Murdoch and Suter. — Results of Dredging. 283 



14. Drillia optabilis, n. sp. Plate XXI, fig. 9. 



Shell small, narrow, turriculate, last whorl shorter than the 

 spire, elathrate, aperture pyriform, canal short. Sculpture : On 

 the spire-whorls three spiral equidistant cords, which are crossed 

 by longitudinal also equidistant threads, forming small beads 

 at the intersections, and squarish interstitial depressions ; there 

 are about twenty-one beads on a row ; on approaching the base 

 the spirals are getting narrower than the interspace, and the 

 beading less prominent ; upon the beak there are small irregular 

 threads crossed obliquely by the plications of the old beaks. 

 Colour greyish-white. Spire turriculate, not very conspicuously 

 shouldered, longer than the last whorl. Protoconch : The outer 

 shelly layer has scaled off and it is impossible to give a descrip- 

 tion ; the nucleus is globular and obliquely tilted. Whorls 7, 

 narrowly angled and excavated above, sides almost straight ; 

 base convex and narrowed to a short and anteriorly sinuated 

 beak. Suture bimarginate, above by a minute threadlet, below 

 by a broad and heavy cord which is obliquely irregularly 

 plicated. Aperture pyriform, angled above, with a concave 

 inner wall, ending in a short broad canal, which turns 

 slightly to the left. Outer lip curved, imperfect ; the lines 

 of growth would indicate that the sinus is situate in the 

 excavation below the sutural cord, that it is small and mode- 

 rately deep. Inner lip spread as a thin layer narrowly over 

 the body, broader over the columella, which is first straight 

 and then slightly twisted to the left, ending in a sharp 

 point. Altitude, 107 mm. ; diameter, 3*93 mm. ; angle of 

 spire, about 22°. 



Type in the Colonial Museum, Wellington. 



Obs. A single specimen of this beautifully sculptured shell 

 was collected. 



15. Drillia (Crassispira) laevis, Hutton. 



Pleurotoma Icevis, Hutton, Cat. Mar. Moll. N.Z., p. 12, 1873. 



Half a dozen much broken examples of this species occur ; 

 they are more strongly and rather less numerously plicated 

 than the typical forms from shallower Avater. However, fossil 

 specimens from the Wanganui Pliocene make a near ap- 

 proach to them. The angle of the spire is 30°, as in the 

 type. 



This species should be assigned to the subgenus Crassis- 

 pira, Swainson, 1840, distinguished from Drillia, s. str., by 

 the short and wide canal, the deeper sinus, paucispiral pro- 

 tocench, &c. 



