| OCR Text |
Show 1890.] MARINE MOLLUSCA OF ST. HELENA. 301 VENUS (CHIONE) PYGM^EA, Lamarck. Venuspygmcea, Lamarck, An. s.Vert. ed. 2, vol.vi. p. 337; Hanley, Cat. Recent Shells, p. 110, pi. 16. fig. 13; Sowerby, Thes. Con. vol. ii. p. 707, pi. 156. figs. 69-72 ; Reeve, Con. Icon. pi. 26. fig. 138 a-c. Hab. West Indies. Of this well-defined species I have seen only a single specimen from St. Helena. It is not rayed with pink, as is frequently the case, but merely presents a few brown spots, disposed in rays upon a whitish ground, and a few cross-lines on the excavated hinder dorsal area. CYTHEREA (CARYATIS) RUDIS (Poli). Cytherea rudis, Pfeiffer, Conch.-Cab. p. 34, pi. 11. figs. 9, 10. Hab. Mediterranean, Adriatic and Black Seas, Canary Islands. The shells from St. Helena are rather strongly concentrically sculptured. The largest is 22 millim. in length, and none have a coloured lunule. TELLINA ANTONII, Philippi. Hab. Guadaloupe, West Indies. As far as I can ascertain the above is the only locality quoted for this species. In the British Museum " East Africa " and " A m boyna" are attached to some specimens which undoubtedly belong to this species ; but I regard both with suspicion. The three valves from St. Helena are long and narrow, being 55 millim. in length and 23 in height. They agree in form with T. cumingii, as figured in Reeve's ' Conchologia Iconica,' fig. 179 a, and, indeed, I question if the limits of that and the present species can be clearly defined. The form is subject to considerable variation, even among specimens which have identical sculpture, some being much narrower than others. The radiating striae also differ much in development, and although their presence in T. cumingii is not mentioned by Hanley, they have been detected by Romer; and in all the specimens which I have examined their presence, especially in the right valve, is undeniable. T. cumingii has been recorded from the west coast of Central America by Hanley, C. B. Adams, and others, so it may be presumed that that is its true locality, and not the Red Sea, quoted by Sowerby in the ' Conchologia Iconica.' SEMELE CORDIFORMIS (Chemnitz). Tellina cordiformis, Chemn. Conch.-Cab. vol. xi. figs. 1941-2. Amphidesma cordiformis, Reeve, Conch. Icon. pi. 5. fig. 30. Hab. West Indies, Georgia, Florida, Brazil, West Africa, West Colombia. With this species I unite Amphidesma orbiculata and A. radiata, both of Say, A. subtruncata, Sowerby, A. reticulata, Sowerby, A. decussata, Wood, A. luteola, A. Adams, A. lenticularis, Sowerby, and A. modesta, A. Adams. I believe these so-called species merely PROC. ZOOL. Soc-1890, No. XXI. 21 |
