VI. p. 37, pi. ii. fig. 6, 1857. Weinkauff, 

Conch. Mittelm., II. p. 177, 1868. Dall, Am. Naturalist, p. 737, 1882. 
Tylodina excentrica Monterosato, Not. intorn. Conch. Medit., p. 57, 1872. Locard, 

Cat. Moll. Mar. de France, p. 67, 1886. 
Addisonia eccentros Jeffreys, P. Z. S. 1882, p. 673; P. Z. S. 1884, p. 148. 
Addisonia lateralis Dautzenberg, J. de Conchyl., 1886, p. 205. 

Habitat. Mediterranean. North Atlantic, both European and American 
shores, living in 50 to 640 fms., dead in a wider range of depth. 

This curious form was not collected by the Blake. I find that most Euro- 
pean malacologists have agreed * that Requien's very poorly described and un- 
figured shell is identical with Tiberi 's Gadinia excentrica. I am in doubt as 
to the identity of the American and European forms. They belong without 
question to the same genus to whose conchological peculiarities I called atten- 
tion seventeen years ago (Am. Journ. Conch., VI. p. 19, 1870). The figures, 
descriptions, and specimens I have seen of European origin all indicate the 
shell as very much smaller than our American specimens; these, when adult, 
average 12.0 mm. in length, which is frequently much exceeded. I do not 
feel justified in keeping them separated on the mere ground of size, but would 
suggest the question to be determined by some European naturalist who may 
be able to examine the dentition and soft parts. Like Neritina, Cocculina, and 
Cranopsis asturiana, this creature retains the intromittent organ which seems 
to have become obsolete in the majority of shallow-water Rhiphidoglossa (see 
Verrill, Trans. Conn. Acad., VI. p. 256, 1884). 

This mollusk is well entitled to family rank, for reasons set forth in my 
paper above mentioned. The absence of the brush-like uncini is a remarkable 
character, while the remaining teeth are unmistakably Rhiphidoglossate. The 
presence of the verge which led my friend Dr. Paul Fischer to refer this genus 
to the Taenioglossa (Man., p. 757) can hardly serve that purpose now that his 
own Cranopsis asturiana is shown to possess it. 

* See Mr. Dautzenberg's excellent article above cited. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 345 

I may say here, that in several shallow-water Fissurellas I have observed 
what I believe to be an abortive non-functional remnant of the verge, in the 
shape of an elongated papilla at or near the posterior part of the right tentacle, 
and having nothing corresponding to it on the left side. Having found no 
canal in these organs, I have hesitated to mention them until my discovery of 
what seems to be a functional verge in Cranopsit,. 


Family COCCULINIDiE. 
Genus COCCULINA Dall. 

Cocculina Dall, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 1881, p. 402. Verrill, Trans. Conn. Acad., V. 

p. 533, 1882; VI. p. 202, 1884. Jeffreys, Triton Moll., P. Z. S. 1883, p. 393. 

Fischer, Man. de Conchyl., p. 841, 1885. Watson, Cliall. Kep. Gastr., p. 30, 

1885. 
Tectum sp. Jeffreys, P. Z. S. 1882, p. 672. 

Shell patelliform, not nacreous, symmetrical with an entire non-sinuated 
margin and a posteriorly inclined apex with a (usually deciduous) spiral nu- 
cleus ; muscular impression horseshoe-shaped, interrupted over the head. 

Animal with a prominent head and muzzle, the males with an intromittent 
organ at the base of the right tentacle; a single lamellose asymmetrical gill 
(resembling in form and place of attachment the gill in Acmcea) between the 
under surface of the mantle and the upper surface of the boily from a point 
above and behind the head, extending around toward the right, and even 
backward on the right side; attached only at its base. Eyes wanting in the 
known species. Anus anterior, opening in a papilla above and behind the 
head. Mantle margin and sides of foot plain, without epipodial papillae or 
processes, but they are sometimes present behind. Radula with a small or 
moderate hardly raised rhachidian tooth (the cusp in one species obsolete), 
three moderate inner laterals with denticulate cusps, a larger denticulate major 
lateral with a stout and twisted stalk, and on each side a stout base from which 

spring numerous slender uncini hooked at their tips. Formula 

r ° r ar(l + 3-3+1)* 

There is no jaw. The dentition resembles in a general way that of Parmo- 
phorus and of some species of Helicina. 

The marked peculiarities of this group, and the discovery in the Western 
Atlantic, North European seas, and the Philippines, of species appertaining to 
it, have secured its prompt recognition from naturalists. Thus, there have 
been described from the Philippines, — 

Cocculina angulata Watson; 

from North Europe and the Northeastern Atlantic, — 

Cocculina spinigera Jeffreys, Cocculina pusilla Jeffreys (as Teclura), 

Cocculina corrugata Jeffreys, Cocculina adunca Jeffreys (as Tectura) ; 


346 BULLETIN OF THE 

and from the Western Atlantic, 

Cocculina Beanii Dull, Cocculina leptalea Verrill, 

Cocculina Rathbunl Dall, Cocculina conica Verrill, 

Cocculina Dalll Verrill, Cocculina splnigera Jeffreys. 

C. adunca Jeffreys is almost certainly the same as C. Beanii Dall. Tectura 
rugosa Jeffreys, described with several Cocculina: under that generic name, is, 
however, almost certainly a young specimen of one of the varieties of A cmcea 
rubella. The specimens in the Jeffreys collection agree perfectly (although 
dead and bleached) with specimens of A. rubella. 

Tectura galeola Jeffreys, which I examined through the kindness of Dr. 
Jeffreys, is certainly not an Acmcea, as the long slope is anterior. In the 
absence of the soft parts it must remain in a doubtful state, though possibly 
a Cocculina. 

The discrepancies which have occurred in the description of the soft parts of 
the different species would be somewhat difficult to reconcile, were it not 
probable that this family contains more than a single group, on the one hand, 
and, on the other, that the small size of the animals renders an examination 
difficult and very liable to error of observation. 

Thus, C. spinigera has been reported to be without a rhachidian tooth. But 
in several specimens of that species I found the rhachidian tooth (PI. XXXI. 
Fig. 9) present, though very flat, translucent, and with only a trace of cusps, 
which last, on the younger rows of teeth, would be absent, thus leading very 
easily to a misconception. I have figured this tooth as observed by me in 
specimens sent by Dr. Jeffreys. 

The observations of Mr. Watson on the gill of C. angulata I am not able to 
accept as final, and believe that some misconception is mingled with them. 
His description, and the position assigned to the supposed gill on " the lower 
right side of the neck,' : correspond fairly well to the position and appearance 
of the extended free ends of the anal and renal papillae in G. spinigera, organs 
which, imperfectly observed, I strongly suspect to be responsible for the 
alleged second and right-hand gill in Propilidium. I have never been able 
to get a fresh specimen of Propilidium to determine this point, but the fact that 
every known unfissured limpet with a free gill like that of Acmoza, whether 
docoglossate or rhiphidoglossate, has that gill adjacent to the heart on the 
opposite (left-hand) side from the anus, is ground for a strong presumption 
that Propilidium and this particular Cocculina do not form exceptions to the 
rule. 

The species of Cocculina may be divided into two sections characterized by 
the presence or absence of posterior epipodial filaments. In the typical group 
there are two posterior filaments. In the other there are none. 

The nearest relatives of this group are to be found in the Scutelliyiidce and 
the Addisoniidre. It appears to be an ancient, and what Prof. Louis Agassiz 
would have termed a " synthetic " type. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 347 

Section COCCULINA s. s 
Cocculina Rathbuni Dall. 

Plate XXV. Figs. 5, 7, 7 a. 

Cocculina Rathbuni Dall, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. for 1881, p. 402, April, 1882. 

Shell white, depressed, the slopes flattened, sides subparalleled, with slight 
radiating and concentric sculpture and a subcentral apex from which the 
nucleus is usually lost, leaving a little scar on the shell. Length, 10-13 rum. 

Two female specimens examined, which had been a long time in alcohol. 
The mantle margin appeared plain, with a thickened border. Behind in the 
sinus between the mantle and the foot are two small round blunt elongated 
epipodial papillae, one on each side of the median line and not very close to it. 
The gill is small, triangular, exactly like that of some Acmaeas, and similarly 
placed. The head is large, the end of the muzzle flat, marginated, semilunate, 
enclosing a smooth space, in the centre of which is a rounded papillose area 
surrounding the mouth; tentacles moderate, subcylindrical, without eyes; the 
course of the intestine much resembling that of Patella, but it seems to be not 
so long. Rhachidian tooth with a distinct cusp. 

This species was obtained by the U. S. Fish Commission in 1881, about 100 
miles south and east from Martha's Vineyard, in 506 fms., green sand and 
mud, the bottom temperature being 40°.5. The party on the Blake obtained 
it at Station 288, in 399 fms., hard bottom, off Barbados, bottom temperature 
44°.5 ; a fresh one at Station 230, in 464 fms., off St. Vincent, bottom tem- 
perature 41°. 5; and living ones at Station 195, off Martinique, in 502^ fms., 
sand and ooze, the bottom temperature being 41°. F. In the latter case the 
animal was adhering to a small water-logged splinter. 

Cocculina Beanii Dall. 

Plate XXV. Figs. 2, 4, 8. 

Cocculina Beanii Dall, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. for 1881, p. 403, April, 1882. 

Shell elevated, white, the anterior slope much the longer and conspicuously 
arched, the posterior slope excavated concavely, the apex elevated, subposterior 
and much incurved, the nucleus generally gone in adults, leaving a little s"car; 
sculpture stronger and more distinctly cancellated in some specimens than in 
C. Rathbuni, the young are more sharply sculptured than the old, and at the 
intersections the riblets are nodulous or even slightly spinose; the shell is 
smaller than in C. Rathbuni, reaching about 8.0 mm. in length. 

Four specimens, all apparently females, were available for examination, of 
which two were dissected. The soft parts in general were, as in C. Rathbuni, 
except that the head and muzzle are much elongated, the sinus behind the 
head, therefore, is deeper, the gill longer, projecting out on the right side; the 


348 BULLETIN OF THE 

tentacles are longer, and the loot proportionally shorter, than in C. Rathbuni; 
the mantle margin more puckered (l>y the effect of the alcohol ?) ; the margin- 
ation of the muzzle is interrupted in front by the papillose oral area, which in 
this species distinctly forms the end of the muzzle, the effect of which is to 
modify the marginated part into two lappets, one on each side, extending from 
the end of the muzzle to the anterior edge of the foot. In the dentition the 
bands of uncini are proportionally longer and wider, and the rhachidian tooth 
is smaller than in the preceding species. 

This species was found by the U. S. Fish Commission, in 1880-81, at Sta- 
tions 871, 894, 947, and 997, in 100-365 fms., muddy and sandy bottom, tem- 
perature at the bottom ranging from 40°.0 to 52°.0 F. It was obtained by the 
party on the Blake at Station 288, in 399 fms., hard bottom, off Barbados; 
Station 195, in 502^ fms., sand and ooze, off Martinique; at Station 161, in 
583 fms., lava sand, off Guadelupe, bottom temperature 41°; and at Station 
230 in 464 fms., off St. Vincent, bottom temperature 41°.5 F. 

Section COCCOPYGIA Dall. 
Foot without epipodial filaments. 

Cocculina spinigera Jeffreys. 

Plate XXXI. Figs. 7, 8, 9. 

Cocculina spinigera Jeffreys, Triton Moll., P. Z. S. 1883, p. 393, pi. xliv. figs. 1, 1 a-C. 
Verrill, Trans. Conn. Acad., VI. pp. 203, 271, 1884. 

Habitat. U. S. Fish Commission Stations 997 and 2115, in 335 to 843 fms., 
living in the tunnels of Teredo-bored wood, associated with C. leptalea Verrill. 

This species, obtained by Dr. Jeffreys in the Porcupine and Triton dredg- 
ings in the North Atlantic, is much smaller than either of the two preceding, 
or the specimens I have seen may not be fully grown, averaging only 1.5 to 
2.0 mm. in length. It has the form of C. Beanii, so far as the shell is con- 
cerned, with the sculpture of the most strongly sculptured specimens of that 
species, which, as above mentioned, sometimes have minute spinose projections 
at the intersections of the radiating and the concentric ridges. The nucleus, 
however, in the specimens of C. spinigera examined, was constantly present, 
symmetrical and subspiral. Seven specimens were kindly sent me by Dr. 
Jeffreys for examination, with the soft parts, comprising four males and three 
females. The soft parts of the females agreed in all particulars with those of 
C. Rathbuni except that the pair of epipodial posterior papilla; was wanting, as 
also in the males; the tentacles seemed to be somewhat stouter and shorter; 
the gill was very short and triangular, in its usual position, and the anal 
papilla was prolonged into a kind of free tube, one half longer than the gill 
itself. 

The dentition resembles that of C. Rathbuni in all essential particulars, ex- 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 349 

cept that the rbachidian tooth, instead of having a comparatively small base 
and a distinct and well developed cusp, has a large base, which is thin and of 
rounded shape, with an almost obsolete cusp. Many of these teeth could 
hardly be said to be cusped at all, and in the best developed unworn ones 
the cusp is but little raised, small, composed of a median rounded portion and 
on each side of that a single obscure denticle (see figure). The whole tooth, 
in most cases, resembled a mere thin scale, and might readily be overlooked, 
or regarded as not a true tooth at all, in some specimens. 

The most extraordinary feature is peculiar to the males, of which four speci- 
mens were examined and agreed perfectly with one another. The right tenta- 
cle is somewhat stouter than the left one, but near the base on the outer side 
both have a distinct bulb or elbow-like prominence similar to that which in 
many gastropods bears the eye. A careful examination of sections, however, 
did not disclose any nerve, rods, or optic cup, and it is certain, if the last 
exists, that it is unprovided with any pigment cells. The cutis seemed of a 
uniform and rather unusual thickness, partly due, probably, to the contraction 
caused by the alcohol. The tip of the contracted right tentacle was rather 
broad and blunt; it also seemed somewhat flattened. From the outer side pro- 
jected a verge of tentacular form, more slender, slightly longer, and more 
flattened than the tip of the true tentacle, and horizontally recurved. From 
the circular wrinkles caused in it by contraction it seemed capable of much 
elongation. In the anterior edge near the tip, but not extended over the tip, 
was a deep fissure extending to the centre of the organ and along its anterior 
edge from the tip backward a distance a little more than equal to the width 
of that part of the organ. The proportional length of this fissure differed in 
different individuals a little. From the depth of this fissure a tube or canal 
extends through the centre of the penis, its diameter being about one sixth 
that of the organ. At a point in this canal not far from the junction of the 
verge with the tentacle there appears to be a subtriangular fossa, from which 
the tube continues toward the body at about the same distance from the inner 
surface of the verge, and of about the same size as before the fossa was reached. 
The canal passes on into the base of the tentacle, where it is lost to sight in 
the solid opaque tissues. The extremely small size of the animal combined 
with its coarse, and (by alcohol rendered) very opaque tissues, prevented the 
more thorough examination which would have been practicable with fresh 
specimens or those of larger size. Nevertheless, it does not appear that this 
organ can be anything else than an intromittent male organ, such as is now 
known to exist in Addisonia, in Neritina, in some species of Cranopsis, and 
other deep-water Rhiphidoglossa. 

At the time I made this discovery the only form in which an external in- 
tromittent organ had been reported among the Rhiphidoglossa was Neritina, 
and even this fact, though easily verified, had been questioned. 

The verge in the Neritidce, however, is broader and rounder, flatter, and 
shorter than in Cocculina, and shows its nature less clearly in its external 


350 BULLETIN OF THE 

appearance. If the function of the organ be still denied by some sceptic who 
will not be satisfied until the animals have been observed in copula, it remains 
that, whatever its function, here is an organ unknown in the great majority of 
Rhiphidoglossa, but which appears in a few diverse deep-water forms. 

These interesting facts were made known by me to Prof. Verrill, Dr. Jeffreys, 
and others interested, in the early part of 1882. Subsequently, the same organ 
was observed in Addisonia, and, while closing up my work on this Report, 
an examination of a male Bimula (Cranopsis) asturiana Fischer added it to 
the list, still later enlarged by species of Margarita and Turcicula. 

These results show very clearly how much there is still to learn about the 
macroscopic anatomy of even ordinary mollusks; how little ground there is for 
dogmatism in the larger features of classification ; and how rich a field is open 
to the conscientious student who may have access to the sea. 

The old idea, still delusively cherished by most embryologists, that the char- 
acteristics of a single species may serve to marshal a host of others in line, was 
always false, and every year shows its falsity more clearly. 

The marshalling must be allowed for convenience' sake, but the idea that it 
is in any proper sense a finality should be discouraged by every teacher. If it 
had not been taken for granted these many years, who can doubt that we should 
long since have known exactly about a hundred species of mollusks where we 
now have the facts about one or two, and that our classifications would have 
been ameliorated in proportion ? 

This species must be very abundant in the North Atlantic, as Dr. Jeffreys 
has informed me that he has examined over four hundred specimens. 

One feature which is often noticeable on the sedentary deep-sea shells, and 
especially on the limpets, is perhaps worth mentioning. A sort of spongy 
organism, apparently a sponge or a hydractinian, often covers the upper surface 
with a coating of fine straight spinules, which appear to be attached to the 
shell but are easily removed by wetting and rubbing. They are very abundant 
on Terebratulina Cailkti and other sculptured brachiopods, and I have observed 
them on all the species of Gocculi-na and on Lepetella. Dr. Jeffreys states that 
the spinules are not soluble in potash. There has been no distinct outer 
crust, nor any particular shape, to the aggregations of this sort which have 
come under my notice, but they seem to be preferably attached to prominences 
of the sculpture, and might easily be mistaken, in some cases, for part of the 
shell itself. 

This Cocculina has fine sharp spines, properly belonging to the shell ; but 
among those in the Jeffreys collection I have seen none quite- as sharp and 
long as those in the magnified figure (la) of th'e plate to Dr. Jeffreys's paper 
on the Triton mollusks. 

The section Caccopygia, to which 1 have referred this species, probably in- 
cludes C. angulata Watson, and other species which have not yet been critically 
examined with regard to the epipodial filaments. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 351 

Family PHASIANELLID^. 

Genus PHASIANELLA Lamarck. 

Section EUCOSMIA Carpenter. 

Phasianella (Eucosmia) brevis Orbignt. 

Plate XIX. Fig. 10 b. 

Phasianella brevis Orbigny, Moll. Cuba, II. p. 79, pi. xx. figs. 19-21, 1842. Not 
P. brevis C. B. Adams. 

Habitat. Cuba and Martinique, Orbigny. Station 21, off Bahia Honda, in 
287 fms., Blake Expedition. Off the coast of North Carolina, in 15-63 fms., 
bottom temperature 75°.0 F., at Stations 2595, 2596, 2597, 2612, 2615, 2619, 
U. S. Fish Commission. 

