MUSEUM OF COMPAEATIVE ZOOLOGY. 239 



shells within the mother had about three quarters of a whorl formed, were of 

 a brownish color, and covered by a thin smooth pellucid membrane. They 

 seemed to be massed in the ovisac with no regularity or attachment, but like a 

 lot of peas in a bag, and could be distinctly observed through the transparent 

 integument. 



Family CYPR^EIDiE. 



Genus CYPR^EA Linne. 



Cypraea cinerea Gmelin. 

 Cyprcea cinerea Gmelin, Roberts in Tryon, VII. p. 166, pi. ii. figs. 15, 16, 1885. 



Habitat. Station 2, 805 fms. Sigsbee, off Havana, Lat. 22° 9' and Lon. 

 82° 2", in 177 fathoms. Station 278, in 69 fathoms, Barbados, all young dead 

 specimens. 



This species extends from the vicinity of Cape Hatteras to and throughout 

 the Antilles, and the adjacent continental shores, in suitable localities. It was 

 found living among the corals, at low water, on the reefs about Key West, by 

 Hemphill. 



It varies very much in size. One adult specimen from near Havana meas- 

 ures 17.5 by 11.0 mm. Others from the Arrowsmith Bank, near Yucatan, 38.5 

 by 24.0 mm. It changes color a good deal by exposure, and varies among 

 individuals. 



Among the other Cyprseas, C. mus L. and C. lurida L. are certainly West 

 Indian, although Mr. Roberts does not mention it in his latest monograph. 

 C. cervus L. reaches South Florida, and is more or less spread among the 

 Antilles. It is undoubtably synonymous with C. exanthema, and, curiously 

 enough, of a very large and fine East American series, chiefly from Florida, 

 nearly all are typical cervus, which is supposed to be the West American form, 

 while the typical exanthema supposed to be the Antillean type is much less 

 abundant. As a rule, however, the West American specimens of cervus are a 

 little paler and thinner than the eastern ones. 



C. spurca L. and its variety flaveola are common in the West Indies, and 

 extend northward to the Florida Keys. The bright-colored, white-based, few- 

 toothed variety is more common, especially northward, than the typical form 

 characteristic of the Mediterranean. Some of the specimens from Florida and 

 the Swan Islands are wider and more lozenge-shaped than any I find figured. 

 Cyprasa bicallosa Gray and Aubryana Jouss. appear to be Antillean. 0. nebulosa 

 Kiener (Cape of Good Hope), 0. stercoraria L. (probably mxis, junior, was 

 mistaken for it), and G. picta Gray (Cape Verde Isl.) are exotic, and have 

 been wrongly credited to this region, like C. moneta, etc. 



