326 TEOCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF [1-888. 



The nearest ally of this sjjecies is probably the Aplysia ocellata of 

 D'Orbigny, from the Canary Islands, or the common A. dactylomela, 

 from the eastern Atlantic, of which the former is by some authors 

 considered to be only a local variety (Rochebrune, Nouvelles Archives 

 du Museum, 1881, p. 264). From both of these forms, apart from 

 other characters, it differs in the absence of the heavy opellation, and 

 from A. dactylomela in lacking the purple lining on the mantle 

 margins. From A. ocellata, again, it is clearly marked off by the 

 non-maculated surfiice of the interior of the mantle lobes and of the 

 opercular covering. The shell in the Bermudian form is compar- 

 atively narrower than in any other large species of Aplysia. with 

 which I am acquainted, and wholly different in outline from that of 

 either of the two species above referred to. I have fully satisfied my- 

 self on this point through an examination not only of the figures 

 furnished by Rang and D'Orbigny, but of actual specimens. 



Dobson, in a communication made before the Linna3an Society of 

 London (Journ. Linn. Soc, Zoology, xv, p. 159, et seq., 1881), iden- ' 

 tifies a specimen of Aplysia from the Bermudas with the A. dacty- 

 lomela, and describes the color as being " a rich drab, marked all 

 over with circles and streaks of velvet black, the latter most abund- 

 ant on the mantle covering the shell and on the lateral swimming 

 lobes. The shell agrees in all respects with that of A. dactyloviela as 

 figured by Rang, and the only difference observable is that the mai'- 

 gins of the swimming lobes are not tinged with violet. This might 

 be accounted for by supposing that such a fugitive color had disap- 

 peared in the alcohol, but the captor does not remember to have 

 seen it in the living animal." This may be the true A. dactylomela 

 or A. ocellata, but it is, doubtless, distinct from the species above de" 

 scribed. I am confirmed in this supposition by the examination of a 

 specimen recently collected by Prof Dolley in the Bahamas, and which 

 has been placed in my hands through the kindness of Prof Leidy. This 

 Bahaman form has the massive ocellation and blotching distinctive 

 of A. ocellata or A. dactylomela,* and further agrees Avith these two 

 species (or varieties) in the form of the shell. The stellate opening 

 to the opercular cavity appears to be destitute of a papilla. This is 

 the form, probably, that Mr. Dobson received through Surgeon R. 

 Vacy Ash. 



Deshayes described some years ago an Aplysia, ocellated and of a 

 yellowish color, fx-om Guadeloupe (Jour)ial de Conchyliologie, 2d. ser., 

 ii, p. 140) under the name oi' Aplysia Schrammii, but the species is 



