Feb ;'l Gatliff, Two New Australian Cowries: 147 



DESCRIPTIONS OF TWO NEW AUSTRALIAN 

 VARIETIES OF COWRIES. 



By J. H. Gatliff. 

 {Read before the Field Naturalists' Club of Victoria, i$th Dec, 191 5.) 

 No group of shells is perhaps more sought after by collectors 

 than the Cowries, and recently there came into my possession 

 two specimens, which, while agreeing in the main with two 

 well-established species, differed sufficiently to be worthy of 

 varietal distinction. I have therefore decided to record them 

 under the names of Cyprcea venusta, Sowerby, var. bakeri, and 

 C. miliar is, Gmelin, var. gabrieli. 



As Cyprcea venusta, Sowerby, is rare, the following description 

 by Brazier may be quoted * : — 



" Shell pyriformly ovate, rather thin, markedly ventricose, 

 base almost flat ; sides steep, deeply notched, anterior end con 

 tracted and prominent, posterior end produced, narrow, 

 aperture almost straight, except in front, rather open ; teeth 

 thick, obtuse, faint purplish-white, about twenty-four on the 

 outer edge, and confined to the margin of the aperture ; on the 

 columellar side the teeth are short, oval, blunt, and larger, 

 becoming almost obsolete in front ; cream-coloured with a 

 cinnamon tinge, smooth and polished, variegated with rather 

 large brown spots of irregular size and irregularly distributed ; 

 the cinnamon tinge is slightly deeper at the ends : base white 

 and perfectly smooth, sides light, extremities rather recurved, 

 interior pinkish-white. It is three inches long, breadth about 

 an inch and a half. Was found at Cervantes Island, west coast 

 of Australia." 



Cypr.ea VENUSTA, Sowerby, var. BAKERI, nov. 



This differs from the foregoing in being a solid shell, with 

 obsolete irregularly-sized striae, or incremental growth lines, 

 discernible underlying the enamel, and extending lengthwise 

 over the dorsum, which, at the anterior end, is sparsely, 

 irregularly contused. The base is white, and two faintly 

 distinguishable white bands cross the dorsum, one being narrow 

 and almost central, the other at the anterior is rather broader ; 

 the remainder of the dorsum is tinted with flesh colour. The 

 absence of any of the brown maculations mentioned as occurring 

 in other specimens makes this variety readily distinguishable. 



Dimensions of Tvpe of Variety. — Length, 72 mm. : breadth, 

 50 mm. ; height, 45.5 mm. 



Locality. — Western Australia. 



*" Description and Geographical Range of Cowries in Australasia,." l>y 

 John Brazier, C.M.Z.S., page 25. 



