ERATO 



Plate I. 



Genus ERATO, Rhso. 



Testa plus minus pi/rifurmis, ad basin emargiimta, spirit 

 l/revi, anfraclibus superne tumidiusculis, iti/enie p/e- 

 ru7>ique cons/ric/is, columella labroque deiiliculatis, 

 aperlura anyusld. 



Shell more or less pear-shaped, emarginated at the base, 

 spire short, whorls rather swollen at the upper part, 

 generally constricted at the lower, columella and lip 

 denticulated, aperture narrow. 



Erato is a form of Marginella, in which the columella, 

 like the lip, is not sculptured until it arrives at maturity. 

 In 2Iarginella the columellar a.-cis of the shell is plaited 

 from an early stage of growth. In Erato the columella is 

 smooth until a row of deuticulatious is formed upon it 

 simultaneously with the denticulatioD and completion of 

 the lip. 



The geographical distribution of Erato is also dilTerent 

 from that of Margiiiella. Erato is not known at the prin- 

 cipal station of the latter genus, AVest Africa; and at the 

 next principal habitat of Marginella, West Indies, only 

 one Erato has been collected. E. lavis, the most charac- 

 teristic type of the genus, inhabits not only the Mediter- 

 ranean, but is found, in more or less scarcity, on all the 

 British shores. There are eleven more species in the 

 Eastern Hemisphere, one at Japan, four at the Philippine 

 Islands, one at Borneo, one China Sea, one Mauritius, one 

 Sandwich Islands, and two East Indies, one being from 

 the coast of Bombay. In the Western Hemisphere we 

 have two from California, one from Panama, one from West 

 Columbia, and one from Porto Rico. None are recorded 

 from Australia. 



llab. California. 



Distinguished by its globosely swollen form and livid 

 ilesh-colour, the lip being of a pallid yellow. 



Species 1. (Fig. a, b, Mus. Cuming.) 



Erato columbella. Erat. testa pyriformi, flavescente, 

 livido-carneo tinctd, spirn brevissii/id, anfractibus su- 

 perne tumido-globosis, inferne conslrictis, labro tuiiiido, 

 subvaricoso. 



The columbella Erato. Shell pyriform, yellowish, 

 stained with livid Hcsh-colour, spire very short, whorls 

 tumidly globose round the upper part, constricted at 

 the lower, lip swollen, somewhat varicose. 



Menke, Zeitsehr. fiir Malae. 1817, p. 183. 

 Erato leucophaa, Gould. 



Species 2. (Fig. a, b, Mus. Cuming.) 



Erato callosa. Erat. testa conico-pyriformi, Ueido-albd, 

 curneo interdum tinctd, callosa, nitenle, spird exser- 

 tiusculd, anfractibus superne tum.idis, labro tumido. 



The callous Erato. Shell conically pyriform, livid- 

 white, sometimes tinged with flesh-colour, callous, 

 shining, spire rather e.N.serted, whorls swollen at the 

 upper.part, lip swollen. 



Adajis and Reeve, Moll. Voy. Samarang, pp. 10, 25. 

 f. 32. a, b. 



llab. China Sea. 



Although the spire of this species is short and rather 



obtuse, it is more exserted than in the preceding species. 



The surface of the shell is rather thickly enamelled. 



Species 3. (Fig. a, b, ]\Ius. Cuming.) 



Erato vitellina. Erat. testa obtuse pyrijormi, globo- 

 siusculd, livido-albd, plus minus rnfescente-carned aut 

 vitelliiid, anfractibus subinjlatis, aperturd lata, colu- 

 melld subconspicue corrurjato-serratd. 



TuE yolk Erato. Shell obtusely pyriform, rather glo- 

 bose, livid-white, more or less reddish-flesh or yolk- 

 colour, whorls rather inflated, aperture broad, colu- 

 mella rather conspicuously wrinkle-serrated. 



Hinds, Moll. Voy. Sulphur, pi. 13. f. 22, 23. 



Hab. California. 



This is the largest species of the genus, and is especially 



characterized by its broad and Cowrey-like growth. 



Species 4. (Fig. a, b, Mus. Cuming.) 

 Erato scabriuscula. Erat. testa subelongato-ocatd, 

 vix pyriformi, violaceo-plnmbed, spird conicd, anfrac- 

 tibus parum tumidis, undique grano-panctatis, labro 

 medio tumido, columella subconspicue const ricto-cor- 

 rwjatd. 

 The rough Erato. Shell rather elongately ovate, but 



March, 1865. 



