198 STUDIES ON AUSTRALIAN MOLLUSCA, VIII., 



Crassatellites ponderosus, Gmelin. 



In the opinion of Messrs. E. A. Smith* and J. Brazier,! all 

 the large Australian Crassatellites, viz., C. kingicola, Lamk.; C. 

 donacina, Lamk.; C. castanea, Reeve; C. decipiens, Reeve; C. 

 errones, Reeve; C. fulchra, Reeve, and C. ciwiingi, A. Adams, 

 are referable to one species. For the first or for the aggregate, 

 Australian conchologists, misled by European authors, have taken 

 unquestioned the name of Crasatella kingicola, Lamarck. 



Suspicion that there was a flaw somewhere in the nomenclature 

 was aroused by a statement by Woodward |. that the type of 

 Orassatella is an Australian shell, C. ponderosa. This species 

 does not appear in Australian Catalogues, nor is it cited in any 

 monograph of the genus. Search in literature elicited the follow- 

 ing information. 



The first appearance of our shell in literature^ was by 

 Chemnitz, II So far as I can gather, this was in a serial published 

 at Halle in Germany. The first reference that I have seen is by 

 Chemnitz, in the first edition of the Conchylien Cabinet (Yol.vii. 

 1784, p. 61, pi. Ixix., f. a, b, c, d), as Venus-plumbea-Oceani-aus- 

 tralis, cfec). As Chemnitz did not then use Linnean binomials, 

 his name has, for systematists, only an historical interest. The 

 Chemnitzian figure approximates to that given bj^ ChenuH for C. 

 donaci7ia, or that given by Reeve** for C. pidchra. 



Gmelin, upon this account by Chemnitz, founded his species 

 Venus poiiderosa.jf Gmelin, who only knew the species from the 

 drawing, incorrectly gives " margine crenulato," as a character. 

 His error is obviously based on the fact that the artist used a 

 dotted line to represent the inner edge of the valve margin. 



* Kep. Zool. Coll. Alert, 1884, p. 108. 



t These Proceedings, (2) ix. 1890, p. 749. 



It: Manual, p. 466, Explanation to pi. xxi., f. 4. 



§ Fide von Martens, Malak. Blatt. xix. 1872, p. 30. 



II Naturforscher, xix., 1783, p. 185, pi. viii. 



1 Illustr. Conch. Orassatella, 1850, pi. ii.. f. 15. 



**Conch. Icon. i. Crassatella, pi. iii. sp. 16, 1843. 



ft Syst. Nat. xiii. 1790, p. 191. 



