12 MOLLUSKS FEOM WEST COAST OF AMERICA— BALL. vol. xviii. 



small, white, of two whorls, followed by live subseiiueiit whorls; si)ire 

 acute, whorls moderately rounded, the last much the largest; sculpture 

 on the early whorls decussate by tine transverse riblets, strongest near 

 the suture, and tlattish spiral threading; later the whorls are polished, 

 smooth, except for lines of growth and narrow, distant, sharp grooves; 

 suture with a narrow channel; aperture long, narrow, with a shallow 

 narrow sinus behind and a deep siphonal sulcus in front; outer lij) thick- 

 ened, Hexuous, obscurely Urate behind, body with a thin callus; pillar 

 white, concave, with a prominent margin, shorter than the aperture. 

 Operculum narrow, elongate oval, with an apical nucleus. Height of 

 shell, 31.5; of last whorl, 24,"); diameter, 13 mm. 



U. S. Fish Commission station 3390, in 56 fathoms, sand; tempera- 

 ture, 62.6°; in the Gulf of Panama. 



Type.— 1^0. 122000, U. S. N. M. 



FUSUS(?) RUFOCAUDATUS, new species. 



Shell elongate, acute, thin, with six or more whorls (partly eroded) 

 covered with a delicate yellow-brown epidermis, the pillar and canal, 

 when fresh, of a pronounced rufous-brown or brown-pink, which fades 

 more or less in the dry shell; whorls drawn out, rounded, with a deep 

 but not channeled suture; nucleus eroded; the remaining whorls 

 sculj)tured with about a dozen Hattened subequal spirals with narrower 

 grooves between them, crossed by lines of growth and (on the last 

 whorl about 20) sharp Hexuous riblets, which cross the whorl and 

 are obsolete on the canal; base attenuated; pillar long', very straight, 

 attenuated, twisted, almost pervious; aperture narrow; outer lip very 

 thin, sharp, concave near the shoulder, produced in front, modified 

 by the sculpture, but not lirate. Height of (eroded) shell, 30; of last 

 whorl, 21 ; diameter, 9 mm. 



U. S. Fish Commission stations 3360, 3374, 3392 and 3415, in 1,270 to 

 1,879 fathoms, Gulf of Panama. 



This elegant little shell recalls Boreofrophon in its sculpture, and may 

 not be a true Fusiis. The spirals in some of the specimens are narrower 

 and more numerous than in the type, aiul in the young the ribs are less 

 sharp and the color more ashy. 



Genus TRACTOLIRA, Dall. 



Shell slender, drawn out in its coil, fusiform, with a short canal and 

 pervious axis; outer lip simple, not expanded or lirate; body not cal- 

 lous, the axis twisted, with a single strong plait at its anterior edge, 

 the young showing five or more narrow, low, thread-like ridges behind 

 the one above mentioned, but w^hich become obsolete in the adult. 



This singular shell appears to be a degenerate abyssal form of Volu- 

 tidte, but which can not be assigned to any of the genera yet estab- 

 lished. 



Type. — T. sparta, Dall. 



