42 LITTORINID.E. 



21. R. pulcher'rima"*, Jeffreys. 



B. pulcherrima, Jeffr. in Ann. & Mag. N. H. ser. 2. ii. p. 351 ; F. & H. 

 iii. p. 129, pi. lxxv. f. 1, 2. 



Body whitish, with yellow specks : snout convex, projecting 

 beyond the foot, and bilobed at the extremity : tentacles rather 

 short, thickly and exquisitely setose, with rounded tips : eyes 

 large : foot slender, rounded in front, divided across in the 

 middle by a fine line (as in many other species of Rissoa), and 

 bluntly pointed behind ; sole slightly grooved down the middle 

 on its posterior half: opercular lobe margined on each side 

 with dark purplish-brown : appendage very long and pointed. 



Shell conical with a broad and dilated base, thin, semi- 

 transparent, and glossy : sculpture none : colour whitish, pret- 

 tily variegated by 4 rows of reddish-brown spots on the body- 

 whorl, the spots in the upper two and lower two rows (or in 

 the upper two only) being sometimes confluent and forming 

 short longitudinal streaks ; the penultimate whorl has 2 or 3 

 rows, and the next 1 row : spire short, ending in a remark- 

 ably obtuse and mammiform point : whorls 4, ventricose ; the 

 last equals three-fourths of the spire, and expands considerably 

 towards the mouth : suture very deep : mouth nearly round : 

 outer lip thin : inner lip reflected on the pillar, behind which 

 is a small but distinct perforation : operculum thin, impressed 

 with a few strong diverging lines ; the nucleus of the spire is 

 rather more central than in any of the preceding species, and 

 resembles that of a Littorina. L. 0-075. B. 0-05. 



Habitat : Among small seaweeds and on Zostera at 

 low-water in all the Channel Isles ; not uncommon. 

 Some years ago, at Exmoutlr, after washing a quantity 

 of Corallina officinalis which I had collected on that 

 coast, I found two or three specimens of R. pulcherrima, 

 and I was at first delighted at having discovered a new 

 habitat; but I have since recollected that Mr. Barlee 

 lent me for the examination sieves which he had last 

 used in Guernsey. Such trifling accidents may cause 

 great confusion in our ideas of geographical distribution. 

 I have taken this pretty shell at Sestri di Levante ; and 



* Very beautiful. 