The P. brevis of C. B. Adams is merely a young specimen of the shell he 
had previously named Turbo putchella, which is a very pretty form of Phasia- 
nella with rather marked spiral sculpture and a flattened nucleus. It has the 
usual operculum of the genus. Other species recognized during this investiga- 
tion as occurring in the Antillean region, but not obtained by the Blake, are 
P. affinis, tesscllata, concinna, and conculor of C. B. Adams, and umbilicata of 
Orbigny. There are several other nominal species requiring further study. 

Family TTJRBINIDtE. 
Genus LEPTOTHYRA Carpenter. 

Leptonyx Carpenter, and A. Adams, Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci., III. p. 175, Nov., 1864. 

Not Leptonyx Gray, 1837, gen. Phocidoz. 
Collonia Pliilippi, Handbuch d. Conch., p. 206, not of Gray. Not Collonia Gray, 

1852. (Type, Delphinula marginata Lam.) 
Leptothyra (Carpenter MS.) Dall, Am. Journ. Conch., VII. p. 130, 1871. (Type, 

Turbo sanguineus Linne'.) Pilsbry, Tryon Man., X. p. 245, 1888. 
Collonia (sp.) H. & A. Adams, Gray, Watson, etc. 

The genus Collonia of Gray, according to Dr. P. P. Carpenter, was founded 
on the Delphinula marginata of Lamarck, a smooth Grignon fossil with large 
crenate umbilicus. It was defined as having an "operculum circular, with 
many gradually enlarged whorls, with a convex external rib and central pit." 
Afterward the genus fell into great confusion from the confounding of names 
of totally distinct species called marginata, etc., all of which may be found 
particularly detailed in Dr. Carpenter's paper above referred to. There he 
proposed the name Leptonyx for the group typified by Turbo sanguineus Linne, 
which had been erroneously confounded with Collonia by several authors. 
This Turbo sanguineus is a species found in the Mediterranean, with near rela- 


352 BULLETIN OF THE 

tives in Japan and Califomian waters. It has a few-whorled rather solid 
smooth discoid shelly operculum a little concave externally, no umbilicus 
when adult, and a rounded base. The name Leptonyx having been used twice 
for Vertebrates before Dr. Carpenter took it up, I substituted Leptothyra * 
with his permission, as above cited, in 1871. A further confusion was created 
in regard to the type species by a supposition that the operculum of the Cali- 
fomian shell was different from that of the Mediterranean. This idea was 
totally erroneous, but found its way into several publications, among others 
Tryon's Manual (II. 312). The opercula are precisely alike, having a por- 
cellanous coating, a little thicker at the edges than toward the centre, espe- 
cially in old specimens, and having the general form of a coin or disk (not of a 
lens) based on a horny substratum, as in the typical Naticas. The operculum 
has about five to seven turns, visible best on the inner side. The young shells 
have a pit, or even a perforation, in the umbilical region, but this is entirely 
effaced in the adult, unless L. Philipiana is an exception. 

L. sanguined is not yet known from the east coast of America. We have, 
however, beside L. induta and what I regard as its varieties, two other species, 
L. Philipiana and L. Linnei, now for the first time described. 

A shell which I find in the Jeffreys collection marked " Turbo carinatus 
Cantraine, Travailleur Exp., 1882," is a remarkably fine species of Leptothyra, 
larger than any other known to me. Turbo mammilla of the Reggio Tertiaries, 
as identified by Prof. Seguenza, is also a Leptothyra, and so probably is Turbo 
filosus Philippi of the Italian Tertiaries. 

Leptothyra induta Watson var. albida Dall. 

Plate XXXVIII. Fig. 6. 

Leptothyra induta Dall, Agassiz, Three Cruises of the Blake, II. p. 69, fig. 287, 1888. 
Leptothyra (induta var.?) albida Dall, Bull. M C. Z., IX. p. 48, 1881. 
Turbo (Collonia) indutus Watson, Journ. Linn. Soc, XIV. p. 715, 1879; Chall. Rep. 
Gastr., p. 128, pi. vi. fig. 1, 1885. 

Habitat. Sand Key, in 15-128 fms. ; Station 2, in 805 fms.; Sigsbee, off 
Havana, in 450 fms.; off Cape San Antonio, in 1002 fms.; Yucatan Strait, in 
640 fms.; Station 5, in 152-229 fms., soft coral ooze, bottom temperature 50° ; 
Station 100, off Morro Light, Havana, in 250-400 fms.; Station 211, off 
Martinique, in 357 fms.; Station 218, off Santa Lucia, in 164 fms., bottom 
temperature 56°.0. U. S. Fish Commission Station 2662, off St. Augustine, 
Florida, in 434 fms., gray sand. 

Variety tincta Dall, shell rosy. 

Variety insculpta Dall. Ridges obliquely cut by the radiating sculpture 
which nodulates them all, and extends entirely over the shell; basal ridges more 
numerous (six), close, and slightly but distinctly sculptured by the radii. 

* The name Homalopoma was under consideration by Dr. Carpenter as a sub- 
stitute for Leptonyx, but was never published by him. 
April 24, 1889. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 353 

None of our specimens have the body whorl smooth like the Challenger 
specimen, and none are quite so pointed as Watson's figure. Still, I have very- 
little doubt that his is an abnormally smooth specimen of the same species as 
that which I have called albida. If they are distinct, ours will be Leptothyra 
albida, and his Leptothyra induta; for there cannot be a shadow of a doubt that 
they all belong to the group of L. sanguined. I have not been able, of course, 
to compare specimens 

The fact of the existence of the group, apparently abundant, in deep water, 
and the other fact of the wide distribution of the shallow- water types of the 
genus, are points which march together in this case as in many others, and 
have an obvious significance. 


*©' 


Leptothyra Philipiana n. a. 

Plate XXIV. Figs. 7, 7 a. 

Shell whitish, of four rounded whorls and a minute smooth nucleus; rather 
depressed, base rounding into the rest of the whorl. Sculpture of ten even 
strong spiral costse, with channelled interspaces, here and there toward the 
aperture indications of intercalary hardly raised spirals, and over all faint 
spiral striae more or less visible under a lens. Radiating sculpture faint, the 
tops of the spirals are a little undulated, and two close to the umbilicus are 
indistinctly nodulous, otherwise there are only the usual incremental lines. 
Operculum as usual ; umbilicus perforate, rather profound ; aperture prolonged 
above, edges a little flaring, subcircular. Alt. 3.5, diam. 4.0 mm. 

Habitat. Station 192, near Dominica, in 138 fms., bottom temperature 
63°. F. 

This shell may not be quite adult, and the umbilicus may be closed later. 
It has a different shape from any of the varieties of the preceding which have 
come under my notice, and is much smaller. 

Leptothyra Linnei n. s. 

Plate XXXIII Fig. 9. 

Shell small, white, solid, elevated, blunt, with five well rounded whorls; 
spiral sculpture of about sixteen even rounded costae, separated by wider in- 
terspaces, with an occasional intercalary thread; the two nearest the suture are 
generally more or less beaded by the radiating sculpture, the rest usually 
plain; spiral sculpture of close oblique radiating lines coincident with the 
lines of growth, with at regular intervals more emphasized depressions which 
nodulate the upper spirals and in rare instances are produced all over the 
shell ; the costse are more or less nodulated or even imbricated at the inter- 
sections, so that in extreme cases (var. limata) the shell is as rough as a file 
all over; base full and rounded, umbilical depression or perforation occasionally 
present in the young, wholly absent in the adult; aperture rounded, the upper 

vol. xviii. 23 


354 BULLETIN OF THE 

part produced and depressed about the width of two or three spirals with their 
interspaces. Operculum as usual. Alt. 5.5, diam. 5.0 mm. 

Habitat. Station 2, in 805 fins.; Station 20, in 220 fms.; Station 220, near 
Santa Lucia, in 116 fms., rocky bottom, bottom temperature 58°. 5 F. Off 
Havana, in 450 fms., Sigsbee. Barbados, in 100 fms. 

This pretty little species is like a L. albida in miniature, with proportionally 
finer and more numerous spiral costae, a rounder base, and an aperture bent 
downward in the adult. 

A full-sized L. albida measures 8.0 mm. high by 7-75 in maximum diam- 
eter of the base. 

The variations of L. Linnei are parallel with the variations of L. albida (or 
induta), the var. limata of the former corresponding to an intensified state of 
induta var. insculpta. I have, however, not seen any pink variety. 

Family TROCHIDJE. 

Genus GAZA Watson. 

Gaza Watson, Journ. Linn. Soc, XIV. p. 601, 1879 ; Chall. Rep. Gastr., p. 93, 1885. 
Type, Gaza dadala Watson, loc. cit , p. 601, 1879 ; Chall. Rep., pi. vii. fig. 12. 

Gaza superba Dall. 

Plate XXII. Figs. 4, 4 a. 

Callogaza superba Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 49, 1881. Agassiz, Three Cruises of 
' the Blake, II. p. 68, 1888 (fig. excl.). 

Habitat. Station 153, off Montserrat, in 303 fms., lava sand, bottom temper- 
ature 48°. 75 F.; Station 129, off Santa Cruz, in 314 fms., gray ooze, bottom 
temperature 48°.5; Station 274, off Barbados, in 209 fms., fine sand and ooze, 
bottom temperature 53°. 5; Station 275, off Barbados, in 218 fms., fine sand, 
bottom temperature 52°. 5; Station 281, off Barbados, in 288 fms., ooze, bottom 
temperature 46° 5. Also by the U. S. Fish Commission in the Gulf of Mexico, 
between the delta of the Mississippi and Cedar Keys, Florida, Lon. 88° 16' W., 
in 324 fms., gray mud, bottom temperature 46°. 5 

I included this species with the subgenus Callogaza in my preliminary 
paper, but the receipt of more specimens from the U. S. Fish Commission 
dredgings leads me to doubt whether the umbilicus always remains uncovered, 
and though I have seen no specimens in which it was wholly closed, yet I 
suspect it becomes so at times. An adult specimen measures 40.0 wide by 
32.0 mm. high, and this appears to be about the average of the species.* 

* Another species of about the same size (38 X 24 mm.), Gaza Rathbuni Dall, 
which differs from G. superba in being more depressed, with stronger spiral groov- 
ing, a slightly smaller umbilicus, and more flattened over the sutures, has since 
turned up among the Albatross collections, dredged in the Pacific, at Station 2818, 
in 302 fms., sand, temperature 44°.0 F., near the Galapagos Islands. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 355 

An examination of the soft parts showed the operculum to be very thin, 
liirht brown, and with about seven whorls. The animal was of a whitish color 
without any spots or markings, and with very large black eyes set on a good- 
sized peduncle closely adjacent to and behind the tentacles. There is a single 
narrow gill in the usual position. The tentacles are long, large, and rather 
slender; the foot short, broad, and bluntly rounded in front, behind almost 
truncate, in fact the contracted specimen looked almost as if there was a broad 
posterior indentation in the middle line. The muzzle is long, narrow, sub- 
cylindrical above and transversely expanded at its distal end, which is semi- 
lunar with a densely papillose surface and fringed edges. This expansion is 
nearly three times as wide as the stem of the muzzle. Epipodium with a large 
lobe behind the eye peduncle but not connected with it; behind the lobe is 
one long process and then a shorter one. The frill behind is merely puckered, 
but from under the borders of the operculum on each side protrude three good- 
sized processes. Behind the opercular lobe the epipodium terminates in a 
prominent point, concave and papillose on its upper surface. There are no 
frontal lobes between the tentacula. The epipodial point extends some dis- 
tance behind the posterior end of the foot. The jaw is like that of Calliostoma 
in shape, composed of brown four-sided translucent prismatic rodlets which 
give under the microscope a reticular marking of diamond-shaped spots to the 
surface of the jaw; the two sides are not united in the middle line. The 
dentition closely resembles that of Lunella versicolor Gmelin as figured hj 
Troschel (Geb. der Schnecken, II. pi. xx. fig. 1), except that the bases of the 
rhachidian and lateral teeth are subcircular, and on a few of the scythe-shaped 
cusps of the numerous uncini are a few denticles. There are five lateral teeth, 
and between twenty and thirty uncini. 

The nucleus in this species is often caducous, and in such specimens the 
apex is pierced with a circular perforation a millimeter and a half in diameter, 
which is continuous with the umbilicus. There does not appear to be any 
particular difference in appearance between the nucleus and the early whorls, 
its loss would therefore seem to be due merely to its fragility. In none of 
those in which it remains is there any indication of its being reinforced by a 
shelly deposit. 

Gaza Fischeri n. s. 

Plate XXXVII. Fig. 6. 

This shell is of six and a half whorls, and closely resembles Gaza dccdala 
Watson, except in the following particulars. It is much more depressed pro- 
portionally ; the upper margin of the aperture is distinctly depressed below its 
general plane; and the radiating lines, almost microscopic in G. clmlala, are in 
this form impressed in the early whorls near the suture, so as to produce a 
succession of short ripples, following the recurved lines of growth, which 
give a fringe-like ornamentation to the suture, at the rate of about five 
ripples to a millimeter. Nothing like this is visible in any of the specimens 


356 BULLETIN OF THE 

of G. superba. The margin of the suture in this form is distinctly appressed, 
forming a narrow border. The operculum has about seven whorls. The um- 
bilicus is completely floored over. The soft parts are like those of G. superba, 
but the tentacles are shorter and stouter, the lateral lobes of the epipodium 
proportionally larger, there is one more lateral process, and the muzzle is not 
so much expanded laterally at its termination. Max. diam. of base, 25.0; min. 
diam., 20.0; alt., 16.0 mm. 

Habitat. Station 221, off Santa Lucia, in 423 fms., gray ooze, bottom tem- 
perature 42°. 75 F. 

We know so little about the limits of variation in this beautiful group that 
it is with some doubt that I apply a name to these specimens. The difference 
in form and sculpture, and the distance between Fiji where G. dadala was 
collected and the Antilles has seemed to me sufficient warrant in this instance. 

The species is dedicated to Dr. Paul Fischer, who by his recently published 
Manual has laid malacologists under serious obligations. 

Subgenus CALLOGAZA Dall. 
Callogaza Dall, Bull. M. C. Z , IX. p. 49, 1881. Type, C. Watsoni Dall, loc. at.,p. 50. 

When I first proposed this name I thought it of generic value, now I am 
disposed to reduce it to the rank of a subgenus. The opportunity of studying 
a larger number of specimens has led me to modify my ideas of the value of 
some of the characters. Thus the mucronation so marked in the type specimen 
of Gaza is due to the impinging on the reflected lip of the angle of the umbili- 
cal carina. This I find may produce mucronation, or be invisible under the 
labial callus in different individuals of the same species, and probably in the 
same individual at different times. The crenate border of the umbilicus in 
the type is of more importance, and leads the way toward Microgaza, which 
appears to lack a reflected lip. I regard Gaza and its subgenera as a group of 
Trochida;, related to Lunella of the Turbinidm on the one hand, and Umbonium 
on the other. 

Information as to the soft parts will be found under the data for the several 
species. When other species are examined, the common characters which alone 
belong to the generic or subgeneric diagnosis can then be eliminated for that 
purpose. 

Callogaza Watsoni Dall. 

Plate XXII. Figs. 7, 7 a. Plate XXIII. Figs. 1, 1 a. Plate XXIV. Figs. 2, 2 a. 

Callogaza Watsoni Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 50, 1881. 
Margarita jilogyra Dall, loc. cit., p. 42 (young shell) 

Habitat. Sigsbee, Station 12, in 177-200 fms., off Havana, Cuba. Station 20, 
in 220 fms., off Bahia Honda, Cuba, bottom temperature G2°.0. Yucatan Strait, 
in 640 fms. Station 273, off Barbados, in 103 fms., broken shell and coral, 
bottom temperature 59°.5. Station 2S2, off Barbados, in 154 fms., sand, hot- 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 357 

torn temperature 56°.0. Station 296, off Barbados, in 84 fms., hard bottom, 
bottom temperature 61°.5 F. 

The shell named by me Margarita filogyra is without doubt in part based 
on young specimens of Callogaza Watsoni. But with regard to some of the 
others I am yet puzzled as to whether to so refer them or not. In any case, 
the weight of probability is in favor of their being eventually united. There 
are certain differences in the umbilicus to which I do not, in the absence of 
soft parts, feel able to give a definite value; while the fact that these specimens 
have a slightly but distinctly thickened lip adds to the obscurity. At all 
events, whether wholly identical with C. Watsoni or not (Figures 1, 1 a, Plate 
XXIII., certainly are), the M. filogyra is in an uncertain state, and for that 
reason I prefer to omit the name in my list of established species until I obtain 
more definite material for study. I retain the figures which had been prepared 
of the supposed young shells. 

An adult specimen affords the following notes. The body is yellowish, the 
sides streaked with ashy gray, a few flecks of which also appear between the 
tentacles. The body is longer than in Gaza proper and distinctly pointed 
behind. The tentacles are short and stout, with a small inner angle or expan- 
sion opposite the distinct eye peduncle, which bears a large, very black eye. 
The muzzle is pi-oportionately shorter than in Gaza, subeylindrical, granulose 
at the end, but not laterally expanded. The gill as in Gaza superba, but 
broader in proportion to its length. The very large anterior lobe of the epi- 
podium is followed by seven gradual^ decreasing lateral processes, of which 
five are under the operculum, and are separated by small rounded lobes of the 
epipodial margin. The posterior angle of the epipodium is pointed as in Gaza, 
extending considerably beyond the operculum, but not as far as the foot. The 
dentition differs considerably from that of Gaza. It most nearly resembles 
that of Forskalia declivis Forskal, as figured by Troschel (Gebiss d. Schneck., 
II. pi. xxiv. fig. 14). The rhachidian tooth has a single three-pointed cusp, 
without the accessory denticles of Forskalia, the laterals have two or three 
accessory denticles, the uncini, unlike Forskalia, are denticulated all along the 
inner edges of their blade-like cusps, except toward the margin of the radula, 
where they gradually become simple. It will be observed that in the soft 
parts there are features which sufficiently distinguish this group from Gaza, 
according to ordinary standards. 

Subgenus MICROGAZA Dall. 
Microgaza Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 50, 1881. (Type, M. rotella Dall.) 

Microgaza rotella Dall. 

Plate XXII. Figs. 5, 5 a. 
Microgaza rotella Dall, Bull. M. C. Z. IX. p. 51, 1881. 

Habitat. Barbados, in 100 fms. Station 2, in 805 fms. Station 20, off 
Bahia Honda, Cuba, in 220 fms., bottom temperature G2°.C Station 290, off 


358 BULLETIN OF THE 


Barbados, in 73 fms., coral and shell, bottom temperature 70°. 75. U. S. Fish 
Commission Station 2602, in 124 fms., sand, thirty-six miles S. | W. from 
Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, bottom temperature 61°. F. 

