A REVIEW OP THE VOLUTIDAE 



47 



Cymbium melo (Solander) I786 



(Plate 21, Figure IkJ,; 



Plate 26, Figure l84) 



Valuta Indlca Gmelln, (non Sowerby), Syst. 



Nat., 3467. Chenu: Man. de Conch., 



p. 186, fig. 946, 1859. 

 Helo indtcus. Sowerby: Thes. Conch., vol. 1, 



p. 413, plate 81, figs, 1-5. 

 Valuta melo Solander, Port. Cat., p. 4l, 



number 969, I786. Martini, Conch. Cab., 



3, figs. 772, 773. 

 Mela tndica. Tryon: Man. Conch., vol. 4, 



p. 80, pi. 23, fig. 14, 1882. 



Alt. 150-275, diam. 82-200 mm. 

 Hab. Indian Ocean. 



Shell very ventricose, ovate, 

 globose, yellow, yellowish-red or ruddy- 

 orange, tessellated with chestnut spots or 

 stripes, disposed for the most part in 

 transverse lines which gird the body whorl; 

 spire entirely covered in full-grown shells, 

 in old individuals, also the apex; in young 

 shells, the latter always bare and promi- 

 nent . 



A juvenile shell is shown in figure 

 143, the nucleus not yet immersed by the 

 spire. 



Cymbium miltonis (Gray) 1834 

 (Plate 22, Figure 154) 



Valuta miltonis Gray, in Griffith's Anim. 



King., vol. 12, T. 29, 1834. 

 Mela miltonis . Sowerby: Thes. Conch., 



vol. 1, p. 415, pi. 83, figs. 24, 25. 

 Melo diadema miltonis. Tryon: Man. Conch., 



vol. 4, p. 82, pi. 23, fig. 28, 1882. 

 Melo cylindratus Broderlp 1855- 



Alt. 



Hab. Swan River, Australia. 



Shell subcylindrlcal, thin, whitish 

 or pinkish, boldly painted with angulated 

 stripes and spots, which have sometimes a 

 flamy or lightning-like character in their 

 shape. The spire, somewhat produced, is 

 adorned with shortish, sharp spines, broad 

 at their bases and incurved towards the 

 apex at their points. Pillar is three- 



plaited, though there is sometimes a trace 

 of a fourth plait, as is the case in many 

 species. The junction of the upper ex- 

 tremity of the outer lip, with the body of 

 the shell, is at a lower point than any of 

 the preceding species, and hence we find 

 the spire more produced (Broderlp). 



Cymbium tessellata (Lamarck) 1844 

 (Plate 22, Figure 152) 



Valuta tessellata Lamarck, An. s. Vert., 



ed. Deshayes, 10, 377, vol. 5, 1844. 

 Mela tessellatus . SoWerby: Thes. Conch., 



vol. 1, p. 413, pl. 71, figs. 6-8. 

 Valuta hnustrum Solsmder, Port. Cat., p. 



137, number 3054, I786. Martini, Conch. 



Cab., 3, 781. 

 Mela tessellata . Tryon: Man. Conch., vol. 



4, p. 80, pl. 23, fig. 15, 16, 1882. 



Alt. 150, diam. 100 ram. 



Hab. Indian Ocean. China. 



Shell ventricose, of a straw or 

 sulphurous color, banded with three and 

 sometimes two zones of tessellated spots. 

 The spines which are broad at the base and 

 decumbent, converge towards the apex, the 

 tip only of, which, in fine specimens, rises 

 above them. Epidermis greenish brown and 

 thin. 



. Genus CYMBA Broderlp 1826 



Cymha Broderlp, 1826, in Sowerby 's Genera 



of Shells. 

 Cymbium Klein: 1753 (non-binomial). 

 Yetus Adanson, 1757 (non-binomial). 



Genotype: Cymba probascldalis Brod. 



Range: West Africa to southern Spanish 

 shores of the Mediterranean; Portugal, 

 Canaries. 



Shell oval-oblong, ventricose, thin; 

 suture or adjacent whorl usually channeled 

 or turrited; nearly Involute; nucleus large, 

 globular, forming an obtuse papillary apex; 

 whorls few, forming a flat edge around the 

 nucleus; aperture oblong, wide; columella 

 twisted, with several oblique plaits; outer 



