Genus CyprcEa. 



197 



One cannot help being struck, however, with the poverty of 

 the new world compared with the old ; and I believe that 

 in many other marine genera of shells, e.g., Conns and 

 Mitra, the same proportionate inequality would occur, 

 especially in the Neotropical South Atlantic Coasts. Conns 

 cedo nnlli (L.), however, is a native of West Indies, and two 

 of the recent species of Pleiirotomaria, which make up for 

 many deficiencies of lesser note. 



When comparing the nearly allied genus Oviila^ the 

 species of which are about fifty-five in number, the preponder- 

 ance of those found in (/) is almost overwhelming. 



No. of Species. 



(a) Nearctic ... ... ... 3 



(b) Neotropical 



(c) Palaearctic 



(d) Ethiopian 



(e) Australian 



(f) Oriental 

 The localities in which the tropical 



5 

 3 

 7 

 4 

 33 

 Cowries 



and 



OinilidcB are found are mainly amongst coral reefs, or in the 

 sands near shelving rocks : w^hile certain of the Ovtilidce 

 are attached to gorgonias, whose colours they often 

 assimilate : they all move slowly, and are extremely 

 susceptible of fear, feeding mainly upon coral zoophytes. 

 But few inhabit the deep sea : only 13 species, mostly 

 single individuals, are recorded as being found during the 



"Challenger Expedition," i^Ji-iZj^. 

 Vol. XV., Zoology, p. 421, sqq.) 



{Rep. Expl Challeng., 



(IX.) Total Number of Species. — Paetel in his last cata- 

 logue(i887) enumerates 223 of Cyprcea and Trivia combined, 

 but various errata and duplications have to be expunged, 

 reducing the total to 181. To this add eight, four being 

 good species relegated by him to varietal rank, and four 



' Ovula must be taken here in a collective sense, as embracing Volva and 

 Cyphoma (both of Bolten), Simnia (Risso), and Calpurnus (Montfort). 