The operculum is like that of Gaza, and has six or seven whorls. None of 
the specimens show any tendency to a reflected lip, yet it is, of course, possible 
that no completely adult specimen was obtained. The animal has a short 
stout foot, bluntly rounded at either end. It is of a pinkish tint. The ten- 
tacula are very long and the eyes large. The muzzle is rounded and not very 
long, its extremity plain. There are no frontal lobes. The epipodium has a 
very small anterior lobe with a cirrus behind it, then a space without cirri, a 
long process just in front of the opercular disk, and one, shorter, under it on 
each side, making three in all. There is no posterior point to the epipodium, 
and only the above three cirri on each side. The jaw is somewhat like that of 
Umbonium, but shorter and broader. The radula, however, bears no resem- 
blance to that of Umbonium {Rotella Lam.). The teeth are very elegant. 
The rhachidian tooth in general form (except the cusp) not unlike that of 
Calliostoma granulata Born (Troschel, II. pi. xxiv. fig. 18), but the central 
spur of the cusp is long and slender like a stiletto, extending considerably be- 
hind the posterior edge of the base of the tooth. On each side of it are four 
stout sharp rather short denticles, radiating as from the median point of the 
front edge of the cusp. The laterals recall those of Gibbula divaricata (Tros- 
chel, he. cit., fig. 6), but have more, larger, and stronger denticles, all on the 
posterior edge of the cusp, or the edge away from the rhachis. The uncini are 
rather few in number, the cusps sword-shaped, sigmoid, the inner ones den- 
ticulated on both edges. The number of laterals is five. The radula as a whole 
is very short and small. 

The depressed form and marginated suture, as well as the kind of coloration, 
in this shell recall Umbonium. The texture of the shell and the character of 
its umbilicus are precisely as in Callogaza. The soft parts indicate its place to 
be in that vicinity. Until a larger number of the myriad of species shall have 
been examined, it is evident that the characters of the dentition in their classi- 
fication cannot be formulated except in a provisional manner. 

Trochus solarioides of Seguenza, from the Reggio Tertiary, seems to be a 
Microgaza. 

Genus UMBONIUM Link. 

Umbonium Link, Beschr. Rostock iSamml., 1807, p 136. 

Rotella Lamarck, 1822. 

Helicina Gray (non Lamarck), 1847. 

After a careful examination of the literature, I see no reasonable ground for 
the assertion of Gray (P. Z. S. 1847) that Helicina of Lamarck (1801) was 
identical with his Rotella of 1822, or different from his Helicina of 1822, such 
as we are accustomed to understand by the latter name. The original diagno- 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 359 

sis of Helicina did not mention any type (Prodr., 1799). There is no doubt, 
however, that Link's name, which was properly defined, takes precedence. 

This genus has hitherto been unknown from the Antilles, the species referred 
to it belonging to Teinostoma and allied groups. I have therefore much 
pleasure in introducing here a description of a genuine Umbonium, dredged 
by the Fish Commission in the Antillean region, near the Florida reefs, aiid 
obtained by the Blake near Havana. 

Umbonium Bairdii n. s. 

Plate XXI. Figs. 6, 6 a. 

Shell small, depressed conic, white, polished, externally porcellanous, in- 
ternally slightly nacreous; nucleus globular, dextral; whorls five or more. 
Radiating sculpture of occasional faint impressed incremental lines; spiral 
sculpture of occasional microscopic striae, and a single strap-like band ap- 
pressed to the suture, and bearing numerous flattish squarish nodules or 
elevations, which coronate the whorls ; periphery rounded, base rounded, de- 
pressed in the centre, which is nearly filled with a mass of white callus having 
a very finely granular surface. Aperture ovate, margin simple, thin, oblique. 
Alt. of axis, 3.5; max. alt. of shell, 4.0; max. diam. of base, 5.0 mm. 

Habitat. Florida reefs, in about 200 fms., coral bottom, U. S. Fish Com- 
mission, 1886. Yucatan Strait, 640 fms., Blake Expedition. 

The specimen is not quite adult. The granular surface of the callus is com- 
mon to the young of other species, and is lost in the adult. The soft parts 
were absent. It is named in honor of the late Prof. S. F. Baird, U. S. Fish 
Commissioner. 

Genus VITRINELLA C. B. Adams. 

A group of small shells, several forms of which were comprised by C. B. 
Adams under the name of Vitrinella in February, 1850, still remain in need of 
further elucidation. As originally constituted, the genus was heterogeneous 
and no type was named. In 1853, A. Adams (P. Z. S. 1853, p. 183) described 
a genus Teinostoma (type T. politum Adams), of which a species had been re- 
ferred to Vitrinella by C. B. Adams in his Panama catalogue. Another some- 
what peculiar species was described by C. B. Adams as " Nerithia?" anomala, 
and was afterward referred to a section of Teinostoma by A. Adams under the 
name of Calceolina. At the same time (P. Z. S. 1853, p. 189) Messrs. H. & A. 
Adams described a genus Ethalia for minute glassy shells related to Teinostoma, 
but having an umbilical pit or perforation, no large polished callus, but the 
anterior end of the columella lip thickened and squeezed down near to and 
sometimes over the umbilical region. This genus Ethalia would include two 
species of the five originally described as Vitrinella by C. B. Adams. This 
would leave to bear the name of Vitrinella such forms included in the original 


3G0 BULLETIN OF THE 

list of C. B. Adams as had a free open umbilicus and a peculiar nucleus, as 
described by Carpenter (Mazatlan Shells, p. 237), and one of this sort (V. valca- 
toides C. B. Adams) was selected as an example of the genus by H. & A. Adams 
(Gen., I. p. 434, June, 1854), and may be regarded as the type of the genus as 
revised by the brothers Adams. Of course, if these forms were found eventu- 
ally to belong to Adeorbis or Cyclostrema, the name Vitrinella would have to 
fall back upon Ethalia, and the latter would become a synonym of it, for a sub- 
sequent author could not be permitted to engineer his predecessors' generic 
names out of existence by appropriating the valid parts for new groups of later 
names, and leaving the residue to fall into synonymy. But it is probable that 
Vitrinella, as above constituted, does form a valid group, and we shall so con- 
sider it, though uncognate species may have been referred to it. 

For present purposes I shall adopt the following arrangement of the others. 

Genus TEINOSTOMA Adams. 

Subgenera Teinostoma s. s. 

Pseudorotella Fischer. 
Ethalia H. & A. Adams. 
Dillwynella Dall. 
Discopsis De Folin. 

In July, 1857, Dr. Paul Fischer proposed the name of Pseudorotella for 
Teinostoma semistriata Orb. sp., which may be retained as a section for those 
species having an oval aperture. Parkeria Gabb is a synonym. 

? Genus COCHLIOLEPIS Stimpson. 

In January, 1858, Dr. Stimpson (Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., VI. 30S) pro- 
posed a new genus for a curious little shell found parasitic under the scales of 
a large annelid (Acoeles lupinus). This little mollusk, with peculiar anatomi- 
cal characters and a shell like a minute vitreous Sigaretus, is probably allied 
to Vitrinella, and was named Cocldiolepis parasitica. A second species, larger 
and fewer whorled, has strong spiral striae like a minute Sigaretus perspectivus, 
and was named C. striata by Stimpson in his manuscripts. It is about 6.5 mm. 
in greatest diameter, and 1.5 mm. high. It has two whorls and a globular 
nucleus almost enveloped above by the last whorl, and a very wide pervious 
umbilicus. Colonel Jewett collected it at Egmont Key, near Tampa, Florida. 
The original type of Cochliolepis is found in the South Carolina Post Pliocene, 
and by an unfortunate error was figured by Holmes as a new species, under the 
name of Adeorbis nautiliformis. The species figured in his work as Cochlio- 
lepis parasitica is a probably new species of Vitrinella, which may be named 
V. Holmesi, and the "Angaria" crassa figured on the same plate appears to be 
an Ethalia. 

It is certain that Adeorbis does not belong in this vicinity, though the shells 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 361 

occasionally present a great resemblance to specks of Vitrinella and some 
Ethalias. But when the species are all definitely allotted their proper place 
from a complete knowledge of their characters, there can be no doubt most of 
these discrepancies will be cleared away. 

There are a number of species of these small forms on the eastern coast of 
the United States, in addition to the probably large number, some of which 
have been described, which inhabit the Antilles. Thus we have Ethalia 
•multistriata Verrill, extending from Dominica to North Carolina; E. reclusa 
Dall, found on the coasts of Yucatan and North Carolina; E. suppressa Dall, 
West Florida , E. solida Dall, from Cuba, also probably Floridian ; Teinostoma 
(Pseudomelia) semistriata Orbigny, Key West; T. cryptospira Verrill, North 
Carolina; Vitrinella multicarinata Stimpson, North Carolina; Cochliolepis 
parasitica Stimpson, South Carolina; C. striata Stimpson, Florida; Adeorbis 
Beaui Fischer, Florida; A. naticoides Dall, North Carolina; and A. supra- 
nitida Wood, with its varieties, from the whole Atlantic coast south of Cape 
Cod. Trochus cancellatus Jeffreys is probably a Cycloslrema or Adeorbis, in- 
stead of a Machceroplax as he suggested. We have it from 1000 fathoms, off 
the coast of Yucatan. Tharsis Jeffreys is, from an examination of the typical 
species, nothing more than a synonym of Ethalia, as here understood, or at 
most a feebly characterized section of Ethalia. 


Subgenus ETHALIA H & A. Adams. 
Ethalia reclusa n. s. 

Plate XXVIII. Figs. 1, 8. 

Shell small, when fresh vitreous transparent white, of three visible whorls, 
the last much the largest, smooth and polished above, or with only faint incre- 
mental lines below; periphery rounded, spire and base moderately rounded; 
margin of last whorl appressed at the suture so that the thin edge runs up 
over the preceding whorl and the real suture is almost invisible in fresh speci- 
mens ; the outline of the preceding whorl being visible through the shell, 
the appearance of a suture is presented much nearer the periphery than the 
suture really is. Aperture nearly circular, oblique; the columella thick, ap- 
pressed ; umbilical callus sparse, not polished, in adolescent specimens not quite 
complete. Alt. 1.0, max. diam. 2.1 mm. 

Habitat. Yucatan Strait, 640 fms. Coast of North Carolina, in 12 to 63 
fins., U. S. Fish Commission, on sandy and gravelly bottom, in the warmer 
area. 

This species is nearest Ethalia diaphana Orbigny, so far as the base is con- 
cerned, but resembles E. anomala Orbigny in its upper surface, and was inad- 
vertently referred to that species in my Preliminary Report (Bull., IX. p. 52). 
It has, however, a more elevated shell and a proportionately larger last whorl, 
while. E. anomala has no basal callus over the umbilicus. 


362 BULLETIN OF THE 


Ethalia suppressa n. s. 

A singular little species which I have called E. suppressa is found on the 
adjacent coast of Florida. It is white, extremely small (1.75 X 0.75 mm.), 
flattened above and below, and a little excavated toward the periphery, where 
are three sharp strong keels with deep sulci between them. The umbilicus 
is small but open, with a carinal thread; the mouth subcircular, prolonged 
into a little channel at its upper junction with the body, and with a broad 
appressed columella. There are three and a half whorls, the suture is indis- 
tinct, but marked by a ridge which results from the apertural channel close to 
it. There is also an indistinct ridge on the flattened top of the whorls. The 
lines of growth are rather prominent. It was found near Goodland Point, 
West Florida, by Hemphill. 

Ethalia solida n. s. 

Plate XXVIII. Figs. 3, 5. 

Shell small, solid, stout, ivory white, of three rounded whorls, the last much 
the largest. Sculpture of fine incremental lines, sometimes faintly wrinkled 
near the suture; upper surface rounded, subconic, the whorls not impressed 
at the suture, which is fairly distinct. Periphery rounded, base subconic, um- 
bilicus reduced to a minute chink with a twisted callus above it; aperture 
circular, oblique, with a triangular callus at each end of the columella ; the 
upper margin declining. Alt. 2.0, max. diam. 2.75 mm. 

Habitat. Station 19, Lat. 23° 3' N., Lon. 83° 10' W., off Bahia Honda, Cuba, 
in 310 fms., bottom temperature 62°. F. 

This is more solid and elevated than any species yet described from this 


Subgenus DILLWYNELLA Dall. 

Shell resembling Diloma in form, but minute, depressed, porcellanous, with 
a thin horny operculum of comparatively few whorls; imperforate, but with a 
depression bounded by a riblet in the umbilical rib outside of the columella; 
whorls few with a thin fugacious epidermis; outer lip thin; pillar without 
teeth, projections, or folds, passing smoothly into the anterior margin. 

Dillwynella modesta n. s. 

Plate XXI. Figs. 3, 3 a. 

Shell of three or four whorls, smooth, whitish, covered with an extremely 
thin epidermis which rises in microscopic blisters; spire rounded, depressed, 
with a distinct suture; sculpture of faint lines of growth except on the base 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 363 

where a single rounded riblet or carina bounds a somewhat concave lunate 
space outside of the polished columella; outer lip thin, sharp, a moderate 
callus on the body; pillar thick, polished; operculum translucent yellowish, 
of about five turns ; aperture rounded, with a slight angle behind. Diam. of 
shell, 4.0; of aperture, 2.0; height of shell, 3.0 mm. 

Habitat. Station 215, off St. Lucia, in 226 fins., coarse sand, bottom tem- 
perature 51°.0. 

This little shell will not fit into any of the groups defined in the text-books, 
resembling more than any other group the Rotellidce, from which it differs in 
wanting the sutural fasciole, the nacreous layer, and the basal callus, as well 
as in possessing an epidermis. It is remarkably solid for its size, and of a 
peculiar opaque whiteness, like Mamma among the Naticidm. It is named in 
honor of the respected Dr. Dillwyn, whose " Catalogue " is one of the most 
careful and judicious works of the kind among the many which were published 
between the tenth edition of the " Systema Naturae " and the epoch-making 
" Histoire des Animaux sans Vertebres" of Lamarck. 


Genus CALLIOST03IA Swainson. 

CalUostoma Swainson, Malacology, pp. 218, 351, 1840. 
Ziziphinus Gray, Synops. Brit. Mus., 1840. (No description.) 

There is no doubt that Swainson's name was defined in a proper manner, 
and published, before the name published by Gray and ascribed to an old 
manuscript of Leach. As the duplication of such a word as Ziziphinus has a 
particularly obnoxious sound, and the practice is condemned by all nomen- 
clators and all rules, there would seem to be no reason except the natural 
perversity of human nature why any one who knows the facts should adhere 
to Gray's name in preference to the other. The type is Trochus conulus L. 
The nucleus appears to be either dextral or sinistral indifferently. 

Section CALLIOSTOMA s. s. 
Not umbilicated. 

Calliostoma euglyptum A. Adams. 

Zizyphinus euglyptus A. Adams, P. Z. S. 1854, p. 38. Reeve, Mon. Zizyph., pi. iii. 
fig. 17, 1863. 

Habitat. Off the eastern coast of America, in 15-50 fms., from North 
Carolina to Florida, Texas, and Vera Cruz, Mexico. Fossil in Florida Pliocene. 

This fine species varies in color from dark rose to yellowish white, some- 
times unicolor, sometimes variegated with whitish clouds radiating from the 
invariably purplish apex. It was referred by Reeve to Tasmania, in error. 
It is the commoner imperforate species of Florida, often collected by tourists, 


364 BULLETIN OF THE 

and is found in the Caloosahatchie marls. I have seen no specimens from the 
Antilles, nor have I seen it quoted by any author from the West Indies. It 
may probably exist in Cuba. 

Calliostoma Bairdii Verrill & Smith. 

Calliostoma Bairdii Verrill & Smith, Am. Journ. Sci., Nov., 1880, p. 396. Dall, Bull. 

M. C. Z., IX. p. 45. 
C. Psyche Dall (not described), Bull. M. C. Z., V. p. 61, July, 1878. 
C. Bairdii Verrill, Trans. Conn. Acad., V. p. 530, pi. lvii. fig. 26, 1882. 

Habitat. Florida, in 100-200 fms. Deep water off Newport, R. I., and in 
50-200 fms., off shore, along the eastern coast of the United States. 

The southern and West Indian form of the species is paler and more deli- 
cate in its colors, less elevated in form, and has the slopes from apex to the 
basal margins slightly concave. In the northern variety they are not concave, 
the shell is every way darker and duller in color, ruder, coarser, and less 
attractive. For the southern variety, the prior but undescribed name used 
by me in the first published reference to the species may perhaps be utilized 
with advantage. 


*6 V 


Calliostoma circumcinctum Dall. 

Plate XXII. Figs. 3,3a. 
Calliostoma circuincinctum Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 44, 1881. 

Habitat. Yucatan Strait, in 640 fms.; Station 2, in 805 fms. 
This species appears to have a dextral nucleus. 

Calliostoma echinatum Dall. 

Plate XXI. Figs. 2 a, 5. 

Calliostoma echinatum Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 47, 1881. 

Habitat. Sigsbee, off Havana, in 80 fms. 

Only one specimen has been obtained. The nucleus is sinistral and im- 
mersed. 

Calliostoma sapidum Dall. 

Plate XXI. Figs. 2, 4. 

Calliostoma sapidum Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 46, 1881. 

Habitat. Station 2, in 805 fms. 

Only one specimen has been obtained whichhas a sinistral nucleus. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 365 


Calliostoma tiara Watson. 

Calliostoma tiara Watson, Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 45, 1881. 

Trochus (Zizyphinus) tiara Watson, Lin. Soc. Journ., XIV. p. 696, Sept., 1879; 
Chall. Gastr., p. 60, pi. vi. fig. 4, 1885. 

Habitat. Station 44, 539 fms. Station 2, 220 fms. St. Thomas and Ber- 
muda, Watson, Challenger Expedition. 

Some specimens, especially those from off Havana, in 450 fms., which I 
referred to this species in my Preliminary Report, I am now convinced are 
distinct, and they are so described here under the name of ft corbis. The nu- 
cleus of C. tiara is globular, and immersed to a greater or less extent. It looks 
as if it was originally sinistral. 

Calliostoma corbis n. s. 

Plate XXXIII. Fig. 1. 

