A RKVrEW OV THK AISTUALIAN 11 N SIIKLLS 



Charles Hki>i,kv, Assistant CUu-iitor, Australian Museiuii. 

 (l*lates xxxix-xliv.) 



For a ceutuiy Lamarck's name ot" " 7>o//»»/V dating from 1801 Inis 

 l)eon employed tor the Tun shells. IJnt Morcli- pointed out that Tuium of 

 Brunnich, proposed in 1772, to say nothing of Cuilns, Bolteu, introduced 

 ill 1798, had precedence and this improved nomeiiclatiue is now genenilly 

 ado J) ted. 



Tun shells are anunig the largest of (Jastei'opods, the liuge " Beer- 

 barrel " from New St»uth Wales is now I'ecorded with a capacity nf four 

 and a quarter pints and a length of nearl}' ten inches. But tliis size is 

 exceeded by that of a giant from Sicil}', mentioned by lMiilipj>i ■, which 

 had a length of eleven inches. 



For various reasons, not much critical examination has been bestowed 

 on the Tun Shells. Specimens do not often t)ccur on the beaches, the 

 bulk of some is inconvenient for ordinary collections and yet their wide 

 range of variation demands a large series for satisfactoiy study. None 

 have yet been recorded fnnii the coasts of Tasmania or Victoria, though 

 this deficiency Avill pi't)bably be remedied when the deeper waters of those 

 States are searched. The appearance of an unknown species from this 

 coast has induced the writer to examine the series in the Australian 

 Museum aud to offer the following review. 



In an analysis of the Austi-aliau species, the tropical T. perdi.r, for 

 which Montfort^ created a genus, I'erdri.r, may be distinguished by its 

 slender form and with it may be grouped '/'. raindicidata. The remainder 

 may be divided into those with a toothed and reflected lip, viz.: — T. ruftatu, 

 Menke, 'T. parvida, Tapparone Canefri, aud T. sulcosa, Born, and those 

 with a sharp simple lip: — T. anipnlhicea, Philippi, T. rerevisijia, Hedley, 

 T. cnmingii, Reeve, T. pictn, Schepman, T. tetracotida, Hedley, and T. 

 variegata, Lamarck. In the latter group there is a colour scheme which 

 oscillates from spots to bands. 



In 1847, when in H.M.S. " Rattlesnake," the veteran collector John 

 MacGillivray gathered a larval mollusc a little to the south of Cape Byron, 

 New South Wales, which he desci'ibed'' in a letter to his friend. Prof. E. 

 Forbes. This was afterwards called MarijilJIrrayia /iela(jic(i*>, and types of 

 it are preserved in the Royal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh. Subsequently 

 Dr. Paul Fischer'' classitied ^L pehujicd as a Duliaiu. It would not be wise 

 to attempt to identify this larval sliell with any particular species of the 

 genus. The admission^ of Tuinui perdi.v to the fauna of New South Wales 

 as a synonym of 3/. [lehujica, following Dr. Fischer is regretted. 



1 Lamarck — Syst. Anim. sans Vert., 1801, p. 79. 



■-' MiSrch— Malak. Blatt., xviii., 1871, p. 16. 



■• Philippi— Moll. Sicilite, i., 1836, p. 219. 



* Montt'ort — Conch. Syst., ii., 1810, p. 447. 



' MacGillivray— Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (2), ii., 18 IS, ).. 31. 



'• MacGillivray — Vny. Kattlesnakt;, i., p. -IS, ii., J852, p. 383, pi. iii., tip. 



' Fischer — .Tourn. de Conch., xi., 1863, p. 149. 



s Hedley— Journ. Koy. Soc. N.S. Wales, Ii., 1918, p. M 68. 



