216 Records of the Indian Museum. [VOLES Deve. 
In the Mesopotamian collection before me it is represented by 
Mousson’s species N. schlaeflii which was originally described from 
the Persian Gulf. 
Neritina schlaeflii, Mousson. 
1874. Neritina (Mitrula) schlaefliit, Mousson, Fourn. Conchyliol. 
XXII, pp. 49, 50. 
1874. Neritina crepidulavia? var. Schlaeflii, von Martens, Vorder 
Asiat. Conchyl., pp. 44, 67, 124. 
1879. Neritina crepidularia (in part), von Martens, in Chemnitz, 
Conch.-Cab., Nevitina, pp. 37-45, pl. vii, figs. 9-11. 
This species was described by Mousson from shells collected 
on the island of ‘‘Ghaes” in the Persian Gulf. He noted the 
resemblance between it and the Oriental species, N. crepidularia 
and N. depressa, but considered it distinct from either owing to 
the much smaller size of the shell, the much less convex and 
laterally compressed dorsal surface, in the spire being more 
recurved and flattened, the nucleus being more prominent and in 
having a much smaller though comparatively more elongate 
mouth-opening. According to von Martens, it is only a variety 
of N. crepidularia, but the two Mesopotamian specimens collected 
by Dr. Bowell at Basra leave no doubt in my mind that it is speci- 
fically distinct. 
The Mesopotamian specimens have a purplish background 
with a large number of irregular white spots resulting in a network 
of rather broad purple lines surrounding the white spots ; near the 
margins of the shell it assumes a blackish tint owing to the dark- 
ness of the ground colour and absence of the white spots. 
Through the kindness of Major Froilano de Mello of the 
Portuguese Medical Service in Goa, the Indian Museum has received 
a specimen of this species from near Goa on the west coast of 
Peninsular India. This specimen is of a uniform dark brown 
colour. This record greatly extends the range of N. schlaeflit. 
Subgenus Neritaea, Roth. 
1879. Neritaea, von Martens, op. cit., p. 6. 
1899. Neritina (Neritaea), Kobelt in Rossmassler’s /con. Land. -u. 
Stssw.-Moll. (n. f.) VIII, p. 1. 
1913. Theodoxis, Preston, Fourn. As. Soc. Bengal, 1X, pp. 470, 471. 
1915. Theodoxis, Preston, Faun. Brit. Ind. Freshw.-Moll., p. 5. 
In his monograph of the genus Neritina, von Martens divided 
it into six subgenera, and included the species dealt with here in 
the subgenus Neritaea, Roth. This subgenus he further subdivid- 
ed into eight groups according to the shape, sculpture, etc., of 
the shell. In the synopsis of these groups he included N. jordans 
and the other Mesopotamian species of the genus in the group 
Pictae, but further on in the descriptive part of his monograph 
included them in the account of the group Semicirculatae. This 
is evidently a mistake since the group Semicirculatae is confined 
to Central America and South Africa, while the Pictae group is 
found in the tropical and subtropical regions of Asia, Africa and 
