A REVIEW OF THE VOLUTIDAE 



misleading when compared with the average 

 run of specimens. The publication of his 

 monograph no doubt greatly stimulated In- 

 terest In an already popular group. Many 

 of the names he used then, Including maiel- 

 lanica, ancllla, and pact f tea , have been 

 shifted about or Included in the synonomy 

 of the present day. 



The Adams Brothers, Henry and Ar- 

 thur, In the Genera of Recent Mollusca, 

 which appeared In London during I858, pro- 

 posed four valuable genera or subgenera for 

 the Voluttdae most of which are considered 

 valid today. These are: Ztdona (which Is 

 represented by the sole species and geno- 

 type V. aniulata Solander), Alctthoe (since 

 raised from subgenerlc to generic rank), 

 Enaeta (since raised from subgenerlc to 

 generic rank) . The Messers Adams also pro- 

 posed the subgenus Ausoba as a repository 

 for the present Aultca cymhtola, and the 

 subfamily Zidoninae to contain the above- 

 mentioned genus Ztdona, It appears best 

 to ignore this latter subfamily designation 

 until the soft parts of Z . ant ul at a are 

 better known. Under the genus Valuta the 

 Adams brothers list two well-known species, 

 ehraea (spelled hebraea by them) and mustca. 

 They also add a third, mustcalis Mart,, 

 which incidentally is a fossil species oc- 

 curring in the European Eocene. 



George W. Tryon, Jr., in I882 mono- 

 graphed the Voluttdae in the Manual of Con- 

 chology, published by the Academy of Natu- 

 ral Sciences in Philadelphia. Like some 

 of the early volumes in this series the 

 shells figured are recognizable but the 

 coloring often mi'sleadlng and crude. The 

 descriptions also were too brief in many 

 cases. Furthermore there is an indiscrimi- 

 nate lumping of species and subspecies a 

 policy hardly warranted with the meager ma- 

 terial at hand for study. 



In 1890 there appeared, under the 

 auspices of the Wagner Free Institute of 

 Philadelphia, and In their transactions, 

 William H. Dall's monumental work The Ter- 

 tiary of Florida. Here the author gives a 

 lengthy and extremely valuable account of 

 the Voluttdae , its origin and facts con- 

 cerning the formation of the shell. Dall 

 offers a number of explanations covering 

 certain details long neglected by earlier 

 writers. One of the most interesting sub- 

 jects discussed is that of the columella 

 plaits and their use to the organism. The 

 adductor muscle is in Voluta rather small 



at best. The plaits give an extension of 

 the surface, and consequently a larger area 

 of attachment for the muscle. This in turn 

 is beneficial to the animal whose safety 

 depends upon rapidly withdrawing within the 

 shell upon the approach of danger. Deep- 

 seated plications In other gastropod shells 

 indicate a deeper seated adductor muscle. 

 The origin of these characters might easily 

 lead the student into paths of Investiga- 

 tion which have hardly been touched. Any- 

 one who has cleaned shells with strong 

 plaits, particularly internal ones, knows 

 how difficult it is to remove the soft parts 

 entirely. This is due to the firm attach- 

 ment of the muscle. 



The "best-known type" which Swain- 

 son figured for his Scaphella was Voluta 

 undulata . In I89O Dall accepted the common 

 usage of Scaphella with Voluta junonia 

 Hwass as the type. As a further considera- 

 tion of Swainson's introduction of Scaphel- 

 la and Cynbtola, Dall later (I907) objected 

 to their being based on Voluta Junonta . 

 His reasons were, while V. junonia was in- 

 cluded among Swainson's species of Scaphel- 

 la it is obvious to the careful student 

 that it cannot be regarded as congeneric 

 with the forms like V. undulata , which was 

 the type of Scaphella and which was later 

 named i4Moria by Gray; nor with the Cymblola 

 group founded on V , vesperttl to , which in 

 turn is the Scapha of Gray and Aultca of 

 Adams and Crosse. Both of these groups 

 have shelly protoconch of the subfamily 

 Volutinae Crosse. Dall therefore consid- 

 ered new generic, names necessary and 'pro- 

 posed Maculopeplum (type V. junonia) to re- 

 place the general use of Scaphella and 

 Adelomelon (type V, ancilla) to replace that 

 of Cymblola . Von Ihring did not accept 

 these changes, because he did not have the 

 necessary literature to verify them. 

 Neither did they -appeal to Cossraann (I909, 

 p. 205 et, seq.) who severely criticized 

 Dall's action. Cossmann gave a revised 

 summary of the family. He refused to recog- 

 nize ^acuZopepZum , to replace the general 

 use of Scaphella , on the grounds that Her- 

 mannsen had "clearly designated V. junonia 

 as type of Scaphella in 1845" and Adelomelon 

 "because it remains to be explained to what 

 genotype the name Cymbtola ought to be ap- 

 plied, 



Hedley (I9l4) also Investigated the 

 position of these genera, his conclusions 

 being similar to Dall's except that he 



