THE NAUTILUS. 45 



F. crocata Philippi, Zeitschr. f. Malak. p. 25, 1848: Abbild. 



Besch. Conch. Ill, (Fasciolaria) Tab. I, f. 3, 1849. 

 F. reevei Jonas, in Philippi, Abbild. Besch. Conch. Ill, (Fasci- 

 olaria) Tab. Ill, f. 2, 1850. 



Even this large shell is not free from a nomenclatorial tangle. 

 F. papillosa Sowb. , as pointed out by Tyron, seems to be the 

 oldest name. I have not access to the Tankerville Catalogue, 

 but if the young specimen as figured by Reeve (fig. la, b) and 

 copied by Tryon (fig. 15) is the type, then this name seems 

 somewhat doubtful. The spire and canal are both too long for 

 a specimen of that size, in fact I cannot see any difference in 

 figs, la and Ib, and the figure of F. coronata Lam. as figured 

 by Reeve (pi. VI, f. 14 a, b.) Figure Ic and d of Reeve and 

 copied by Tryon (fig. 16) is F. gigantea. The F. crocata Phil, 

 from Yucatan is undoubtedly the young of this species and not 

 related to F. filamentosa as suggested by Tryon. 



In regard to its size, Tryon says : ' ' Length 1 to 2 feet. This 

 is the largest known species of univalve shell." Charles 

 T. Simpson (Davenport Acad. Nat. Sci., v, 51, 1886), says: 

 " On the Keys I have seen dead shells two feet in length, the 

 largest Gastropod in the world." In THE NAUTILUS, XIX, 108, 

 I had occasion to review Mr. Charles Hedley's paper, " On a 

 large example of Megalatractus aruanus (L. ), and incidentally 

 mentioned that this Australian giant had a rival on our Florida 

 coast, F. gigantea, quoting one of the above references. Mr. 

 Hedley replied in a letter saying: " Give it in inches, I do not 

 like the sound of the word feet." I remember a specimen 23 

 inches (about 575 mm. ) in length, and there was a very large 

 specimen in the collection of the late Joseph Wilcox which I 

 cannot now locate. In writing to Dr. Dall, he says: '"The 

 largest specimen we have of F. gigantea measures 20 inches in 

 length, with probably half an inch lost from the tip of the spire 

 and as much more from the end of the canal; I have seen a 

 bigger one but I do not remember the exact length of it. Call 

 ours 530 mm. and it would, I think, be fair." The largest in 

 the American Museum of Natural History is 20.25 inches and 

 that in the Academy of Natural Sciences about the same. 



