MARINE MOLLUSKS — MACGINITIE 123 



Discussion: Middendorff (1849c,d) described several species of 

 Neptunea as sub-subvarieties of Tritonium antiquum. His polynomial 

 system is outlined below: 



Tritonium antiquum Linnaeus 



Section I. Non carinate, without nodes. 



1. Var. originalis nob. 



2. Var. behringiana nob. [Middendorff 's pi. 2, figs. 3, 4; pi. 5, fig. 1] 

 Section II. Carinate. 



3. Var. communis nob. 



1) Var. communis obsoletior 



forma normalis [Middendorflf's pi. 2, figs. 1, 2] 

 forma elatior [Middendorflf's pi. 5, fig. 2] 



forma normalis 



forma normalis, apertura alta [Middendorflf's pi. 2, figs. 1, 2] 



2) Var. communis insignior [Middendorflf's pi. 5, figs. 5, 6] 



3) Var. angulato-carinata 



Like the buccinums, the neptuneas are extremely variable, so 

 variable as to make the separation of specimens into species dis- 

 couragingly difficult. Middendorff 's polynomial system was no doubt 

 the result of an attempt to give names to these varied forms. 



As J. E. Gray (1850) was apparently the first person after Midden- 

 dorff to describe this species, I am using his name for it. 



Although in his reference for Chrysodomus saiurus communis Mid- 

 dendorff, Dall (1921) designates the correct figures (pi. 5, figs. 5, 6 

 of Middendorff, 1849c, d), he apparently later confused A^. satura and 

 N. soluta, for he included shells of Neptunea heros under the label 

 of "Chrysodomus solutus Hermann" (see Neptunea middendorffiana 

 below) . 



The shell of Neptunea heros, consisting of 5 whorls plus about 2 

 nuclear whorls, is sturdy, varying in color from ashen to tan and the 

 latter color may tend toward a rosy cast or toward an olive tan. The 

 throat is usually white but in some specimens the white coating is too 

 thin to conceal the tan of the shell. The majority of the shells (pi. 

 15) tend to be less ventricose than those of N. ventricosa (pi. 14, figs, 

 1-6) and more ventricose than those of N. middendorffiana (pi. 14, 

 figs. 7-10). The canal is longer and less curved than that of N. 

 ventricosa, and tends to be somewhat more curved than in the majority 

 of N. middendorffiana. Although in all three species there is a tend- 

 ency toward the formation of longitudinal ridges and varices at the 

 points of growth cessation, this tendency appears to be less marked 

 in N. heros than in N. ventricosa. The single carina or cord that 

 follows the whorls is usually noded. In the long-spired forms this 

 cord is situated about the middle of the whorl (pi. 15, fig. 1) but in 

 the short-spired forms it is closer to the anterior end of the whorl 

 (pi. 15, fig. 2). The nodes may project prominently or may be 



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