110 SCAPHELLA. 



Voluta (Amoria) masoni, Tate. 



1S89. Voluta mnsoni, Tate, Trans. Roy. Soc. South Aust. vol. xi. p. 128, 

 pi. iii. fig. 9. 



Shell fusiform, ovate, smooth; protoeorich (Plate IV. Tigs, \ia-l) 

 turbinate, pointed, the anterior portion being larger than the 

 succeeding whorl in the brephic stage in some individuals. Spire 

 very short, solid, smooth, polished ; the greater part of the shell 

 enveloped by the body- whorl ; aperture large, broad, channelled 

 where it joins the preceding whorl, outer margin expanded in 

 front ; anterior notch deep and broad ; columella with four stout 

 plications. The body - whorl is ornamented with transverse, 

 closely-set, thin, undulating, chestnut - coloured lines — a very 

 distinctive feature. 



Compared with the living V. undulata, of which it appears to 

 be a direct ancestor, the body-whorl is more rounded and inflated 

 at the periphery, the posterior channel is deeper, and the coloured 

 lineations are of a widely different pattern. It somewhat 

 resembles the living V. zebra, Leach, from which, however, it 

 may be readily distinguished by the character of the protoconch ; 

 the fossil shell is more inflated. 



Dimensions. — Length 65 mm.; breadth 32-5 mm. ; length of 

 aperture 51 mm. 



Form, and Loc. — Miocene : Muddy Creek, Victoria. 



G. 4258. An example of the adult. 



Presented ly John Bennant, Esq. 



G. 5482. A similar specimen. Purchased. 



Genus SCAPHELLA, Swainson. 



[Zool. Illust. 2nd ser. 1832, pi. Ixxsvii. (with description) ; Malacology, 1840, 

 p. 318.] 



Shell with somewhat elevated spire; smooth, earlier whorls 

 generally faintly striated or longitudinally ribbed, which characters 

 may be effaced in the adult or, on the other hand, become more 

 accentuated; columella arched, prolonged anteriorly, covered with 

 callus, plications three to six in number, commonly four ; margin 

 of the outer lip sometimes thickened and reflected outwardly. 