Shell small, white, with a glassy minute apparently dextral nucleus and 
about six whorls. The first one or two have concave arched transverse ribs, 
and resemble a bit of a small Scala ; the others are very strongly reticulately 
sculptured. The spiral sculpture consists of one very strong rib on the pe- 
riphery, a slightly weaker one near the suture, and another (which is rarely 
absent) midway between them ; on the base there are four strong spirals a 
little undercut at their outer edges. Transverse sculpture of strong thin 
oblique radii (27-30 on the last whorl) following the lines of growth, reticu- 
lating the spirals (on crossing which they become slightly nodose) and form- 
ing deep squarish pits, which are elongated in the adult by the crowding 
of the radii toward the mouth. The suture appears channelled, as the whorl 
falls short of the peripheral rib which overhangs it, but is not really so. The 
base is flexuously radiately ridged but not reticulate; the aperture rounded, 
thickened within, lirate; the pillar thick with an obtuse knob almost a tooth 
about the middle of it. Umbilicus none ; whorls flattened above between 
periphery and suture; base rather rounded. Alt. 5.0, max. diam. 3.75 mm. 

Habitat, Off Havana, in 450 fms., Sigsbee. Station 20, in 220 fms. (with 
ft tiara Watson). 

This species was at first confused with ft tiara Watson, which has not the 
continuous strong network, and in which the nodules which represent the 
intersections are of an imbricated character. The strong carina in ft corbis 
forms the periphery, in ft tiara the homologous spiral is comparatively faint 
and a little above the periphery. In ft tiara also the centre of the base is 
indented, almost umbilicated, which is not the case in ft corbis. The latter is 
a more solid shell, and the curious callosity on the pillar does not occur in any 
of the specimens of ft tiara I have seen. 


366 BULLETIN OF THE 


Calliostoma roseolum Dall. 

Plate XXIV. Figs. 6, 6 a. 

Calliostoma roseolum Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 45, 1881. 

Habitat. Station 11, Lat. 23° 43' ST., Lon. 83° 25' W., near Havana, in 
37 fms. Straits of Florida, in 200 fms. Also through the U. S. Fish Com- 
mission, in warm water (75°. 0), from North Carolina to Yucatan, in 15-50 fms. 

This very pretty species marches with Trochus pulcher C. B. Adams (Contr. 
Conch., 1850, p. 69), not of A. Adams (1851), in distribution and general 
coloration. It differs from it in having rounded, not carinated whorls, in the 
full, not flattened base, in the absence of the two strong articulated spirals on 
the periphery, and in having the whorls excavated above instead of nearly flat. 
C. roseolum has no peripheral articulations of dark red and white or yellow, 
which are the most prominent feature in good specimens of C. pulcher, the 
latter in this respect recalling C. tampaensis Conrad. C. roseolum differs from 
G. apicinum in the absence of the lirse in the throat and the tooth-like process 
on the columella when adult. When young it has not the narrow chink be- 
hind the columella which is present in C. apicinum. The latter as far as 
observed is always pallid in color except at the apex. 

The nucleus in all these species, as welt as in numerous other deep-water 
trochids, is reversed and more or less immersed, a feature which I believe has 
never been remarked upon by any recent naturalist. This is, however, not 
true of all species from deep water, and when not mentioned in this Report it 
will be understood that the nucleus in the specimens examined was either 
dextral, or so imperfect that its character could not be ascertained. 

Calliostoma apicinum Dall. 

Plate XXIV. Figs. 3, 3 a. 
Calliostoma apicinum Dall, Bull. M. C. Z, IX. p. 46, 1881. 

Habitat. Barbados, 73-100 fms., coral, bottom temperature 73°.5 F. Off 
Havana, Sigsbee, 175 fms. 

The examination of another specimen shows that this species covers the 
chink behind the pillar when adult, that there is a blunt knob suggesting 
Tludotia on the pillar, and that it has eight or nine strong lirse running into 
the throat and not connected with the outside sculpture, the one nearest the 
pillar thickened and raised at its termination. The nucleus is sinistral. 

Calliostoma aurora Dall. 

Plate XXXVII. Fig. 3. 

Calliostoma aurora Dall, Agassiz, Three Cruises of the Blake, II. p. 68, fig. 285, 
Jan., 1888. 
Shell delicate, nine-whorled, acutely pointed ; above with a color varying 
from light pink to straw-color; below light cream-color, the sharp peripheral 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 367 

carina lighter than the rest of the upper surface; general outline from nucleus 
to basal periphery somewhat concave; base concavely excavated within the 
margin, slightly convex toward the centre; nucleus whitish, smooth; whorls 
gently rounded, closely appressed to the almost invisible suture and excavated 
in front of it ; the last whorl flatter above, more rapidly enlarging at the pe- 
riphery. Sculpture of small regular waves on the carina, about six in a space 
of 5.0 mm., giving a minutely scalloped outline; behind this a strong nod- 
ulous thread, revolving like a string of small uniform beads ; then a more 
slender thread more finely beaded ; in all eleven regularly alternating revolv- 
ing threads at the beginning of the last whorl; this sculpture is very uniform 
all over the upper surface; base polished, smooth, except for two or three 
faint beaded lines and grooves about the pillar, and faint longitudinal and 
transverse growth markings; aperture nearly twice as wide as high; lower lip 
with a beautifully concavely arched outline, falling much behind the upper 
one; margin simple, except for sculpture marks; pillar short, arcuated, pearly, 
simple, ending in a slight point. Height of shell, 21.0; extreme width, 26.5; 
height of aperture, 6.0 mm. 

Habitat. Stations 265 and 299, near Barbados, in 576 and 140 fms., coral 
bottom, temperature 40° to 56°.5 F. 

A single specimen and a fragment of this extremely lovely shell were ob- 
tained as above. It is well distinguished from its congeners, none of which 
closely resemble it. The color is evenly distributed in the type, but, as in 
C. Bairdii, it is likely that the color may be more dark and pronounced in 
more northern localities. The marked features are the concavity of the slope 
of the spire and of the outer portion of the base, the polished base contrasting 
with the regularly beaded upper surface, and the delicately notched carina at 
the periphery. It is one of the most attractive species of the genus. 

Calliostoma orion n. s. 

Plate XXVIII Fig 2. 

Shell small, white, acutely conical, with a glassy sinistral globular nucleus 
and five (or more) whorls; radiating sculpture consisting of faint incremental 
lines; spiral sculpture on the upper surface of the last whorl of seven nodulous 
revolving lines, beginning at the suture; the first, third, and fifth have larger 
nodules elongated in the direction of the lines, the second and fourth are more 
finely and simply evenly beaded. A single fine raised not nodulous thread sep- 
arates each pair of the preceding ; the sixth and seventh spirals are smaller than 
the fifth and close together; they stretch over a series of more distant swellings, 
and are concavely impressed between them; as these lines form the periphery, 
this gives a wavy or scalloped outline to the base, which has about eighteen 
such waves arranged to a certain extent in pairs, the distance and concavity 
between them alternating greater and less. The longer waves are articulated 
with pale brown, and the first and third spirals show traces of a similar ar- 
ticulation. The base is pretty sharply carinated, flattened, and finely spirally 


n 


68 BULLETIN OF THE 


threaded, some of the threads showing faint traces of articulation; columella 
nearly straight, aperture nearly rectangular. There is no umbilicus or pit. 
Alt. 4.5, max. diam. 4.0 mm. 

Habitat. Off Havana, in 80 fms., Sigsbee. 

This little shell is not quite adult, and is evidently somewhat faded. Never- 
theless, there is not any other species of the region possessing such a sculpture, 
and I have no doubt as to its novelty. 

Section EUCASTA Dall. 

Shell with a moderate sulcus near the periphery, producing a fasciole, as in 
Pleurotomaria ; otherwise the shell characters as in Calliostoma, especially such 
species as C. aurora, etc. No umbilicus. 

Type C. (Eucasta) Indiana Dall. 

Calliostoma (Eucasta) indiana n. s. 

Plate XXXII. Figs. 3, 5. 

Shell thin, conical, yellowish, with faint brown articulations on the spirals, 
with a minute sinistral nucleus, and six and a half whorls, Radiating sculp- 
ture of flexuous incremental lines, and fine wrinkles, which are more prominent 
toward the periphery on the last whorl and on the early whorls reticulate the 
spiral sculpture. On the last whorl these lines extend backward with moderate 
obliquity to the perijmery, just above which is the fasciole caused by a well 
marked but shallow rounded sulcus; on the base they make a deep rounded 
concave sweep backward, and tben ascend toward the base of the pillar. The 
spiral sculpture on the early whorls comprises two sharp narrow little elevated 
threads at the periphery, three, less contiguous, above the fasciole, and one 
near the suture, neatly reticulated by the wrinkles and minutely nodulous at 
the intersections. The spirals over most of the shell are strap-like, flattened, 
narrow, and distinctly marked off from the impressed broader interspaces; on 
the last whorl there is a single smooth fiat thread below the nodulated one 
next the suture, and two run in the middle of the fasciole. The peripheral 
thread has become single and much stronger than the others. On the base 
there are seven spirals, faintly nodulous, articulated with pale brown, and sepa- 
rated by much wider impressed interspaces, over which are a few fine spiral 
lines. The base is flattened, or even a little concave ; the pillar moderately 
arcuate, the mouth four-sided. There is no umbilical pit. Alt. 8.3, max. 
diam. 7.6, min. diam. 6.4 mm. 

Habitat. Station 247, off Grenada, in 170 fms., gray ooze, bottom tem- 
perature 53°.5 F. 

This pretty little shell has the aspect of a Calliostoma. I have had an oppor- 
tunity of comparing it with Fbrskalia dcclivis, and should judge that this bears 
the same relation to Calliostoma that the other does to Gibbula. It certainly 
cannot be united with Fbrskalia or Basilissa. 
April 29, 1889. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 369 


Section EUTROCHUS A. Adams. 

Shell umbilicated. Type, T. javanicus, Lam. 

A few years ago, in discussing the faunae of the coasts of America, a nat- 
uralist would have called attention to the large number of fine species of 
Calliostoma found on the western coast, and the paucity of species on the east, 
as a peculiar characteristic. 

Now, thanks to deep-sea researches, we know that there are probably as 
many, and certainly as fine, species of Calliostoma on the eastern shores of 
America as there are on the western, though unfortunately they are not quite 
so accessible. 

The two oldest known forms from the West Indies labor under the pecu- 
liar difficulty, either of having close relatives in the East Indies and being 
confounded with them in the monographs, or of being erroneously assigned by 
authors to the East Indian fauna from time immemorial. 

I find, for instance, Trochus jujubinus and T. javanicus assigned to the East 
Indies by the usual books of reference, except old Chemnitz, (though not by all 
writers,) and yet I have never been able to find an authentic specimen from a 
definite East Indian locality. 

It is to be presumed that both these shells are West Indian solely, but it is 
rather curious that this matter has not been more generally understood, and 
settled. Unfortunately, I have not been able to consult Dr. Fischer's mono- 
graph, but that in Martini and Chemnitz refers only to Java. I prefer on the 
whole, considering the falsity of the first specific name, to use Reeve's name 
of zonamestus for Trochus javanicus, of which I have a fine specimen from 
St. Kitts. 

I have the pleasure of adding some of the finest species known to the already 
rather long list of this group. 


Calliostoma (Eutrochus) jujubinum Gmelin. 

Trochus jumbinus Gmelin, Syst. Nat., p. 3570. Dillw. Cat., II. p. 762. 

Habitat. Station 2, in 805 fms., dead, and probably drifted. Coast of North 
Carolina, in the warm water off shore, to Florida, Texas, and Yucatan, in 10-30 
fms. Antilles, Cuba, Jamaica, St. Thomas, Carthagena, Virgin Islands, Ba- 
hamas, St. Croix, U. S. Nat. Mus. Pliocene of the Caloosahatchie deposits, 
southwest Florida, Dall. 

Var. tampaensis Conrad. Whorls flat above instead of excavated ; colors 
clouded dark and light brown and white, instead of reddish; distal end of 
pillar more prominent. (Florida and northward.) 

Var. Rawsoni Dall. Shell smaller, whorls excavated above, umbilicus 
smaller, pillar thin, and tooth weak or absent ; color dark red or very dark 
brown and red, with lunate white cloudings ; cone of shell more acute, nucleus 
vol. xviii. 24 


370 BULLETIN OF THE 

white, minute, globular. (St. Croix, Gov. Rawson. Gulf of Mexico, U. S. 
Fish Commission.) 

The fossils are not quite equal to the average of recent specimens in size, 
contrary to the usual rule, but otherwise are identical. The varieties blend in 
a large series. 


"D"- 


Calliostoma (Eutrochus) yucatecanum Dall. 

Plate XXIV. Figs. 4,4 a. 
Calliostoma yucatecanum Dall, Bull. M. C Z., IX. p. 47, 1881. 

Habitat. Yucatan Strait, in 640 fms. U. S. Fish Commission Stations 
2605, 2608, 2615, and 2619, off the coast of North Carolina, in the warm area, 
in 15-32 fms., sand; bottom temperature 78° to 80°.0 F. 

Most of the northern specimens are less elevated and proportionally wider 
than the Blake specimen which has been figured, but which seems to have been 
a little unusual in its elevation. 

Calliostoma (Eutrochus) Sayanum n. s. 

Plate XXXIII. Figs. 10, 11. 

Shell large, polished, aolid, eight-whorled, having a good deal the form of 
the G. tigris of New Zealand ; umbilicated ; straw-yellow lineated with red- 
brown, and having a broad rose-colored peripheral band. Walls of umbilicus 
marked with incremental lines, slightly excavated near the carina, above con- 
vex, the convexity revolving with the whorl; convexity straw-color, a deep 
brown band revolving just within the carina. Spiral sculpture outside the 
carina, which is not very sharp, consisting of two strong beaded spirals alter- 
nating with two fine simple brown elevated lines, then nine subequal, finer, 
less coarsely beaded, the upper angle of the aperture being at the ninth; all 
these straw-color with brown interspaces; then three fine yellow-brown un- 
dulated lines, then a larger nodulated peripheral spiral with a smaller similar 
one on each side of it, these and their interspaces of a deep rose-pink; above 
the pink band is the largest nodulated spiral, followed by (on the last whorl) 
seven or eight somewhat smaller, alternating larger and smaller, the last sepa- 
rated by a smooth space from the suture. These are all straw-color with 
brown interspaces and an occasional intercalary fine line. Radiating sculpture 
only of faint incremental lines. Nucleus lost ; the earlier whorls have three 
nodulated spirals. Base and whorls a little convex, periphery evenly rounded, 
sutures distinct. Aperture ovate, margin simple, columella concavely arched, 
a slight angle, not to be called a tooth, formed by the end of the umbilical 
carina at the base. Interior extremely nacreous. Max. lat. of base, 40.0; of 
mouth, 18.0; max. alt. of shell, 37.0; of mouth, 10.0 mm. Apical angle, about 
80°. Operculum amber-colored, fibrous toward the edges, with twelve or more 
whorls, a small central elevation on the inner side. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE 300LOGY. 371 

Animal with stout rounded muzzle, short stout tentacles, large black eyes, 
a very large anterior epipodial lobe, two lateral cirri, and two or three small 
ones from under the operculum. The foot is bluntly rounded before and be- 
hind. The color of the external soft parts is uniform straw-color. 

Habitat. U. S. Fish Commission Station 2594, of 1885, twenty miles 
southeast from Cape Hatteras, N. C, in 120 fms., sand, bottom temperature 
58°.0. A fragment at Station 2601, thirty-six miles south half west from 
Hatteras, in 107 fms., sand. Both collected by the U. S. Fish Commission 
Steamer Albatross. 

This is altogether the finest American species, and cannot be confounded 
with any other now known. 

Calliostoma (Eutrochus) Benedicti n. s. 

Plate XXXII. Fig. 7. 

Shell depressed, with an acute apex and slightly concave outline, umbilicated, 
polished; straw-colored, lineated with red brown and pale pink; base convex, 
slightly flattened, periphery rounded; nucleus minute, apparently dextral; 
whorls seven or more; umbilicus deep and narrow, with flexuous walls exca- 
vated near the carina, which is marginated with an opaque white band; spiral 
sculpture beginning at the umbilicus ; outside the carina, which is simple, two 
strong broad subnodulous spirals separated by a deep line, then fourteen or 
more equal smooth flattish spirals with narrower interspaces and obsolete spiral 
striulae here and there ; then a smooth or slightly striate peripheral space ; all 
the preceding straw-color. Above the periphery two pink and one straw-col- 
ored large smooth and rounded spirals, one smaller smooth one, then three large 
and two intercalary smaller nodulous spirals separated from the suture by a 
narrow smooth space. The interspaces are brown, the elevations straw-color. 
The early whorls have two or three smooth and one or two nodulous spirals, 
the former remain constant with growth, the latter increase in- number. Ea- 
diating sculpture of flexuous incremental lines, hardly visible. Aperture 
rounded squarish, columella white, thin, concave, a small notch at its base. 
Alt. of base, 7.5; of spire, 6.5; total, 14 mm. Max. lat. of base, 18.0; of mouth, 
8.5. Apical angle about 90°. 

Operculum yellow, multispiral, translucent, polished. Type specimen not 
full grown. 

Habitat. Off Cape Lookout, N. Carolina, in about 200 fms., U. S. Fish 
Commission. 

This is a very handsome species, recalling the var. Psyche of Calliostoma 
Bairdii, from which it is easily distinguished by its umbilicus and sculpture. 

It is named in honor of Mr. J. S. Benedict, formerly naturalist of the Albatross 
party, who rescued it from a pilfering and aesthetic sailor, by whose theft the 
exact station number was lost. It was living when obtained. The soft parts 
as preserved are whitish, with very large black eyes. The foot is long, narrow, 


372 BULLETIN OF THE 

and pointed behind. The epipodium has a very large anterior lobe reaching to 
the base of the tentacles, and four long cirri diminishing backward, set at 
regular intervals, two being under the shadow of the operculum ; the posterior 
part has no cirri. The muzzle is long, widened and papillose at its extremity 
which seems as if it might expand into a sort of tube in front of the jaws, 
which are black. There are no epipodial lobes between the tentacles. The 
animal recalls that of Eutrochus cinctellus, but is larger. 

Calliostoma (Eutrochus) cinctellum n. s. 

Plate XXXII. FIg8. 1, 4. 

