THE CALIFORNIAN LAND SHELLS OF THE EPIPHRAG- 

 MOPHORA TRASKII GROUP. 



By Paul Bartsoh, 



Curator, Division of Marine Invertebrates, United States National Museum. 



INTRODUCTION. 



Some material recently received by the United States National 

 Musemn has made it necessary to subject this group to an examina- 

 tion, which has yielded some rather interesting results. Foremost 

 among these may be mentioned the assigning of a final resting place 

 to Helix car])e7iteri Newcomb, a name that has been applied errone- 

 ously to at least three different forms since it was established. It was 

 therefore quite a satisfaction to find a shell in the ty])e locality that 

 satisfies all requirements of Doctor Newcomb's diagnosis and will fix, 

 it is to be hoped, this name forever. 



In this study I have been greatly aided by having had at my dis- 

 posal the entire series of the group contamed m the coUection of the 

 Philadelphia Academy of Isatural Sciences, which was kindly loaned 

 to me by Dr. H. A. Pilsbry. I am also indebted to Prof. G. D. Hams, 

 of Cornell Univei-sity, for the loan of Newcomb's four cotypes of Epi- 

 pJiragmopJiora traskii, and to Dr. S. S. Berry, of Redhmds, California, 

 for the loan of two paratypes of his EpiphragmopJiora petricoh: 



The figures accompanying the sketch are after photographs re- 

 touched by Mi-s. E. B. Decker. 



GROUP CHARACTERS. 



The group of Epipliragmophora traskii is characterized by having 

 the nucleus, which usually forms one and one-half to two turns, very 

 finely axially wrinkled and provided with a scanty number of rather 

 distantly spaced, slightly elongated papillae, that form obhquely, 

 protractively slanting curved lines. The sculpture of the succeeding 

 turns may be papillose or spirally striate or both. The postnuclear 

 whorls may be all, or in part, marked by incised spiral striations, 

 which vary in strength in the different races, from microscopic to 

 strongly incised. The last whorl is never maUeated, as in the group 

 of EpipJiragmopliora tudiculata, which has the nuclear sculpture like 

 that of the present group. 



Proceedings U. S. National Museum. Vol. 51 -No. 2170. 



-Proc.N.M. vol.51— 36 39 (i09 



