THE NAUTILUS. 75 



ON SOME CYPRAEIDAE IN THE COLLECTION OF MR. D. W. FERGUSON, 

 OF BROOKLYN, WITH DESCRIPTIONS OF SEVERAL NEW VARIETIES. 



BY SLOMAN ROUS. 



In this collection which Mr. Ferguson kindly allowed me to in- 

 spect the Cypraeidse are especially interesting. There are several 

 varieties that appear to me to have been not hitherto noticed, and 

 some which, though not attaining varietal dignity, are well worthy 

 of remark. 



CYPRAEA HELVOLA var. APHRODITE, var. nov. 



More pyriform and much wider than the type, and considerably 

 depressed. Very pale yellowish-brown, sides slightly darker, again 

 changing to the paler dorsal color on the base, the interstices of the 

 teeth a full shade darker, back flecked with numerous small snow- 

 white spots, and a few larger spots of a still pale brown, but darker 

 than the ground color. Edges of base rather heavily thickened. 



I am not sure that this shell may not claim specific rank, while it 

 is close to C. helvola, the differences are many. Beside its pyriform 

 shape the outer half of the base is about two and a half times wider 

 between the aperture and outer edge than the opposite, and the teeth 

 are prolonged almost half-way over this space, making them appear 

 finer and more elegant than in helvola. The aperture is almost straight 

 and narrower than the type. This is accentuated by the columellar lip 

 being much less arcuated than is normally the case, so that the 

 anterior portion of the lips are almost as close together as the pos- 

 terior. Long. 27, lat. 20, alt. 14 mm. It is a very lovely shell 

 and undoubtedly very rare. Hab. Sandwich Is., W. H. Pease. 



A specimen of C. arabica is curiously marked. On the inner side 

 of the dorsal line the pattern is normal, but on the outer side, while 

 some of the white spots are irregular in shape, most of them are 

 round and annulated with dark brown. The dorsal line is very 

 crooked and would seem to indicate a malformation of the mantle. 



There is also a specimen of arabica var. eglantlna Duclos. Mr. 

 J. Cosmo Melvill, in his description of this shell in his " Survey of 

 the Genus Cypraea," says it is shining brown. All the specimens I 

 have seen have been the color of Portland cement, and decidedly 

 not brown. 



CYPRAEA EXANTHEMA var. PUDICA, var. nov. 



Shape normal, small, color very pale brown, with spots of gray- 