Shell small, thin, pearly white with faint touches of pale brown, seven- 
whorled, with a globular inverted minute nucleus and rather convex base; 
spiral sculpture of two prominent spirals, one peripheral, simple, sharp, with 
occasional touches of brown ; against this the suture is laid in the earlier 
whorls, while in the last whorl it descends below it; the other spiral is above 
the periphery, and is stronger and ornamented with (on the last whorl) about 
forty sharp projecting thorn-like tubercles, each inclined a little forward, and 
alternating brown and white. Between this and the periphery the space is 
excavated. Above these there are about four (on the earlier whorls one or two) 
small raised spiral lines separated by much wider interspaces, nodulated with 
small but prominent nodules at the intersections with the radiating sculpture; 
all the sculpture growing fainter, and intercalary fine lines appearing, toward 
the aperture on the last whorl. Base with two strong nodulous spirals sepa- 
rated by a deep interspace, the inner one forming the umbilical margin; outside 
of these 16-20 fine flattened spiral threads, with about equal interspaces, reach- 
ing to the periphery and hardly ruffled by the incremental lines. Radiating 
sculpture much like that of C. tiara, of numerous, on the early whorls strong, 
slightly elevated oblique threads, extending clear across the whorls and reticu- 
lating the spirals; these radii grow fainter and finally on the last whorl nearly 
disappear; on the base there are only faint flexuous incremental lines. Um- 
bilicus narrow, its walls flexuous, yellow. Aperture squarish, the pillar little 
concave, not toothed, margin thin and simple. Upper surface of whorls ex- 
cept the sculpture flattened ; suture distinct, not channelled. Operculum horny, 
multispiral. Alt. of shell, 9.5; of spire above the aperture, 6.5; max. diam. of 
base, 8.0; min. diam., 7.0 mm. 

Soft parts whitish, foot short, pointed behind, muzzle rounded, gill single, 
anus prolonged into a long free papilla, eyes large; tentacles long and stout, 
without frontal lobes; epipodium with a large anterior lobe, and four cirri all 
anterior to the operculum and about of equal size. Jaws separate, squarish, 
composed of small horny obliquely set rods, whose lo-zenge-shaped end-sections 
reticulate the surface under the microscope. 

The dentition is peculiar. The rhachidian and (on each side) five laterals 
have broad simple bases with a pear-shaped outline; the cusps, which might be 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 373 

compared to the stem of the pear bent over, are extremely narrow and long and 
symmetrically serrate on each side with 4-6 serrations. The major uncinus is 
stout and has a large four-toothed ovate cusp; there are about twenty more 
slender' uncini with scythe-like cusps serrate on the outer edge; outside of 
these are two or three of a flat form, like a section of a palm-leaf fan from 
handle to margin with four riblets, and the distal edge with three or more 
indentations. Under jjressure these uncini have a tendency to split up length- 
wise, beginning at the indentations. They are flat and «mooth, thinner toward 
the distal end, and have no distinct shaft. 

Habitat. Off Havana, at Station 101, in 174 fins., Sigsbee. 

This interesting species looks at the first glance as if the excavated space be- 
tween the peripheral cinguli was fasciolar, like that of Eucasta, but a more 
careful inspection shows that there is no sign of a notch or sulcus in the lines 
of growth. The dentition forms a combination so far not recorded among the 
Trochidse, but which will perhaps seem less singular when more species have 
been examined. The radula is quite minute and difficult to examine; when 
only the cusps of the central and lateral teeth were in the field of the micro- 
scope, they were so slender and elongated as to suggest little tails, and the 
symmetrical notching gave them almost a jointed appearance. The shell is 
very pretty, and recalls Bas'dissa in its general appearance. 

Calliostoma (Dentistyla) asperrimum Dall. 
Margarita asperrima Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 40, 1881. 

Habitat. Station 12, in 177 fms.; Barbados, in 100 fms.; Station 20, in 220 
fms.; Station 206, off Martinique, in 170 fms., sand, bottom temperature 49°.0; 
Stations 273 and 299, off Barbados, in 103-140 fms., coral, bottom tempera- 
tures 56° to 59°. F. U. S. Fish Commission Station 2602, off North Caro- 
lina, in 124 fms., sand. 

Variety deniiferum Dall, Plate XXIII. Figs. 7, 8. 

Sculpture more strongly and exclusively nodulous; a strong blunt tooth on 
the columella just within the aperture and above the base. Outer lip Urate 
within. Alt. 7.5, lat. 6.0 mm. Habitat, Station 299. 

Calliostoma (Dentistyla) sericifilum n. s. 

Plate XXIV. Figs. 1, la. 

Shell delicately but sharply reticulate all over; two peripheral spirals mi- 
nutely spinose at the intersections; columellar tooth present but not strong. 
Shell thinner and more nacreous than the typical form, and with the radiating 
and spiral sculpture not differing so much in strength. Alt. 4.5, lat. 4.1 mm. 

Habitat. Station 262, off Grenada, in 92 fms., sand, bottom temperature 
62°.0 F. 


374 BULLETIN OF THE 

These species are somewhat puzzling. With the external sculpture and um- 
bilicus of a rather conical Solariella, we find in adult specimens a well marked 
blunt tooth on the columella, and the aperture opposite furnished with raised 
lira?. In other specimens these are not visible, but then it is impossible to 
say that they are completely adult. The sculpture runs the usual gamut of 
evenly reticulate; nodose reticulate, the intersections marked by little imbri- 
cations while most of the network is obsolete; and, finally, of uneven reticula- 
tion where the cords one way are much stronger than those by which they are 
intersected. None of the specimens contained the soft parts, so their relations 
must for the present remain problematical. The group is hardly Thalotia, 
being umbilicate; it is certainly not a Euchelus or Craspedotus. Perhaps the 
most reasonable conclusion, in the absence of more information, is that this sec- 
tion bears to Thalotia about such a relation as Eutrochus bears to Calliostoma. 
The tooth is on the pillar, not at its anterior end. 


Genus MARGARITA Leach. 

Margarita Leach, Journ. de Phys., LXXX VIII. p. 464, 1819, Appendix to Ross's 

First Voyage, 1819. 
Margarita Broderip & Sowerby, Zobl. Journ., IV. p. 363, 1828. 
Margarites Leach MS., 1819, Gray, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., XX. p. 268, 1847; Synop. 

Moll. Gr. Brit., p. 197, Dec, 1852. (Type, M. hehcina Fabr.) 
Eumargarita Fischer, Man. Conch., p. 825, 1885. 
Not Margarita Leach, Zool. Misc., I. p. 107, 1814, = Margaritifera Da Costa (1776) 

et al. ; Unionum Link (1807); Margaritijihora Megerle (1811); Meleagrina 

Lamarck (1812); etc. 

In 1814 Leach used the name Margarita for a section of Avicula, which had 
already received several names. The name Margarita was therefore a synonym. 
In 1819 he used the same name, this time for a valid genus; but, apparently 
recognizing that this might cause confusion, he changed its termination in a 
work which he had in press in 1820, and which was interrupted by his death. 
This work was published some thirty years later by Dr. J. E. Gray. 

The second .use of a generic name once fallen into synonymy, although 
not forbidden by the accepted rules for nomenclature, is greatly to be depre- 
cated; yet when it has occurred, and when the second application of the name 
is universally unchallenged for more than half a centur\ r , and the original 
application never was in use and has been absolutely ignored, I can see no 
benefit likely to accrue to science from a change of names. It cannot be too 
clearly understood that an ex post facto application of rules, however useful in 
themselves and for present guidance, to - the work of authors preceding La- 
marck's Animaux sans Vertebres, will produce nothing less than confusion and 
annoyance. We have a right to insist on a consistently binomial nomenclature 
and strict priority for all names, but to attempt more is to invite chaos to come 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 375 

It may be worth while to remark, as Leach's * book is a very rare one, that 
Vol. I. pages 1-57, plates i.-xxv. inclusive, were published in 1814; pages 57- 
129, plates xxvi.-lvii., probably in 1814; and the remainder certainly in 1815, 
as I have ascertained from contemporary advertisements issued with the parts. 
The genus Bulhnulus, types B. acutus (Mull.), p. 41, and B. trifasciatus Leach, 
p. 42, would therefore date from 1814, also Margarita (type the mother of pearl 
shell of commerce), p. 107, and Dipsas (plicatus Leach), p. 119. Aciona Leach 
(type Scalaria pretiosa Lam.), Vol. II. p. 79, dates from 1815. 

Section MARGARITA s. s. 
Margarita erythrocoma n. s. 

Plate XXVIII. Fig. 1. 

Shell small, depressed conic, yellowish, variegated and articulated with 
rose-pink and opaque white ; whorls rounded, four or five in number, with a 
minute smooth nucleus ; generally a little carinated on the upper surface, es- 
pecially the earlier whorls, by one or two prominent spiral riblets; below full 
and rounded, with a small but well marked umbilicus. Radiating sculpture 
of the lines of growth occasionally irregular so as to form faint waves, but 
usually inconspicuous; spiral sculpture of fine close little-raised threads, with 
on the upper surface one and on the periphery another stronger thread or 
carination, seldom nodulous, and stronger on the earlier whorls. The spirals 
are usually articulated with rose-red and opaque white or greenish yellow. 
The base is rounded, finely spirally threaded, umbilicus not carinated nor 
marked by special sculpture. Aperture rounded, oblique, the margins a little 
angulated above, thin, simple, joined by a thin layer of callus on the body. 
Alt. of largest specimen, 5.0; max. diam., 5.25; inin. diam. of base, 4.0 mm. 

Variety ? samance. Shell more depressed, last whorl proportionately larger, 
and aperture much more oblique; umbilicus twisted, nearly closed, white with 
radiating flexuous strice; shell colored like the typical form and with similar 
early whorls. Alt., 4.75; max. diam. of base, 5.75; min. diam., 4.25 mm. 

Habitat. Off Sand Key, in 54 fms. Samana Bay, St. Domingo, and Nassau, 
Bahamas, U. S. Nat. Mus. 

The variety. Samana Bay, in 16 fms., Couthouy. 

This very pretty little species occurs with Liotia miniata in moderate depths of 
water. The specimen from 54 fms. was probably drifted. It may be distin- 
guished from the Liotia, which is about the same size, by the different characters 
of aperture and umbilicus. There is no northern species which resembles it. 

* The Zoological Miscellany | being | descriptions of new or interesting animals | 
by William Elford Leach, M.D. F.L.S. & W.S. | [etc.] | illustrated with | colored 
figures drawn from nature | by R. P. Nodder [etc.]. London, Printed for E. Nodder 
& Son, 1814. | Second title, issued with the concluding part, has a quotation and 
" Vol. I.," added before " London," with date 1815. Total, Vol. I., 144 pp., 8vo, 
60 colored plates ; Vol. II., 161 pp., plates 61-120, " 1815." 


376 BULLETIN OF THE 

Subgenus TURCICULA Dall. 
Turcicula imperialis Dall. 

Plate XXII. Figs. 1,1a. 
Margarita ( Turcicula) imperialis Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 42, 1881. 

Habitat. Off Cuba, in 200 fms. 

Only the original specimen has been found so far in the Blake collection, 
but another has been added by the dredgings of the Albatross, from 182 fins., 
coral bottom, off Havana. It is also dead and wants the tip, but it shows from 
its proportions (base 12.0, and alt. of three whorls counting back from aperture 
15.0 mm.) that the shell is more highly elevated and conical than would be 
anticipated from the specimen figured. 

A fine species of what seems to be this subgenus of the group was obtained 
in the Pacific by the Albatross Expedition, and affords the following notes on 
the soft parts of Turcicula. 

The sides of the foot below the epipodial line are granulous, above the line 
the surface i3 rather smooth. Much of the surface is apt to be covered with 
a layer of blackish or olivaceous substance like solidified mucus or paint, which 
seems to belong to the animal, yet is wholly external to the cuticle. The foot 
is broad, not very long, bluntly pointed behind; the front edge straight, 
double, the lateral angles pointed. The upper layer of the edge is smooth and 
turgid in most of the specimens. It is not indented in the median line. 

The muzzle is stout, circularly wrinkled, a little expanded at the disk. The 
oral disk is not marginated; its surface is finely granulose; it is angulated at 
its lower outer corners and medially indented below. There are no oral palps 
or tactile appendages. 

The cephalic tentacles for the size of the animal are small and short. At 
their inner bases are small "palmettes," or cephalic epipodial fringes, not quite 
meeting in the middle line. They are rounded, with papillose edges. At the 
outer bases of the tentacles are the eyes, large, oliviform, mounted on short 
pedicels. The pigmented portion itself is ovoid, and not hemispherical. In 
some specimens the pigment seems to be more extensive on the under side, in 
others the reverse, and still others have it equally distributed. A lens and 
aqueous humor are distinctly observable. At the right side, behind and on a 
level with the eye, is a short tubular verge. The anterior epipodial side-lappet 
does not appear to be modified into a seminal conduit, as in Margarita infundi- 
bulum Watson. These lappets are nearly symmetrical. Their bases are turned 
up a little on each side behind the eyes, and the lappets are rather wide. They 
extend backward about two thirds of the way to the operculum, with a finelj 
papillose edge. Then comes a single tentacular filament, less than half as 
long as a cephalic tentacle. There is another stretch of edge fringed with only 
small papillae; under the operculum there are three long filaments, of which 
the posterior is longest. Behind the operculum the epipodial lines of the two 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 377 

sides approach each other and bound a median furrow, coarsely transversely 
ridged (as in Pleurotomaria), which extends to the end of the foot. 

The mantle-edge is smooth or very sparsely papillate, slightly thickened. 
The free end of the intestine projects on the right side over the neck, with its 
termination constricted by a sphincter, and then expanded into a cup-shaped 
circular foramen. On the left side is the gill, consisting of a central somewhat 
muscular ensiform basement, from which depend two sets of elongate-triangu- 
lar lamellae separated by a narrow ridge. The left-hand set are slightly the 
longer. Most of the gill is free. Its distal end is pointed, and the lamellae 
hang, side by side, with the ridge between the two series, as in Nucula. The 
intestine takes a curve to the left side, where the renal gland is visible between 
it and the gill. I observed no osphradium. 

The mouth is small. A short distance behind it is a deep radular diverticu- 
lum. The jaws are small, triangular, and dark brown. The gullet opens 
almost directly into an elongate large longitudinally wrinkled stomach. Be- 
hind it the very large intestine, with longitudinally striated walls, extends 
backward about half a whorl ; then turns upward and forward for a third of 
a whorl; then back again upon itself about Jhe same distance; then forward to 
its anal termination above described. 

The liver and seminal gland appear to resemble those of ordinary Trochids. 

The operculum is amber-colored, polished, thin, and centrally depressed. 
It has about a dozen whorls. The opercular pad is ovoid and rather small. 

The radula is quite small and the anterior part dark brown. The intestine 
in all the specimens is crammed with a greenish mud consisting of disinte- 
grated foraminifera. 

The dentition recalls that of Calliostoma, Solariella, Margarita, etc., and 
presents nothing very characteristic. 

The central tooth has a broad thin base, subrectangular, and a little wider at 
the anterior corners. The stem of the cusp and the cusp are narrow. The 
latter is simple, rather small, short and recurved. It is not denticulate. There 
are three or four admedian or lateral teeth, rather long, with small bases, rather 
broad simple moderately curved brownish cusps. There are about twenty- 
five uncini, half of which spring from lozenge-shaped bases looking like a 
pavement, are long, narrow, slender, moderately curved with spatuliform tips. 
One edge of these tips is microscopically serrate, and below the serrate part on 
the same side is a single larger denticle, standing out like a short thumb. 

The external uncini are thin, flat, wide, and hardly curved. Their distal 
ends are flat and broad, with the edge simple and entire. These teeth gradu- 
ally diminish in size and width, as usual in Trochidce. The formula woulc' 
be 25 -+- 3 -f- \ + 3 + 25, or very nearly that, but time has been wanting in 
wliich to undertake the laborious task of an exact enumeration of these minute 
and tangled objects, of wliich the general features have just been recorded. 

All the specimens of l^urcicula previously obtained were incomplete and 
deprived of epidermis. The Pacific species, which will be described in the 
Report on the Voyage of the Albatross, reaches a large size (50.0 mm. high by 


378 BULLETIN OF THE 

42.0 wide), is covered with a. delicate green epidermis, which erodes like that 
of a fresh-water shell, and exhibits a nearly circular aperture with a somewhat 
reflected lip and brilliantly pearly throat. There is no callus across the body 
nor any umbilicus. The shell bears a singular resemblance to a very large thin 
greenish Vivipara or Tulotoma. It is one of the finest animals collected on 
the Albatross voyage, and was found in about four hundred fathoms, off the 
coast of Southern California. 

It will be named Turcicula Bairdii in honor of the late U. S. Fish Commis- 
sioner, Prof. Spencer F. Baird. A larger variety or closely related species was 
dredged at about the same depth off the coast of Peru. 

Section BATHYMOPHILA Dall. 
Margarita (Bathymophila) euspira Dall. 

Plate XXXII. Fig. 8. 

Margarita* euspira Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 44, 1881. 

M. (Bathymophila) euspira Dall, and var. niteits Jeffreys (MS.), Bull., lib. cit., p. 102, 
Oct., 1881. 

Habitat. Station 2, in 805 fms. 

This species seems to be widely spread over the North Atlantic, and was 
taken in considerable numbers by the Porcupine and Valorous Expeditions. 

It would seem as if the coronated form was less abundant than that not so 
ornamented, judging by the specimens in the Jeffreys collection. The young 
ones are often strongly spirally ridged, and it will be remarkable if they do 
not get described as a Cyclostrema on their own account. 

The only species with which this is likely to be confused is Umbonium 
Bairdii, in which the whorls are much les% rounded, being appressed to an 
even slope from the apex to the periphery, while in M. euspira the suture is 
very distinct, and even in the coronated variety the whorls round down to it. 
On the base M. euspira has no large callus, its callus being confined to the 
surface of the pillar, and not a pad filling the umbilical basin. M. euspira is 
larger and proportionally more elevated, and the young have a wide umbilicus. 
It is also more pearly than the other. 

I doubt extremely whether this little shell is related to Oxystele, as some of 
my conchological friends would have it; but whether the sectional name pro- 
posed for it be worth retaining or not, I propose to suspend judgment until 
I can get hold of some specimens preserving the soft parts. 

Subgenus SOLAPJELLA A. Adams. 

Solariella amabilis Jeffreys. 

Trochus amabilis Jeffreys, Brit. Conch., III. p. 300; V. pi. lxi. fig. 6. 

Habitat. Station 46, in 888 fms.; Yucatan Strait, in 640 fms.; Station 41, 
in 860 fms.; Station 2, in 805 fms.; Station 21, in 287 fms., living; Station 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 379 

211, in 357 fms., near Martinique; Station 221, off Santa Lucia, in 423 fms., 
ooze, bottom temperature 43°.0. Also, living, at U. S. Fish Commission Sta- 
tion 2644, in 193 1'ms., sand, off Cape Florida, bottom temperature 43°.4 F. 

Solariella lamellosa Verrill & Smith. 

Margarita lamellosa Verrill & Smith (1880), Trans. Conn. Acad., V. p. 530, pi. lvii. 
fig. 38, 1882. 

Habitat. Barbados, in 100 fms. U. S. Fish Commission Stations 2595, 
2601, 2602, and 2614, off the coast of North Carolina, in 15-32 fms., gravel. 
Constantly smaller and differently wrinkled from the preceding. 

Solariella scabriuscula Dall. 

Plate XXI. Figs. 10, 10 a. 

Margarita scabriuscula Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 41, 1881. 

