386 Traiisactions. 



N.Z. Inst., vol. xxxvii, p. 280, 1904 [1905]) had recorded L. 

 inermis, Hedley, from Takapuna, I sent one of my shells to Mr. 

 Hedley for his determination. His answer was, " Not inermis, 

 but perhaps a variant of obsoleta." 



In order to settle the specific identity, I collected a good 

 number of shells from different parts of Lyttelton Harbour. 

 A critical examination of this series results as follows : The shell 

 is very variable in size and shape, some shells being almost 

 globular, with the spire-whorls very compressed ; others are 

 elongated and narrow, with the spire-whorls lengthened. The 

 spiral striation may be very distinct, indistinct, or almost in- 

 distinguishable on account of the abrasions to which this shell 

 is very subject. The apex of the shell may appear either on the 

 left or on the right, or almost central. The teeth on the inner 

 lip may both be very prominent, or the anterior one may be 

 almost suppressed. 



My conclusion is that only one species of Leuconopsis should 

 be recognised, and that that should be L. obsoleta, Hutton. I 

 feel certain the examination of a larger series from Takapuna 

 will induce Webster to withdraw his record of L. inermis, Hedley. 

 The improbability of a Sydney species of a genus such as the 

 one iu question occurring in New Zealand certainly demands 

 a reinvestigation of this record. In view of my experience of 

 the extreme variability of L. obsoleta, Hutton, it is very pos- 

 sible that the two species described by Gatliff (Vict. Naturalist, 

 vol. xxii, pp. 12-13, 1905) would be united were a longer series 

 studied. I have found the position of the apex, which Gat- 

 liff lays stress upon, very inconstant in the New Zealand shell. 



Collecting at Shag Point, Otago, I made a special search 

 for L. obsoleta, Hutton, and was rewarded by finding it as 

 abundantly as in Lyttelton Harbour, and as variable. That 

 the species is commonly distributed throughout New Zealand 

 the additional localities whence I have dead shells from shell- 

 sand would show — Blind Bay, Nelson ; Titahi Bay, near Wel- 

 lington ; and Lyall Bay, near Wellington. From practical 

 knowledge I can assert that this species could be very easily 

 collected alive at any of these localities. 



Modiolarca pusilla (Gould). 

 Modiolarca pusilla (Gould), E. A. Smith, Proc. Mai. Soc, vol. iii, 



p. 24, 1898. 



In the paper quoted, this species was first recorded as a 

 New Zealand shell. As. however, the specimens referred to 

 Macquarie Island, the furthermost limit of the New Zealand 

 region, the occurrence of this shell on the New Zealand main- 

 land is notable. 



