272 Records of the Indian Museum. [Vol. XXII, 



Himalayas, but the fauna of this district is mainly Palsearctic and 

 the occurrence of V. bengalcnsis needs confirmation. The speci- 

 mens examined by Kobelt, moreover, agree precisely with those 

 from the plains of the northern Punjab. The range of the race 

 certainly extends from Allahabad at the junction of the Jumna 

 with the Ganges to the northern limits of the plains of the Punjab 

 on the one hand and to the shores of the Arabian Sea at Bombay 

 on the other. It may be described as the common race of north- 

 western India. 



Both the "elongate" and the "gigantic" type of shell 

 occur in this race occasionally, but the "normal" t3'pe is very 

 much more common than either. 



I have found this race in the Punjab in small ponds that in 

 winter were extreraeh' shallow and completely devoid of phanero- 

 gamic vegetation. In such environment the mollusc buries itself 

 in the mud as the water dries up. 



Race nepalensis, Kobelt. 



(Plate I, fig. 7.) 



1909. Vivipara beiigaUnsis. wir. nepalensis. Kobcll. op. cit., p. 4.4. 

 pi. wlvii, fig. III. 



This race is rather more distinct from the foyina typica than 

 the preceding one, but many shells occur that would be difficult 

 to assign to one race or the other and as a whole nepalensis 

 merges so gradually into the still more distinct Assamese form 

 balieata that it is impossible to draw a precise line between them. 

 The shells are of moderate size, as a rule a little smaller than 

 those of hengalensis. The whorls are more contracted and not so 

 convex in outline, distinctly flattened as a rule outside the suture ; 

 the aperture is smaller, narrower and more pointed above and the 

 umbilicus still narrower. The bodi'-whorl often shows a tendency 

 to become biangulate and the dark bands are sometimes incras- 

 sated. The colours are usually rather deep, but dull, and the bands 

 are well developed. 



The "normal" type of shell is much the commonest, but 

 the " elongate ' ' type occurs occasionally. 

 Type-series. No. M5080/1 Z.S.I. 



Geographical Range. — The range extends from the Nepal valley 

 along the base of the Eastern Himala3-as as far east as Siliguri, 

 below Darjiling. At or near this point the race merges into the 

 Assamese race balieata. Specimens from Gauhati on the Brahma- 

 putra, however, belong to it rather than to the latter. They are 

 much more brightly coloured than specimens from Nepal. 



I found the race common in ponds with submerged and floating 

 vegetation at Gauhati. 