Habitat. Station 44, Gulf of Mexico, southern part in 539 fms., bottom 
temperature 39°. 5 F. 

Only a single specimen of this species has so far reached me. 

Solariella eegleis Watson. 

Margarita cegleis (Watson), Dall, Bull. M. C. Z, IX. p. 40, 1881. 
Margarita oeglees Watson, Journ. Linn. Soc, XIV. p. 704, Sept., 1879; Chall. Rep. 
Gastr., p. 81, pi. v. fig. 10, 1885. 

Habitat of typical form. Station 19, in 310 fms. Off Cape St. Antonio, in 
640 fms. Station 230, off St. Vincent, in 464 fms. 

Having given a good deal of study to the group which clusters around the 
above specific name, I have modified the views expressed in my preliminary 
paper. I had not then had the opportunity of studying the large series of 
specimens, recent and fossil, contained in the Jeffreys collection. 

Not only am I obliged to review my own opinion, but I find myself wholly 
unable to accept the views of Dr. Jeffreys, expressed in his " Lightning and 
Porcupine Mollusca," Part VI. pp. 97, 98 (P. Z. S. 1883). 

Primarily I find two fossil species, which appear to be the forerunners of 
the group, and one of which appears to be found in a recent state. They are 
Trochus cinctus Philippi, and Solariella maculata Searles Wood. The first 
has somewhat the form of Solariella amabilis Jeffreys, but was a brightly col- 
ored shell, and to my mind appears perfectly distinct from any of the recent 
forms and from Wood's species. 

Wood's species is (according to specimens identified by Professors Dewalque 
and Seguenza) identical with Turbo moniliferus Nyst, non Sowerby, which is 
the Solarium turbinoides of Nyst subsequently. Wood's name has precedence. 


380 BULLETIN OF THE 

I find, however, that a species described by Libassi has been confounded 
with S. maculata in a way I am not able to untangle, S. peregrina Libassi 
being named Trochus and Solarium by various contributors to the Jeffreys 
collection, and Libassi's paper being inaccessible to me. Two species have 
been sent under that name, one being S. maculata Wood, and the other the 
broad variety of S. azgleis, both being found in the Tertiaries of Belgium and 
Italy. To which Libassi's name applies I am not able to say. If to S. aglets, 
it would of course take precedence. 

Leaving this question to be settled by any one having access to Libassi's 
work, we may now proceed to eliminate other extraneous matters from the 
synonymy of S. azgleis. Solariella lamellosa Verrill & Smith, and S. amabilis 
Jeffreys, after careful study of a large series, I now consider distinct from each 
other, from S. azgleis, and from S. cinctus, with which Dr. Jeffreys united his 
amabilis. Both amabilis and azgleis seem to have occasional finely reticulated 
specimens with the strong spirals absent. These have been lumped together 
as var. affinis Jeffreys. I am pretty confident that a larger series of specimens 
would connnect together Trochus rhina, rhysus, clavatus, and azgleis of Watson 
too closely to be specifically separated, but I have only been able to compare 
specimens of what I suppose to be S. clavata, rhina, and azgleis, broad and 
narrow varieties. But these have nothing to do with Trochus Ottoi Philippi 
(Margarita regalis Verrill & Smith), which has been injudiciously referred 
to them by Dr. Jeffreys, I presume by a lapsus of memory. For the purposes 
of this paper I shall keep these supposed varieties separate. 

Solariella azgleis var. lata Dall (? = peregrina Libassi). 

Habitat. Station 208, off Martinique, 213 fms.; off Havana, Cuba, in 400 
fms. ; Station 2, in 805 fms. Tertiary of Belgium and of Reggio, Italy. Tal- 
isman Expedition, as " Trochus Ottoi'" in Jeffreys collection. 

Solariella (azgleis var. ?) rhina Watson. 

Habitat, Station 2, in 805 fms. ; Station 176, in 391 fms. 

Solariella (azgleis var. ?) clavata Watson. 

Habitat. Station 2, in 805 fms., and Yucatan Strait, in 640 fms. 

The width and height of the shell, the strength of the spirals and tiiber- 
culation, and the size of the umbilicus, are all more or less variable factors, 
not only in these deep-sea species, but in the ordinary littoral forms, as every 
collector is aware. 


Solariella infundibulum Watson. 

Trochus (Margarita) infundibulum Watson, Journ. Linn. Soc, XIV. p. 707, Sept., 
1879; Chall. Rep. Gastr., p. 84, pi. v. fig. 5, 1885. 

Habitat. Station 41, in 860 fms., bottom temperature 39°. 5. Station 163, 
off Guadelupe, in 769 fms., sand, bottom temperature 39°. 75 F. U. S. Fish 
Commission Station 2723, 1886. 

This fine species grows as large as 5. Ottoi Phil., or larger, and in sculpture 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 381 

is about midway between that species and the more robust varieties of S. aglets 
Watson. It belongs in the cold area. 

This species has been imperfectly figured by Pelseneer in the Challenger 
Eeport on the Anatomy of Deep Sea Mollusks. Specimens have been com- 
pared for me with Watson's types by Mr. E. A. Smith at the British Museum, 
who identifies my specimens with Watson's species. The male of this species 
has a verge behind the right tentacle 2 mm. long, simple and tubular. The 
right anterior epipodial lappet is specially modified into a conduit for the semi- 
nal matter, and is rolled into a large long tube into the proximal end of which 
the penis discharges. It is probable that this conduit serves to conduct the 
semen to the eggs as they are deposited, rather than for copulation. There are 
no epipodial remnants between the tentacles. These organs will be more fully 
described in my Report on the Albatross Expedition. 

Solariella Ottoi Philippi. 

Trockus Ottoi Philippi, Moll. Siciliae, II. p. 227, pi. xxviii. fig. 9, 1884. Jeffreys, 

P. Z. S., 1883, p. 98. 
Margarita regalis Verrill & Smith (1880), Trans. Conn. Acad., V. p. 530, pi. lvii. 

fig. 37, 1882 ; VI. p. 254, pi. xxix. fig. 14. 

Habitat. Station 264, off Grenada, in 416 fins., ooze, bottom temperature 
42°. F. U. S. Fish Commission, at various stations off the northeast coast of 
the United States, in 115-500 fms. Pliocene of Italy, Philippi, Seguenza, etc. 

The comparison with an authentic specimen of Philippi's fossil leaves no 
doubt whatever that the species described by Prof. Verrill is identical with it 
as claimed by Dr. Jeffreys. The T. Vaillanti Fischer I have never seen, and 
the T. cegleis of Watson, which Dr. Jeffreys also unites with Ottoi, I regard as 
entirely distinct. 

Solariella lissocona Dall. 

Plate XXI. Figs. 8, 8 a. 
Margarita lissocona Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 41, 1881. 

Habitat. Station 47, N. lat. 28° 42', W. Ion. 88° 40', in the north central 
part of the Gulf of Mexico, in 331 fms., bottom temperature 47°.0 F. 

Only one specimen has turned up, so far, of this very well marked species, 
which belongs in the group of S. cegleis, ivfundibulum, etc. 

Solariella lacunella Dall. 

Plate XXI. Figs. 1, 1 a. 

Margarita maculata Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 43, 1881. Not of Searles Wood, 1842. 
Margarita lacunella Dall, op. cit., p. 102. 

Habitat. Station 2, in 805 fms.; Station 132, off Santa Cruz, in 115 fms., 
bottom temperature 65°.0 F. U. S. Fish Commission Stations 2592, 2602, 


382 BULLETIN OF THE 

2606, and 2612, off the coast of North Carolina, in 25-124 frm ., gravel, bottom 
temperature 58° to 77° F. 

This species is nearest to Trochus ductus of Philippi, but differs in so many- 
details of sculpture, etc., that, though variable, I do not see my way clear to 
unite them at present. The coloration is variable; some are clouded with 
olive, and others with pinkish brown 

A variety, depressa, has the spire low and somewhat tabulated by a smooth 
space between the suture and the spiral ribs. 


Solariella iris Dall. 

Plate XXI. Figs. 7,7a. 
Margarita iris Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 43, 1881. 

Habitat. Sand Key, in 119 fms., living, Sigsbee. 

Only one specimen of this form has been found. The upper surface much 
resembles that of M. (5.) lacunella, but the base, especially the umbilicus, is 
altogether different, the shell is thinner and much more pearly, and the spiral 
lines are much finer. 

Solariella lubrica Dall. 

Plate XXI. Figs. 0,9a. 
Margarita lubrica Dall, Bull. M. C. Z , IX. p. 44, 1881. 

Habitat. Station 2, in 805 fms.; Station 220, off Santa Lucia, in 116 fms., 
rocky bottom, temperature 58°. 5 F. 

Var. iridea Dall. Shell without the coronation at the suture, or only slight 
traces of it, umbilical carina less strong, umbilicus smaller, whorls inflated, very 
round, brilliantly pearly, base wider than in the type. 

This extremely lovely little shell, when fresh, has a most brilliant greenish 
nacre, shining like a diamond beetle. The variety was dredged by the U. S. 
Fish Commission, off Cape Florida, in 193 fms., sand, bottom temperature 
43°-4 F. 

tionus ETTCHELUS Philips. 
Euchelus guttarosea n. s. 

Plate XXXIII. Fiff. 7. 

Shell small, white, the upper surface of the whorls with very small distinct 
rose-red dots sparsely distributed on the raised nodules of the sculpture, or all 
white; five or more inflated strongly sculptured whorls, and a smooth nucleus. 
Spiral sculpture of, on the upper surface of the last whorl, two small and two 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 383 

strong spiral alternated ribs, one of the smaller just below tbe suture ; a large 
spiral on the periphery and four on the base; crossed by numerous obliquely 
radiating threads, which make the early whorls coarsely reticulate with nodules 
at the intersections, while in the later whorls the radiations become less marked 
and the spirals more numerous and more conspicuously nodulous. Whorls 
rounded, apex a little blunt, suture distinct, not channelled, base rounded, um- 
bilicus none; pillar nearly straight, with a strong tooth near its base, aperture 
rounded, oblique, a little descending above, with six or eight stout lirse ending 
in toothdike nodules, body with a moderate layer of nacreous callus. Alt. 5.0, 
max. diam. 4.5 mm. 

Habitat. Off Havana, in 119-450 fms. Samana Bay, Santo Domingo. 
Nassau, Bahamas. Various collections from the " West Indies." 

This little shell is proportionally more depressed, and has fewer spirals 
when young, and owing to the persistent lirse looks adult at almost any stage. 
It is extremely lovely when color and sculpture are perfect and fresh, but often 
is wholly whitish. I have found it labelled by the name of punctiger A. 
Adams, a much larger umbilicated species from the Indo-Pacific region. 

I have not been able to find a description of it, or any figure closely resem- 
bling it. 


*b 


Genus BASILISSA Watson. 
Basilissa Watson, Journ. Linn. Soc., XIV. p. 593, April, 1879. 

Shell trochiform, umbilicate, nacreous, sculptured. Pillar concave, its distal 
end projecting as a strong tooth. Margin of the aperture concavely sinuate 
near the suture and on the base. Peripheral margin produced, claw-like, be- 
tween the two shallow sinuations. A grooved or denticulate callus in the 
adult on the body whorl and within the margin of the aperture. Aperture 
sub-rhomboidal. Operculum multispiral, horny, with a circular callus on the 
inner central face and a subcircular outline. Example, B. costulata Watson. 

The above amended diagnosis is rendered necessary by the discovery of 
adult specimens among the Blake shells. It is probable that most of the 
species in an adult condition conform to it. It is conch ologically related to 
the genus Seguenzia, a transition from which is indicated by such species as 
S. carinata, S. elcgans, and S. trispinosa. But the soft parts as yet are un- 
known. Should it be found, however, that some species do not exhibit the 
denticulation, etc. described in B. costulata, and conform to the edentulous 
type indicated in Watson's original description, (and B. alia may prove to be 
of this character,) these would of course retain the original name of Basilissa, 
while for the dentate forms the name of Ancistrobasis might be used. 

I have placed these species after the Tvochidaz in accordance with the general 
custom, but I do not feel confident that the eventual position of all the species 
will be here. 


384 BULLETIN OF THE 

Section BASILISSA s. s. 

Basilissa alta Watson. 

Basilissa alta Watson, loc. cit, p. 589 ; Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 48, 1881 ; Watson, 
Chall. Rep. Gastr., p. 100, pi. vii. fig. 8, 1886. 

Habitat. Station 43, in 339 fms.; Station 41, in 860 fins.; Station 163, near 
Guadelupe, in 769 fms., fine sand, bottom temperature 39°.5 F.; and Station 
264, near Grenada, in 416 fms., gray ooze, bottom temperature 42°.5 F. 

All these specimens were dead, though one or two were tolerably fresh, while 
most of them were defective. The sculpture varies between the typical form 
and the variety oxytoma Watson (loc. cit., pi. vii. fig. 8 a). The size of the 
specimens is very uniform. 

Basilissa superba was dredged by the U. Fish Commission off the east coast 
of the United States, south of Hatteras; the exact locality of the specimens was, 
however, lost. 

Basilissa alta Watson var. delicatula Dall. 

Plate XXII. Figs. 2, 2 a. 

Seguenzia delicatula Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 48, 1881. 

Habitat. Station 2, in 805 fms. 

This is more delicate and thin than the type, but otherwise much like it, ex- 
cept that the delicate spiral threads cover the whole surface of the shell. 

The reference of this form to Seguenzia was an error into which I was led 
by the imperfect state of my specimens and the absence of any others for 
comparison. 

Section ANCISTROBASIS Dall. 
Basilissa (Ancistrobasis ) costulata Watson. 

Plate XXIII. Figs. 4, 4 a. 

Basilissa costulata Watson, loc. cit., p. 600; Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 48, 1881 J 
Watson, Chall. Rep. Gastr , p. 103, pi. vii. fig. 11, 1886. 

Habitat. Yucatan Strait, in 640 fms.; Station 50, 119 fms.; Sand Key, in 
15 fms. 

Basilissa costulata var. depressa Dall. 

The shell figured differs from B. costulata, as described and figured by 

Watson, in the less flexuous radiating costse, which are nearly equal to the 

interspaces in width, and in the smaller number of spiral ridges, which are 

about ten on the base and seven to nine on the upper surface of the whorls. 

May 4, 1889. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 385 

The armature of the mouth is a character which does not appear until full ma- 
turity, so that I do not regard its non-existence in the Challenger specimens as 
important. The other characters seem to agree closely with Watson's figure 
and description, and, taking into consideration the known variability of the 
abyssal shells and among the Blake specimens of this species, I do not feel jus- 
tified in separating the Blake shells specifically from B. costulata. If I am 
correct in the identification, this material enables me to add a good deal to the 
knowledge of the species and genus. The dried remains of the animal in one 
specimen bear a pellucid multispiial operculum a little more circular in outline 
than that of Seguenzia, but otherwise precisely like it. 

The aperture in the adult is strongly thickened a little distance within its 
margin, which remains sharp. The projecting peripheral part is a little bent in, 
recalling the aperture of Seguenzia. The callus on the body is thin and 
smooth, that within the outer lip is broad, thick, iridescent, and deeply grooved 
parallel with the external spirals, producing four or five ridges between the 
grooves above the carina and a larger number of rather smaller ones below it. 
The columella is thickened concave and strongly reflected, its basal extreme 
terminating in a stout tooth-like twist of the margin, beyond which is a deep 
sulcus in the callus extending nearly across the base, in the middle of which rises 
a solitary stout tooth-like ridge. The walls of the umbilicus are nearly smooth, 
and as regards the individual turns are somewhat concave. The nucleus in this 
form gives the impression, after very close scrutiny of several fresh specimens, 
that it is really laid at right angles to the original axis and half immersed in 
the first post-nuclear turn. This is masked by the fact that the nucleus proper 
occupies less than a single turn, and appears thus more normal than it really is, 
if my suspicions are correct. 

Solarium reticulatum Philippi is referred to this genus by Watson, and is 
said to have been dredged by the Porcupine at various stations in the North 
Atlantic. 


Family DELPHINULID^. 

Genus LIOTIA Gray. 

Liotia Gray, Syn. Brit. Mus., 1840 (no description, type Delphimda cancellata Gray) ; 
P. Z. S. 1847, p. 145. 

This group was separated from Dclphinula Lamarck (Angaria H. & A. Ad- 
ams) to comprise the small species with a thickened margin to the aperture 
and less brilliant nacre than the large forms. Gray's type was a cancellated 
species, and the genus Liotia, in the most restricted sense, will comprise those 
species which have numerous varices or radiating circumambient ribs cancel- 
lated more or less by spiral sculpture. 

Those species having a single varix marking the finally adult condition, 
generally with strong spiral ridges on the periphery, which may or may not 

vol. xviii. 25 


386 BULLETIN OF THE 

be spinose, were separated by H. & A. Adams under the name Arene. Their 
diagnosis was not of the best, and comprised several characters certainly not 
of generic value. I am unable to see any characters in the subgenus Liotina 
Munier-Chalmas which should separate it from the typical Arene. 

Another group, which in my opinion belongs here, is Lippistes Montfort, 
based on the Argonauta cornu of Fichtel and Moller. This is not the Argo- 
nauta cornu of Chemnitz, as has hastily been assumed by some authors. The 
latter is apparently an Atlanta or Oxygyrus. Montfort's figure represents a 
shell which does not appear to differ from the forms named Daronia by Arthur 
Adams, and 'Ilaira by H. & A. Adams, the quadration of the aperture in the 
latter being a merely specific incident due to its sculpture, and probably not 
permanent in all individuals of the same species. If, however, the disjunction 
of the latter part of the last whorl be considered sufficient to separate it from 
Daronia proper, where the whorls, though rolled in nearly the same plane, are 
contiguous, Ilaira must take its place with Lippistes proper, which has this 
character, while the final term of the series is afforded by Laxispira Gabb, a 
section which may include Delphinula nitida Verrill, in which all the whorls 
are lax, and to which D. laxa Say (if not a monstrosity) may also belong. 
The latter has been referred to the Rudistes by Tryon (Man., II. p. 309), but 
this must be due to some confusion of types. Mr. Say's original description 
and very good figure are incompatible with such a reference. There is much 
more probability that the tvpe of D. laxa was a deformed Natica, as Say him- 
self suggests. He describes it as a recent marine shell, inhabiting the coast of 
South Carolina among other marine shells. No suggestion of its being a 
fossil is anywhere made by Say, nor are any Carolinian Rudistes known. But 
as he says nothing of its being pearly, and compares it to Natica, it is probable 
that it does not belong to the group now under consideration. 

Laxispira would appear to be without a varix or thickened ring at the 
extreme end of the adult coil; but this cannot be positively asserted, as but a 
very few specimens of these remarkable shells have ever been collected. Tu- 
biola A. Adams would appear to bear much the same relation to Cyclostrema 
that Ilaira does to Lippistes. 

