96 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM tol. 109 



striae are closely beset with hairs; the shell is more heavily calcified 

 than in V. velutina. Shells of V. velutina from Norway and Maine 

 that are the same size as those from Monterey Bay look entirely 

 different. The California specimens ma}^ be a new species. 



Distribution: The Siberian, Russian, and Norwegian Arctic; coast 

 of Norway south to Portugal (rare) ; eastern Canada and Newfound- 

 land south to Cape Hatteras (Thorson, 1944); Point Barrow, south 

 through Bering Sea and east and south to Puget Sound; also 

 Kamchatka. It is new to Point Barrow and this name is new to the 

 Pacific. 



Velutina plicatilis (Miiller, 1776) 

 And var. cryptospira Middendorfif 



Plate 6, figures 6, 8-10 



Bulla plicatilis MUller, 1776, p. 242. 



Helix coriacea Pallas, 1788, p. 243, pi. 7, figs. 31, 33. 



Velutina cryptospira Middendorff, 1849b, p. 18; I849d, p. 435; 1851, p. 216, 



pi. 25, figs. 8-10. 

 Velutina sitkensis A. Adams, 1851, p. 225. 

 Velutella cryptospira G. Sars, 1878, p. 149, pi. 21, figs. 9a-b. 

 Velutina plicatilis .Odhner, 1913, pp. 12, 67, pi. 1, figs. 12-16; pi. 5, figs. 25, 26. 



From Aug. 17 to Oct. 5, 1949, 9 specimens washed ashore; 1 washed 

 ashore on July 26, 1950; 1, living (17 mm. long), was dredged at 10 

 feet on Sept. 8, 1949; 1 (11 mm.) at 175 feet; and 1 (12 mm.) at 741 

 feet. Even the majority of those that washed ashore were still living. 

 The shells range in length from 17 to 26 mm. 



Other material examined: Over 30 specimens from localities 

 from Icy Cape to the Pribilofs, the Aleutians, and the Shumagins; 1 

 from Halifax, Nova Scotia. 



Discussion: Most of the specimens from Point Barrow belong to 

 the var. cryptospira Middendorff, which is the same as V. sitkensis 

 A. Adams; but there are all intergradations between typical V. 

 plicatilis in which the spire is fully visible and those specimens in which 

 it is completely hidden (var. cryptospira) . There has been much confu- 

 sion regarding the species of Velutina, due largely to the great varia- 

 tions within a species. For example, V. plicatilis always has a cal- 

 careous incrustation in the innermost whorls, and sometimes the outer 

 whorl has a thin calcareous lining, and since it often has spiral sculpture 

 like that of V. velutina, well-calcified young of V. plicatilis with visible 

 spires and spiral sculpture have sometimes been confused with V. 

 velutina. Odhner (1913) gives excellent illustrations of several 

 species of Velutina and summarizes the distinctions. 



Distribution: Spitzbergen, the White Sea, Norway, Belgium, the 

 British Isles, Ireland, Greenland (Thorson, 1944); Halifax and 



