286 ‘ SPECIES OF THE SYSTEMA. 
Murex lanrpas. 
Two very distinct forms, if not species, both of which were re- 
presented in the illustrations cited in the synonymy of this shell, 
have been indicated by naturalists under the single appellation 
of Triton lampas. The one (Gualt. pl. 50, f. D, and, perhaps, 
Rumphius, pl. 28, f. C) is large, ight, white-mouthed, and em- 
bossed with comparatively small and numerous grains and 
tubercles; the other (Rumphius, pl. 28, f. D, and, perchance, 
Rondelet, ii. p. 81) is very much heavier for its size, much 
more coarsely sculptured, and with a scarlet aperture: it has 
been well delineated in Kiener’s ‘ Coquilles Vivantes.’ The 
stated locality (“‘ Habitat in M. Mediterraneo”), the “ apertura 
edentula,’’ and the whole account of the species in the ‘ Museum 
Ulrice,’ more especially such expressions as ‘“‘ oblonga—Mur. 
lotorio affinis et similis,” are by no means suitable to either of 
these forms ; it is strange, moreover, that the drawings of them 
in Klein (pl. 8, f. 59), Argenville (pl. 12, f. D), and Bonanni 
(pt. 8, f. 103), have not been cited in the ‘Systema,’ and that 
the two varieties B and G were originally attached to rana. 
Had the solitary figure in Gualtier, cited in the ‘Museum,’ 
been a representation of the JT’. lotoriwm, it would have har- 
monised fairly with the description, but being the same that is 
quoted in the ‘ Systema,’ and displaying a T'riton whose features 
do not correspond with those specified, the definition in that 
publication proves insufficient to ensure a positive identifica- 
tion. In this predicament the majority of conchologists have 
arbitrarily selected the red-mouthed form (Lampas rubeta, 
Mérch) as typical, but, if either merits to be considered the 
Murex lampas of Linneus, the one delineated by Gualtier, and 
cited as typical, not that only included as a variety, should 
have the preference. Assuredly the shell described in the 
‘Museum’ cannot be referred to either. The collection throws 
no light upon the species, since Linneeus has not recorded his 
possession of an example. 