The characteristics of the Liotioz and their relatives are not those usually 
made use of for diagnoses. Some Liotioz are most brilliantly pearly (e. g. 
L. fencstrata Cpr., of California); others when not perfectly fresh do not show 
a trace of nacre. Yet even these (Arene cruentata Miihlf. for example), when 
perfectly fresh and closely examined, show a very well marked varnish of pearl 
about the aperture. I have not seen any species, when perfectly fresh, which 
did not show at least a little nacre, though the majority do not show any when 
dry and "dead." 

Arthur Adams describes the operculum in some Japanese species as horny, 
hispid, multispiral, and having an external limy layer composed of small grains 
like beads, spirally disposed. In Arene cruentata. I find the operculum solid, 
thick, multispiral, with hardly a trace of horny matter except at the margin. 
Externally it is concave, with a small central pit corresponding to a small 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 337 

round elevation on the inner side. It is thinner here than elsewhere, and 
weathered opercula have always a central perforation. 

The minute variegated Liotia (Arene) miniata of the West Indies has a 
similar operculum, as does A. tricarinata Stearns. L. Briareus Dall has an 
operculum like that described by Arthur Adams, almost wholly horny, exter- 
nally hispid, with a row of beady granules on each whorl of the operculum. 
In Liotia Bairdii the operculum seems to want even the granules, and to be 
wholly horny. 

The sculpture is of two kinds; one, a fine shagreening which generally covers 
the whole surface and is only visible under a lens; it seems to be invariable 
in the same species. The other sculpture consists of spiral ridges, or of scales, 
spines, knobs, etc., which are very inconstant and not characteristic even of 
the species in some cases. An examination of the dentition shows it closely 
related to that of Delphinula, as might have been expected. 

The umbilicus varies from barely pervious (L. Biisii Dkr., etc.) to nearly 
plane in the genus, and from perforate to wide in different individuals of the 
same species, much as with some of the small Gibbulas. The elevation of the 
spire often differs considerably in different specimens of the same species, and 
the color markings are admitted on all sides to be as variable as they are bright 
and elegant. 

The species of our southern coast and the Antilles appear to be as fol- 
lows : — 

Liotia, Section Arene. 

Liotia Briareus Dall. Liotia cruentata Miihlf. 

Liotia Bairdii Dall. Liotia variabilis Dall. 

Liotia Biisii Dunker. Liotia tricarinata Stearns. 
Liotia miniata Dall. 

Subgenus Lippistes. 
Lippistes acrilla Dall. Lippistes amabilis Dall. 

Subgenus Laxispira. 
Laxispira nitida Verrill. 

" Circulus" formosissimus Brugnone of the Mediterranean is also a Lippistes, 
allied to L. acrilla. 

" Delphinula " tuberculosa Orbigny (tuberculata on the plate, which was pub- 
lished first, Trochus Schrammi of Fischer according to the Beau catalogue) is 
almost certainly a Fossarus. C>/clostrema Schrammi Fischer may perhaps 
prove to be an extremely young Lippistes. 


388 BULLETIN OF THE 

Liotia (Arene) Briareus Dall. 

Plate XXIV. Figs. 5, 5 a. 

Turbo (Liotia?) Briareus Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 52, 1881. 

Habitat. Station 60, off Havana, in 80-480 fms. Station 20, off Bahia 
Honda, Cuba, in 220 fins., bottom temperature 62°.0 F. Station 166, off 
Guadelupe, in 150 fms., sand, bottom temperature about 60°.0 F., one living 
specimen. Station 272, off Barbados, in 76 fms., sand and shell. 

The alcoholic specimen was well preserved. The operculum has been al- 
ready referred to. Its outer margin is produced into a thin lamina, which 
persists, and splits radially, giving a hispid appearance to the outside surface 
of the operculum, which contains about twenty turns. The inner surface is 
golden brown, very polished, and with a small central knob corresponding to 
the deep indentation of the outer surface. The muzzle is long and rounded; 
the tentacles long and slender; the eyes large and black on distinct pedicels. 
The epipodial fringe shows a moderate lobe of triangular shape just behind 
the eye, but not extended to the eye peduncle; and there are four well-marked 
long lateral processes on each side as large as the tentacles, and two more 
smaller ones peep out from under the edges of the operculum. The foot is 
rather broad, squarish and simple in front, rounded behind, short. The sides 
of the foot are yellowish with numerous brown specks; there are some specks 
of the same kind between the tentacles. Front of the head devoid of lappets 
or other appendages. With the above exceptions the exposed parts are yellow- 
ish. There is a single rather narrow gill. The anus forms an elongated 
papilla. I could find no jaw. The radula is small and short The formula 
j s 5 -i- 5 + i+5^.?. The rhachidian tooth is like that of Delplrinula ; there 
are five simple-cusped broad-based laterals, the fourth and fifth larger than 
the inner ones. There are numerous slender simple uncini with long scythe- 
shaped cusps. 

The shell of this species is suoject to extraordinary variations. Beside the 
normal and typical form, figured with erect long channelled spines, there is 
a variety in which the umbilicus is nearly closed and the spines rather short. 
These specimens are also of a darker and duller red, and perhaps a little less 
elevated. 

A still more remarkable variety is destitute of any spines or ridges whatever. 
The general form is the same, the places of the spiny spiral ridges are marked 
by the red color and the interspaces by white; yet there is nothing left of the 
ridges but the color, except on the very early whorls. The surface shagreening 
is retained. The shell is rose-colored. For the first I would propose the va- 
rietal name of perforata, and for the second that of aspina. 

This species may be distinguished from L. Bairdii by the sharp wavy sha- 
greening of its surface and the heavy shelly coat on the operculum, in general 
also by the larger umbilicus, flatter base and basal sculpture, and by the long, 
erect, thin trough-like spines. The strong carina or ridge bordering the 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 389 

umbilicus seems to be constant even in the variety aspina, while in L. Bairdii 
the sculpture rounds pretty evenly toward the smaller and hardly sculptured 
umbilical perforation. 

Liotia Bairdii n s. 

Plate XXXIII. Fig. 8. 

Shell of much the same general form as L. Briareus, but having nodnled 
instead of spinose ridges and a finer and less evident surface sculpture, which 
follows the incremental lines, and is not wavy, raised, and sharp, as in Briareus. 
On the last whorl there are six basal, two peripheral, and three superior re- 
volving ridcres. The suture is channelled, and the middle one of the three 

no ' 

upper spirals is smaller than the two others, which gives a slight tabulation to 
the spire. It has five whorls and a small smooth nucleus. Like L. Briareus, 
there is hardly any varix at the aperture of the adult, though this is slightly 
reflected ; the margin is machicolated by the squarish ends of the spiral ridges, 
when these are strong. The umbilicus is small, the base in the adult rounds 
into it, within there is a single rounded spiral ridge, but no spines or nodules. 
The outer basal spiral is larger than the others, and separated from the others 
by wider channels. The color is whitish, more or less maculated, or wholly 
overspread by a dull livid red, much less attractive than the delicate color of 
the preceding species. The size of the largest specimens is rather less than in 
Briareus. Operculum horny. Max. alt., 6.0; max. diam., 6.0 mm. 

L. Bairdii var. trullata. Shell having the nodules produced into squarish 
spines, which are produced parallel to the surface of the whorl and flattened, 
with fine longitudinal striation outside. These widen toward their distal ends, 
and recall the appearance of trees which have grown exposed to a steady wind 
in one direction. They are hardly at all concave on the under side, and are 
pretty uniform over the base and all the rest of the shell, smaller on the 
smaller spiral ridges. 

Habitat. Station 2, in 805 fms. ; Sand Key, in 15 fms. ; Sigstee, off Havana, 
in 127 fms. Also at Stations 2595, 2596, and 2612 of the U. S. Fish Com- 
mission, in 50-60 fms., twenty miles off the North Carolina coast, and at 
Stations 2317 and 2318, living, in 45 fms., off Key West. 

Liotia tricarinata Stearns. 

Architectonica tricarinata Stearns, Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., for 1872, p. 23, Jan., 
1872. 

Habitat. West of Florida, in 15 fms. U. S. Fish Commission Stations 
2598, 2608, 2610, 2615, 2617, and 2619, in 14-22 fms., gravel, off the coast of 
North Carolina. Caloosahatchie Pliocene beds, near Fort Thompson, on the 
Caloosahatchie Kiver, South Florida, Dall. 

Some of the fossil specimens of this very pretty little species are nearly 
twice as large as any which have yet been dredged in the recent state. 


390 BULLETIN OF THE 

Liotia miniata n. s. 

Plate XXVIII. Fig. 11. 

Shell minute, white, picked out with streaks of pale brown, or dots, or radi- 
ating blotches of bright rose-color. Whorls about three, surface finely sha- 
greened in a granular manner; no radiating sculpture other than incremental 
lines; spiral sculpture of, on the last whorl, one generally minutely nodulous 
small spiral rib at the suture, one strong spiral not nodulous near the periph- 
ery, another at the periphery, and on the edge of and within the wide umbili- 
cus two or three very strong evenly noduled spirals, the outer forming the bor- 
der or umbilical carina, the others ascending within the umbilicus, all separated 
by very deep channels. On the outer surface there are occasionally fainter 
intercalary spirals. Suture distinct, hardly channelled. Aperture circular, 
slightly varicose in the adult. Operculum chiefly calcareous, multispiral, 
concave, with a central perforation when weathered. Max. diam., 2.5; min. 
diam., 2.0; alt., 2.0 mm. 

Habitat. Barbados, in 15 fms. Nassau, N. P., and Samana Bay, Santo 
Domingo, dead on beach, DalL 

This pretty little shell has much the general appearance of L. tricarinata on 
a much smaller scale and with a different umbilicus and details of sculpture. 

Liotia variabilis n. s. 

Plate XXIII. Figs. 2, 2 a. 

Shell trochiform, white or waxen, of about five turns, with a minute smooth 
nucleus; suture distinct, channelled; radiating sculpture of sharp close ele- 
vated lamellae, a good deal like those of L. Briarcus but less elevated and 
irregular, more nearly conforming to the lines of growth; these are continuous 
over the whole surface. Spiral sculpture consisting, on the last whorl of the 
adult, of a ridge near the suture, with a much smaller adjacent one just out- 
side of it; a very stout spiral near the periphery, another at the periphery, an- 
other below and slightly within the periphery which forms the basal margin. 
There is a stout rib with pointed nodules at the edge of the umbilicus, a groove 
outside this, then a much finer spiral with rounded nodules; between this and 
the basal margin the flattened area has five or six fine simple raised spirals, 
crossed by the surface lamellae. The umbilicus is small, mostly smooth, with, 
in the typical form, a single spiral thread bearing sparse lamellar spines near 
the umbilical carina. Aperture nearly circular, hardly reflected, produced 
above with a small row of faint round tubercles on the lower edge just within 
the margin. Operculum multispiral, horny, dotted with bead-like limy 
granules. Max. diam., 6.0; min. diam., 5.0; alt., 4.5 mm. 

Variety microforis. Shell with radiating undulations which granulate the 
basal sculpture, and with the last whorl so compactly coiled as nearly or quite 
to close the umbilicus. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 391 

Habitat. Station 134, near Santa Cruz, in 248 fins., sand, living, bottom 
temperature 54°. 5 F. Station 22, off Bahia Honda, Cuba, in 220 fms., bottom 
temperature 62°.0. Stations 296 and 300, Barbados, in 82-84 fms., bottom tem- 
perature 60° to 61°.5. Barbados, 100 fms. Sand Key, in 80 fms. U. S. Fish 
Commission Stations 2595 and 2610, off the coast of North Carolina, in 22-63 fms., 
"ravel. 

The variety: Station 36, off Cuba, in 84 fms., bottom temperature 60°.0. 
Off Sombrero, in 54 fms. Off Havana, Sigsbee, in 80 fms. Station 273, Bar- 
bados, in 103 fms., bottom temperature 59°. 5. Station 247, off Grenada, in 
170 fins., gray ooze, bottom temperature 53°. 5 F. 

The spiral sculpture in this species may be, and generally is, either nodu- 
lous, or marked with strong imbrications which sometimes become spines. In 
some specimens and especially in young ones we may have the imbrications 
absent and the shell marked with flexuous radii, which sculpture the interspaces, 
but not, or only slightly, the carinas. In other specimens the fine spirals are 
absent from the base, which is then marked with flexuous raised radii, or by 
irregularly elevated, radiating, not very prominent granulations. The young 
shells are proportionally less elevated, and have a larger umbilicus. No trace 
of color has been observed on any of the specimens examined. 


Subgenus LIPPISTES Montfort. 
Lippistes acrilla n. a. 

Plate XXXII. .Figs. 6, 11. 

Shell thin, white, planorboid, of three and a half whorls; radiating sculpture 
of about fifteen ridges, faint on the base and summit, making small nodules 
where they cross the fine spirals, and prominent and strong on the periphery 
between the three peripheral carina? . Other radiations are only due to lines of 
growth which are sometimes slightly elevated. Spiral sculpture of three 
prominent and strong peripheral ridges, of which the uppermost forms the chief 
periphery, the others being slightly nearer the axis; between these, nearly 
square deep reticulations are formed by the radiating ridges before described. 
Beside these there are three faint spirals on the upper and three on the basal 
surface, nodulated at their intersections with the radii. Umbilicus ample; 
inner margin of the aperture nearly circular, the outer part modified by the 
sculpture. Max. diam., 4.3; min. diam., 3.0; alt., 2.0 mm. 

Habitat. Garden Key, Tortugas, Florida, among small beach shells sent by 
a correspondent to the U. S. National Museum. 

The specimen looks as if not quite adult. It differs from L. formosissima 
Brugnone, of the Mediterranean, in having three strong peripheral costae in- 
stead of one, and three above and below instead of one in each situation. 


392 BULLETIN OF THE 

Lippistes amabilis n. s. 

Plate XXXII. Figs. 9, 13 

Shell small, yellowish white, planorboid, of about four whorls, including a 
minute smooth nucleus. Whorls rounded, barely touching, not constantly 
contiguous but normally enrolled. Spiral sculpture of on the upper side six, 
on the periphery four, and on the base six rounded threads, the peripheral ones 
rather larger than the others, all with narrower interspaces; radiating sculpture 
comprising, first, fine elevated lamellae covering the whole shell evenly and 
giving it a slightly spongy aspect; secondly, on the last whorl, about ten ele- 
vations, not perceptibly continuous over the top of the shell but prominent, 
over the periphery and reflected backward like incomplete varices. The outer 
whorl is coiled over these so that the whorl inside only touches the outer one 
by these prominences. They are not continuous over the base, but within the 
ample umbilicus are two rows of small prominences corresponding in number 
to those on the periphery. Aperture circular, with a complete circular varix 
which is radiately crenulated. The apex is sunk below the top of the last 
whorl. Max. diain., 5.0; min. diam., 3.0; alt. (or diameter of terminal varix), 
2.0 mm. 

Habitat. Off Havana, in 80 fms., Sigsbee. 

This most lovely and very remarkable little shell is like nothing else which 
has been described as far as I know, and is so distinct as to need no com- 
parisons. 

Family CYCLOSTREMATID^. 

Genus VITRINELLA C. B. Adams. 

Vitrinella Holmesii Dall. 

Cuchliulepis parasiticus Holmes, Post Pliocene Foss. S. Car., p. 93, pi. xiv, figs. 9, 9 a, b, 
1860. Not of Stimpson, 1858. 

I have already called attention to this species. 

Vitrinella (EpiscyniaV) multicarinata n. s. 
Vitrinella multicarinata Stimpson, MS., in U. S. Nat. Mus. 

Shell small, depressed, translucent whitish, polished, four or five whorled, 
carinated. Radiating sculpture of flexuous incremental lines, faint above, more 
strongly marked on the base; a sharp peripheral thread or carina (below 
which tbe suture is applied) is microscopically serrate by the lines of growth; 
above and below this are two or more carinas, faint angulations of the surface, 
conspicuous in the fresh shell as the epidermis is produced into a fringe upon 
them, though not on the peripheral thread. Whorls moderately rounded 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 393 

above and below. Umbilicus deep, scalar, not very wide, with vertical walls, 
vertically striate, and sometimes with a few spiral grooves; aperture trans- 
versely ovate, margins simple, sharp ; epidermis thin, yellowish, conspicuous 
only on the carinse. Max. diam., 3.0; alt., 1.5 mm. 

Habitat. Off Hatteras, in 15 fms., U. S. Fish Commission. Florida, Stimp- 
son and Jewett. 

This species differs from V. gemma Holmes, in being more depressed and 
having more keels. It is also smaller. 

Genus CYCLOSTREMA Marrtat. 

Several species of this group are found in the western part of the Atlantic, 
though for the most part in the cooler area. Among them are C. trochoides 
Jeffreys, which has received the name of C. affine from Prof. Verrill. A care- 
ful comparison of types leaves no doubt as to the identity of these two forms, 
for which Jeffreys's name has precedence. 

Of the identity of Cyclostrema diaphanum Verrill (1884) with C. (Ti-ochus) 
fulgidus Jeffreys (1883), as claimed by Dr. Jeffreys, I anl not at all satisfied. 
All these small shells are very similar, but so far as they have any characters 
these two would appear to differ. On the other hand, C. Dalli Verrill (de- 
scribed in 1880) is extremely close to and probably identical with C. fulgidus. 
C. Dalli var. ornatum Verrill would appear to be a good species, and possibly 
may be a Molleria, as a specimen I have from near Cape Fear shows a shelf, 
as if for the thick operculum, inside the extreme margin. 

A few interesting species can be added to the list, though some doubt at- 
taches to the generic reference in the absence of the soft parts and operculum. 

Cyclostrema turbinum n. s. 

Plate XXXIII. Fig. 5. 

Shell small, thin, subconic, with four rounded whorls and a minute glassy 
nucleus; radiating sculpture of fine oblique incremental lines, which on the 
early whorls rise into very fine threads, visible crossing the interspaces of the 
spiral sculpture; spiral sculpture of (on the last whorl) about seven strong 
smooth even cinguli on the top of the whorl, and fourteen or fifteen more 
rather smaller from the periphery to the brink of the umbilicus; there are 
also a few finer ones, especially three near the suture, and occasionally some 
spiral striation faintly indicated; on the top of the whorl the interspaces are 
about twice as wide as the threads, but not so wide on the base. The whorls, 
periphery, and base are evenly rounded, the suture distinct, not channelled; 
the umbilicus perforate, with smoothish walls; aperture half as high as the 
shell, oblique, nearly circular, with sharp, simple, slightly expanded edges. 
Max. diam., 3.25; alt., 2.75 mm. 

Habitat. Off Havana, in 80 fms., Sigsbee. 


