47 



MOLLUSCA OF KING ISLAND. 



By W. L. May. 



WITH DESCRIPTIONS OF FIVE NEW SPECIES. 



Plate VII. 



(Read 9th July, 1923.) 



During the month of Novembei", 1922, I spent some days 

 on King: Island visiting relatives, and took what opportunity 

 offered to investigate the Mollusca. No really comprehensive 

 list of the Island's shell fauna appears to have been pub- 

 lished. In one of the early French expeditions in 1802 the 

 Naturalists Peron and Lesueur made considerable collec- 

 tions, their take being- worked up principally by Lamarck 

 and Blainville. Some of the species described by Tenison- 

 Woods in the seventies of last century were from the Island, 

 and they and others appeared in his Census which was com- 

 piled in 1877. Some of these, however, have not been re- 

 taken and require confirmation. The late Professor Tate 

 had a small parcel of King Island shells sent him by some 

 correspondent, and they were recorded by Tate and May 

 in their Revised Census, 1901. There also appeared in the 

 Victorian nature publication, "The Wombat," Vol. V., page 

 35, 1902, a fairly long list containing 135 species. 



I collected at Currie Harbour, Surprise Bay, Eraser, and 

 near "Grassy." The first two on the West Coast, and the 

 others on the East. 



The mo.st remarkable feature was the absence of many 

 conuiion Tasmanian shells, particularly the larger bivalves. 

 I saw no sign of our common edible mussel, M. plannlatus, no 

 Donivia or Mactra, scarcely any Pecteiis, neither Tellina, 

 Gari, nor CarcUnvi appeared, and the Veneridiai were only 

 represented by Antiyona lucjojnis and Gomphiiia nndnlosu. 

 I saw no Trigonias, but was assured that they have been 

 taken near Fraser. The Chitons are moderately represented, 

 Heteror.nuu sulnnridis being extremely abundant, but Sypha- 

 rochilov peUis-ser])C]itis, so common all round the Tasmanian 

 coa.st, was not seen. The West Coast is very rough and 

 wild, and quite exposed to the prevalent westerly gales; 

 here the rock fauna were Limpets, Moiiodoiita, ncvibicium. 