394 BULLETIN OF THE 

The brownish tint of the single specimen may be accidental; when fresh, it 
is probably white. 

Cyclostrema pompholyx n. s. 

Plate XXVIII. Fig. 9. 

Shell white, polished, thin, with three rounded, rapidly enlarging whorls. 
Sculpture of tine incremental strias; suture deep but not channelled; whorls 
very round, but the spire hardly rising above the last whorl; base rounded, with 
a very narrow umbilicus, into which the whorl descends without any angle or 
other change of curve; aperture large, circular, the upper part a little angulated 
at the suture, margin simple, sharp, somewhat expanded but hardly reflected. 
Max. diam. of base, 4.2; min. diam., 3.0; alt., 3.0 mm. 

Habitat. Station 2, Gulf of Mexico, in 805 fins. 

I am in doubt as to the generic place of this species, so simple in its charac- 
ters and without the soft parts. I had thought of putting it under Choristes 
or with Vitrinella, and finally, in placing it here, feel by no means satisfied 
that the choice is a correct one. 


Cyclostrema cistronium n. s. 

Shell small, white, with a polished nucleus, one and a half rounded and as 
many more carinated whorls; spire depressed; radiating sculpture of fine close 
flexuous threads, which appear chiefly in the interspaces of the spirals, giving 
the surface a minutely punctate appearance; these extend over the whole sur- 
face except of the nuclear whorls; spiral sculpture of on the summit seven 
or eight, between the carina? six or eight, and on the base ten or fifteen ex- 
tremely fine threads, even and uniform, with about equal interspaces, some a 
little granular from the radiating sculpture; beside these there are three very 
strong carina?; one furms the margin of the nearly flat spire, the second extends 
horizontally just below the periphery, the space between them deeply ex- 
cavated; the third forms the edge of the funicular narrow deep umbilicus. 
The base is conical, excavated just within the peripheral carina; it rises to the 
edge of the umbilicus, w T hich is marked by a strong thread, and within is 
vertically striated. The last whorl descends from the general plane, and finally 
becomes separated from the body wdiorl ; the margin is simple, sharply angu- 
lated by the carinations, otherwise the aperture would be ovate, with the colu- 
mellar side somewhat excavated. Alt., 1.6; max. diam., 2.0 mm. 

Habitat. Off the coast of North Carolina, in 22-63 fins., sand and gravel, 
in the warmer area. 

This is a very strongly marked species, in its sculpture recalling C. Vcrreauxi 
Fischer, which is larger, less elevated, with a proportionally larger umbilicus, 
and has not the deflected aperture. The latter recalls the characters of Tubiola 
divisa J. Adams, which is otherwise very different. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 395 


Cyclostrema granulum n. s. 

Among the small shells from Samana Bay I have found a little Cyclostrema, 
which, as it appears undescribed, I have called C. granulum, and which is 
about 1.0 mm. in height and breadth. It is much the shape of 0. turbinum, 
but more elevated and compact, having ten or twelve fine strong spiral cinguli, 
under which are finer radiating raised incremental lines. It is white with a 
rounded base and perforate umbilicus, three whorls, a nearly circular aperture, 
with slightly thickened or expanded margin. For so small a shell it seems 
remarkably solid and strong. It must be one of the smallest of the genus. 

Section GRANIGYRA Dall. 

Shell covered with small pustules or granules, like those on Poromya or 
Plectodon. 

Cyclostrema (Granigyra) limatum n. s. 

Shell small, white, almost exactly the shape of Trochus fulgidus Jeffreys, 
but a little smaller, with three extremely rounded whorls covered with small 
close-set irregular granulations of nearly uniform size like sand-grains; base 
with a small perforate umbilicus, into which the whorl rounds without carina, 
callus, or break of any kind. Aperture circular, margins thin, sharp, uniform, 
not reflected. Max. diam., 2.5; alt., 2.5 mm. 

Habitat. Station 19, off Bahia Honda, Cuba, in 310 fms. 

This singular little shell is a typical Cyclostrema in its conchological features, 
except for its granular surface. The latter recalls that of Poromtja, but is finer 
and less regular. 


Super-Family DICRANOBRANCHIA. 

Family HALIOTIDiE. 

Genus HALIOTIS Linne. 

Haliotis Pourtalesii Dall. 

Haliotis [Padollus) Pourtalesii Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 79, 1881. 

Habitat. Bed of the Gulf Stream, in 200 fms., near the Florida Beefs, 
Pourtales, March 31, 1869. 

No additional information has yet been received in regard to this species. 
The type specimen was destroyed in the great fire at Chicago, together with 
the other collections of the Academy of Sciences and of Pourtales, which had 
been intrusted to Dr. Stimpson for study. It is the only representative of 
the genus on the eastern coast of America. 


396 BULLETIN OF THE 


Family SCISSURELLIDjE. 

Genus SCISSURELLA Orbigny. 

Section SCHIZOTROCHUS Monterosato. 
Scissurella crispata Fleming. 

This widely spread species has been found off the eastern coast of the United 
States by the U. S. Fish Commission, the Challenger, and by Dr. Rush of the 
U. S. Navy. 

Section SCISSURELLA s. s. 

Scissurella alta Watson. 

Scissurella alta Watson, Chall. Rep. Gastr., p. 113, pi. viii. fig. 1, 1885 

Habitat. Off Barbados, in 100 fms., Blake Expedition. Off Culebra Island, 
Antilles, in 390 fms., Challenger. 

A single specimen of this interesting species was found in the mud filling a 
larger shell from the above locality. 

Family PLEUROTOMARIID^. 

Pleurotomanidce Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 77, 1881. 

I cannot follow Dr. Fischer in placing the Scissurellidie in this family. The 
differences of the radula alone seem sufficient to separate them, and the absence 
of cirri on the epipodium, as well as the peculiar lappets of Scissurella, confirm 
the division, from my point of view. 

Genus PLEUROTOMARIA Sowerbt. 

Pleurotomaria J. Sowerby, Min. Conch., III. p. 139, pi. cclxxviii., Dec, 1821. 
Pleurotomaire (in) Defrance, Tabl. des corps Foss., p. 114, 1824. (No description.) 
Pleurotomaria " Defrance," J. de C. Sowerby, Min. Conch., VII. p. 69, pi. 640. 

Nov., 1844. 
Pleurotomaria Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 78, 1881. . H. Woodward, Geol. Mag., II., 

1885, p. 433. 

Dr. H. Woodward in his excellent paper on this genus has overlooked the 
application of the name Pleurotomaria, and the statement of its essential char- 
acter, by James Sowerby, in 1821. The facts are : 1. James Sowerby uses and 
defines the name in 1821, though he does not definitely adopt it; he refers it 
to no other author. 2. Defrance never published the name Pleurotomaria ; he 
used a French form of it in his table of fossils, without a definition, and with- 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 397 

out claiming it as his own, or differentiating it from other older genera quoted 
by him, three years after its use by James Sowerby. 3. Other authors have 
referred to Defrance as the author of the name, but without stating any grounds 
for it, and without noticing Sowerby's original use of it. Hence it is evident 
that there is no published proof that the name is due to any one but Sowerby. 
What tradition may assert, or heedless quotation have established, is another 
matter, with which I do not feel that I have authority to deal. 

Section PEROTROCHUS Fischer. 
Pleurotomaria (Perotrochus) Quoyana Fischer & Bernardi. 

Plate XXIX. Fig. 1. Plate XXXI. Figs. 1, lb, 1 c. Plate XXXVII. Fig. 5. 

Pleurotomaria Quoi/ana Fischer & Bernardi, Journ. de Concliyl., V. p. 165, pi. v. 
figs. 1-3, 1856. Dall, Bull. M. C. Z., IX. p. 78, 1881. Crosse, Journ. de 
Conchy I., XXII. p. 14, 1882. Dall, in Agassiz, Three Cruises of the Blake, 
II. p. 69, fig. 289, Jan., 1888. 

Habitat. Station 290, off Barbados, in 73 fms., coral sand, bottom temper- 
ature 70°. 75. Station 296, off Barbados, in 84 fms., hard bottom, temperature 
61°. 5 F. Island of Marie-Galante, near Guadelupe, Fischer. Station 2354, 
off the coast of Yucatan, near Arrowsmith Bank (dead), in 130 fms., coral bot- 
tom, U. S. Fish Commission. 

The first mentioned specimen was a little defective about the aperture, 
though living. It is in the U. S. National Museum. The second, also living, 
is perfect, and is now in the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Cambridge. 
The Fish Commission specimen, also in the National Museum, is broken some- 
what at the aperture, but otherwise in good order. All these shells were of 
nearly uniform size. The measurements of the two Washington specimens 
are as follows. Max. diam. at base, 50.0 and 48.0; min. diam., 47.0 and 43.0; 
max. alt. of shell, 42.0 and 40.0; width of notch in both, 2.5 mm. Number 
of whorls, 10 and 9^. Height of the, aperture, 15.0 and 13.5 mm. 

The early two or three whorls are tilled solidly with translucent yellowish 
or reddish shelly matter, and the nucleus, as far as can be observed, shows no 
trace of a notch. This form belongs to the section Perotrochus Fischer (1885), 
but I do not think the value of most of these sections is very great. They are 
merely convenient means of arranging large numbers of species which do not 
greatly differ from one another. The characters of the radula may, however, 
validate the present subdivision. 

The animal in alcohol is of a yellowish waxen color, varied on the back of 
the tentacles, and on the upper part of the head behind the tentacles, with fine 
black transverse lines, corresponding to the wrinkles between the cuticular 
rugae. This led to the suspicion that they were due to foreign matter, but 
both specimens presented essentially the same appearance. The whole surface 
of the body was more or less rugose. The parts above alluded to are finely 


398 BULLETIN OF THE 

transversely wrinkled. The rest of the body (excepting the base of the foot) 
is finely granulose, or furnished with minute close-set, rounded, short, project- 
ing points or papilla?. 

The head is moderately long and rounded much as in most Trochidce ; the 
muzzle rounded, its distal end forming a well-defined moderately papillose 
rounded-ovate disk; the mouth is about in the centre, with a deep sulcus ex- 
tending in the median line below and breaking the continuity of the margin. 
The tentacles are long, slender, subcylindrical, rather bluntly pointed, and 
wrinkled in a longitudinal direction, probably from contraction induced by 
the alcohol. The eyes are small, round, and black; the cutis above them has 
a small central perforation, so that the oftice of a lens must be performed by 
the water having access to the cup-shaped cavity within. There is no lens 
present. 

The upper surface of the foot is widely expanded at the sides, from a point a 
little behind the front edge of the foot to the posterior extremity. This expan- 
sion, though differing from the homologous organ in the Trochidce in its form 
and arrangement, is identical with the epipodium in that family. It is broad, 
thin, and entire, and fringed, as is the free edge of the mantle, with a single 
row of small short slender papillae. This extends back to the extreme termina- 
tion of the foot, tbe two epipodial expansions not uniting behind. There are 
no cirri, tentacular filaments, lappets, or other projections to the epipodial mar- 
gin, as in Scissurellidce or 'Trochidce. The upper surface of the epipodium is 
continuous with the upper surface of the foot, and is depressed and more finely 
granular than the outer part. About the centre of the upper surface of the 
body behind the shell is the operculigerous lobe, which is of a circular form 
and about 7.0 mm. in diameter. The depression between the epipodia extends 
to the posterior termination of the foot. In life the epipodia are thin and ex- 
tended, like a supplementary mantle, and are kept closely applied to the shell 
as if supporting it; in this respect differing from the same organs in the Tro- 
chidce, where they extend, like organs of touch, freely into the water on each side 
of the body, and only incidentally touch the shell. 

The anterior margin of the foot is rounded, and perhaps double, but the 
duplication is evidently not deep, and is hardly visible in the contracted speci- 
mens before me. This organ is very muscular in this group. The posterior 
end is not very acutely pointed. 

The operculum is nearly circular, small for the size of the shell, its greatest 
diameter being only 7.5 mm., and its smallest diameter 7.0 mm. Within 
this range it has ten narrow whorls, smooth or lightly striated with incre- 
mental lines on both sides, of a brown color, thicker toward the margin and 
having its central point impressed slightly from the exterior. 

The length of the (contracted) foot is about 33 mm., the width between 
the tentacles is about 7 mm., and the tentacles are about 10 mm. long. The 
mantle is thin, its edge resembles that of the epipodia, but, as preserved, the 
individual papilla) of the fringe seem a little larger and stouter. In life they 
extend along the margin of the notch, and are visible from the outside. Be- 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 399 

hind the head and foot, in the two specimens dissected, the soft parts were 
totally decayed and lost, having probably been left too long out of alcohol in the 
tropical temperature after the draughtsman had made his drawings. Nothing 
remained of the gills, and only the anterior lobes of the mantle, the appearance 
of which in life is preserved by the drawings made from the living animal. 

The cavity of the mouth is large, and the muscles which move the buccal 
mass are prominent and strong. There are no functional mandibles; the 
jaws, if such they may be called, are disproportionately small and weak. They 
consist of two quadrate smooth horny pieces about 1.5 mm. square, meeting 
above in the median line at the anterior upper portion of the oral cavity. 
They are attached over their whole extent, flatly to the roof of the mouth, 
have no cutting edge, in fact are too soft and weak to cut anything, and evi- 
dently only serve the purpose of defending the surface to which they are fixed 
from the attrition of the teeth of the radula below them. 

The radula is long and its central part is of a very dark red brown. There is 
a narrow pointed rhachidian tooth, with a slightly curved simple tip. The 
other teeth are arranged in three series. The laterals proper ars twenty-six in 
number, and the line forms a very acute angle on each side of the rhachidian 
tooth, which would occupy a position a little within the apex of this angle. 
The largest laterals are those near the rhachidian tooth; they have simple broad 
cusps and narrower bases; a faint midrib was visible on some of them near the 
base. They grow gradually smaller and shorter from the centre outward, 
though preserving a general similarity of form ; the outer five are without cusps, 
and are little more than pointed lamellae. Outside of the laterals are two 
series of uncini; the inner series or major uncini are large, strongly curved, 
with scythe-shaped cusps, having from one to three denticles nearly as large as 
the principal cusp. Those nearer the rhachis have more and the outer ones 
have fewer denticles, the outer ones are also a little shorter and more slender. 
As nearly as I could determine there were eighteen (possibly twenty) of these 
uncini, their tips forming an arch raised above the median teeth and also above 
the minor uncini. The successive rows in a general view of the radula look 
like successive waves running in at an angle less oblique to the median line 
than the teeth on the rhachis. The minor laterals form a very numerous se- 
ries of decidedly smaller and more transparent teeth, which series, though really 
inclined toward the median line at a very acute angle, appears parallel with it. 
The uncini so overlap and confuse with one another as to make it impossible to 
state witli confidence the exact number in a single transverse series; I believe 
it to be more than forty, and probably less than fifty. They are slender, 
spatulifonn, nearly straight transparent lamellae, whose weakness contrasts 
strongly with the stout arched dentate broad-cusped major laterals. 

The major and minor laterals respectively are set in series on a compact 
solid base, common to all of the teeth in that series belonging to one transverse 
set, and not very clearly separated from the basis of adjoining sets. This adds 
to the difficulty of obtaining the exact number in any one transverse set, where 
the teeth are so numerous and so compactly planted. I did not observe on any 


400 BULLETIN OF THE 

of the uncini such tufts or brushes as are described in connection with the 
radula of P. Adansoniana. 

The tooth formula would be written, R (^ + | ) + ( -£A- + 45? ), the 
middle tooth (R) and the right half of the radula being included in the 
formula. 

Section ENTEMNOTROCHUS Fischer. 
Pleurotomaria (Entemnotrochus) Adansoniana Crosse & Fischer. 

Plate XXX. Plate XXXI. Figs. 3, 4, 5, 6. Plate XXXII. Fig. lO. 
Plate XXXVII. Fig. 4. 

Pleurotomaria Adansoniana Crosse & Fischer, Journ. de Conchyl., IX. p. 1C3, pi. V. 
figs. 1, 2, 1801. Dall, Bull. M. C. Z ., IX. p. 78, 1881. Crosse, Journ. de 
Conchyl , XXII. p. 12, pi. i. figs. 1, 2, 1882. Dall, in Agassiz, Three Cruises 
of the Blake, II. p. 69, fig. 288, 1888. 

Habitat. Station 278, in 69 fins., coral bottom, temperature 68°. 0, dead; 
Station 276, in 94 fms., temperature 61°. ; Station 291, in 200 fms., stones, 
temperature 49°.75 F.; all near Barbados. Guadelupe, in 150 fms., Fischer. 

The specimen from Station 291 is now (with the broken one. from Station 
278) in the Museum at Cambridge. It will be referred to as "specimen a." 
The other, now in the U. S. National Museum, will be called "specimen 6." 
Their respective measurements are as follows. Max. diam. of base, 130.0 and 
88.0; min. diam., 111.0 and 79.0; max. alt. of shell, 130.0 and 70.0; max. 
lat. of aperture, 60.0 and 41.5; max. alt. of aperture, 38.0 and 26.0; Ion. of 
slit, 200.0 and 142.0 mm., in both cases a little more than half the length of 
the last whorl, which in specimen b measured, in all, 237.0 mm. Its operculum 
measured 35.0 mm. in greatest diameter. 

The width of the slit is from 2.5 to 3.5 mm. in specimen a, which has eleven 
whorls. It is from 2.5 to 2.75 mm. in specimen b, which has ten whorls. The 
specimen from Station 278 was of a much more brilliant yellow than the two 
others, and the painting was somewhat different in each specimen from either 
of the others. -The nucleus was uniformly filled with solid matter. 

The soft parts in this species were a little better preserved than in P. Quoy- 
ana, since, in specimen b, the mantle to the anal commissure was intact, and 
the branchia upon it, as well as the anal termination of the intestine and the 
glands below it. The crop or stomach, and everything behind it, however, no 
longer remained. In specimen a only the body and head remained. 

The external parts in life, as represented by the draughtsman, were reddish, 
finely tuberculated or punctate with yellow, thus reproducing the colors of the 
shell. In the preserved specimen the soft parts showed no markings, and 
appeared of a livid waxen hue, common to specimens preserved in spirits. 

In a general way, the superficial characters resemble those of P. Quoyana, 
but there are some differences. 

May 12, 1889. 


MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 401 

The surface of the body is less rugose than in P. Quoyana, though it is very 
finely granular all over, with (in the contracted specimen) a velvety appear- 
ance. The head bears about the same proportion to the rest of the body, but 
the muzzle in front of a line joining the tentacles would be shorter, and the 
tentacles shorter, stouter, and more pointed. The eyes are very small, black, 
and similar to those of P. Quoyana. 

The epipodia are similar in arrangement, but proportionately smaller than 
in that species, and while minutely papillose do not seem to have a special 
single fringe-like row o